# Calamari: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 27 judge labels across 1 category by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/calamari

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Leave and absence management](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/core/leave-and-absence-management/index.md) | 6% | 5 | 4% | 27 |

## What the models said for it

- "I'd recommend starting with Calamari or Vacation Tracker for their excellent balance of features and pricing" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, Leave)
- "My default pick: Calamari—assuming you want a dedicated PTO tool and already have an HRIS/payroll system." (GPT-6 Luna, Leave)
- "Calamari | Best Overall | Excellent custom absence rules and flexibility" (MiniMax M2.5, Leave)
- "or Calamari if you want a better balance of price and features" (GPT-5.4 mini, Leave)

## And against it

- "but slightly pricier—worth it if you need more features later" (Grok 4.20, Leave)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Calamari, from 77 of the 79 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- forbes.com: 56
- capterra.com: 38
- fitsmallbusiness.com: 26
- charliehr.com: 25
- softwareadvice.com: 22
- desklog.io: 21
- leavedates.com: 21
- sourceforge.net: 20
- actiplans.com: 19
- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 18

### Pages cited

- https://forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-leave-management-systems: 55
- https://capterra.com/leave-management-system-software: 28
- https://charliehr.com/best-leave-management-systems: 25
- https://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-leave-management-system: 24
- https://desklog.io/blog/best-leave-management-software: 21
- https://leavedates.com/articles/7-best-leave-management-systems-for-small-businesses: 21
- https://employsome.com/best/leave-management-software: 17
- https://saasworthy.com/list/leave-management-system: 15

## In its own words

What Calamari's own pages state, read 2026-09-28. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: HR Tools For High‑Performing Teams (https://calamari.io/)
- For: startups, remote-first companies, and small to medium-sized businesses looking to replace spreadsheets and save time on HR admin (https://calamari.io/)
- Price stated: $2 per employee/month (https://calamari.io/)
- Starting price: 2 (https://calamari.io/)
- Free plan or trial: 14 days for free. No card required. (https://calamari.io/)
- Integrations claimed: 8 (https://calamari.io/)
- Certifications: ISO 27001, SOC 2, SOC 3, GDPR
- Customers named: Brightspot, Useme, Netguru, Traffit, Softeq

## What it publishes

Every page calamari.io exposes, read 2026-09-29: 872 addresses. By kind, pages and the last 90 days:

- blog: 216 pages, 1 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-08-04
- case study: 23 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- comparison: 8 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-05-15
- template or tool: 8 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-03-11
- glossary or explainer: 24 pages, 14 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-07-10
- news or press: 1 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- Recent: 2026-08-04 blog: Strategic hr in 2027 the 5 skills that matter and the busywork blocking them https://www.calamari.io/blog/strategic-hr-in-2027-the-5-skills-that-matter-and-the-busywork-blocking-them
- Recent: 2026-07-10 glossary or explainer: Common mistakes when designing a review process and how to avoid them https://www.calamari.io/academy/lesson/common-mistakes-when-designing-a-review-process-and-how-to-avoid-them
- Recent: 2026-07-10 glossary or explainer: Creating an annual review cycle for a company of 30 50 people https://www.calamari.io/academy/lesson/creating-an-annual-review-cycle-for-a-company-of-30-50-people
- Recent: 2026-07-10 glossary or explainer: Goal setting in a fast growing company how to keep performance reviews grounded https://www.calamari.io/academy/lesson/goal-setting-in-a-fast-growing-company-how-to-keep-performance-reviews-grounded
- Recent: 2026-07-10 glossary or explainer: How to build a simple useful performance review form https://www.calamari.io/academy/lesson/how-to-build-a-simple-useful-performance-review-form
- Recent: 2026-07-10 glossary or explainer: How to build a work culture that supports performance reviews https://www.calamari.io/academy/lesson/how-to-build-a-work-culture-that-supports-performance-reviews

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/hr.