Breathe HR vs BambooHR:
count the people, then price the workflow.
Compare employee bands, small-team flat fees and the modules your HR process needs.
A company band
and a per-employee headline are different bills.
Consider Breathe for a UK small-business HR workflow built around staff records, leave, documents and performance management. Consider BambooHR when your shortlist needs its hiring, onboarding and wider talent tiers. Breathe's base follows employee bands. BambooHR uses a flat small-team starting fee before moving to a per-employee model. Optional modules and payroll handover can change both proposals.
Compare the HR work behind the subscription
| Buying question | Breathe HR | BambooHR |
|---|---|---|
| How the base bill changes | Core HR follows employee bands and is priced per business | Up to 25 employees uses a flat monthly starting fee; larger teams use per-employee pricing |
| Day-to-day HR | Employee records, holiday and absence, documents and performance management are in the core scope | Core covers foundational records, reporting, hiring, onboarding and time-off work |
| Performance and compensation | Core includes performance management; test the actual review and approval process | Pro adds performance and employee-experience tools; Elite adds compensation and advanced insights |
| Recruitment and operational modules | Recruitment, rota/time/attendance, learning, expenses and health-and-safety modules are optional purchases | Time & Attendance and Employer of Record are add-on choices; establish the full package in the quote |
| UK payroll handover | Confirm the Xero integration and the receiving payroll process; an HR subscription is not a payroll licence | Xero UK is a local payroll connection; BambooHR's native Payroll product is US-specific |
| Access and roles | Micro includes one HR user; finance permissions start at Regular, and time logs at Starter | Test the required HR, manager and employee access with the quoted package |
Compare the review process, not the feature name
Breathe includes performance management in core HR. BambooHR adds its performance tools in Pro. Before treating those labels as equivalent, run the review your business actually uses: objectives, employee input, manager review, approval and access to the completed record. The important result is a usable process with the appropriate visibility.
An administrator and an employee are different counts
One person maintaining HR does not make a fifty-person organisation a one-user subscription. Establish the employee headcount used by the contract, then confirm the HR, manager, finance and employee roles. Breathe Micro includes one HR user; time logs start at Starter and finance-user permissions at Regular. Ask how leavers, contractors and archived records affect the counted headcount rather than assuming every record is billed the same way.
Breathe monthly GBP bands and optional rota fees
These Breathe rates are per business with monthly billing, excluding VAT. Rota, Time & Attendance is optional. Other modules, migration and payroll-provider costs are outside the examples. Premium and Plus core prices require a quote.
| Core band | Employees | Core / month | Optional rota / month | Core / twelve monthly payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro | 1–10 | £24.00 | £11.00 | £288.00 |
| Starter | 11–20 | £44.00 | £17.00 | £528.00 |
| Regular | 21–50 | £99.00 | £34.00 | £1,188.00 |
| Pro | 51–100 | £175.00 | £57.00 | £2,100.00 |
| Premium | 101–150 | Quote required | £114.00 | Quote required |
| Plus | 151–200 | Quote required | £142.00 | Quote required |
The eleventh employee changes more than one record
Ten employees fit Micro at £24 per month for core HR. Eleven move into Starter at £44: a £20 monthly change, or £240 across twelve unchanged monthly payments. Twenty-one move into Regular at £99. Plan around the likely band during rollout, not only today's headcount.
BambooHR's small-team fee is flat
For up to 25 employees, BambooHR's UK starting fee is £200 per month for the organisation. The larger-team headline starts at £8.10 per employee per month. Multiplying ten employees by £8.10 does not reproduce the published small-team model.
Twelve payments at the £200 starting fee would be £2,400. That is a starting-fee illustration, not a complete tier quote. Confirm the actual plan, implementation, add-ons and tax treatment. Above 25 employees, obtain the headcount-specific price and any volume adjustments before calculating the commitment.
Six Breathe team examples
| Team requirement | Band | Monthly total | Twelve monthly payments | BambooHR quote boundary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ten employees using core HR | Micro | £24.00 | £288.00 | Small-team flat starting model; complete quote required |
| Eleven employees using core HR | Starter | £44.00 | £528.00 | Small-team flat starting model; complete quote required |
| Twenty employees with rota and attendance | Starter | £61.00 | £732.00 | Small-team flat starting model; complete quote required |
| Twenty-one employees using core HR | Regular | £99.00 | £1,188.00 | Small-team flat starting model; complete quote required |
| Fifty employees using core HR | Regular | £99.00 | £1,188.00 | Per-employee model; complete quote required |
| Fifty-one employees using core HR | Pro | £175.00 | £2,100.00 | Per-employee model; complete quote required |
These twelve-month Breathe totals multiply monthly-billed fees by twelve. They do not apply a prepaid annual-payment offer. The products and included workflows are not declared equivalent.
Check the band before you budget
Enter the employee count used for your proposed Breathe subscription. The calculator covers the verified monthly core bands and optional rota module. It asks for a quote when a numeric core fee is unavailable.
Loading the headcount planner…
UK payroll needs its own acceptance check
Employee records, attendance and payslips belong to connected but different jobs. BambooHR's own Payroll product pays US-based employees. UK teams can use a local payroll connection, including Xero UK. Breathe also has a Xero integration. Neither HR base price should be treated as a complete UK payroll-provider licence.
Write down which system owns salary changes, hours, leave and payroll results. Agree who approves a change and when it appears in the receiving system. Ask what is transferred automatically, which exceptions need review and what happens when a record is rejected. Test a correction and the next pay-period handover before relying on the connection.
If your company already uses Xero, include the relevant payroll arrangement and integration scope in the quote. Having accounting software does not establish that the payroll workflow you need is enabled.
Use the same small HR exercise in both trials
- Create a synthetic employee record with a manager, start date and one required document. Complete the employee-facing steps on a phone.
- Request leave, approve it as the correct manager and correct the request. Check which people can see the reason and supporting record.
- Run a performance review with the actual steps your team needs. Identify the required tier or module.
- Record sample hours if attendance is required. Verify what reaches the proposed UK payroll provider and how rejected data is handled.
- Change a manager's role and inspect access again. Export a small set of records and confirm the fields and attached documents needed for an exit.
Ask for a quote at today's headcount and the next likely band. Confirm onboarding effort, ongoing ownership and the cost of the complete workflow before treating a low core fee as the final budget.
Questions before you choose
Is Breathe priced per HR administrator or per employee?
Its core fee is per business within an employee band. Moving from ten employees to eleven changes the band even if the number of HR administrators stays the same. HR-user permissions still depend on the band.
Can ten employees use BambooHR for ten times £8.10?
That is not its published small-team model. For up to 25 employees, the UK starting fee is flat, from £200 per month. The per-employee headline applies to larger organisations, and the final tier and add-on quote can differ.
Does either HR subscription include UK payroll automatically?
Do not assume it. Confirm the UK payroll provider, its licence, the connection and the data handover. BambooHR's own Payroll product is for US-based employees; its UK route can use a local provider such as Xero UK.
Is a twelve-month Breathe calculation its annual-payment offer?
No. This page multiplies the monthly-billed rate by twelve at a fixed headcount. Obtain the separately offered annual-payment terms if you want a prepaid annual commitment.
What happens above 100 Breathe employees?
The current Premium and Plus core selectors direct buyers to sales. The calculator therefore requests a quote rather than using an unverified core fee.
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Link to the buying examples when discussing your shortlist.