Compare/Head to head

Cala HQ vs IHR

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

Cala HQ

$15/mo Free tier

Cala HQ is a lightweight time-off tracker that handles leave policies, approvals, balances and country-specific public holidays without an HR suite behind it. It is free for up to 5 users, and Team plans start at $15 a month billed yearly for up to 10 users, with every feature on every plan. It tracks time off only, so payroll, HR records and time tracking sit elsewhere.

Where Cala HQ fits

  • Small teams replacing a leave spreadsheet
  • Remote teams spread across countries with different public holidays
  • Owner-led businesses with no HR department
  • Teams that already live in Slack and email

IHR

Quote 30 day free trial

IHR is a small-team HR app built around the month-end hours chase: employees clock and fill in their own month, time off runs against balances that explain themselves, and HR exports a payroll report to Excel that locks once finalized. Prices are quoted per person, and the 30-day trial covers every feature for up to 5 people.

Where IHR fits

  • Small teams that chase hours at month-end
  • Hebrew or Ukrainian speaking workforces
  • Teams across several countries' holiday calendars
  • Offices that need to track laptops and logins per person

At a glance

DetailCala HQIHR
Starting price$15/moQuote
Free tier✓Yes–No
Free trialNot on record30 day free trial
MCP server–No–No
Public API–No–No
Listed underLeave management, Time & attendanceTime & attendance, HRIS, Leave management

Where they pull apart

Cala HQ

Stands out: It does one job and keeps it simple: setup in a few minutes, a shared calendar, and accrual and carry-over maths done for you. Every plan carries every feature, so the only thing that changes with price is team size, and the per-country holiday handling suits distributed teams.

Watch out: This is a time-off tool and not an HR system, so there is no payroll, employee record keeping or FMLA and ADA casework. The prices shown on the vendor page are billed yearly, and I did not find a published monthly price. The 200+ teams figure is the vendor's own, and no API, SSO or integrations list is documented beyond Slack and email notifications.

Not the right fit for

  • Companies that need a full HRIS with payroll and employee records
  • Teams that need FMLA or ADA leave casework
  • Larger organisations that want a published API or SSO

IHR

Stands out: The payroll month is handled with unusual care for a small tool: overtime steps and night windows by your rules, forgotten timers that stop themselves, employees filling their own missing days, and a finalized report that cannot change without a recorded reason. It also tracks equipment and access per person with a leaver report, and runs fully in Hebrew and Ukrainian as well as English.

Watch out: No prices are published, so every team has to ask for a quote, and the free trial caps at 5 people. It is a new product with no public reviews yet. Payroll itself is not run, only exported to Excel, there is no public API, and Slack and Teams connections are only on plans that include them. Location is recorded at clock events only, not as GPS tracking through the day.

Not the right fit for

  • Buyers who want a published price before talking to sales
  • Teams that need payroll run inside the tool
  • Large hourly workforces that need shift scheduling

Pros and cons

Cala HQ

  • Free for up to 5 users with every feature included
  • Local public holidays per employee under one company policy
  • Managers can approve from the email or Slack notification, no login needed
  • Time off only, with no payroll, HR records or time tracking
  • Pricing is by user-count tier, so a team just over a limit moves up a whole plan
  • No API or integrations list is documented on the marketing site

IHR

  • 30-day trial with every feature, no card
  • Payroll report locks when finalized
  • Equipment and access tracking built in
  • No published prices
  • Trial limited to 5 people
  • No public API or payroll processing

What each one costs

Cala HQ

$15/mo

Cala HQ is free for up to 5 users with no card, and every plan includes every feature. Team 10 is $15 a month for up to 10 users (billed $180 a year), Team 25 is $30 a month for up to 25 users (billed $360 a year) and Team 50 is $55 a month for up to 50 users (billed $660 a year), with 20% off for annual billing. Larger teams contact sales for custom user limits and onboarding. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 3 Nov 2026

IHR

Quote

IHR does not publish prices. Plans are priced per person per month for your team size, and the vendor sends a plan and an invoice after you describe your team. The 30-day free trial includes every feature for up to 5 people, 10 equipment units, 2 open vacancies, 20 candidates and 200 MB of files, with no card. When the trial ends nothing is deleted: people can still sign in and read their data, and one 14-day extension can be requested in the last week. Slack and Microsoft Teams connections come only on plans that include them. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 29 Oct 2026

Common questions

Can you try Cala HQ or IHR for free?
Cala HQ carries a free tier on our listing. IHR offers a 30 day free trial.

Not the pair you wanted?

All Cala HQ alternatives All IHR alternatives Every Leave management tool

Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 3 Nov 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?