A time-off request flow — an employee submits, a manager approves, a calendar shows who's out — is genuinely one of the simpler builds on this register, well within reach for a small team.
Build it
Effort: a weekendRunning cost: $0/mo to start
Why CanICodeThis says Build it
A time-off request with employee, dates, and a status (pending, approved, denied) is ordinary CRUD
A manager approval flow is a simple state change with an email notification
A calendar view showing who's out when is straightforward aggregation over approved requests
The parts that'll cause problems
Accrual math (earning 1.5 days of PTO per month, capped at a rolling balance) needs to be genuinely correct — errors here cause real disputes
Multi-level approval chains (manager, then HR) need a small workflow engine, not a single approval step
Labor law compliance around mandatory leave varies by jurisdiction and carries real legal weight if handled wrong
How I'd build this
frontend
Next.js
database
Supabase
hosting
Vercel
MVP scope
Time-off requests with employee, date range, and status
Manager approve/deny with an email notification
A calendar view of approved time off
Postpone to v2
Accrual balance tracking
Multi-level approval chains
Jurisdiction-specific leave rules
What it actually costs to build
AI agent — with a subscription (Claude Pro/Max, Cursor, etc.)
$0 marginal
AI agent — pay-per-use API, no subscription
$43–$86 one-time
Hosting, once it's running
$0/mo (free tier)
Domain name, if you want your own
~$12/yr
Existing tools solving a similar problem typically run $8–$8/mo — see how they compare below.
The build prompt
Build me a time-off tracker, genuinely achievable in a weekend:
1. Employees submit a request with a date range.
2. A manager approves or denies it, triggering an email notification either way.
3. A calendar view shows approved time off across the team.
Simple login with employee and manager roles is enough — no need for anything heavier. Out of scope: accrual balance math (earning a fixed amount of PTO per month, capped at a rolling balance), which needs to be genuinely correct since errors cause real disputes, and multi-level approval chains (manager, then HR), a small workflow engine beyond a single approval step.
