Calamari HR Software Reviews

“A game changer!”

Pros

Has turned into a real game changer for our daily operations, mainly because it's quite flexible! From the start, the clean interface helped my team get comfortable quickly, no training session needed for requesting time off or clocking in via the web browser or the mobile app. As a manager, I especially value the modular pay-for-what-you-need setup. We kicked things off with the leave management module to organize our global PTO and regional holiday rules, then scaled up to attendance once things were under control. It also handles complicated accrual rules really well and the integrations with our existing tools have been smooth :))

Cons

Setting everything up can be a bit monotonous. It took me around four days of tweaking and adjustments before it was ready for a team rollout. Also, while the mobile app works well for quick clock ins, it occasionally feels slightly sluggish when loading the full team calendar. Lastly, it's worth noting that this isn't a complete HR suite: there's no built in payroll processing or performance review capabilities so you'll still need separate software for those areas.

“highly customizable”

Pros

Packed with features and is extremely customizable! Since it uses a modern interface, it's actually manageable to work with day to day. Customer support has been pretty responsive and the help feels current and genuinely useful most of the time. The pricing also seems fair to me even for smaller businesses and SMEs.

Cons

A limitation I ran into: it doesn't offer a "valid from/to" option for contracts. There's a workaround and I can see how it impacts certain modules and parts of the application but it's still a big enough gap that it should be called out and implemented.

“responsive support”

Pros

Their customer support team has been outstanding and they're genuinely open to feedback. The best part is that they don't just point you in the right direction, they'll actually make it happen. If you have a goal in mind, they'll walk you through how to do it and if you're not able to handle it yourself, they'll even set things up for you. On top of that, the platform itself feels really user friendly and easy to work with.

Cons

A couple of useful features are still missing like employee onboarding and an applicant tracking system.

“easy calendar management”

Pros

The best part is how simple it is to manage employee calendars alongside document security. The learning curve is really short-after just a few hours, employees can already get comfortable using the system.

Cons

Automatic addition of absence details in Outlook automatic replies isn't supported for billable events. That option only works for non-billed cases like vacation.

“Organized leave requests and approvals”

Pros

Feels easy to use and has made leave management a lot more organised! The interface is clean, employees can submit time-off requests quickly and managers can approve or decline requests without getting stuck in long email threads or spreadsheet updates. I also appreciate the clear overview of who's away since it makes planning simpler and helps prevent scheduling conflicts.

Cons

Getting everything configured correctly at the start can take a bit of attention particularly when a company has multiple leave policies, different approval workflows or separate employee groups. A couple more reporting and customization options would be nice if they were more flexible. It's not hard to use day to day but the initial setup phase needs some care.

“Simple and valuable”

Pros

The biggest win for us is just how easy and dependable it feels! Everything works without getting bogged down in unnecessary complexity. It also delivers strong value for the money which is a big factor in our satisfaction.

Cons

Even though we've been really happy with it overall, there's still a bit of space to improve. For example, the reporting features could be more user friendly and the interface could feel a little more accessible in certain sections.

“Happy with my choice”

Pros

My company moved to this software from a competitor about two years back and the change has been huge. Handling leave for our 250 employees used to turn into a daily headache but with this tool it's become a smooth, well structured process. The accessible interface plus dependable automation have cut down a lot of manual work, saved considerable time and lowered the chances of errors. It's also stayed solid as our team and usage have grown so it feels like a solution that can scale with us.

Cons

Took a few days to get fully comfortable with setting up rules for more complicated leave scenarios BUT the onboarding support was strong. The onboarding team stayed in touch with us daily, helped configure everything correctly and made sure we understood the reasoning behind the setup. That guidance gave us the confidence to update existing rules or build new ones ourselves going forward.

“fantastic experience!”

Pros

Overall the experience has been fantastic!! I didn't hit any learning curve at all and I haven't run into any bugs even after software updates.

Cons

There aren't really any downsides. I sometimes wish we had more time management features available but that's more a wish than an actual problem. The platform feels secure and the value is excellent.

