Should I Build It Should I Build It
19 Apr 2025
Productivity Time Tracking

An application for users to manage their time off and record when ...

...they'll be away from work

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Freemium

People love using similar products but resist paying. You’ll need to either find who will pay or create additional value that’s worth paying for.

Should You Build It?

Build but think about differentiation and monetization.

Your are here

You're entering a market with several similar products for managing time off, as indicated by the 8 matches we found. This suggests a validated need, which is encouraging. However, you'll face competition. The products in this category tend to get decent engagement, reflected by the 24 average comments. This means people are interested and willing to provide feedback, which you can use to your advantage. Based on the 'Freemium' idea category, users generally like these tools but may resist paying. The key challenge is differentiating your application and finding a monetization strategy. Consider who will pay, and for what added value.

Recommendations

  1. Given that you're in the 'Freemium' category, start by offering a valuable free version to attract a broad user base. Identify the core features that provide the most value to individual users and make those readily accessible without charge. This aligns with the general user behavior observed in similar products.
  2. Based on the discussions from similar product launches, a common request is for more customization options (as seen in 'Stretch My Time Off'). Therefore, prioritize offering flexible settings, such as adding personal holidays, accommodating different work week structures, and support for various country-specific calendars. This directly addresses user criticisms and enhances the product's usability.
  3. Consider premium features targeted towards team or company-wide use. For example, features like consolidated employee time-off schedules (as mentioned in the 'AI Time Off' discussion), group vacation planning, and blackout date management could be compelling for businesses willing to pay. Target the features toward the organization as a whole to leverage the freemium nature of the tool for individual adoption.
  4. Offer personalized support or consulting services for larger organizations as a premium add-on. This could involve helping them integrate the application with their existing HR systems or providing training to their employees. These high-touch services justify a higher price point and cater to the needs of businesses with more complex requirements.
  5. Explore usage-based pricing where you charge based on the number of active users or the amount of data processed. This allows you to capture revenue as your user base grows without immediately requiring everyone to pay upfront. This also means you can scale your backend dynamically and plan for additional resources as they are needed.
  6. Actively gather user feedback through surveys, in-app prompts, and community forums. Pay close attention to feature requests and pain points, and iterate on the product based on this input. The high engagement observed in similar products shows that users are willing to contribute their ideas, which is invaluable for product development.
  7. Address concerns about product information. As users of 'AI Time Off' desired more comprehensive product details, ensure that you provide clear and detailed information on your website and Product Hunt page. Focus on highlighting the benefits of your product and providing transparent pricing information to enable informed decisions.

Questions

  1. Given that users desire custom holiday allocations, how will you ensure that your application can integrate/cater to a wide range of countries' specific holiday calendars and work week structures?
  2. How will you balance offering a valuable free version with enticing users to upgrade to premium features that generate revenue? What specific features are compelling enough to drive conversions?
  3. Considering the comments about the product 'No ads, no login website to track work hours' being too bloated, how will you ensure that your app remains lightweight, fast, and easy to use, while still providing a comprehensive set of features?

Your are here

You're entering a market with several similar products for managing time off, as indicated by the 8 matches we found. This suggests a validated need, which is encouraging. However, you'll face competition. The products in this category tend to get decent engagement, reflected by the 24 average comments. This means people are interested and willing to provide feedback, which you can use to your advantage. Based on the 'Freemium' idea category, users generally like these tools but may resist paying. The key challenge is differentiating your application and finding a monetization strategy. Consider who will pay, and for what added value.

Recommendations

  1. Given that you're in the 'Freemium' category, start by offering a valuable free version to attract a broad user base. Identify the core features that provide the most value to individual users and make those readily accessible without charge. This aligns with the general user behavior observed in similar products.
  2. Based on the discussions from similar product launches, a common request is for more customization options (as seen in 'Stretch My Time Off'). Therefore, prioritize offering flexible settings, such as adding personal holidays, accommodating different work week structures, and support for various country-specific calendars. This directly addresses user criticisms and enhances the product's usability.
  3. Consider premium features targeted towards team or company-wide use. For example, features like consolidated employee time-off schedules (as mentioned in the 'AI Time Off' discussion), group vacation planning, and blackout date management could be compelling for businesses willing to pay. Target the features toward the organization as a whole to leverage the freemium nature of the tool for individual adoption.
  4. Offer personalized support or consulting services for larger organizations as a premium add-on. This could involve helping them integrate the application with their existing HR systems or providing training to their employees. These high-touch services justify a higher price point and cater to the needs of businesses with more complex requirements.
  5. Explore usage-based pricing where you charge based on the number of active users or the amount of data processed. This allows you to capture revenue as your user base grows without immediately requiring everyone to pay upfront. This also means you can scale your backend dynamically and plan for additional resources as they are needed.
  6. Actively gather user feedback through surveys, in-app prompts, and community forums. Pay close attention to feature requests and pain points, and iterate on the product based on this input. The high engagement observed in similar products shows that users are willing to contribute their ideas, which is invaluable for product development.
  7. Address concerns about product information. As users of 'AI Time Off' desired more comprehensive product details, ensure that you provide clear and detailed information on your website and Product Hunt page. Focus on highlighting the benefits of your product and providing transparent pricing information to enable informed decisions.

