Tool profile
Float: cost, fit and limits
Float is a resource scheduling and capacity planning tool made by Pixel Paddock, LLC that shows who is booked on which project and how many hours remain free. It also covers leave, project estimates and time tracking, and serves agencies, studios and in-house teams that bill or plan work by role.
What to know first
Float is a scheduling calendar first and a reporting layer second. The two paid plans differ mainly in what sits around the calendar: Starter schedules people, leave and project scoping, while Pro adds time tracking, rate cards, cost estimates and dashboards. Billing counts only people who are scheduled, and guests view for free. Data is hosted in the United States, and the AI features carry names on the pricing page but little description.
Float at a glance
| Maker | Pixel Paddock, LLC, United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $7 per scheduled person per month |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best AI Resource Management Software in 2026, rank 3 of 10 |
| Website | float.com |
Who Float is best for
Creative agencies billing by role
Float lets a producer scope a project by role, attach client rate cards on Pro and compare the plan against a saved baseline when scope shifts mid-project.
Studios with many part-time contributors
Because only scheduled people are charged and guests can view for free, clients and executives can inspect the schedule without raising the monthly bill.
Teams that want to trial before buying
The 30-day trial starts on Pro without a credit card, and account data stays intact when a plan is chosen afterward, so trial bookings are not lost.
Claude users who query staffing data
Float lists a Claude connector in beta on its integrations page, so a manager can ask an assistant about availability instead of opening the calendar.
Float plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $7 per scheduled person per month | Resource scheduling, capacity and time off, project scoping, role suggestions, API and integrations access, one placeholder, one client-rate currency and a 7-day activity feed. |
| Pro | $12 per scheduled person per month | Starter plus time tracking, client rate cards in several currencies, cost estimation, advanced reports, live dashboards, SSO, five placeholders and a 180-day activity feed. |
| Enterprise | Custom, annual contract only | Pro plus onboarding, integration consultation, data import help, SLAs, custom contracts, manual payment options, priority support and unlimited currencies and placeholders. |
| Free trial | $0 for 30 days | Runs on the Pro plan with no credit card, and data is kept six months if no plan is bought afterward. |
Checked November 2026.
What Float does
- Baseline comparison
- A project can be saved with price, budget, roles and timeline, then compared against the live plan, so a producer sees how far a changed scope has drifted from what was sold.
- Scheduled-person billing
- Seats are charged only for people placed on the schedule. Guests can log in and view but are free, and seats can be added or removed at any time with prorated charges.
- People profiles with AI
- The Pro plan lists People experience profiles marked as AI, intended to help staffing by showing roles and experience. The pricing page gives no detail on how profiles are generated.
- Rate cards and cost estimates
- Pro attaches client rate cards in multiple currencies to projects and estimates cost from the planned hours, which matters when one client is billed in euros and another in dollars.
- Float MCP connector
- Navigation links a Float MCP and a Claude connector marked beta, letting an AI assistant read scheduling information. The vendor's pages did not describe permissions, so test with a small account first.
How Float handles your data
Float's security page states SOC 2 certification and GDPR compliance, hosting on Google Cloud Platform in the United States, AES 256-bit encryption and TLS 1.2. The privacy policy says customer data from paid or enterprise accounts is not used to train, fine-tune or improve AI models unless aggregated and de-identified. That promise does not say how trial data is handled. Deleting the account removes content from servers within 30 days. Sub-processors include third-party AI providers, listed in a separate data processing agreement.
Where Float falls short in practice
- US-only hosting. The security page names Google Cloud in the United States and no EU region. European buyers with residency rules need a written answer from Float before moving rate and salary data onto the platform.
- Entry plan is small. Starter allows one placeholder, one rate currency and a 7-day activity feed. A team that plans hires with several placeholders or bills in several currencies will need Pro within weeks.
- AI features are thinly described. Float x AI and Float MCP appear in navigation, but the pricing and home pages explain neither. Judge the AI by trying it on a real project, not by the page.
Works with
Alternatives to Float
Float: common questions
Who counts as a scheduled person on Float?
A scheduled person is a team member placed on the schedule, and only those people are billed. Guests can be added free and can view the schedule and log in. Seats can be added or removed at any time, and new seats are charged immediately, prorated to the billing cycle.
Does Float have a free trial and what happens after it?
Float offers a 30-day trial that defaults to the Pro plan and needs no credit card. At the end you choose a plan and the data stays intact. If you do not upgrade, the pricing page says data is kept for six months before deletion.
What is the difference between Float Starter and Pro?
Starter covers scheduling, capacity, time off, project scoping and API access. Pro adds time tracking, multi-currency client rate cards, cost estimation, advanced reporting, live dashboards and SSO, and raises placeholders from one to five. Pick Pro if you track hours against budgets.
Does Float train AI models on my project data?
The privacy policy says Float does not use customer data or personal data from paid or enterprise accounts to train, fine-tune or improve AI models, except when aggregated and de-identified. It does not say how free trial data is handled, so ask before loading real staffing data during a trial.
Where does Float store its data?
The security page says the website and service are hosted on Google Cloud Platform in the United States. No EU region is named. Account deletion removes content from servers within 30 days, and individual people and project data can also be deleted in the app or through the API.