Calamari Reviews

Super software for leave management

Comments: The move from custom-built software was quick and intuitive. I use calamari as a user, as a decision maker, and as an admin.

Pros:

I created an account in calamari because I needed only a single feature - leave management. Calamari is perfect at that and suits my needs.It is fast, and intuitive and it does exactly what it should!

Cons:

I dislike two views, currently, we have one for the calendar and a second for creating applications.THis should be unified, because currently when creating applications we don't other team member's absences.

Good system, great customer service, just missing a few features

Comments: Overall I am happy with the product and I think for the price it is OK.Once overtime features and better admin controls are implemented I will give this 5* all round.It's so close to being amazing!

Pros:

It's very easy to useThe app and web version have a very modern feel unlike s a lot of the other HR systems out there.The admin and set up process are very easy and intuitive, and even our technophobe employees had no issues with signing up and getting used to it.The customer service team is friendly and always quick to reply with any questions or issues we have.The whole system is very fast and processes all tasks very quickly.There's a very good selection of clocking methods: QR scanner, mobile app, website, iBeacon, API.They have one of the most advanced and open API protocols I've seen from all my tests and being a high tech firm I was keen to have this option to facilitate any implementation in the future.

Cons:

Although the product is nice it does feel like it's behind competitors in some aspects.I get the feeling the development team is too small and I'd certainly like more action on the features we have requested.There are a few translation mistakes we have spotted but they never affected usability.The team management isn't as dynamic as expected.Admin features are missing (seeing acitvity logs to see what users changed what data at what time/date etc), and I would like more control and settings available on some parts too.Some of the exported reports seem to have been coded by different people because the table headers and names are not consistent throughout, again only a small problem, but this probably wouldn't happen with a bigger firm.Overall the main downside is that these features missing and little errors now and again make me feel like we are beta-testing the product for them, but paying market rate for the privilege.

Alternatives Considered: Blip, Jibble, BrightHR and TimeKeeper

Reasons for Choosing Calamari: We were on a legacy system full of bugs and glitches literally all the time, payroll was taking hours and hours every month and it was losing track of holidays and absences

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: They were either too expensive because they included HR packages we don't want, or they were American (date format, "vacation" instead of "holiday" etc), or had a slow clunky UI, or didn't handle our night shift clockings well.

FK Calamari Review

Comments: For a leave management system it is ok.

Pros:

That it provides an application and it is easier for our employees to log in.

Cons:

The manuals/guides/videos are not as explanatory as they need to be. Maybe some screenshots would help the users and the administrator. Also, the set up was not as easy as we thought and the support we had from Calamari was very limited and many times the answers of our questions were not helpfull or off topic.

Alternatives Considered: HR Partner

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: The cost.

Excellent, low-cost solution for Non-profits!

Comments: By switching our leave management and time tracking to Calamari, we have greatly reduced the amount of administrative hours spent on tracking PTOs and ensuring staff are working an appropriate amount of hours. The Slack integration has also been a huge bonus - staff don't need to log in to yet another app and instead can manage time off and clocking in/out right from the Slack app that they already use all day long.

Pros:

Calamari has an easy to use, simple user design that was easy for our team to switch to. The support team is always very helpful in onboarding our organization and answering any questions to date. My favourite part is the Slack integration; my team uses Slack for daily communication, so having the ability to do practically anything you needed for time tracking and leave management within Slack has been extremely convenient.

Cons:

One feature that I think may be lacking is the work schedules. As office workers a team's schedule is usually pretty similar from week-to-week, however, we offer flexible work schedules that have varied number of hours or days that are worked every other week. Calamari currently doesn't have the ability to customize work schedules to this level, which has led our operations team to have to put in more hours than we would have liked in setting up work schedules to properly reflect scheduled number of hours. I would also think this would be a major downfall for any organization that schedules shifts for their employees.

Alternatives Considered: AttendanceBot, Jibble and BambooHR

Reasons for Choosing Calamari: To save valuable administrative time and reduce the chance of human error in paid time off calculations for staff.

Switched From: Jibble and Microsoft Excel

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: Calamari had a more user-friendly design, offered both time tracking and leave management (which most other programs did not), offered non-profit pricing, and had an extremely easy to use Slack integration.

Calamari - managing your team's availability is couple simple clicks

Comments: Overall I'm very happy we are using Calamari, and I would gladly consider adding more modules but they need to be as flexible as leave management and allow us to customize as per our needs.

Pros:

The price and simplicity of setting it up and then maintenance. Connection to Slack. Open API that we could use to connect to Float. Very nice and responsvice customer service (dziękuję pani Kasiu!!)

Cons:

The UI experience is simple but the user experience is not always what I would hope for. The Calendar view, the way administrators need to click through to everything, often the lists refresh unexpectedly and I'm getting lots between what I expected and what is displayed.

