Breathe vs BrightHR (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Breathe grades higher than BrightHR: 2.6 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Breathe grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Breathe
UK HR software for small firms, priced per business, not per person
BrightHR
HR software with holiday, rota and absence tools and advice lines
Which one is for you
Pick Breathe if
- Fits if you're a UK small business that wants one fixed monthly fee
- Works for teams whose main job is knowing who's off and when
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if your company is outside the UK, as it's built for UK businesses
- Skip it if you want payroll built in, since it hands that to Xero
- Pricey if you take every add-on, at £11 to £16 a month each
- Watch out: add-ons stay on after the 14-day trial and are charged unless you switch them off
- Too light for companies over 200 staff, where the plans stop, or anyone needing links beyond Xero
Pick BrightHR if
- Fits if you run a small UK firm and want an employment-law advice line with the software
- Works for shift-based teams that need rotas and holiday cover on one screen
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you are in the US, as no US edition was found
- Pricey if you add support: £21.20 for the advice line, £31.30 with health and safety
- Watch out: prices exclude tax, and insurance is quoted separately
- Watch out: contract length isn't stated beyond 'fixed-term', and the FAQ says quotes come from a demo
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABreatheGood | 2.0GPABrightHRFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BMicro is £245 a year paid yearly, about £20 a month, in pounds before VAT, for up to 10 staff. That buys records, holiday and absence, documents and reviews. It's in the cheaper quarter of this category, though rotas and recruitment cost extra. | C£16.67 per employee a month excluding tax, about $22, near the top quarter of the category. £83.35 a month at 5 employees; advice lines and safety tools push it to £31.30. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial of every feature and add-on with no card. Turn the add-ons off before it ends, or they're billed. | FNo free plan and no trial is on record in the listing or on its pricing page. |
| Features | BHoliday and absence, records and documents with e-signatures, reviews, onboarding and reports, with rotas, recruitment, expenses, courses and health and safety as add-ons. The whole job, with payroll left to Xero. | BHoliday, absence, rotas, overtime, expenses, documents and reporting, plus a payroll navigator. The listing names no gap in the core HR work; payroll itself is not run. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and you'll load staff records and set holiday rules before it's any use. | CNo store rating on record. Holiday rules, rotas and documents need setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, linked to Xero Payroll. That's thin on integrations, and there's no desktop app. | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with an integrations page (5 on record). No desktop app. |
| Best for | UK small businesses on a fixed monthly price | UK small firms wanting HR software with advice lines |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Breathe and BrightHR. How we grade
Price against what you get
Breathe starts at about $32.16 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. BrightHR starts at about $22.34 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and BrightHR starts $9.82 a month lower. Of the other HR software on the chart, 1 scores higher than Breathe for less, and 1 scores higher than BrightHR for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Breathe also covers expense tracking and applicant tracking.
- BrightHR also covers payroll.
At a glance
| Breathe | BrightHR | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT) | £16.67 per employee / month (£83.35 a month at the smallest size shown) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of every feature and add-on, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Centurion | BrightHR |
| Price read from | breathehr.com | brighthr.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Breathe
- Built for UK businesses: prices are in pounds excluding VAT, data sits in a UK data centre, and plans stop at 200 employees.
- Add-ons cost extra each month: rotas and attendance from £11, health and safety £12, expenses £14, learning £15 and recruitment £16.
- Add-ons stay switched on after the trial and are charged unless you turn them off.
- There is no payroll of its own; it connects to Xero Payroll.
BrightHR
- Prices are in pounds, excluding tax, and the site is aimed at UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; no US edition was found.
- The FAQ says prices start from £3.00 per person depending on business size and that quotes come from a demo.
- The pricing page does not state the contract length beyond calling them fixed-term contracts.
- Insurance is not in the online prices; it is quoted separately.
Key features
Breathe
- Holiday and absence
- Staff book leave and report sickness, managers approve it, and a staff holiday planner shows who is off across the business.
- Records, documents and e-signatures
- Employee files, policies and contracts in one place, with documents sent out for electronic signature.
- Performance, onboarding and reports
- Performance management, dashboards and reporting come with every plan, and onboarding workflows sit among its people tools.
- Rotas, time and attendance
- An add-on builds weekly rotas, records clock-ins and clock-outs, generates timesheets, tracks overtime and lets staff swap shifts.
- Recruitment, expenses and learning
- Add-ons track applicants from application to shortlist, collect expense claims, and run bite-size courses for training and onboarding.
- Health and safety
- A newer add-on keeps risk assessments, logs accidents and near misses, and tracks safety roles and certifications.
BrightHR
- Holiday and absence management
- A staff holiday planner with booking and approvals, plus tools for recording sick leave and lateness across the team.
- Shifts and rotas
- Create and edit shifts across any working pattern, including an open shifts feature, and let staff clock in and out from the Blip app.
- Expenses, documents and reporting
- Expense tracking, HR document storage and a custom reporting system sit in the core package.
- Advice lines and templates
- Higher packages add a 24/7 HR and employment law advice line and a library of HR document templates.
- Health and safety software
- Accident and near-miss reporting, 600+ risk assessment templates, task reminders and hazardous substances management.
- Payroll navigator and payroll service
- A payroll navigator is in the core package, and a separate payroll software and managed payroll service is sold on its own pages.
Plans
Breathe
Micro£24
per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly
Core HR: holiday and absence, dashboards and reports, documents and policies, and performance management. £245 a year if paid yearly.
Starter£44
per month for up to 20 employees, billed monthly
Core HR for 11 to 20 people, adding time logs. £449 a year if paid yearly.
Regular£99
per month for up to 50 employees, billed monthly
Core HR for 21 to 50 people, adding financial user permissions. £999 a year if paid yearly.
Pro£175
per month for up to 100 employees, billed monthly
Core HR for 51 to 100 people. £1,790 a year if paid yearly.
Premium£419
per month for up to 150 employees, billed monthly
Core HR for 101 to 150 people. £4,519 a year if paid yearly.
Plus£579
per month for up to 200 employees, billed monthly
Core HR for 151 to 200 people. £6,255 a year if paid yearly.
BrightHR
Core HR software£16.67
per employee / month, excluding tax
Holiday planner, rotas, absence, performance, overtime and expense tools, reporting, and a payroll navigator. £83.35 a month at 5 employees.
Enhanced HR support£21.20
per employee / month, excluding tax
Core package plus a 24/7 HR and employment law advice line and document templates. Insurance is quoted separately. £106 a month at 5 employees.
Full HR, health and safety support£31.30
per employee / month, excluding tax
Enhanced package plus health and safety software and advice and a wellbeing portal. £156.50 a month at 5 employees.
Ways to pay less
Breathe
- Annual discount
About 15% off core HR with yearly billing
Paying yearly saves about 15% on Micro, Starter, Regular and Pro plans and about 10% on Premium and Plus; add-ons are not discounted.
BrightHR
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Breathe or BrightHR?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Breathe starts at £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT), and BrightHR starts at £16.67 per employee / month (£83.35 a month at the smallest size shown). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Breathe or BrightHR?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Breathe nor BrightHR has a free plan. Breathe has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.