BreatheHR Review (2026): HR Software For UK Small Businesses Managing Leave, Documents, Performance, And People Records

HR software for UK small businesses managing leave, documents, performance, and people records

Updated June 19, 2026

By James Han · How we review

3.8 MAQTOOB rating

Our Verdict

BreatheHR is useful to test when a small UK company needs a simple place for employee records, holiday requests, sickness notes, HR documents, and basic performance work. It can help managers and employees handle routine HR tasks without asking one person to manage everything manually.

When you test it, test the exact add-ons you need because pricing is tied to company size and modules. If you need payroll-first HR, deep workflow rules, or a platform for several countries, you should look at BambooHR, Personio, or Eddy first.

A good fit if you

  • UK SMEs replacing spreadsheets and paper HR files
  • Managers handling leave, sickness, documents, and appraisals
  • HR consultants supporting small-business clients

Look elsewhere if you

  • Companies needing global HR and payroll in one system
  • Teams that need deep custom approval workflows
  • Users who need exact public price numbers from page
Next step: write down the problem you need solved, ask the vendor for a quote, test one real workflow, then compare alternatives before you commit.

What Is BreatheHR?

BreatheHR is cloud HR software for UK small and mid-sized companies that need employee records, leave, documents, performance tools, reporting, and optional rota, training, and recruitment add-ons.

It is built for companies that want to move everyday HR admin out of spreadsheets and email, not for large HR teams that need a highly configurable HCM suite.

BreatheHR Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Employee records — Helps teams manage employee records inside the main workflow, instead of leaving that job in disconnected tools.
  • Leave and sickness — Helps teams manage leave and sickness inside the main workflow, instead of leaving that job in disconnected tools.
  • Performance management — Helps teams manage performance management inside the main workflow, instead of leaving that job in disconnected tools.
  • UK office managers handling leave requests — Works well when holiday, sickness, and employee files need one shared system.

Cons

  • Global HR and payroll in one system — Poor fit for companies needing global hr and payroll in one system; those teams should choose a workflow built around that need.
  • Need deep custom approval workflows — Poor fit for teams that need deep custom approval workflows; those teams should choose a workflow built around that need.
  • Setup needs ownership — A team still has to define fields, roles, permissions, and handoffs before rollout or the workflow can become messy.

Key Features

Feature What it helps users do Plan or buying note
Employee records Keep employee details, documents, and HR information in one place. Core HR plan
Leave and sickness Manage holiday requests, absence records, and team availability. Core HR plan
Performance management Run appraisals, objectives, and performance conversations. Plan/add-on dependent
Rota, time, and attendance Plan shifts and track working time when needed. Add-on scope
Recruitment and onboarding Support hiring and new-starter workflows. Add-on scope

Who Uses BreatheHR — and For What

UK office managers handling leave requests

Use BreatheHR when holiday, sickness, and employee files need one shared system.

Start with core HR.

Small HR teams storing documents and appraisals

Use it when contracts, policies, reviews, and performance notes need better organization.

Check performance features.

HR consultants managing SME clients

Use it when several small clients need repeatable HR admin workflows.

Confirm partner and client setup.

Pricing

Plan / item Public price Use case / notes
BreatheHR official page Company-size and module based official page is available, but fixed price numbers were not published in page or the official pricing source render checked.
Core HR and add-ons Verify on official page Price depends on employee band and selected modules such as rota, time, recruitment, e-learning, or workflows.
Trial Free trial available Official site advertises a free trial option.

Source: Official pricing page.

BreatheHR has an official page and advertises a free trial. Fixed plan price numbers were not published in the official page source checked, so users should verify the current employee band and add-on price on the official page.

Prices checked 2026-06-17 against official product sources.

Integrations

BreatheHR integration checks should cover payroll exports, rota or time tools, e-learning, recruitment, document storage, identity access, and any HR consultant workflow. Ask how employee data exports, manager access, and add-on billing work before moving records.

Getting Started: What Implementation Actually Takes

Start with a free trial and one real team. Add employee records, holiday requests, sickness notes, documents, one appraisal, and any rota or training add-on you expect to use.

Before choosing a paid plan, confirm employee-band pricing, add-on costs, manager permissions, data export, payroll handoff, and whether employees can complete common tasks without HR support.

What Users Say

G2 3.8/5 · 6 reviews Capterra 4.3/5 · 47 reviews GetApp 4.3/5 · 47 reviews Trustpilot 4.2/5 · 145 reviews

What works well

  • Users praise BreatheHR for Ease of Use, Easy Access, Easy Navigation, Intuitive.
  • The useful positive pattern is whether the product makes the day-to-day workflow easier for the team that will use it.

What gets frustrating

  • Users complain about HR Functionality Issues, Not User-Friendly, Poor Customer Support, Unfortunately since the company got taken over a couple of years ago its rapidly going backwards.
  • The main buying risk is choosing the product before testing the exact workflow, support path, and reporting needs.
MAQTOOB take: Use the review scores as a starting point for BreatheHR, then run a real trial or demo. Confirm the daily workflow, setup effort, support access, integrations, reporting, and export path before rollout.

Top BreatheHR Alternatives

  • Choose BambooHR if BambooHR is a broader HRIS comparison for employee records and HR workflows.
  • Choose Personio if Personio fits European companies needing a wider HR platform and sales-led implementation.
  • Choose Eddy if Eddy is a comparison for small teams that want HR, onboarding, and payroll-adjacent workflows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does BreatheHR offer a free trial?

Yes. BreatheHR advertises a free trial option on its official site.

Does BreatheHR publish pricing?

BreatheHR has an official page, but fixed price numbers were not visible in the page or the official pricing source render checked.

Who should use BreatheHR?

UK small and mid-sized companies that need leave, sickness, documents, employee records, and basic performance workflows should consider BreatheHR.

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