Alternatives Considered: Bob, HRnest, tomHRM, AlexisHR and HRappka

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: The price and simplicity of setting it up and then maintenance.

Calamari - weird name, great product

Comments: Very positive experience and once set up, we have been able to use the system reliably with no help needed from support

Pros:

Very simple to deploy with a transparent pricing structure

Cons:

In reality, nothing. The product is easy to customize and adapt for specific use

Alternatives Considered: GreatSoft CRM

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: Pricing is a lot more competitive and the simplicity means it does exactly what I need it to do

Excellent product and a great value

Comments: It has been a great addition to our company overall. It is very simple to request time off, to approve requests, and to track coverage on any given day. The timeclock is extremely simple to use, but also offers plenty of features. We have been very pleased with our decision to implement Calamari.

Pros:

We love the ease of use, the integration with other applications, and the excellent UI. The fact that Calamari can send a Slack notification every morning to inform the team who is out that day is extremely helpful. Ease of use is a critical component to get buy-in from all employees, and Calamari is great in that regard.

Cons:

The areas where I can see room for improvement are mostly to do with reporting. Many companies require a signed record of timecard approval to ensure that employees are being compensated fairly. In order to achieve this, we have to export data and configure it manually. It would be great to incorporate a timecard approval workflow into the application to make this seamless.

The easy & o365 Integrated PTO Tracking we needed.

Comments: For our primary need in tracking PTO, calamari is exactly what we needed. The integration is seamless, and the UI is as simple as it can be, considering the many variables that come into play when HR vacation policy needs to be flexible across the whole business per employee.

Pros:

PTO tracking systems are the primary purpose we use and love calamari. The fact that we are able to use calamari to track vacation days, and control approval but also to have email prompts and sync a calendar to our o365 email calendars - thats what is critical for us. The options for types and levels of employees allows HR vacation policy to be flexible across the whole business per employee.

Cons:

Time clock and time sheets may become more of an important tool for us, but at the moment we only use it for part-time remote staff. The ability to print reports, and export pdf options are limited, making discussion and clarification with employees challenging unless they lean-in to read your computer screen. For this purpose, our ability to use calamari for this purpose is limited.

The best you can have in your company

Comments: We use the Calamari system in the full range of modules in our company, it definitely facilitates and automates our work, which was previously limited to paper form. Now we not only protect the environment, but also use a modern tool.

Pros:

The system is simple and very comfortable for use by employees. Ease of administration is also a big plus.

Cons:

There is no such thing :) You can't stick to anything

Very good software for good money

Comments: Very good customer service

Pros:

Ease of use and pricing. It is very good for small companies like mine but also for bigger enterprises. I have recomended them to my customers and they are happy with Calamari too.

Cons:

It is hard to learn it at the begining but customer support is very helpful in this area.

Offer great policy integration

Pros:

We could build in our leave policies so that Calamari enforces the rules automatically (e.g., who is eligible to take school visitation leave, awarding some leave annually and some by days worked, different minimum durations for different leave types, etc). It offers very granular control over the setup, and is very intuitive and smooth once setup.

Cons:

The downside of having such detailed control options is the steep learning curve in the implementation process. Fortunately, the customer support staff are great and really helpful with figuring everything out. I'd like Calamari to implement an "edit" feature for approved leave requests, which would be more convenient than cancelling and resubmitting.

Alternatives Considered: Bindle and Timetastic

Reasons for Choosing Calamari: It was a homegrown system that was overly complicated to manage and whose software could change on short notice (we relied on a free add-on for the approval process).

Switched From: Google Forms

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: Calamari had the best policy integration, and we have a whole variety of policies for a variety of leave types.

Would recommend!

Comments: The customer service and technical assistance that I have received while working with Calamari has been unparalleled. As soon as I signed up for a free trial a representative reached out to me and answered every question I had. For weeks she had very consistent and helpful communications with me and guided me through every step of the way!

Pros:

This software is clean, simple and easy to use. it integrates well with Slack and outlook calendars. It's easy for employees to use and keep track of their own time off reporting in an organized way. It's very customizable to out companies accrual rules, holidays, birthdays, working hours and PTO. I really love that our employees do not have to leave the Slack pap to request PTO and check their balance.

Cons:

There is little that is missing from this software and they are always making updates! I would say if you have a lot of employees it takes some time to set them all up initially.

Alternatives Considered: Built for Teams

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: It was fully integrated with Slack and they are competitive in pricing

A good product at high price

Comments: I like the software technically speaking, but it seems to me expensive for what it does. A leave management and a clock in software should be so expensive. That's why I am looking for other alternatives like OrangeHRM.

Pros:

- Easy of use and implementation - Easy of customization

Cons:

- Clock in and leave management have to be paid separately and are expensive.

Alternatives Considered: Jira and OrangeHRM

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: Because it was easy to set up, and we needed something with no time.

