Breathe vs TalentHR (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick TalentHR: it is third in our ranking of HR software, and they share a 2.6 GPA.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Breathe grades higher on features. TalentHR grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, 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
TalentHR
HR records, time off, hiring and reviews for small teams
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 TalentHR if
- Fits if you are a team of 10 or fewer and need HR records and time off without paying
- Works for a team of 15 or more that wants cheap HR with mobile apps
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you are 11 to 14 people, because the free plan stops at 10 and paid plans start at 15 users
- Pricey if you want performance reviews, goals or time tracking, which are Premium at $4
- Watch out: the AI HR assistant is marked beta on the pricing page
- Watch out: Essential adds only assets, Safe voice and custom fields over the free plan
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABreatheGood | 2.6GPATalentHRGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | B$2 a user a month on yearly billing for Essential and $4 for Premium, both inside the cheapest quarter. Paid plans need 15 users, so the floor is $30 a month. |
| 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. | BFree for up to 10 users with the employee database, time off, reports, onboarding lists and applicant tracking. A 14-day trial of Premium features is offered on top. |
| 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. | CHR records, time off, hiring, reviews and an AI assistant. Performance, goals, time tracking, surveys and document signing are Premium only, and the AI assistant is marked beta. |
| 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 rating is on record, but the listing shows accounts to set up and records to load before use. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, linked to Xero Payroll. That's thin on integrations, and there's no desktop app. | BWeb, iOS and Android, with Google Workspace, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zapier and others listed. No desktop app. |
| Best for | UK small businesses on a fixed monthly price | a free HR system for up to 10 people |
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 TalentHR. 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. TalentHR starts at $2 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Breathe scores higher, and starts $30.16 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 none scores higher than TalentHR 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 reports, expense tracking, shift scheduling and time clock.
- TalentHR also covers time tracking and surveys.
At a glance
| Breathe | TalentHR | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT) | $2 per user / month, billed annually ($2.40 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Free plan for up to 10 users with the employee database, time off tracking, file storage, reports, onboarding and applicant tracking. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of every feature and add-on, no credit card required | 14-day free trial of Premium features for new users |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Centurion | TalentHR |
| Price read from | breathehr.com | talenthr.io |
| 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.
TalentHR
- Paid plans need at least 15 users and change in steps of 5, so a team of 11 to 14 has no paid option.
- Performance management, goals, time tracking, surveys and document signing are Premium features.
- The free plan stops at 10 users, and the AI HR assistant is marked as a beta feature on the pricing page.
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.
TalentHR
- Employee records and files
- A central employee database with file storage that tracks document expiry dates, plus custom fields on paid plans.
- Time off tracking
- Employees request leave and managers approve it, with accruals and calendar sync to Google and Outlook.
- Hiring and onboarding
- Applicant tracking with a careers page and AI job description writing, plus onboarding and offboarding task lists.
- Performance and engagement
- Goal setting, 360-degree reviews and employee surveys, which the pricing page places on Premium.
- People analytics
- Reports on headcount, gender ratios, departments and salary distribution, with custom report exports.
- AI HR assistant
- An assistant for TalentHR and company questions, plus CV summaries and candidate suitability scoring.
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.
TalentHR
Free$0
Up to 10 users, with core HR records, time off, reports, onboarding lists and applicant tracking.
Essential$2
per user / month, billed annually ($2.40 billed monthly)
Adds asset management, Safe voice and custom fields. Minimum of 15 users, in steps of 5.
Premium$4
per user / month, billed annually ($4.80 billed monthly)
Adds performance management, goals, time tracking, surveys and document signing. Minimum of 15 users.
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.
TalentHR
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
The pricing page toggle shows annual billing saving 20% against monthly: Essential $2.00 vs $2.40 and Premium $4.00 vs $4.80 per user a month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Breathe or TalentHR?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Breathe starts at £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT), and TalentHR starts at $2 per user / month, billed annually ($2.40 billed monthly). 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 TalentHR?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only TalentHR has a free plan. Breathe does not, though it 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.