Breathe vs Timetastic (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Breathe and Timetastic share a 2.6 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about features, where Breathe grades higher, or value for money, where Timetastic does.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, 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
Timetastic
Staff leave planner, with an added rota and time clock product
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 Timetastic if
- Fits if you only need to know who is off and when
- Works for small teams that want leave approvals on a phone
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for HR records, hiring or reviews, as it covers leave and an optional rota
- Skip it if you want to stay free, since only a 30-day trial is offered
- Pricey if you need rotas and a time clock, a separate $5.50 plan
- Watch out: booking limits, absence reports and the burnout board need Pro
- Watch out: the page lists dollar prices, with GBP prices in its data for the UK
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABreatheGood | 2.6GPATimetasticGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A$1.50 a user a month on Business is under 60% of the category's cheapest quarter at $3. Pro is $2.50 and Rota & Time Clock $5.50. |
| 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. | CA 30-day trial with no credit card, and no free plan. |
| 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. | CIt does the leave job fully: calendar, allowances and approvals. That is a smaller job than a full HR system, and booking limits and absence reports need Pro. |
| 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. You still have to add staff, allowances and approvers. |
| 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 Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, QuickBooks and Sage 50. No desktop app. |
| Best for | UK small businesses on a fixed monthly price | a staff leave calendar from $1.50 a seat |
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 Timetastic. 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. Timetastic starts at $1.50 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Breathe scores higher, and starts $30.66 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 Timetastic 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 and applicant tracking.
At a glance
| Breathe | Timetastic | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT) | $1.50 per user / month |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of every feature and add-on, no credit card required | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Centurion | Timetastic Ltd |
| Price read from | breathehr.com | timetastic.co.uk |
| 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.
Timetastic
- Prices are shown in US dollars on the page we read; the page's structured data also lists GBP prices for the UK, so the rate you see depends on where you are.
- Booking limits, absence reports and the burnout board need Pro or above; rotas and time clock are a separate $5.50 plan.
- Billing runs month to month through Stripe with no minimum term.
- Charities, Certified B Corporations, Fair Tax Mark holders, 1% for the Planet members and NHS Trusts get 50% off.
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.
Timetastic
- Shared leave calendar
- One calendar shows who is off and when, with holiday allowance records and manager approval of requests.
- Absence insights
- Pro adds absence trends, company-wide absence reports and a burnout board with risk alerts.
- Rotas
- Rota & Time Clock builds shift rotas with templates, conflict detection, multi-location management, open shifts and shift swaps.
- Time clock and timesheets
- Staff clock in and out from a phone, with break and overtime tracking and a payroll data export.
- Basic HR records
- Employee profiles, document storage and electronic signatures, onboarding forms and key date reminders are listed under the Rota & Time Clock plan.
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.
Timetastic
Business$1.50
per user / month, billed monthly
Unlimited users and departments, shared calendar of who is off, holiday allowance records and approvals, mobile and desktop app.
Pro$2.50
per user / month, billed monthly
Everything in Business plus booking limits by leave type, absence trends and insights, company-wide absence reports and enhanced user profiles.
Rota & Time Clock$5.50
per user / month, billed monthly
Rotas, clock-in and clock-out, payroll-ready timesheets, leave and absence management, HR records and team chat.
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.
Timetastic
- Nonprofit
50% off for good causes
A 50% discount on standard pricing for charities, Certified B Corporations, Fair Tax Mark holders, 1% for the Planet members and NHS Trusts.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Breathe or Timetastic?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Breathe starts at £24 per month for up to 10 employees, billed monthly (pounds, excluding VAT), and Timetastic starts at $1.50 per user / month. 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 Timetastic?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Breathe nor Timetastic has a free plan. Both have 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.