Most versatile time and leave management system I know off

Comments: One of the added benefits, aside making administrative HR work easier, is the ability to use Calamari as a communication tool especially with remote teams and hybrid work. Team members can easily follow absences and also when Clockin module is used to follow whether someone has already started working or left already or is taking a break. Having easy access to this information takes down the frustration if there is a delay in communication (chat applications like Slack) and has improved overall cordiality among the employees.

Pros:

Simple and focused to do what needs to be done. Very versatile and easy to customize, especially when you have teams in different countries. Customer service is always helpful and really does forward ideas and concerns to the development team. Hands down the best software to make life easier in smaller companies where a lot of HR work is done by one person or only a small team.

Cons:

I used to miss the Break feature synchronization with Slack. In our current company we use only the Leave module so that is not an issue here. Also when using the Clockin module, there should be a different icon setting be made available for days taken entirely off as accumulated overtime. Currently it is possible to do it, but the system treats it as a remote work day, which is misleading because such person has already done the work needed. It does not happen often, but when it is needed, it does add confusion and requires a lot of manual handling and double checking.

Good but Not Great

Comments: We moved from paper forms to online. Calamari has a nice visual to it, and seemed to me to be intuitive to use. Set up was mediocre; I think it could be easier but also in testing other products, it's not the worst. We chose to use just the time off portion and not the clock in/out option. This does mean, however, that the time accrued for PTO is not accurate, and while I have told my staff that the accurate accounting is on each paystub, they are frustrated by that.
Additionally, while I feel the system is really self-explanatory, people seem to have trouble with requesting partial days, changing the type of PTO requested (vacation, sick, etc), and requesting multiple days at once.
The customer service is good; they are happy to answer questions you may have.
I decided to look into their clock in/clock out option, to streamline three products that we use, but I did not like the options of a mobile app, web app, or beacons. I didn't like that the beacons did not take into account lunch breaks. I could set a lunch break for everyone, but then if they took 45 minutes instead of an hour, or 1hr5min, it doesn't take that into account.

Pros:

I wanted a product that fit in our budget, that could keep track of time off requests online. I was tired of paper floating everywhere! Calamari fit that bill.

Cons:

There is no way to edit your time off request. If you make a mistake, the entire request has to be deleted, then the manager has to approve the cancellation, then you can resubmit the request. It's a lot of steps.

Alternatives Considered: uAttend, QuickBooks Time, BambooHR and Clockify

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: Cost

Almost invisible and very flexible absences tracking tool

Comments: It takes a while to set up Calamari properly but after you do (and you can always reach out to their support and receive answers and detailed instructions in short time) it works on its own and you just invite new people as they join the team. We have switched from our previousOn a daily basis, I almost don't notice we use Calamari because no one reaches out to me with any issues or questions on how to use it.

Pros:

- thanks to Calamari shared calendars being easily added to GCal we can automatically see any planned absences in the team (holidays, remote work, business trips, sick leave etc) directly in our GCals (previously we had to keep a separate shared team GCal for these and add absences manually) - everyone is able to check their current entitlement anytime with just a couple of clicks and request their time off on the go - no need to send emails to multiple people in the company to request time off and have it registered (this was solved with a customised approval flow) - appointing the substitute can be done at the stage of requesting time off - you can send all notifications to Slack and track status of your request from there - multiple, customisable approval flows and absence types - customised holiday calendars which can be linked to individual users or teams (very helpful especially in Germany) - no need to track the absences manually: it takes a couple of clicks to generate absence reports and requests required for payroll - very responsive and competent support

Cons:

I only wish that we used Calamari on the company level. With other team being first to register for it, we can't fully integrate with GSuite and it takes up to 24 hours for the Calamari shared calendar to sync with GCal.

Leave Management Tracking

Comments: Great SAAS that is available for a great cost. We didn't need anything super powerful. We actually have the same functionality for free with our ADP software, but pay for Calamari because it is easier from a management perspective.

Pros:

The software is very flexible with regards to being able to track a variety of leave methods. We have different people at different levels of the company who get various entitlements and Calamari was able to handle it all. We also are able to track our business travel of our sales managers through the system which is helpful too.

Cons:

The app is fairly easy, but the user interface could be a bit easier for users who are not as computer savvy. It could be a little more clear on what time they have less what time is scheduled for their net time leftover.

Alternatives Considered: Zoho Recruit, BambooHR and Freshteam

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: Cost

Leave Management Made Easy

Comments: Hassle-free leave and attendance management system with always smiling customer support team.

Pros:

As a startup, I was looking for a perfect solution for leaves and attendance management. By using Calamari, you can approve your employee’s leaves from your fingertips. And every detail you need is available on their dashboard.

Cons:

Having issues sometimes with the attendance management as the beacon system doesn't work with us well yet. Hopefully, they will fix it in future as I have faith in them.

