BrightHR review (2026): is it worth £16.67 a month?
HR software with holiday, rota and absence tools and advice lines
Black Friday: is there a BrightHR sale?
BrightHR report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for UK small firms wanting HR software with advice lines
BrightHR covers holidays, rotas, absence, performance and expenses, and sells an HR and employment-law advice line on top. Prices start at £16.67 per employee a month excluding tax, which is about $22, and the cheapest plan has no advice line. It's aimed at the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with no US edition.
Who BrightHR is for
- Fits if you run a small UK firm and want an employment-law advice line with the software
- Works for shift-based teams that need rotas and holiday cover on one screen
Who BrightHR is not for
- Skip it if you are in the US, as no US edition was found
- Pricey if you add support: £21.20 for the advice line, £31.30 with health and safety
- Watch out: prices exclude tax, and insurance is quoted separately
- Watch out: contract length isn't stated beyond 'fixed-term', and the FAQ says quotes come from a demo
Why BrightHR gets a 2.0
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for money£16.67 per employee a month excluding tax, about $22, near the top quarter of the category. £83.35 a month at 5 employees; advice lines and safety tools push it to £31.30.
- FFree plan and trialNo free plan and no trial is on record in the listing or on its pricing page.
- BFeaturesHoliday, absence, rotas, overtime, expenses, documents and reporting, plus a payroll navigator. The listing names no gap in the core HR work; payroll itself is not run.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. Holiday rules, rotas and documents need setting up.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with an integrations page (5 on record). No desktop app.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Bright HR's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/brighthr#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/brighthr.svg" alt="BrightHR: 2.0 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where BrightHR stands among HR software
BrightHR's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 30 of the 63 other HR software we grade, and level with 10.
It stands best on features (B, above 41 of 63) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0).
Its paid plans start at about $22.34 a month for each person, against a middle price of $5.36 for the category: 27 of the 36 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 64 HR software we grade, cut by the letter each got. BrightHR’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 5 of 63, level with 50
- FFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 63, level with 37
- BFeaturesAbove 41 of 63, level with 22
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 63, level with 61
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 22 of 63, level with 41
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 38 HR software. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep BrightHR, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace BrightHR you would be making payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $268.03 a year.
What you could make
- Employee records, time off and reports: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you.
- A rota the whole staff sees on their phones, with swaps and alerts.
- Clocking in from a phone, checked against where and when.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Zapier, Microsoft Entra ID and Xero among them.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. BrightHR’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is BrightHR?
BrightHR is HR software for small and mid-sized businesses in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It covers holiday and absence tracking, shifts and rotas, clocking in, expenses and document storage, with optional health and safety software, an employment-law advice line and payroll sold alongside it.
Worth knowing
- Prices are in pounds, excluding tax, and the site is aimed at UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; no US edition was found.
- The FAQ says prices start from £3.00 per person depending on business size and that quotes come from a demo.
- The pricing page does not state the contract length beyond calling them fixed-term contracts.
- Insurance is not in the online prices; it is quoted separately.
Key features
- Holiday and absence management
- A staff holiday planner with booking and approvals, plus tools for recording sick leave and lateness across the team.
- Shifts and rotas
- Create and edit shifts across any working pattern, including an open shifts feature, and let staff clock in and out from the Blip app.
- Expenses, documents and reporting
- Expense tracking, HR document storage and a custom reporting system sit in the core package.
- Advice lines and templates
- Higher packages add a 24/7 HR and employment law advice line and a library of HR document templates.
- Health and safety software
- Accident and near-miss reporting, 600+ risk assessment templates, task reminders and hazardous substances management.
- Payroll navigator and payroll service
- A payroll navigator is in the core package, and a separate payroll software and managed payroll service is sold on its own pages.
BrightHR pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, BrightHR is a paid product, starting at £16.67 per employee / month (£83.35 a month at the smallest size shown).
- Starts at
- £16.67 per employee / month (£83.35 a month at the smallest size shown)
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Core HR software | £16.67per employee / month, excluding tax | Holiday planner, rotas, absence, performance, overtime and expense tools, reporting, and a payroll navigator. £83.35 a month at 5 employees. |
| Enhanced HR support | £21.20per employee / month, excluding tax | Core package plus a 24/7 HR and employment law advice line and document templates. Insurance is quoted separately. £106 a month at 5 employees. |
| Full HR, health and safety support | £31.30per employee / month, excluding tax | Enhanced package plus health and safety software and advice and a wellbeing portal. £156.50 a month at 5 employees. |
Read from brighthr.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with BrightHR before you buy.
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Common questions
Does BrightHR have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. BrightHR is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does BrightHR have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. BrightHR is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is BrightHR open source?
BrightHR is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.