Compare/Head to head

Cala HQ vs Tickin

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

Tickin

$1.60/employee/mo Free tier

Attendance, breaks and leave tracked inside Slack or Microsoft Teams, with approvals in a tap and a daily who's-out report. Free for up to 10 employees, then from $1.60 per employee a month billed annually. Best for small remote and hybrid teams that want HR basics where they already chat.

Where Tickin fits

  • Remote and hybrid teams that already run their day in Slack
  • Small companies that want free attendance and leave for up to 10 people
  • Teams that want payroll fed by the same hours later

At a glance

DetailCala HQTickin
Starting price$15/mo$1.60/employee/mo
Free tier✓Yes✓Yes
MCP server–No–No
Public API–No–No
Listed underLeave management, Time & attendanceTime & attendance, Leave management, Payroll

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

Tickin

Stands out: Everything runs from one /tickin command in Slack or Teams, so staff clock in and request leave where they already chat, and it is free for teams of up to 10.

Watch out: Microsoft Teams support is only on the $4.80 Scale plan, and paid prices are quoted billed annually. Payroll starts on Growth.

Not the right fit for

  • Teams that do not use Slack or Teams
  • Microsoft Teams shops that want a cheap plan
  • Large enterprises that need an HRIS with deep integrations

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

Tickin

  • Free for up to 10 employees
  • Works inside Slack with one /tickin command
  • Monitoring off by default
  • Microsoft Teams only on the Scale plan
  • Paid prices are billed annually
  • No published API

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

Tickin

$1.60/employee/mo

Free covers attendance and leave for up to 10 employees, with no card. Starter is $1.60 per employee a month for any team size and adds overtime tracking, Growth is $2.40 and adds payroll, payslips, shift scheduling, multi-level approvals and CSV export, and Scale is $4.80 and adds projects and tasks, Microsoft Teams and weekly pay cycles. Paid prices are billed annually. Add-ons on paid plans include a desktop app with idle detection and GPS check-in, optional productivity monitoring and Tickin Meet video calls. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 30 Oct 2026

Common questions

Is Cala HQ cheaper than Tickin?
Tickin starts lower, at $1.60/employee/mo against $15/mo for Cala HQ. That is the entry plan on each side, so the real number depends on seats and the tier you land on.
Can you try Cala HQ or Tickin for free?
Cala HQ and Tickin carry a free tier on our listing.

Not the pair you wanted?

All Cala HQ alternatives All Tickin 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?