Float is one of the best visual schedulers for teams. Kavaro is built for the decision before the schedule: which work to take, who should do it, and what it does to margin. This page compares them fairly. It covers features, Float's pricing at 20 and 60 people, and when Float is the better pick.
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Checked against Float's pricing page and help centre on 19 October 2026.
The short answer
| If you mainly need… | Pick |
|---|---|
| A polished, visual schedule that anyone in the team can read | Float |
| To pay only for people on the schedule, with free guests | Float |
| Time tracking and client rate cards in the same tool as the schedule | Float Pro |
| To start from a statement of work and get a drafted, staffed project | Kavaro |
| Margin per booking, with tentative revenue reported separately | Kavaro |
| Costed options (slip, freelancer, partial cover, hire) when a role has no one in it | Kavaro |
Where Kavaro and Float differ
A schedule vs a staffing decision
Float shows who's working on what, and both tools let you hold tentative work. One Reddit commenter sums it up as "best for small teams needing a simple, visual resource planner."
Kavaro puts the call before the schedule. Drop a statement of work into Kavaro's chat and it drafts the phases, the budget type and the team. It creates tentative bookings against named people or open roles. You edit and confirm. Confirmed work shows solid, tentative work striped, and open roles get rows of their own.
Budgets, retainers and margin
Float's rate cards, cost estimation and advanced reporting come with Pro ($12). Some Float reviewers find budgets the weak spot:
- "It's not great for managing the budget of a project: the reports are really limited" (Delivery Lead, 4★, Capterra).
- "very cumbersome managment of retainer projects" (Head of Delivery, 5★, Capterra).
In Kavaro a retainer is a project with the Retainer budget type, booked week by week alongside fixed-fee and time-and-materials work. Every booking carries a charge rate and a cost rate. The finance view shows revenue, cost and margin per client, with tentative revenue as its own line. An over-serviced retainer shows up before month end, not after it.
When the seat is empty
Float gives you placeholders: 1 on Starter, 5 on Pro. Kavaro's hiring agent watches every open role 4, 8 and 12 weeks ahead and ranks the costed ways to cover it:
- someone in the same role with space
- slipping the start up to 10 working days
- partial cover plus a freelancer
- extending a contract
It also tests whether a permanent hire would pay for itself over 12 months.
AI that proposes, people that confirm
Float's current plans list AI "people experience profiles" (Pro) and "project role suggestions". Kavaro's assistant answers questions like "what margin are we making on this retainer this month?" from your data and shows how it worked the answer out. Every change it suggests comes back as a Confirm/Reject card. You can ask it from Slack, Claude or ChatGPT too.
Feature comparison
| Kavaro | Float | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $20/user/month billed annually; one plan | $7 Starter, $12 Pro per scheduled person/month; Enterprise custom |
| Who you pay for | Each user | Scheduled people only; guests free |
| Free trial | 30 days, no card | 30 days (on Pro), no card; data kept 6 months after |
| Tentative work | Yes, plus open roles | Yes (tentative allocations) |
| Unfilled roles | Open roles | Placeholders: 1 (Starter), 5 (Pro), custom (Enterprise) |
| Time off | In the schedule; clashes flagged weekly | Capacity and time off management (Starter) |
| Time tracking | Timesheet suggestions from bookings | Pro |
| Rate cards | Charge and cost rate on every booking | Client rate cards, multi-currency (Pro) |
| Margin with tentative revenue kept separate | Yes | Not listed |
| Drafts a staffed project from a statement of work | Yes | Not listed (Float lists "project scoping" and role suggestions) |
| Costed cover and hiring options | Yes | Not listed |
| SSO | SAML SSO (Entra ID, Okta, OneLogin) | Pro (SSO and domain restrictions) |
| Integrations | Slack, Jira, Trello, webhooks (Zapier, Make), Claude, ChatGPT | API and integrations (Starter); Google and Outlook calendar, Slack, Zapier listed |
"Not listed" means we didn't find it on Float's pricing page or help centre on 19 October 2026.
