See who's off before you approve, protect your coverage across departments, roles, or shifts, and always know who's available before you build the schedule. No spreadsheets, no group chats, no surprises.
An employee texts at 7 AM. You're already short-staffed and scrambling to cover. Again.
You updated it last Tuesday. Now three people have added time off and nobody told you. The schedule you built is already wrong.
Different conversations, different texts, no one tracking it in one place. Now your busiest Saturday is suddenly a skeleton crew.
You said yes days ago, then got busy. By the time you build the schedule, it's slipped your mind and now you're short a person on a shift you already knew about.
Vacay gives you and your team a simple shared system. No back-and-forth texts, no forgotten approvals, no scheduling surprises.
Employees submit time off requests in the app. You get notified instantly. Approve or decline in one tap.
Before you click approve, Vacay shows you how many people are already off those dates and if the same department is affected.
Your team calendar shows everyone's approved time off in one view, so there are no surprises when you sit down to schedule.
Every approval updates the running total automatically. No manual counting, no spreadsheets, just an accurate record you can check anytime.
Employees get email notifications when requests are approved or declined. No one's left wondering what happened.
Every Monday, get a summary of who's off, who's back, and what's pending — before the week starts.
Your admin calendar shows approved leave, pending requests, and coverage at a glance, so you always know who's off before you build the schedule. Employees only see their own requests and history; this full view is for admins.
If they can send a text, they can request time off. Employees see their time-off history, tap to request, and get notified the moment you respond — all from their phone.
No training required. No IT department. Just sign up and go.
Sign up and set up your business in under 2 minutes. You get a unique team code instantly.
Share your code. Employees sign up and join. You approve them — you're in control from day one.
Configure departments, coverage limits, and closed days. Set it once. Works forever.
They request. You approve. The calendar updates. Reports land in your inbox. Done.
No more chasing people down, decoding text threads, or updating spreadsheets. Vacay handles the paperwork so you can run your business.
Department limits and conflict alerts mean you see potential coverage problems before you approve — not the morning of.
The team calendar is always up to date. You know exactly who's available before you sit down to schedule.
Your team knows the rules. Requests go through the right channel. There's a clear paper trail for everything. No more "but I thought I asked you."
Built for small businesses where the owner is also the manager, the scheduler, and the one answering texts on a Sunday — and where one person's day off can leave a whole department short.
Professional time off tracking without enterprise complexity or price.
Keep the right people available without juggling requests manually.
Never schedule a shift without knowing who's actually available.
Stop the last-minute scramble. See who's off before peak season.
Keep classes staffed. Know instructor availability in advance.
Always know who's available before you confirm a job.
Stylists, colorists, receptionists — keep every chair filled.
If you manage people across roles or shifts, you need this. It takes 2 minutes to start.
I created Vacay as a working salon manager running a 60+ person team across multiple departments — and dealing with the daily chaos of time-off requests coming through texts, forms, verbal conversations, spreadsheets, and last-minute reminders.
When you run a busy team, one extra person off that wasn't accounted for can affect the whole system. It creates coverage gaps, puts stress on the team, disrupts the schedule, and ultimately hurts the customer experience.
I didn't need a complicated HR system. I needed something simple, clear, and built for the way small businesses actually work.
That's why I built Vacay: a simple way for any small team with departments or shifts to request time off, approve it with confidence, and always know who's off before problems happen.
Try the full app right now — no signup, no card. See exactly how it works in 30 seconds.
Try the live demo →Every account starts with a 14-day free trial. Export your data anytime, cancel in one click.
Start free trial →One plan, unlimited employees. No tiers, no per-employee charges, no surprises.
| Vacay | Vagaro | Homebase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Time off & scheduling | Booking & POS suite | Shift scheduling & payroll |
| Pricing model | Flat, unlimited employees | Scales with staff count | Scales with location & tier |
| Monthly cost | $10 flat | ~$30–$85+ | ~$25–$120+ |
| Setup time | 2 minutes | Booking pages, services, staff calendars to configure | Locations, shifts, payroll setup |
| Free trial | ✓ 14 days | 30 days | Free tier, limited features |
Set up Vacay in 2 minutes. Your team will thank you.
Start free trial →