Both tools help you make more of your time off, but they work differently. Offdays is a shareable, customisable planner you can return to throughout the year: move dates, include religious and school holidays, and keep track of your allowance as life changes. Holiday Optimizer takes a one-shot approach: enter your allowance and preferences, then generate a suggested plan for those inputs. You can change the inputs and run it again for another result.
Offdays vs Holiday Optimizer at a glance
| Planning need | Offdays | Holiday Optimizer |
|---|---|---|
| Best starting point | Map your own leave year and compare dates before requesting time off. | Enter a PTO allowance and generate a suggested plan for the year. |
| Using it throughout the year | Keep a customisable plan and update it as dates, commitments, and your remaining allowance change. | Generate a result from the inputs you choose; change the inputs and run the optimizer again for a different result. |
| Sharing your plan | Share your leave plan with other people. | An optional paid calendar export lets you download the generated plan as a calendar file. |
| Finding breaks | Explore options in a year view and choose the dates that fit your plans. | Automatically suggests breaks using five strategies, including long weekends and extended vacations. |
| Leave allowance | Track planned days and see how much allowance remains as your plans change. | Enter available PTO; already booked days are fixed and deducted before the plan is generated. |
| Planning period | Set a leave year that matches your job. | Choose a calendar year or a 12-month period starting in your chosen month. |
| Public holidays | See public holidays alongside your leave where built-in coverage is available, and add other dates that matter to you. | Select holidays from 100+ countries, with regional options where available. |
| Other dates to plan around | Include religious observances and school holidays alongside your leave dates. | Add company days off and already booked vacation days to the generated plan. |
| Calendar export | Export an iCal file for Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar. | Optional paid calendar export; the planner itself is free. |
Which planner fits you?
Choose Offdays if you want a customisable plan you can use and share throughout the year: see your leave, religious observances, and school holidays together, try dates around real-life plans, and keep your allowance visible as things change. Start planning in Offdays.
Choose Holiday Optimizer if you want a suggested PTO schedule from a one-shot run, especially with a specific break style or automatic public holiday selection for your location. You can rerun it when your inputs change. Visit Holiday Optimizer.
Sources and updates
This comparison uses the Offdays site and how-to guide, plus the Holiday Optimizer site and its how-it-works guide. Features and pricing were checked on 19 September 2026 and may change.