Breathe vs Personio
We give Breathe a 2.6 GPA and Personio a 1.8, out of 4.0. Breathe grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on 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
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABreatheGood | 1.8GPAPersonioWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CWe couldn't read a price: Personio's pages turned our reader away, so plans and prices aren't on record and we can't say what a ten-person company pays. With no figure to compare, it's a C. |
| 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 or trial on record. Its pages turned our reader away, so a trial may exist that we couldn't confirm. |
| 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. | CRecords and documents, time off, working hours, an approvals inbox, recruiting and payroll, with an API and webhooks. The basics are there, but the listing shows no reviews or onboarding, and shifts need a partner app. |
| 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 App Store rating on record. The app covers absences, hours, approvals and documents, and everything else, setup included, happens on the web. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, linked to Xero Payroll. That's thin on integrations, and there's no desktop app. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with a public API, webhooks and more than 200 integrations. No desktop app. |
| Best for | UK small businesses on a fixed monthly price | European firms wanting HR and payroll together |
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 Personio. How we grade
Where they differ
- Breathe also covers reports, expense tracking, shift scheduling and time clock.
- Personio also covers time tracking.
At a glance
| Breathe | Personio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT) | Not published |
| 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 | Personio SE & Co. KG |
| Price read from | breathehr.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Breathe
- UK small businesses with up to 200 staff
- Owners who want a fixed monthly price instead of per-user fees
- Shops and practices that need holiday tracking and simple rotas
Personio
- Companies in Europe wanting core HR, payroll and recruiting together
- HR teams that want records, absences and hours in one system
- Companies connecting a separate shift planner or payroll tool
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.
Personio
- Prices could not be confirmed: personio.com and its help center answered with a bot check, so plans, prices and any trial are not recorded.
- It presents itself as built for Europe; the pages read do not list the countries where its payroll works.
- The mobile app covers absences, time, approvals and documents; other workflows and set-up need the web app.
- Shift planning comes through partner apps that sync with Personio, where shifts are created and changed.
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.
Personio
- Employee records and documents
- One place for employee data and HR documents, which staff can open, download or share from the mobile app.
- Absences and time off
- Employees request time off and see their balance, and can check upcoming absences and team availability where the company allows it.
- Working-time tracking
- Staff record and review their hours on the web or phone, and approved times from partner apps can be sent back into Personio.
- Inbox for approvals
- Managers see open requests and tasks in one inbox and approve or decline them, including from the mobile app.
- Recruiting
- Applicants can be passed into Personio's recruiting module through its Recruiting API, alongside core HR and payroll.
- API, webhooks and marketplace
- Custom integrations read employees, attendance, absences and documents through the API, and webhooks push changes in real time.
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.
Personio
Pricing could not be confirmed. See personio.com.
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.
Personio
No public discounts listed.