“easy to use”

Pros

There are plenty of customization options on the platform and once it's configured, it's easy to use. It also integrates really well with Microsoft Teams so staff can request and approve PTO directly inside Teams. After making the switch, employees have generally been very happy with it.

Cons

The customization capabilities make the initial setup a bit more involved and we did end up needing support to get everything configured properly. That said, their team was quick to respond and guided us through the setup so it worked correctly.

“Setup is quick”

Pros

Customer support has been really strong. Any time we had questions, the team stepped in quickly. Setting up the software was easy and we got helpful guidance the whole way through the onboarding process.

Cons

Pricing feels a bit steep at the beginning for what you get upfront but the value improves as you keep using the platform so it ends up making sense.

“user friendly”

Pros

It's easy to use! Our employees say it doesn't feel difficult to clock in and out and it's also simple to add sick days.

Cons

The administrator side is where it gets tricky: adding an employee's total vacation days for the full year isn't very easy.

“PTO requests, fewer overlaps”

Pros

The PTO request flow is really convenient. I can view all employees requests in one place which makes it easy to pick days that won't overlap with anyone else's schedule.

Cons

Switching between different accounts is annoying, I have to sign out to change accounts. Since I act as both an admin and an employee who also submits her own requests, being unable to switch smoothly slows things down.

“easy and perfect”

Pros

I love how easy it is to track my time off right from the moment I submit the request to the second it gets approved. everything is clear, logged and automatic. It's such a relief to finally be done with those messy error-prone manual spreadsheets for good. This makes managing my time my team's truly effortless.

Cons

The initial setup can be a little confusing but the support team at Calamari is really there to help with whatever you need.

“Best for small companies”

Pros

It's great that as a small but growing company (!!) this tool gives us fantastic value. it scales with us without breaking the budget. The fact that it's super easy to use means no one gets slowed down by a complicated system. and at the end of the day it just makes tracking PTO simple and reliable which is one less thing to worry about so we can focus on that growth.

Cons

I'd love to see a feature that calculates how much time off you'll accrue by the end of the year. Right now you have to add up what you've used to plan things out which is a bit of a problem.

“Good but missing a feature”

Pros

The ease of use really is the best part.. we got started and were up and running super quick with hardly any setup drama. And the fact that we've used it reliably for everything from leave requests to daily clock-ins for five years now speaks volumes. It's not flashy or overcomplicated.. it's just perfect for what we need, day in and day out. That kind of consistent no-fuss value is exactly what you hope for in a tool.

Cons

I wasn't too impressed when they moved the emergency contact info behind the Core HR paywall. Surely we could have kept that one basic field available?

“Love the team management feature”

Pros

I use the Team Management feature a lot. It is awesome for managing time-off requests, approvals and tracking. The automatic reminders and calendar syncs cut down on so much manual work.

Cons

The pricing is fair for small to mid-sized teams but I think larger organizations might find the cost a bit high for the features you get.

“Set up fast with great support”

Pros

Setting it up was surprisingly fast and we were fully running in just a couple of days. The Slack integration is a game-changer for my remote team, people can request time off right where they're already working. The interface is so clean and interactive that we didn't need any training. Plus their support team is very quick and helpful whenever we have a question.

Cons

Honestly we haven't run into any major problems. At first I wished there were more ways to customize reports but their team actually added some of those options based on user feedback!

“easy to use & connects well”

Pros

Calamari is really convenient and easy to use. I like how it connects easily with tools we already use like Slack and Google Workspace. The way it handles time-off and attendance is super clear and flexible.

Cons

Sometimes the app loads slowly or syncing takes a while when too many of us use it at once. Also a few of the more advanced features could use better tutorials for new users.

“easy and feature rich”

Pros

It's easy to use for me personally and it has a ton of useful features....... it feels like a complete system. Overall it's definitely a program I'd recommend to others.

Cons

It can be complicated to make changes by myself. I wish it was a bit more user-friendly so I could handle everything on my own without help.

“pretty smooth to work with”

Pros

It is easy to work with even with all the different settings. The mobile app is also very smooth to start using and our employees were actually excited when we switched to Calamari.

Cons

We had some trouble importing data from our old application but the people at Calamari were very helpful and got us sorted out.