Breathe vs HR Partner (2026): which should you pick?

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 HR Partner if

• Fits if you run a firm of 25 or so and want records and leave in one place
• Works for small teams that want recruitment and reviews on a Premium plan

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you have under 25 people and expect a lower price, as that is the smallest size shown
• Tight if you want recruitment, reviews or timesheets, which need Premium at $108
• Watch out: Core has up to 5 admin users, and extra admins cost a fee
• Watch out: yearly billing is 11 times the monthly price, a saving of about one month

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.

HR Partner

• Price is set by employee count; the figures here are for 25 employees, the smallest size in the page's price table, and rise with headcount.
• Yearly billing works out to 11 times the monthly price, so the saving is about one month.
• Applicant tracking, performance reviews and timesheets need Premium; Core has up to 5 admin users and extra admin users cost a fee.
• Prices can be shown in USD, GBP, AUD or EUR on the pricing page.

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.

HR Partner

Employee records

Contact details, position and salary history, training records, skills matrix, assets, dependents, file attachments and an org chart.

Leave and PTO

Requests, approvals, configurable policies, custom working-day schedules, balances and a leave calendar.

Onboarding checklists

Unlimited checklists with reminders, admin tasks, verification and optional e-signatures.

Recruitment

On Premium and above: an applicant tracking system with a job portal, application forms, stage pipeline and selection panels.

Performance reviews and goals

Custom review forms, reminders, individual goals and team goal templates, on Premium and above.

Expense claims and e-signatures

Online expense claims with approvals and reports, plus electronic signatures, appear in the plan comparison.

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.

HR Partner

• Core$86

  per month for 25 employees, billed monthly ($946 billed yearly)

  Employee records, self-service portal, leave and accruals, onboarding checklists, up to 5 admin users. Price rises with headcount: $360 a month at 100 employees.

• Premium$108

  per month for 25 employees, billed monthly ($1,188 billed yearly)

  Core plus applicant tracking, performance reviews and goals, timesheets and clock-in, e-signatures, 10 admin users. $450 a month at 100 employees.

• VIP$155

  per month for 25 employees, billed monthly ($1,705 billed yearly)

  Premium plus priority support, a dedicated account manager, a custom domain, unlimited admin users and 5 implementation sessions. $648 a month at 100 employees.

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.

HR Partner

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing at 11 times the monthly price

  The pricing page toggle shows a yearly price equal to 11 months of the monthly price, for example $946 against $86 a month for Core at 25 employees.