Breathe vs Sesame HR
We give Breathe a 2.6 GPA and Sesame HR a 2.4, out of 4.0. Breathe grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, 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
Sesame HR
Modular HR from Spain built around clock-ins, time off and shifts
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABreatheGood | 2.4GPASesame HRFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CEssential is $3.75 an employee a month on yearly billing, but with a 15-employee minimum, a ten-person company pays at least $56.25 a month, for time tracking, time off and shifts. That's under this category's middle, and smaller firms are sent to sales. |
| 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. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no commitment. |
| 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. | BClock-ins with overtime and remote work, time off, shifts, documents, onboarding, contracts and e-signatures on every plan, then recruiting, surveys and reviews higher up. The whole job, with a lean towards time tracking. |
| 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, and setting up shifts, clock-in rules and overtime takes time. |
| 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 an API on Scale or a custom plan. No integrations are on record, and there's no desktop app. |
| Best for | UK small businesses on a fixed monthly price | teams that must record working hours |
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 Sesame HR. How we grade
Where they differ
- Breathe starts at £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT). Sesame HR starts at $3.75 per employee / month, billed annually ($5.25 billed monthly), 15-employee minimum.
- Breathe also covers reports and expense tracking.
At a glance
| Breathe | Sesame HR | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT) | $3.75 per employee / month, billed annually ($5.25 billed monthly), 15-employee minimum |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of every feature and add-on, no credit card required | 14-day free trial, no commitment |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Centurion | Sesame Labs, S.L. |
| Price read from | breathehr.com | sesamehr.com |
| 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
Sesame HR
- Companies with 15 or more staff that must record working hours
- Teams that plan shifts and need clock-in records
- Employers in Spain, Latin America or elsewhere in Europe
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.
Sesame HR
- Billing is per active employee with a 15-employee minimum; smaller companies are asked to contact sales.
- It has country sites for the US, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Spain, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.
- The API and single sign-on come only with Scale or a custom plan; prices exclude taxes.
- On monthly billing Essential costs more per employee ($5.25) than Connect ($5.00), as the page shows.
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.
Sesame HR
- Time tracking and clock-ins
- Employees clock in and out from the web or app, with overtime management and remote-work tracking, kept for legal compliance.
- Time off and shifts
- Holiday and leave requests with approvals, and shift planning for teams on rotas, included from the cheapest plan.
- Core HR
- Every plan has a 3 GB document manager, org chart and directory, onboarding and offboarding, contract management, team chat and desk booking.
- Digital signature
- Core includes one signature per employee a month for contracts and documents.
- Recruitment, surveys and performance
- Higher plans add a recruiting pipeline, internal communication, employee surveys and performance reviews.
- Payroll data and Sesame AI
- Gathers absences, advances and incentives for payroll and sends payslips to the app; Enterprise tiers add AI, automations and advanced permissions.
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.
Sesame HR
Essential$3.75
per employee / month, billed annually ($5.25 billed monthly)
Core plus time tracking, time off and holidays, and shifts. Minimum 15 employees ($56.25 a month).
Connect$4.25
per employee / month, billed annually ($5.00 billed monthly)
Essential plus tasks, recruitment and internal communication. Minimum $63.75 a month.
Growth$6.25
per employee / month, billed annually ($6.75 billed monthly)
Enterprise tiers of Core, time tracking and time off, plus culture and performance modules. Minimum $93.75 a month.
Scale$7.00
per employee / month, billed annually ($8.00 billed monthly)
Growth with Enterprise internal communication and performance, single sign-on and the API. Minimum $105 a month.
Custom planCustom
Pick the modules and add-ons you need with an adviser, and pay only for those.
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.
Sesame HR
- Annual discount
Lower per-employee price with annual billing
The page labels annual billing as saving 20%; the gap varies by plan, from $3.75 against $5.25 on Essential to $6.25 against $6.75 on Growth.
