HR & Recruiting · head to head
Breathe HR vs Census

Census
Automation & Integration
The reverse ETL infrastructure for data activation
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Census has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Breathe HR pricing is banded by headcount, starting at £24 per month for 1 to 10 people, £44 per month for 11 to 20 and £99 per month for 21 to 50; Census census was folded into Fivetran Activations, per the vendor: "Previously, this was called a sync in Census", and its own pricing page redirects to Fivetran pricing rather than showing Census plans
- They diverge on capability: Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Census covers Reverse ETL.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Breathe HR and Census actually diverge.
| Attribute | Breathe HR | Census |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | £13/month | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | usage-based |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, Ios, Android | Web, Api |
| Category | HR & Recruiting | Automation & Integration |
| Founded | 2012 | 2020 |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Breathe HR
- Employee Database
- Absence Management
- Document Storage
- HR Reporting
- Performance Management
- Training
- Slack
- Google Workspace
Only in Census
- Reverse ETL
- Data syncing
- Transformation
- Real-time activation
- Error handling
- Monitoring
- Analytics
- 150+ destinations
Both cover
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Breathe HR
- Holiday, absence and sickness tracking for a UK small businessnot Census
- Storing HR documents, contracts and e-signaturesnot Census
- Performance reviews and onboarding workflows for small teamsnot Census
Census
- Syncing customer data from a warehouse into marketing and sales tools (reverse ETL)not Breathe HR
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Breathe HR
- Pricing is banded by headcount, starting at £24 per month for 1 to 10 people, £44 per month for 11 to 20 and £99 per month for 21 to 50
- Plans are capped by band up to 151 to 200 people, so it is not sold to organisations above that range on the published ladder
- The free trial is 14 days
- Health and safety, e-learning and other modules are sold as add-ons on top of the core HR plan
- Pricing is quoted in pounds and the product is marketed to UK SMEs
Census
- Census was folded into Fivetran Activations, per the vendor: "Previously, this was called a sync in Census", and its own pricing page redirects to Fivetran pricing rather than showing Census plans
- Free Fivetran Activations tier caps at 3,500 monthly active rows
Pricing, plan by plan
Breathe HR
£13/month- Core$13/month
- Employee Database
- Absence Management
- Documents
- People Management$18/month
- All Core features
- Performance
- Goals
Census
Free- FreeFree
- Basic syncing
- Limited destinations
- Pro$250/month
- Advanced syncing
- Email support
- Enterprise$1500/month
- Unlimited syncing
- Dedicated support
Which should you pick?
Choose Breathe HR if
- You need employee database.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want absence management.
Choose Census if
- You need reverse etl.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want data syncing.
Questions people ask
- Is Breathe HR or Census better?
- Neither clearly leads. Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Census at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Breathe HR or Census?
- Census has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at £13/month for Breathe HR and Free for Census.
- Does Breathe HR or Census run on more platforms?
- Breathe HR runs on Web, Ios, Android. Census runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Census for free?
- Yes. Census has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Breathe HR starts at £13/month.
- What is Breathe HR best used for?
- Breathe HR is most often used for holiday, absence and sickness tracking for a uk small business, storing hr documents, contracts and e-signatures, performance reviews and onboarding workflows for small teams. Of those, holiday, absence and sickness tracking for a uk small business and storing hr documents, contracts and e-signatures are not what Census is typically brought in for.
- What can Breathe HR do that Census cannot?
- Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Absence Management, Document Storage, HR Reporting. Census covers Reverse ETL, Data syncing, Transformation, Real-time activation. Both handle Web support.
Related pages
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- Breathe HR vs TINYpulse
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- Breathe HR vs Zapier Plus
- Breathe HR vs Jitterbit
- Breathe HR vs mParticle
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- Breathe HR vs RudderStack
- Breathe HR vs Workato
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- Breathe HR vs Automate.io
- Breathe HR vs Boomi
- Breathe HR vs Browser Use
- Breathe HR vs Browserbase
- Breathe HR vs Celigo
- Breathe HR vs CrewAI
- Census vs BambooHR
- Census vs Workday
- Census vs Culture Amp
- Census vs Freshteam
- Census vs TINYpulse
- Census vs Zoho People
- Census vs 15Five
- Census vs Bonusly
- Census vs CharlieHR
- Census vs Kudos
- Census vs Lattice
- Census vs Personio
- Census vs Achievers
- Census vs Darwinbox
- Census vs Employment Hero
- Census vs greytHR
- Census vs HiBob
- Census vs Homebase
- Census vs Microsoft Power Automate
- Census vs n8n
- Census vs Zapier
- Census vs MuleSoft
- Census vs Parabola
- Census vs Zapier Plus
- Census vs Jitterbit
- Census vs mParticle
- Census vs Paragon
- Census vs RudderStack
- Census vs Workato
- Census vs Airbyte
- Census vs Automate.io
- Census vs Boomi
- Census vs Browser Use
- Census vs Browserbase
- Census vs Celigo
- Census vs CrewAI