Float pricing explained (October 2026)
Float charges per scheduled person per month:
- Starter, $7: scheduling, capacity, time off, project scoping, API.
- Pro, $12: adds time tracking, rate cards, cost estimation, advanced reports, SSO.
- Enterprise: custom, "best for 100+ seat teams".
People who only need to view the schedule can be added as free guests. The trial runs on Pro for 30 days with no card. The pricing page has a monthly/annual switch but shows one price per plan, so check it for any annual discount.
| Team (all scheduled) | Float Pro ($12) | Kavaro ($20 billed annually) |
|---|---|---|
| 20-person agency | $240/month | $400/month |
| 60-person agency | $720/month | $1,200/month |
Float Pro is the highest published list price (Enterprise is custom). Figures are list price × scheduled people, in US dollars, before tax. Kavaro is $20 per user per month billed annually.
The honest read: Float Starter ($7) is much cheaper. On Pro, the per-person list prices are $12 vs Kavaro's $20 billed annually. The choice comes down to whether you need Kavaro's margin, open roles and cover options, or Float's polish and time tracking.
When Float is the better pick
- Your people already know who's doing what, and you want the clearest shared view of it.
- Lots of people only need to view the plan. Float charges for people on the schedule; anyone who only views can be a free guest.
- Time tracking and the schedule in one tool matter more than margin by project.
- You value maturity. Float has 1,621 Capterra reviews at 4.5, and Kavaro is new.
- You're over 100 seats and want an enterprise rollout. Float's Enterprise plan includes onboarding, integration consulting and account management.
When Kavaro is the better pick
- Pitches and tentative work keep creating seats nobody is in yet, and you need the costed options.
- Retainers and fixed-fee work share the same people, and you need to see over-servicing early.
- Finance asks for margin by client with pipeline kept separate, and someone rebuilds it from exports every month.
- You want to ask, not build reports, and confirm every change yourself.
Other Float alternatives
| Tool | Best for | Entry price (19 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Resource Guru | Low-cost booking of people, rooms and equipment | $5 per person/month (no reports); $8 with reports and budgets |
| Productive | All-in-one agency system with resourcing | $10–12 per user/month |
| Teamwork.com | Task-based delivery with workload planning | $24.99 per user/month (Accelerate, annual, min. 5) |
Full comparisons: Resource Guru alternative (includes a priced Resource Guru vs Float table) · Kavaro vs Productive
Switching from Float
You don't have to rebuild your plan by hand:
- People: upload CVs and Kavaro drafts each profile, skills included.
- Projects: upload statements of work and Kavaro drafts projects with their team.
- Live work: paste meeting notes and it proposes the bookings.
You confirm every draft. Run both tools side by side during the 30-day trial.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Float alternative for resource planning?
It depends on what you're missing in Float:
- Margin per booking, tentative revenue kept separate and costed cover for open roles: Kavaro.
- Cheaper scheduling that also books rooms and equipment: Resource Guru.
- One system for sales, budgets, billing and resourcing: Productive.
How much does Float cost?
On 19 October 2026, Float listed Starter at $7 and Pro at $12 per scheduled person per month, with Enterprise on custom pricing. Guests who only view the schedule are free. A 20-person agency on Pro pays about $240 a month.
Does Float have tentative bookings?
Yes. Float supports tentative allocations. It also offers placeholders: 1 on Starter, 5 on Pro and a custom number on Enterprise.
Does Float track budgets and margin?
Float Pro adds client rate cards, project cost estimation and advanced reporting. Kavaro puts a charge and a cost rate on every booking and reports margin with tentative revenue on a separate line.
Is there a free trial of Float and Kavaro?
Both offer 30 days with no card. Float's trial runs on its Pro plan.
Related: Agency resource management software · Pricing · Resource Guru alternative · Kavaro vs Productive