Pause: Your Timetastic Alternative
First things first: three cheers for Timetastic!
They’ve built a robust staff planner tool that helps teams manage their time off. In fact, we used Timetastic for a good few years, too.
Timetastic’s free trial is great, but costs can pile up, and you don’t get access to all their features on a basic package. And if you’re willing to wait a few hours for support, then that’s great. But if you’re not okay with any of these, there’s Pause.
Pause is a lightweight Timetastic alternative that’s easy to use, creates transparency and supports a healthy working culture.
Timetastic vs Pause: What sets Pause apart?
We sweat the details, so we can talk about our designs, features and integrations until the cows come home. But here’s the main differentiator:
Pause is focused on building healthy, happy, and engaged teams and fighting burnout.
Pause is more than just a leave tracking tool. It’s a capacity planner, employee directory, and team communication enabler rolled into one.
Pause keeps employee health and small businesses front and centre, always. It’s flexible for agile remote working teams, but structured enough that confusion is out of the question. It makes every process a breeze, because nobody wants to stress while taking a break; neither does anyone like crap hitting the fan when someone’s on leave.
Pause is also integrated with Intercom to give you instant chat support. No more waiting for a reply back while your company catches on fire.
All of this is why you’ll find Pause to be a flexible, transparent and easy-to-use leave management tool.
Set flexible work weeks for different teams
Pause helps you set and display flexible work weeks, so you handle intra- and inter-team collaboration like a boss. Whether teams work a clean Monday-to-Friday, or slog over the weekend to take Mondays off, Pause can handle it. Project planning and collaboration becomes quick, easy, and efficient. Oh, and piña coladas on a Monday become legit.
Update your 'away' Slack status with a 
When team meetings take place through 13-inch screens, the key to capacity planning and efficient work becomes regular updates — including who’s in and who’s on a break. But it’s too easy to forget to mention your week-long trip to Hawaii when everyone’s busy working. That’s why Pause automagically updates the Slack status of teammates on a break with an unmissable emoji. It’s an unobtrusive, low-effort way to remember who’s on leave. Win!
Sidestep leave conflicts to plan better
A lot can happen with great teamwork — and that involves working as a team even when a few people are missing. Pause helps teammates see their colleagues’ leave schedules right while planning individual time off. This way, no one has to deal with the ugly surprise of being short-staffed at the last moment, and your project trundles along without a hiccup.
Auto-approve leave requests after a while
You and your teams might be juggling multiple roles already. The last thing you need is a low-priority task becoming highly intrusive, right? That’s why Pause is designed to auto-approve leave requests on the scheduled day if no action is taken. Teams can take time off with conviction, and approvers can continue their good work on what matters most without fighting with notifications.
Book time off like having a Slack chat
Booking time off can ironically turn into a stressful event on its own. Who has the energy to fill three leave application forms on five different tabs and wait through multiple rounds of approval for a green signal? We’re sure you don’t. That’s why Pause seamlessly integrates with your Slack workspace — everything leave-related takes place on a tool you’re already using. Teams can ask the Pause bot to send leave applications, approve requests, check leave balances and more, without the paperwork. Switch contexts without switching tools.
Credit leave days monthly or yearly
We understand that not all teams work the same way, and a “one size fits all” leave policy might do more harm than good. If you’re nodding in agreement, we’ve got your back. Pause helps you create the perfect leave policy for your teams, with a combination of leave days that accrue yearly or monthly and can be carried forward. You can also set up unlimited leave, if you like — you have the flexibility!
Never miss a birthday or public holiday
Goodbye awkward belated wishes, hello full-blown celebrations. Pause sends public holiday and birthday notifications in advance to where you need it, whether that’s Slack or Calendar. This helps you plan projects around non-working days, and celebrate special days in good cheer with the whole team.
Decline meetings until you can accept 'em
Taking a break doesn’t just mean jetting off. It also involves switching off mentally, without worrying about all the meetings some nosy notifications say you’re missing. Pause’s Google Calendar integration auto-declines all meetings being scheduled during a leave period. Teammates can switch off entirely, while work goes on splendidly without them.
Get instant support from a caring team
Here’s the deal: when you choose Pause as your preferred leave tracking tool, you’ll never have to wait 24 hours for someone to answer a query. We work with Intercom to give you instant support through chat, whether that’s fixing a minor bug or taking Pause above and beyond to build a healthy work culture. Regardless of the size of your team or the plan you’re on, you’ll get the best customer support right when you need it.