Calamari HR Software Reviews

“Super easy but map is small

Pros

This is very easy to use , practically foolproof and very simple I've found my account rep to be extremely helpful, friendly and patient. My staff really enjoy using it, honestly it's as simple as pressing a single button so virtually anyone can pick up and use this software.

Cons

I wish the GPS feature let me view a larger area , right now it's tricky to pinpoint the exact clock-in/out location because the map only displays a tiny section. I'd also like there to be support reps based in the US so I could get faster, more immediate assistance when needed.

“Simple vacation tracking with great team

Pros

It makes tracking vacations really simple. The team answers all my questions quickly and keeps improving the software very regularly.

Cons

The initial setup of vacation rules for employees was a bit confusing for me but Calamari's team was helpful and offered to set everything up if I explained clearly what I needed.

“good reports but editing is hard

Pros

the reporting tool is really helpful for analyzing our data. Also, it lets us keep track of employee absences and monitor each person's annual leave which makes it easier to stay on top of who is off and when.

Cons

several features need work, for instance, when I open an employee's absence request to view the details there isn't a button that returns me to that same employee's record so I end up having to start from scratch each time. I also can't edit or amend staff requests,an actual example, we filed a two-day absence but the person returned on the second day and I wanted to adjust the request to reflect that. Unfortunately I have no way to modify the existing entry and instead I'm forced to delete the old request and submit a brand-new one which is difficult and time-consuming.

“Has every feature I need

Pros

it includes every feature I need and looks clean and well-designed. Their support team has been fantastic and I could even have it customized to my needs, like adding a calendar.

Cons

some settings I couldn't enter myself and had to rely on support to implement them but their rep was extremely kind and patient which made the process painless.

“smooth to run after setup

Pros

It is very easy to administer and keep running and the APIs are solid. Once it's set up it hardly needs ongoing attention and people I work with can quickly and easily submit leave requests.

Cons

The initial configuration wasn't as clear as I expected. a few of the options felt confusing the first time I used it. I'm not in HR myself so perhaps someone in that role would find those settings more simple

“works great for us

Pros

For handling our internal leave request workflows, it provides everything we need, including support for complex calculations and similar features.

Cons

Configuration was somewhat tricky for us. The employee directory lacks sorting and filtering options and I'd really like to see at least a calendar added to the mobile app.

“excellent for real-time management

Pros

In our decentralized setup managers and HR really appreciate being able to view employees' presence and location status in real time and from a top-level perspective. The leave module's Calendar feature gives me excellent visibility and helps me manage and allocate resources more effectively. The time-sheet and leave reports are comprehensive and I especially value the ability to download them to excel, that clean tabular layout makes it easy for me to dig into trends, build pivot tables and do deeper analysis. It's also easy for staff and supervisors to use , the app keeps things uncluttered so people can clock in/out and submit leave requests without fuss. After we trained our managers, nobody came back asking how to use the system which says a lot about its usability. Multiple clock-in options add practical flexibility , smartphone clock-in, QR scans and browser check-ins cover different use cases. I also want to praise the support team for their excellent back-end assistance to our administrators , their service has been top notch so please keep it up.

Cons

There are a couple of things I'd like to see improved for example letting users upload attachments directly from their smartphones when submitting leave requests and having the system tag the location automatically when someone clocks in using a QR code so we can verify where they are.

“Makes holiday management easy

Pros

Calamari makes managing company holidays really easy for us. It lets me easily oversee and track every absence and the feature I find most useful is being able to see whether a holiday request should be approved when someone on my team has already made a request that's been accepted , that functionality is essential for me ,) I'm also a big fan of the integrations it offers. For starters, GSuite (by Google) means I don't need to worry about provisioning new accounts and I can view all absences in my Google Calendar (that's my favorite part). Another major integration is with Slack which is our team's main messenger, I can accept or decline requests right from Slack without signing into Calamari. On top of that, the support team is fantastic , those folks (Hubert in particular) are incredibly quick thoughtful, proactive and they'll definitely help you get your instance set up. Communicating with them is a pleasure, Once everything is configured, it pretty much runs itself , maintenance-free and really comfortable to use.

Cons

I have no any drawbacks so far.

