Calamari alternative: one plan, no 10-seat minimum, radically simpler

Calamari is a modular HR platform from Warsaw: leave management, clock-in and attendance, an HR records module and performance reviews, sold as separate products and used by teams in over 100 countries. It is well liked, too, with a 4.7 rating from more than 600 reviews on Capterra. So why do teams go looking for a Calamari alternative? Usually three discoveries: the price is a menu, not a number (every module costs its own €2 to €2.50 per person, and SAML single sign-on is a paid add-on), there is a 10-seat minimum that makes small teams pay for people they don't have, and what started as "we just need leave tracking" turns into an HR suite to configure and administer. Here's the honest, number-by-number case for the alternative.

The short answer: Bueggio HR is the Calamari alternative for teams that want leave tracking and nothing else: one plan at €1.30 per user per month with everything included (SSO, API, calendar sync, Slack and Microsoft Teams), no user minimum (5 people pay for 5), and statutory country rules for Italy, France and Spain built in rather than configured by hand. Both companies are European, which is rare in this category; Bueggio HR also names its data region (Frankfurt), publishes a DPA and ships self-serve GDPR export and erasure, while Calamari's security page says "hosted at AWS" without stating where.

At a glance

	Bueggio HR	Calamari
What it is	Staff leave tracking for small teams	Modular HR suite: time off, attendance, core HR, performance (see calamari.io)
Price	€1.30 per user/month, everything included (−15% billed yearly), no minimum	Per module: Time Off €2 per user/month billed yearly (€2.50 monthly), attendance and performance €2.50, plus a SAML SSO add-on
Minimum seats	None: 5 people pay for 5	10 seats (about €240 a year for Time Off alone)
Free trial	1 month, no card	14 days, no card
Languages	English, Italian, French, Spanish	13 languages
Data hosting	EU only · Frankfurt, Germany · EU company	AWS, region not stated · EU company (Warsaw, Poland)
Best for	Small teams that want leave tracking only, with one plan	Teams that also need clock-in, HR records and reviews from one vendor

Pricing: a menu with a 10-seat minimum, or one number

Calamari's pricing is modular: the Time Off module costs €2 per user per month billed yearly (€2.50 billed monthly), Time & Attendance and Performance cost €2.50 each, Core HR €2, and SAML single sign-on is an add-on at €0.80 per user per month. Nothing starts below 10 seats: the pricing page's own calculator shows a minimum of about €240 a year for Time Off alone, so a 5-person team pays for 10 people, €4 per real head. The 14-day trial is fair and needs no card, but assembling your actual monthly bill takes a small spreadsheet of its own.

Bueggio HR has one plan: €1.30 per user per month with every feature included (calendar sync, Slack and Teams approvals, API, webhooks, SSO), €1.105 with yearly billing, and no minimum: 5 people pay for 5 people.

Bueggio HR · everything included (yearly billing) €22.10

Calamari · Time Off module at €2 per user €40

Add Calamari's SAML SSO add-on (€0.80 per user) and the 20-person total rises to €56, with SSO included at Bueggio HR. Below 10 people the 10-seat minimum kicks in: a 5-person team pays Calamari €20 a month against €6.50 with Bueggio HR.

Feature comparison

	Bueggio HR	Calamari
Wall chart / team calendar	✓	✓ absence calendar
Half-day bookings	✓	✓
Everything in one price	✓ one plan, all features	Per-module pricing, SAML SSO as a paid add-on
Minimum seats	None	10
Interface languages	EN · IT · FR · ES, per user	✓ 13 languages
Slack integration	✓ slash command, interactive approvals, daily summaries, auto OOO status	✓ requests, approvals and notifications
Microsoft Teams integration	✓ one-click approvals	✓ requests and notifications
One-click approvals from email, no login	✓	Approvals happen in the app or in Slack
Google / Outlook calendar sync	✓ push sync + iCal feeds, included	✓ Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
Country leave rules: Italian ROL, French RTT, Spanish convenios	✓ built in	Configurable policies, statutory rules yours to model
Public holidays	✓ 45+ countries, per-person country	✓ 110+ calendars
Leave accruals	Pro-rata first year + per-person carry-over	✓ accrual schedules with automatic carry-over
Department absence caps & blackout dates	✓ included	—
SSO	✓ Google and Microsoft, included	SAML as a paid add-on (€0.80 per user/month)
API & webhooks	✓ REST API + signed webhooks, included	✓ public API
AI assistant connection (MCP)	✓	—
GDPR export & right-to-erasure tooling	✓ self-serve, built in	Not advertised
Mobile	Installable web app (PWA) + push	✓ native iOS and Android apps
Clock-in / timesheets	Deliberately not included	✓ separate Time & Attendance module

Five reasons the alternative wins for small teams

1. One plan beats a menu of modules

With Calamari your bill is a sum: Time Off, maybe Attendance, maybe Core HR, plus the SAML add-on if you want single sign-on, each with its own per-user price. None of that is dishonest (the module prices are published), but it means the "from €2" headline is rarely what you pay. Bueggio HR is one number: €1.30 per user per month, and SSO, API, webhooks, calendar sync, Slack and Teams are all inside it. The price you read is the price you pay.