Questions

  1. Given that users desire custom holiday allocations, how will you ensure that your application can integrate/cater to a wide range of countries' specific holiday calendars and work week structures?
  2. How will you balance offering a valuable free version with enticing users to upgrade to premium features that generate revenue? What specific features are compelling enough to drive conversions?
  3. Considering the comments about the product 'No ads, no login website to track work hours' being too bloated, how will you ensure that your app remains lightweight, fast, and easy to use, while still providing a comprehensive set of features?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 8
  • Engagement: High
    • Average number of comments: 24
  • Net use signal: 2.8%
    • Positive use signal: 10.6%
    • Negative use signal: 7.8%
  • Net buy signal: -1.7%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 1.7%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

AI Time Off - AI-Powered time off management simplified

19 Oct 2023 Human Resources Artificial Intelligence Productivity

AI Time Off simplifies time off management with AI automation. Create and manage policies effortlessly, reduce admin tasks, and prioritize what matters.

AI Time Off automates and simplifies time off management, removing personal responsibility and easing decision-making. Users congratulate the team on the launch and express interest in seeing more of the product, with one user requesting early access. A floor manager is interested in viewing employee time off schedules.

Users desire more comprehensive product information both on Product Hunt and the main website. They are looking for more details to make informed decisions.

erkin_bek

AI Time Off is the answer to a long-standing issue in workplaces everywhere: simplifying and streamlining time off management. While I may not be the founder of this project, I'm genuinely excited to share my thoughts on its potential. Say goodbye to the days of convoluted time off management systems. AI Time Off allows you to effortlessly create and automate your organization's time off policies, covering everything from unpaid leave to various custom categories. This platform takes the headache out of juggling administrative tasks, freeing up your precious time for what truly matters. The promise of automation and simplicity is a game-changer for businesses of all sizes. AI Time Off is poised to reshape how we approach time off management, making it not only more efficient but also more employee-friendly. This launch marks a significant step forward in redefining how we balance work and life. I'm excited to see how AI Time Off transforms workflows, enhances productivity, and creates a better work-life balance for employees. The future of time off management looks promising! 🚀

hikaru_nagashima

When it comes to vacation management, having it done by humans often involves hesitations and reading the room. Having AI handle it might make it easier since you don't have to take personal responsibility.

wintoniak

Would love to check it out, is there any kind of early access preview that you can share?

kingromstar

Good idea. Will be nice as a floor manager to be able to see who is off for the day and who is going to be off next week, etc.

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Relevance

TIMEOFF.GURU - Leave management for teams made easy

18 Feb 2024 Human Resources SaaS

TIMEOFF.GURU is an online platform designed to simplify your organization's leave management and absence tracking. It offers a unique and simple interface that allows you to efficiently manage time off requests, view balances, and track absences in real-time.

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Relevance

Stretch My Time Off – An Algorithm to Optimize Your Vacation Days

12 Nov 2024 Productivity

Hey HN! I built StretchMyTimeOff as a quick experiment using Cursor (Anysphere's AI code editor) and GPT-4o to see how far AI could go in building a simple, functional site.What it does: The site helps you get the most out of your vacation by suggesting optimal days to take off around national holidays, maximizing long breaks with minimal vacation days, anywhere in the world and for any calendar year.It's an idea I've had for a while, and building the algorithm with GPT was a fun challenge. Any feedback or ideas I'm all ears :)

Users appreciate the tool for planning vacations, especially around school holidays and public holidays, but request more customization options, such as adding personal holidays, manual day-picking, and company-specific calendars. Some criticize the lack of flexibility for different countries' holidays and suggest improvements like a Monday start option. There's a desire for features to optimize time off, like group vacation planning and black-out days. Users also discuss the impact of taking time off on work, school, and travel, with varying opinions on the best strategies for maximizing PTO. Some comments are unrelated or humorous, and a few report technical issues.

