Breathe vs Ciphr (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Breathe grades higher than Ciphr: 2.6 against 1.8 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, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
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
Ciphr
UK HR and payroll suite for organisations of 200 to 2,000 staff
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 Ciphr if
- Fits if you are a UK organisation of 200 or more that wants HR and payroll together
- Works for HR teams that also want learning and benefits in the same suite
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you have a small team, as it is built for 200 or more
- Tight if you can't commit: the £5 figure assumes a three-year minimum term
- Skip it if you are outside the UK, as it is built for UK compliance
- Skip it if you want a free plan or trial, as none is listed
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABreatheGood | 1.8GPACiphrWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CFrom £5 per employee a month, about $6.50, but only for 125 employees on a three-year minimum term. No plan prices are published. |
| 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. | BCentral HR, UK payroll, recruitment, learning, benefits and analytics. The listing names no gap in the core HR work. |
| 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. A suite this size is bought by quote and set up with implementation scoped inside it. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, linked to Xero Payroll. That's thin on integrations, and there's no desktop app. | CWeb only, with no integrations list or apps on record. |
| Best for | UK small businesses on a fixed monthly price | UK organisations of 200 or more staff |
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 Ciphr. 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. Ciphr starts at about $6.70 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Breathe scores higher, and starts $25.46 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other HR software on the chart, 1 scores higher than Breathe for less, and 2 score higher than Ciphr 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, shift scheduling and time clock.
- Ciphr also covers payroll.
At a glance
| Breathe | Ciphr | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT) | £5 per employee / month and up (125 employees, three-year term) |
| 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 | Ciphr |
| Price read from | breathehr.com | ciphr.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.
Ciphr
- No plan prices are published; the vendor quotes by modules, headcount and support level.
- The 'from £5' figure assumes 125 employees on a three-year minimum term.
- It is built for UK compliance and for organisations of 200 or more staff, so small teams are outside its stated range.
- Implementation is scoped inside the quote, so setup is not a separate published price.
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.
Ciphr
- Central HR
- Cloud HR with absence, performance, documents, employee self-service and reporting, plus an AI assistant.
- UK payroll
- Payroll built around HMRC rules, including RTI and auto-enrolment, with UK-based expert support.
- Recruitment
- Hiring from vacancy to offer, connected to Ciphr HR so a new hire flows into onboarding without re-keying.
- Learning management
- An LMS and eLearning courses, off the shelf or bespoke, that update the learner's record on completion.
- Benefits platform
- An employee benefits platform that shows take-home pay impact and connects to payroll.
- HR analytics
- Dashboards and reports across HR, payroll, learning and recruitment data.
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.
Ciphr
Quote-based suite£5
per employee / month and up, three-year term
Standard HR software for 125 employees on a three-year minimum term. Final price depends on modules, headcount and support.
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.
Ciphr
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Breathe or Ciphr?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Breathe starts at £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT), and Ciphr starts at £5 per employee / month and up (125 employees, three-year term). 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 Ciphr?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Breathe nor Ciphr has a free plan. Breathe has a free trial.
Which platforms do Breathe and Ciphr run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Breathe lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.