2. No 10-seat minimum: 5 people pay for 5

Calamari's subscription starts at 10 seats, so a 5-person studio pays about €20 a month for the leave module, €4 per actual person, before any add-on. Bueggio HR has no minimum and no floor: the same 5 people pay €6.50 a month, and the bill grows only when the team does.

3. Simple enough that nobody needs onboarding

Calamari offers onboarding support and data-import assistance, and quotes an implementation measured in days. That is fair for a multi-module HR suite, and it tells you what you are signing up to administer. Bueggio HR does one job (request, approve, wall chart) and is set up in an afternoon: employees book from their phone with zero training, approvers decide in one click from the notification email, and there is no module to enable, ever.

4. Statutory country rules, already built

Calamari gives you the raw material: 110+ public-holiday calendars and policies you can configure per location and contract type. But Italian ROL and ex-festività hour balances, French RTT and jours ouvrables counting, Spanish convenio extras: those mechanics are yours to model and maintain by hand. Bueggio HR ships them implemented and applies them automatically from your country at signup. If you employ people in Italy, France or Spain, that is weeks of configuration you never do.

5. Two European companies, one names the region

Credit where due: Calamari is a Polish company, which already makes it a better GDPR bet than the US tools in this category. But its security page stops at "hosted at AWS" without naming a region, ISO 27001 certification is "in preparation" (their words), and GDPR export and erasure are not tools you can click in the product. Bueggio HR states it plainly: data in Frankfurt and nowhere else, a published DPA, and GDPR export and erasure your admins run themselves from the settings.

Where Calamari is genuinely strong

An honest comparison cuts both ways. Calamari is one of the best-reviewed products in this category (4.7 from 600+ reviews on Capterra), ships native iOS and Android apps, and speaks 13 languages to our four. If you need clock-in as well as leave, its Time & Attendance module covers seven punch-in methods, from QR codes to iBeacons to GPS, and the Core HR and Performance modules let a growing company keep records, documents and reviews with one vendor. The accrual and carry-over automation is genuinely flexible. If your trajectory is leave today, timesheets and performance reviews next year, Calamari is a credible suite to grow into.

Switching to the alternative takes an afternoon

1. Export your people from Calamari (its reports export to spreadsheet) and import them into Bueggio HR with a CSV, or just invite everyone by email.
2. Set your leave types and allowances. Country defaults (including public holidays for 45+ countries) are applied at signup; carry-over balances can be set per person.
3. Book from day one. Your team requests time off from their phones and managers approve in one click from email, Slack or Teams. The first month is free, no card required.

Want the wider market view first? Read our ranking of the best leave tracking apps.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Calamari alternative for small teams?

Bueggio HR: it has no 10-seat minimum (5 people pay for 5), one all-inclusive plan at €1.30 per user per month instead of per-module pricing, and it is set up in an afternoon. Calamari is a solid HR suite, but small teams pay for seats and modules they may never use.

Is Bueggio HR cheaper than Calamari?

Yes, and the gap grows with add-ons. Calamari's Time Off module costs €2 per user per month billed yearly with a 10-seat minimum, so 20 people pay €40 a month (€56 with the SAML SSO add-on) and 5 people still pay about €20. Bueggio HR is €1.30 per user per month (€1.105 billed yearly) with SSO included and no minimum: €22.10 a month for those 20 people, €6.50 for the 5.

Does Calamari have a minimum number of users?

Yes: subscriptions start at 10 seats, which its pricing calculator shows as a minimum of about €240 a year for the Time Off module alone. Bueggio HR has no minimum: you pay only for the people you actually have.

Where does Calamari store data, and what about GDPR?

Calamari is an EU company (Warsaw, Poland) and states it is GDPR compliant, but its security page says data is hosted at AWS without naming a region, and ISO 27001 certification is described as in preparation. Bueggio HR is an EU company with data hosted in Frankfurt, a published DPA, and self-serve GDPR export and erasure built into the product.