Timetastic alternative: simple, EU-hosted and all-inclusive
Looking for a Timetastic alternative? An honest side-by-side on pricing (€1.30 all-inclusive vs tiered plans), features, languages and where your data lives. Checked August 2026.
Timetastic is one of the best-known leave trackers for small teams: simple, well-reviewed and refreshingly free of HR bloat. We're fans of that philosophy: it's the same one behind Bueggio HR. But if your team works in the EU, speaks more than English, or dislikes finding half the features on a higher tier, there's a strong case for the alternative. Here's an honest, number-by-number comparison.
The short answer: Bueggio HR is the EU-hosted Timetastic alternative: data in Frankfurt instead of UK data centres, four languages instead of one, statutory leave rules for Italy, France and Spain built in, and a single all-inclusive price of €1.30 per user per month. Features Timetastic reserves for its Pro tier (Microsoft Teams, SSO, accruals, booking limits) are included from day one.
At a glance
| Bueggio HR | Timetastic | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Staff leave tracking for small teams | Staff leave tracking for small teams (see timetastic.co.uk) |
| Price | €1.30 per user/month, everything included (−15% billed yearly) | £1.20 (~€1.40) Business · £2.00 (~€2.30) Pro, per user/month |
| Free trial | 1 month, no card | 1 month, no card |
| Languages | English, Italian, French, Spanish | English |
| Data hosting | EU · Frankfurt, Germany | UK · Microsoft Azure, UK South & UK West |
| Best for | EU and multilingual teams, privacy-first companies | UK teams that want a proven, polished tool |
Pricing: one plan versus two tiers
Timetastic's pricing has two tiers. Business (£1.20 per user/month, ~€1.40) covers bookings, approvals, the shared calendar, mobile apps, Slack and Google Workspace. Pro (£2.00, ~€2.30) is where Microsoft Teams, SSO, leave accruals, annual booking limits, absence insights and the Burnout Board® live. There's no annual discount and no euro price list: you're billed in pounds (a generous 50% discount exists for charities, B Corps and NHS trusts).
Bueggio HR has one plan: €1.30 per user per month with every feature included, dropping to €1.105 with yearly billing. No tiers, no locked features, billed in euros.
With yearly billing Bueggio HR drops further, to €22.10/month for the same 20 people.
Feature for feature, the fair comparison is with Pro, and there Bueggio HR costs less than half. Against Business the sticker prices are close, but you give up Teams, SSO, accruals and booking limits to get there.
Feature comparison
| Bueggio HR | Timetastic | |
|---|---|---|
| Wall chart / shared calendar | ✓ | ✓ |
| Half-day bookings | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public holidays | ✓ 45+ countries, per-person country | ✓ regional calendars |
| Country leave rules: Italian ROL, French RTT, Spanish convenios | ✓ built in | — |
| Interface languages | EN · IT · FR · ES, per user | EN |
| Slack integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Microsoft Teams integration | ✓ included | Pro tier |
| One-click approvals from email, no login | ✓ | — |
| Google / Outlook calendar sync | ✓ push sync + iCal feeds | ✓ |
| Mobile | Installable web app (PWA) + push | Native iOS / Android apps |
| Leave accruals & pro-rata for mid-year joiners | ✓ included | Pro tier |
| Department absence caps & date locks | ✓ | Pro tier (booking limit alerts) |
| Absence insights / Burnout Board® | — (reports + CSV export) | Pro tier ✓ |
| SSO (Google & Microsoft) | ✓ included | Pro tier |
| Two-factor authentication | ✓ TOTP, org-wide enforcement | ✓ MFA |
| API & webhooks | ✓ REST API + signed webhooks | ✓ API |
| AI assistant connection (MCP, e.g. Claude & ChatGPT) | ✓ | — |
| GDPR export & right-to-erasure tooling | ✓ self-serve, built in | not documented |
| Editing a booking after approval | Cancel & rebook in seconds, or admins book on behalf | Cancel & rebook (a common gripe in reviews) |
Five reasons teams switch to Bueggio HR
1. Your data stays in the EU
Timetastic hosts customer data on Microsoft Azure in the UK (UK South and UK West regions). That's solid security, but post-Brexit it means your employees' absence records, including sensitive ones like sick leave, sit outside the EU and depend on the UK adequacy decision. Bueggio HR is GDPR-first by design: hosted in Frankfurt, minimal data collection, a published DPA, and self-serve export and erasure tooling.
2. Your whole team reads it in their own language
Timetastic's product is in English. Fine for a UK office; friction for the kitchen staff in Milan or the store team in Seville. Bueggio HR ships in English, Italian, French and Spanish: each person picks their own language, and so do the notification emails.
3. Statutory leave rules are built in, not bolted on
If you employ people in Italy, France or Spain, generic "allowance buckets" only go so far. Bueggio HR understands Italian ROL and ex-festività hour balances, French RTT and jours ouvrables counting, and Spanish convenio extras, applied automatically from your country at signup.
4. Everything is included at €1.30
Microsoft Teams approvals, SSO, accruals, booking limits: with Timetastic each of these is a reason to upgrade to Pro. With Bueggio HR they're in the only plan there is, so you never discover mid-rollout that the feature you need costs 67% more.
5. It's ready for the AI era
Bueggio HR ships a remote MCP server: your team can check balances or book leave by asking Claude or any MCP-capable assistant, with every action attributed to the real user and approvals still human. Timetastic has a solid API, but no AI-assistant integration.
Where Timetastic is genuinely strong
An honest comparison cuts both ways. Timetastic has been at this since 2012, claims over 200,000 users and holds a 4.7 rating on Capterra across roughly 600 reviews, a track record we respect. Its native iOS and Android apps are more polished than an installable web app if your team lives in app stores. Pro's absence insights and Burnout Board® are genuinely useful analytics we don't match yet, and the new Rota & Time Clock add-on covers shift scheduling, which Bueggio HR deliberately doesn't do. If you're a UK-only, English-only team that wants absence analytics, Timetastic is a fine choice.
Switching from Timetastic takes an afternoon
- Export your people from Timetastic and import them into Bueggio HR with a CSV, or just invite everyone by email.
- 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.
- Book from day one. Your team requests time off from their phones, 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. Timetastic is in it, on merit.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bueggio HR a good Timetastic alternative for EU companies?
Yes, that's the core of the pitch. Data hosted in Frankfurt under GDPR, a euro price list, four interface languages and statutory leave rules for Italy, France and Spain. Timetastic stores data in UK Azure regions and operates in English and pounds.
How much would we actually save?
Against Timetastic Pro (£2.00 ≈ €2.30), Bueggio HR at €1.30 is about 43% cheaper: roughly €240 a year for a 20-person team, before the extra 15% yearly-billing discount. Against Business the prices are close; the difference is what's included.
Can we import our team from Timetastic?
Yes. Export your user list from Timetastic, import it as CSV (or invite by email), set allowances, and you're done. Most teams switch within a day, inside the free month.
Does Bueggio HR have the same approval flow?
Request → approve → wall chart, same simple philosophy. One difference reviewers often wish for in Timetastic: Bueggio HR approvers can decide in one click straight from the notification email, Slack or Teams (no login needed).