Sage HR
Breathe HR
Comparison
Sage HR vs Breathe HR
A data-driven, side-by-side comparison for UK businesses. Provider data is verified by our research team and every review is moderated before publishing.
Updated 5 July 2026
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Starting price
£5/mo
Starting price
£18/mo
At a glance
Who wins, category by category
Category-by-category winners based on verified user ratings, each scored out of 5.
Sage HR
Breathe HR
Analytics
Ratings, visualised
The four dimensions every reviewer rates, shown two ways — bars for side-by-side magnitude, gauges for the head-to-head on each.
Rating by category
Head to head by category
Sentiment
How reviewers feel
Positive (4 to 5 stars), neutral (3 stars) and negative (1 to 2 stars) sentiment across all verified reviews.
Sage HRPositive sentiment
- Positive79%
- Neutral16%
- Negative5%
Breathe HRPositive sentiment
- Positive86%
- Neutral10%
- Negative4%
Pricing
Pricing compared
Entry price, free plans and trials at a glance. A lower starting price is not everything, but it is where most UK businesses begin.
Sage HR
Free trialCloud HR software for small and mid sized businesses, priced per employee per month around a Core HR base with optional modules for leave, timesheets, performance, shift scheduling and recruitment.
- Leave and absence management
- Employee self service portal
- Modular per employee pricing
Breathe HR
Free trialUK-built HR platform for SMEs covering holiday booking, absence, documents and performance, with GDPR-friendly data hosting.
- Holiday & absence management
- Performance reviews
- Built for UK SMEs
Features
Full feature comparison
Every data point we track for Sage HR and Breathe HR, side by side.
Head to head
Verified data & user ratings
- Leave and absence management
- Employee self service portal
- Modular per employee pricing
- Holiday & absence management
- Performance reviews
- Built for UK SMEs
Voices
What real users say
The strongest praise and the most common complaint, pulled from verified reviews of each product.
Sage HRJulie Fairhurst
HR Officer, 2-10 employees
“The Sage Payroll integration removes double entry and the errors it caused.”
Nadia Farrukh
HR Business Partner, 51-200 employees
“At our current size the reporting cannot answer the questions our board asks without exports. Per employee module costs across a larger headcount add up considerably. We are evaluating a heavier platform, which honestly means Sage People or a competitor.”
Breathe HRRoss B.
People Lead, 51-200 employees
“Great value for a small team.”
Amara Pople
Founder, 201-500 employees
“Too basic on reporting.”
Our verdict
Breathe HR leads 5/5Which should you choose?
On the data we track, Breathe HR leads in 5 of 5 categories. Weigh that against your budget and the features that matter most to your team.