“top notch solution

Pros

It feels incredibly logical and easy , I found it almost self-explanatory and really easy to use. even in my administrator role it was obvious how to set everything up and tweak configurations and our users needed very little help getting started. The switch from our old spreadsheet system was night and day and both managers and their teams genuinely like being able to view and handle their own leave records. The support team have been fantastic, attentive, fast to reply and very flexible. Great job, Calamari!

Cons

I haven't come across any issues.

“Great support, syncs well

Pros

I've found Calamari's team delivers fast, effective support whenever we need it. The platform is really interactive and easy to use. It syncs with Google Calendar which has been incredibly handy for our workflow. Also, it lets me track all employee hours, vacations and sick days , a great fit for a small to mid-sized company. It works really well!

Cons

I'm pleased with the product overall though I wish it offered a lot of helpful reports and more granular detail within those reports.

“Very friendly from the start

Pros

User interface is very friendly and eliminates any guesswork, everything just makes sense from the start.

Cons

I haven't really explored much beyond submitting time off requests, so can't say there are any real issues yet.

“keeps me organized

Pros

I find it super easy to use and it keeps all my stuff organized in one place.

Cons

can't think of anything negative right now.

“handy tool but needs some improvements

Pros

The Slack bot feature is really handy, being able to approve vacation requests right from Slack saves me so much time.

Cons

The person entering hours for approval kept messing things up and had to resubmit multiple times to get corrections made. I really wish they could just edit the hours directly themselves. Plus, the system should definitely catch when someone supposedly worked 30+ hours straight, that's just not realistic!

“Great experience so far

Pros

Overall my experience has been top-notch, for a very long time I searched for a solution that truly fits our needs and I've found the Calamari team consistently receptive to proposing and embracing new options.

Cons

I wish configuring approval workflows and the various absence types were more user-friendly.

“Visually interactive but leave policies need work

Pros

I really like the interactive, visually-oriented interface. it takes almost no setup so people can jump in and start using it right away.

Cons

However I feel the Leave module still needs work, particularly around breaks and paid time off, these should be allowed to remain open with their length determined by clock-in time rather than being preset.

“great features great support

Pros

It is easy to set up, manage and use. Their customer support and the team's flexibility have been exceptional. The tool packs a lot of features while staying visually clean and interactive. They regularly roll out new capabilities and tweaks and they keep the roadmap open and transparent. Built-in integrations with Google, Slack and other apps save time and we could tailor the system to our specific requirements. Overall it has really boosted how we manage and track absences and leave making everything much clearer.

Cons

I don't have any particular complaints. Whenever something felt lacking or didn't behave as expected we managed to find a fast workaround or solution.

“Smooth with excellent support

Pros

its really easy to use , it handles all the use-cases my team has for clock-ins and time off. The support is excellent and there are tons of integrations. Whenever we've run into issues, their support has fixed them for us within minutes.

Cons

Haven't experienced any drawbacks yet.

“One spot for all time off info

Pros

Having all of the PTO accruals and information in a single, central spot really helps me and the team because we can quickly check people's availability while I'm planning meetings and assigning staff.

Cons

I don't really have complaints right now, honestly I only wish I'd started using it sooner so it could have reduced the amount of manual tracking I used to do for the company's PTO records.

“excellent support and custom features

Pros

There are a couple of capabilities that have genuinely improved how we operate on a daily basis, their Google Calendar and Slack integrations have been game-changers for coordinating schedules. The reporting tools available to managers and administrators have also become an invaluable resource for our team, giving us visibility we didn't have before. Our customer rep did an outstanding job guiding us through the initial setup and took care to help customize several elements that mattered most to our workflows. On top of that, the development team has been willing to build and modify a few features that turned out to be essential for us. Based on our experience, the platform is constantly evolving and it seems dedicated to delivering what its customers ask for. We're very happy with everything we've seen thus far and feel confident moving forward.

Cons

One thing we'd really like to see added is support for Google Team Calendars. We depend heavily on Slack notifications to alert teams about upcoming absences and right now it can't push that kind of alert into Slack in the way we'd need. If they add Team Calendar integration, it would close that gap for us.

“Likes own calendars, wants payroll help

Pros

what I love most is that every employee can set up their own holiday calendar. I also find the comments and attachments feature really handy since it keeps everything in one spot and I like that I can create and add custom absence types for individuals.

Cons

I wish it could compute payroll and also provide reminders about scheduled salary increases or when contracts are due for renewal.