Alternatives Considered: Zoho People, AttendanceBot, Dynamics 365 and Sage HR

Switched From: Zoho People, AttendanceBot, Dynamics 365 and Sage HR

Excellent HR Management tool

Comments: On the few occasions that we have required support or assistance they have been extremely attentive both through the live chat feature and over emails. We've received 5 star service at every turn. Our thanks go to their team for being so responsive.

Pros:

We use Calamari for a range of HR activities. The most useful features that we use on a daily basis include: 1. Absence Requests: Employees are able to request paid time off / vacations / unpaid leave etc in a formal and structured manner. The approval process is easy to calibrate and set up for managers. Provides an easy process where documentation can be added to support requests (such as medical leave notes). 2. Calendar feature: When payroll exceptions need to be considered, the calendar feature is an easy way to make any adjustments that need to be made. It also enables you to plan for staggering of vacations for employees inside the same department. 3. Employees: Easy to create a database of all employees where information from starting dates, salary etc. can be recorded and quickly accessed. 4. Reports: Functional and and easy to prepare using this feature.

Cons:

As far as the requirements of our business go, Calamari offers all the necessary features (and additional ones) that we need. We have no complaints regarding the software that have come up in the time we have been using it.

absence management and clock in/clock out were never so easy

Comments: Super easy leave management and clock in/clock out (using beacon).

Pros:

It's a new way of absence & leave management. You can plan and track all types of vacation, paid time off, sickness and you can do it without old, annoying paper forms. You'r always few mouse clicks from your dreamed vacations ;) Another wery importand feature is clock in/clock out - it's super easy to use especially with bluetooth beacons support. Place a token in your office reception and install/configure calamari app on our phone. That's all! You can forget about clockin in/out ever again. It will by done automaticaly when you enter/leave your offiice. If you don't want to use beacons or when you'r work from home you can still clock in/out "manual" from mobile app. It's worth to mention that calamari has super helpfull customer service.

Cons:

Beacon support for Android phone still need some fine-tunning compareing to iOS version. Except that - it's just perfect!

Good software but expensive for us

Comments: It is an excellent software that does what it says. For us and for every company that does not have budget for many SaaS, the price is too expensive. As responsible for the IT internal services, we probably will change the software in the next year for a cheaper one because we are an ONG Foundation and we cannot afford it. For the rest of SaaS we use to have specific budget agreements for non-profit or educational institutions.

Pros:

usability the software is mature enough

Cons:

I would say that the price is our worst handicap By other hands, I would like to have more functionalities like HR (contacts, payrolls, etc) management.

Alternatives Considered: absence.io, Replicon, OrangeHRM and Toggl Track

Reasons for Switching to Calamari: Easy of use, sync with G Suite, check-in.

Lightweight and easy to deploy

Comments: It has saved me and my team a lot of time and confusion! This is the best solution by far that we have found.

Pros:

It was simple to on-board the team to this software and it has been smooth to operate since.

Cons:

The UI is difficult to navigate at times and there were several issues in our initial set-up.

User-Friendly, Affordable, and Customizable

Comments: Our current HRIS/Payroll system doesn't properly accommodate our unique PTO policies, therefore we had to find an outside solution. Calamari has been wonderful. It was very easy to setup and we've had great adoption from our employees. They use the system every single day.

Pros:

I really enjoy the ease of use and how the customization. We have unique time off policies and teleworking policies. The system can accommodate all type of policies.

Cons:

The sync or integration with Google was a little challenging. We had to contact the support team a few times to get it fully integrated and working properly. However, the support team was responsive and helpful.

Great, easy and very helpful product! Now I can not imagine how we actually

Comments: Pure market analysis

Pros:

Calamari helps my company handle holidays. It allows me to easily control, monitor all absences and what is really helpful helps me to decide if I should accept holiday request, when someone in my team had requested and this request has been already accepted! That is the core functionality for me :) I really love integrations that Calamari provides me! At first: GSuite (by Google) - I do not have to worry about creating new accounts and I can see all of absences in my Google Calendar (this is my favorite) . Another huge integration is with Slack, which is main messenger in my company. I can just accept and decline requests without login in into Calamari! On the other hand I really like is Calamari support, those guys (especially Hubert) are fast as lightning, very thoughtful, proactive and they for sure will help you configure your instance. Communication with them is pleasure :) Once Calamari is configured is maintenance-free, and very very comfy!

Speak for itself

Comments: I have been using Calamari for 7+ years and am still a happy customer. It saves me heaps of time and I can focus on other tasks. Staffs can DIY check their leave records anytime.

Pros:

Intuitive. The screen is pretty much self explanatory. Easy to implement and use.

Cons:

Nothing that I can think of. If I had issues which I couldn't resolve, I always dropped them an email and they responded promptly.