Users criticize the product for lacking customization options, particularly for holiday allocations, work weeks, and education constraints. There's a strong emphasis on the tool's impracticality for parents with school-bound children, the high cost and inconvenience of travel during public holidays, and the lack of features for corporate and local holidays. Users also note the tool's incompatibility with various countries' systems, misleading information, and the need for manual overrides. Additionally, there are complaints about the website's functionality, such as errors and poor handling of date transitions.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=pc86

When I was in my early 20s I had a few friends who were obsessed with traveling and would do stuff like this to maximize long blocks of time off, then they'd pick where to go because now they have 9 days instead of 4, and decide where to go backed on what time of year they had that longer block.If your trying to maximize "contiguous days off" and you truly don't care when it is, a tool like this is super helpful.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jimjonah

I second that request!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=Micanthus

This is really cool! I might use this to help plan some of my 2025 vacationsSome suggestions for useful features:- Ability to customize the work week. I only work Mon-Thurs, which will greatly affect the optimal solution- Add arbitrary holidays in case the company gives an extra day off, this would nicely complement the existing feature to turn off some holidays- Select an arbitrary time frame less than a year long. This would be helpful especially to plan end-of-year vacations- In addition to or instead of the previous point: input what vacations you already have planned. Obviously I can't always take only the most optimal vacations, but I could potentially make my existing ones more optimal by extending them in some casesThanks for sharing it! Really cool idea, I've only done this kind of planning ad-hoc in my head, it never occurred to me to solve it exactly

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=bobmagoo

Fun tool! I'd love for the "Edit List" menu to allow me to add company holidays to factor those into the maximization

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=8mobile

Very useful app, especially for kids holidays. I live in Bavaria, Germany and the holidays are different from other regions. I really like the app and hope you will continue to update it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=vindex10

The tool is great, I would definitely use it couple of times a year to see the "pattern" :) The design is great!Adding to the comment on "calculations". Perhaps the wording could be improved, now it feels a bit like a dark pattern in sales.This is not the best version, but explains what I mean:"Let's turn your X days of time off into Y days of holidays."

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=ablx000

It's very nice. I'd like the feature to set some "fixed time off" (e.g. school is closed) and substract them from my days of.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=rapfaria

Folks under brazilian law , employed as "CLT", have 30 days PTO, but it must be divided into up to three periods, one of them has to be at least 14 consecutive days, and the other two at least 5 days each.Sure would be nice to stretch 30 days to 61 as the app suggests...

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=someoldgit

LOL, this works well. I used to do exactly this manually every year to maximize free time blocks for pursuing pet projects. Bravo. Great use of GPT. Could you also add factoring in sick days per year (mon/fri)?

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=limbero

I have a similar home-cooked tool at https://semestra.limbe.ro but ended up using Nager.Date instead, and it has better coverage for Sweden at least: https://date.nager.at/Api I liked the online-first approach since it means you get new or moved holidays without a package bump. The downside is of course if you want an offline-first approach.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=bluetidepro

As others have said, I would love to see more variations to show “options” on ties, and also have more customization around holidays. Not just show/hide but adding and removing custom dates would be great!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=marssaxman

I don't precisely know - that's the beauty of it! More than I used to take when I had to cautiously ration each precious day out from a limited supply, each time asking "is this really important enough to spend a PTO day on, and will I be leaving enough days in reserve in case something more important comes up later?" Now I just go when I feel like going, and there's no stress about it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=gunnihinn

That's pretty cool. Unfortunately school holidays mean I can't take time off whenever, but I can definitely use the idea to plan time off around those.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=ct0

Very cool! It would be helpful if you just made a list of holidays we could check off. Im going to use this!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=rjakobsson

Great tool and excellent design . I’ve always wanted something like this.

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Relevance

PicnicHR – Simple HR and time-off tracking for your team

29 Aug 2023 Human Resources

Hey HN! Picnic started as a side-project during lockdown for internal use, and we recently decided to share with the world as a full product.There's a lot of leave / time-off management applications out there, quite a few we've tried.. We hope Picnic is a more accessible solution, particularly for smaller businesses.An overview of Picnic functionality:- Employees can submit requests for vacation and other time-off, and be notified of their manager's response- Managers and supervisors can process requests for leave, and provide explanation- Team members can view their personal calendar, and managers can view their team's calendar to see upcoming time off, and plan resourcing- Browse all company employees in the employee directory (with the option to make the list visible to all employees, or managers only)- Manage employees information, including personal details, and emergency contactsPicnic is HR software designed to scale to companies of any size, but is especially suited to small and medium businesses.We'd welcome your thoughts on the product, and where we might develop it further!

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