Softwr

HR & Recruiting · head to head

Breathe HR vs Freshdesk

Breathe HR logo

Breathe HR

HR & Recruiting

Simple HR software for SMEs

From
£13/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Freshdesk logo

Freshdesk

All industries

Delight your customers, effortlessly

From
$19/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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; Freshdesk growth tier lacks multilingual helpdesk and custom reporting dashboards
  • They diverge on capability: Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Freshdesk covers Ticketing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Breathe HR and Freshdesk actually diverge.

Attributes where Breathe HR and Freshdesk differ
AttributeBreathe HRFreshdesk
Starting price£13/month$19/month
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
CategoryHR & RecruitingAll industries
Founded20122010

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), 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
  • Google Workspace
  • Microsoft 365

Only in Freshdesk

  • Ticketing
  • Automation
  • Self-service
  • Team collaboration
  • Multi-channel support
  • SLA management
  • Reporting
  • Mobile apps

Both cover

  • Slack

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 Freshdesk
  • Storing HR documents, contracts and e-signaturesnot Freshdesk
  • Performance reviews and onboarding workflows for small teamsnot Freshdesk

Freshdesk

  • Help desk and ticketing systemnot Breathe HR
  • Customer support portal and knowledge basenot Breathe HR
  • Multi-channel support coordinationnot Breathe HR
  • AI-assisted support agent interactionnot 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

Freshdesk

  • Growth tier lacks multilingual helpdesk and custom reporting dashboards
  • Skill-based routing available only on Enterprise tier
  • Freddy AI Copilot requires separate £29/agent/month add-on on Pro and Enterprise plans
  • AI agent sessions charged beyond initial 500 sessions: £49 per additional 100 sessions
  • Day passes for non-agents vary by tier: £2 (Growth), £7 (Pro), £12 (Enterprise)

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

Freshdesk

$19/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Freshdesk review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Breathe HR if

  • You need employee database.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want absence management.
Breathe HR review

Choose Freshdesk if

  • You need ticketing.
  • You also want automation.
Freshdesk review

Questions people ask

Is Breathe HR or Freshdesk better?
Neither clearly leads. Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Freshdesk at $19/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Breathe HR or Freshdesk?
Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Freshdesk at $19/month.
Does Breathe HR or Freshdesk run on more platforms?
Breathe HR runs on Web, Ios, Android. Freshdesk runs on Web.
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 Freshdesk is typically brought in for.
What can Breathe HR do that Freshdesk cannot?
Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Absence Management, Document Storage, HR Reporting. Freshdesk covers Ticketing, Automation, Self-service, Team collaboration. Both handle Slack.
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