Best capacity planning software for agencies

PeopleMuster ranks first for agency capacity planning: leave is approved once against each person's quota, and it clears their days on the plan along with company holidays, at $3 per person a month with HR included. Resource Guru follows from $5 a person, then Teamdeck at $6 per full member.

How this was judged

Ranked on how leave and public holidays reach an agency's month plan without a second entry, then on the published per-person price.

Six products were compared on 24 September 2026. Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page and each capability line from the vendor's own site. An agency plan is only as good as its availability, so the first question is where leave and holidays come from. A tool where leave is approved against a quota in the same system ranks above one where time off is entered in the planner, and both rank above one whose time-off handling we could not confirm. Within each group, the lower published price ranks higher. Disclosure: PeopleMuster is our product, and it sits where the method puts it.

The ranking

PeopleMuster

$3 per person a month, every module included, no tiers. $30 per person a year on annual billing.

Who it suits: A creative or digital agency that books people onto client work by the day and wants the plan to know who is off.
Where it wins: The plan is a grid of each person by day, in hours, with a monthly total per person. Approved leave shows as L and company holidays as H, so nobody gets booked on a day off. Under, partial, full and over bands follow your team's expected working day, and you can filter billable from non-billable work or group the grid by project.

Resource Guru

Grasshopper $5, Blackbelt $8, Master $12 per person a month. Annual billing gives two months free. No setup fee. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: An agency that wants a dedicated booking calendar and reports on time off and utilisation.
Where it wins: A time off report that counts every kind of downtime, and a utilisation report of demand against capacity.
Where it falls short: A booking calendar sold on its own, with the top tier at $12 a person.

Teamdeck

Light Member $2, Full Member $6 per member a month (the page does not label the billing period). 14-day trial. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: A studio that mixes staff and freelancers on one resource calendar.
Where it wins: Teamdeck tracks sick, casual and annual leave beside its resource calendars and project timesheets.
Where it falls short: Light and Full members are priced apart, and the billing period isn't labelled on the page.

Float

Starter $7, Pro $12 per scheduled person a month. Enterprise custom. Guests free. Verified September 2026.

Who it suits: An agency that wants a scheduling tool on its own, with clients and guests viewing for free.
Where it wins: Float records time off in the schedule, and guests don't count as paid seats.
Where it falls short: Priced per scheduled person, and the people record lives in a separate HR system.

Productive

Essential $10 per user a month billed yearly ($12 monthly). Professional $25 ($29 monthly). 3-seat minimum. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: An agency that wants capacity inside a full agency PSA.
Where it wins: Productive ships time-off and capacity alongside projects, and is built for agencies.
Where it falls short: Three seats minimum, and employee records come from a connected HR system such as Personio.

Runn

Lite $7, Standard $11 per resource seat a month billed yearly ($9 and $13 monthly). Advanced custom. 20-seat minimum. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: An agency of 20 or more that forecasts capacity months ahead.
Where it wins: Runn sells capacity forecasting and planning, with a 30-day trial.
Where it falls short: Twenty seats minimum, so a smaller agency pays for seats it doesn't fill.

Questions people ask

What's the best capacity planning software for a creative or digital agency?

On how leave and holidays reach the plan, PeopleMuster ranks first at $3 per person a month, because leave approved in the HR record clears the planner by itself. Resource Guru follows from $5 a person and Teamdeck at $6 per full member. Float starts at $7 per scheduled person.

How do I plan my team's capacity around leave and public holidays?

Start each month from available hours, not calendar days. Take out approved leave and public holidays first, then book client work into what's left. In PeopleMuster that happens on its own: approved leave shows as L and company holidays as H on each person's row, so the free hours are already visible.

How many hours should an agency plan per person each day?

Plan against your own expected working day, then watch for people running over it. PeopleMuster's bands use an 8-hour day by default: under 4 hours is under, 4 to 7 is partial, 8 is full and more is over. Set a different expected day and the bands move with it.