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Breathe

HR Software for effortless people admin | Breathe

Table of Contents

Is this product right for your business?

Find out with a

Breathe - 2026 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

All user reviews are verified by in-house moderators and provider data by our software research team. Learn more

Last updated: March 2026

Breathe overview

What is Breathe?

Back in 2012, Breathe built their multi-award-winning software with one thing in mind: to set SMEs free from time-consuming HR admin so they can focus on their people, build strong company cultures & drive their organisations forward.

Owned by leading cloud-based solution provider, ELMO Software, Breathe offers simple & cost-effective software that makes it super-easy to manage up to 200 employees.

From employee data, leave, sickness and HR documents to training & performance, expenses, recruitment, rota scheduling and e-learning – Breathe already helps over 15,000 UK SMEs to leave time-consuming tasks behind, without breaking the bank.

Breathe is 100% cloud-based, GDPR-compliant and ISO27001-accredited, offering the highest level of data security.

Starting price

22 /
per month

Alternatives

with better value for money

Pros & Cons

Ease of Use

Pricing

Integrations

Breathe’s user interface

Ease of use rating:

4.3

(47)

Breathe reviews

Overall rating

4.3

Positive reviews

Rating breakdown

Value for money
Ease of use
Features
Customer support
Likelihood to recommend0.77/10

Rating distribution

Pros

“It’s a great solution for small and growing teams looking for a straightforward and affordable HR system. While it may not have all the advanced capabilities of more comprehensive platforms, it covers the essentials well and helps streamline everyday HR tasks efficiently.”

Talaha P.

Operations Manager

“Overall, Breathe is a really user friendly system, with great reporting tools, document storage, and a really useful dashboard where you can see key metrics for your employees.”

Ellie B.

Business Operations and HR Support

“Overall, Breathe offers a user-friendly, efficient, and cost-effective solution that simplifies everyday HR tasks.”

Talaha P.

Operations Manager

Cons

“Unfortunately since the company got taken over a couple of years ago its rapidly going backwards.”

Alastair T.

Managing Director

“Could be difficult to learn if not coming from someone who doesn't use computers.”

Ryan H.

Engineer

“I found it difficult to access documents that were uploaded to it for me to see as I couldnt find the correct area from my profile.”

Ben W.

IT Manager

Who uses Breathe?

Based on 47 verified user reviews.

Company size

Small Businesses

Midsize Businesses

Enterprises

Top industries

Insurance

Education Management

Hospitality

Financial Services

Others

Use cases

Human Resources

Document Management

Leave Management System

Talent Management

Payroll

Breathe's key features

Most critical features, based on insights from Breathe users:

Time & attendance

3.8

(8)

Payroll management

4.0

(5)

Compensation management

4.0

(1)

Employee management

4.0

(1)

Benefits management

5.0

(1)

Performance management

5.0

(2)

Onboarding

5.0

(1)

Applicant tracking

3.0

(2)

All Breathe features

Features rating:

4.1

(47)

Absence management

(0)

Access controls/permissions

4.0

(2)

Activity dashboard

2.8

(4)

Alerts/Notifications

5.0

(1)

API

(0)

Applicant tracking

3.0

(2)

Application management

(0)

Approval process control

5.0

(2)

Attendance management

(0)

Attendance tracking

3.7

(3)

Availability management

(0)

Benefits management

5.0

(1)

Calendar management

3.7

(3)

Compensation management

4.0

(1)

Customizable fields

(0)

Customizable reports

(0)

Customizable templates

(0)

Data import/export

(0)

Document management

3.0

(1)

Document storage

4.0

(2)

Employee database

4.1

(15)

Employee management

4.0

(1)

Employee portal

5.0

(1)

Employee profiles

3.3

(3)

Employee self service

(0)

Goal setting/tracking

(0)

HR management

3.8

(10)

Learning & development

5.0

(1)

Leave tracking

5.0

(2)

Mobile access

3.0

(1)

Offboarding

4.0

(2)

Onboarding

5.0

(1)

Payroll management

4.0

(5)

Payroll reporting

(0)

Performance appraisal

(0)

Performance management

5.0

(2)

Performance review management

(0)

Project time tracking

(0)

Real-time scheduling

(0)

Recruitment management

(0)

Reminders

(0)

Reporting/Analytics

3.0

(7)

Reporting & statistics

(0)

Resource scheduling

(0)

Role-Based permissions

(0)

Scheduling

(0)

Self service portal

5.0

(3)

Sick leave tracking

(0)

Task management

(0)

Task scheduling

(0)

Tax compliance

(0)

Team Calendars

(0)

Third-Party integrations

2.0

(1)

Time & attendance

3.8

(8)

Time off management

4.7

(16)

Time off requests

5.0

(7)

Timesheet management

4.8

(4)

Training management

5.0

(1)

Vacation/Leave tracking

4.5

(8)

Breathe alternatives

Breathe

4.3

(47)

Starting from

Per month

Free trial

Free version

Ease of Use

4.5

Features

4.1

Value for Money

4.2

Customer Support

4.1

Connecteam

4.6

(5.1K)

visit website

Starting from

Per month

Free trial

Free version

Ease of Use

4.7

Features

4.5

Value for Money

4.5

Customer Support

4.6

BambooHR

4.6

(3.3K)

visit website

Starting from

/user

Per month

Free trial

Free version

Ease of Use

4.7

Features

4.4

Value for Money

4.5

Customer Support

4.5

Paycom

4.4

(1.2K)

visit website

Starting from

No pricing info

Free trial

Free version

Ease of Use

4.4

Features

4.4

Value for Money

4.3

Customer Support

4.3

Breathe pricing

Value for money rating:

4.2

Pricing plans

Pricing details:

Free plan

Free trial

Subscription

Core HR

Per month

Features included:

Document Storage
HR Dashboard and Reporting
HR Database
Performance Management
Sickness and Absence Tracking
Staff Holiday Planner

Rota, Time and Attendance

Per month

Features included:

Location and User Management
Push Email Notifications
Rota Templates
Team Management
Time and Attendance
Timeclock

Learn

Per month

Features included:

Compliant With Business Requirements
Onboarding Process
Value-Packed Courses

User opinions about Breathe price and value

Value for money rating:

4.2

(47)

To see what individual users think of Breathe's price and value, check out the review snippets below.

Talaha P.

Operations Manager

“Overall, Breathe is a really user friendly system, with great reporting tools, document storage, and a really useful dashboard where you can see key metrics for your employees.”

Ellie B.

Business Operations and HR Support