Do you let your cat come and go as they please when you're not in?

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I was just wondering on people's opinions really. My rescue has been with us a couple of months and is starting to explore the garden. He has access to a cat flap and I was wondering if I should let him come and go as he pleases when I'm not there, or if its better to keep him inside until I get home?

I think the main benefit of having a cat flap is that the cats can come and go as they please.

Assuming you work standard hours, if you wait till you get home, he’d be going out at dusk, which is a more risky time for traffic and wildlife. And I’d think giving him freedom when you aren’t in is also better for avoiding boredom (as when you are around, you can play with him anyway).

Mine now have free access to come and go as they please but not until they had been with me for about 6 months. I would suggest only letting them out when you are about for a few more weeks.

Yes, ours have free access during daylight hours. In winter that means 8-4ish but in summer it's easily 6am-10pm.

Free access at all times, night and day. Cats are crepuscular so like to be most active dusk and dawn.

Mine are kept in at night till early morning and my girl DC refuses to use the cat flap anyway

Yes. Cat flap always open. He spends most of his time one someone's bed as he is an old gent now but does like a 4am wander still. We don't have litter trays so he goes out to toilet.

Yes. Especially in summer his favourite hobby is sleeping on a garden bench in the sun. I would hate to deny that just because I’m not home. We have cat flap so he decides what he fancies

Ours have had free range 24/7, unless there is a storm or fireworks, since they were neutered/spayed.
We have had cats for 22 years, and that's always been the case

We have a cat flap so our boy can come and go as he pleases, particularly during the night.
He's 17 so rarely goes out in the daytime. If I go out for a few hours and leave him on the couch, he'll be in exactly the same place when I return.

Ours have free access dawn till dusk. They’re rescues and had clearly been indoor cats (until they were dumped on the street 🙄) - they were afraid of walking on grass at first, and found rain quite shocking. One still only goes out in mild, dry weather, but the other is in and out, in and out, in and out all day long. The cat flap is swinging continually with her comings and goings. The thrill of free access has not waned for her in five months.

That seems a pretty universal response in favour!
Thank you all so much!

I've never kept my cat in. She has a cat flap and does as she pleases.

She would go nuts if I stopped her going out

Going against the grain here - no we don't. We don't have a cat flap so someone needs to let the cat in and out. He's in if we're out, and likewise he is in overnight. We have a small utility room between the kitchen and back door so logistically it would be a bit of a pain (but not impossible) getting a cat flap.

This system has worked fine for him and for our previous cat. In summer our boy is actually slinky enough to get through the bedroom window but our girl was too chonky for that.