Software · head to head
Breathe HR vs GitHub
The short version
- Only GitHub 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; GitHub acquired by Microsoft in 2018, reducing pure independence despite operational autonomy
- They diverge on capability: Breathe HR covers Employee Database, GitHub covers Git repositories.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Breathe HR and GitHub actually diverge.
| Attribute | Breathe HR | GitHub |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | £13/month | Free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, Ios, Android | Web, Desktop, Mobile |
| Founded | 2012 | 2008 |
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 GitHub
- Git repositories
- Pull requests
- Code review
- Issues & projects
- GitHub Actions CI/CD
- GitHub Pages
- Security scanning
- Dependency management
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 GitHub
- Storing HR documents, contracts and e-signaturesnot GitHub
- Performance reviews and onboarding workflows for small teamsnot GitHub
GitHub
- Version controlnot Breathe HR
- Code collaborationnot Breathe HR
- CI/CD pipelinesnot Breathe HR
- Project managementnot Breathe HR
- Documentation hostingnot 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
GitHub
- Acquired by Microsoft in 2018, reducing pure independence despite operational autonomy
- Primary focus on source control differs from purpose-built project management tools like Jira
- Pricing for enterprise features and private repositories adds up compared to some self-hosted alternatives
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
GitHub
Free- FreeFree
- Unlimited public/private repos
- 2,000 CI/CD minutes/month
- 500MB package storage
- Team$4/month
- Everything in Free
- 3,000 CI/CD minutes/month
- 2GB package storage
- Enterprise$21/month
- Everything in Team
- 50,000 CI/CD minutes/month
- 50GB package storage
Which should you pick?
Choose Breathe HR if
- You need employee database.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want absence management.
Choose GitHub if
- You need git repositories.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
- You also want pull requests.
Questions people ask
- Is Breathe HR or GitHub better?
- Neither clearly leads. Breathe HR starts at £13/month and GitHub at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Breathe HR or GitHub?
- GitHub has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at £13/month for Breathe HR and Free for GitHub.
- Does Breathe HR or GitHub run on more platforms?
- Breathe HR runs on Web, Ios, Android. GitHub runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
- Can I use GitHub for free?
- Yes. GitHub 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 GitHub is typically brought in for.
- What can Breathe HR do that GitHub cannot?
- Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Absence Management, Document Storage, HR Reporting. GitHub covers Git repositories, Pull requests, Code review, Issues & projects. Both handle Slack.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
GitHub: What is a Git repository and how does GitHub use it?
A repository is the centralized database that stores the complete collection of files and folders for a codebase, along with the revision history. GitHub uses Git to provide distributed version control access to repositories with version tracking, branching, and collaboration features.
SourceGitHub: How does GitHub authentication work?
When you connect to a GitHub repository from Git, you need to authenticate with GitHub using either HTTPS or SSH. GitHub supports multiple authentication methods including passwords, personal access tokens, SSH keys, and GitHub Apps.
SourceGitHub: How long has GitHub been operating?
GitHub was founded in 2008 and launched publicly on April 10, 2008, making it the dominant git hosting platform for nearly two decades.
SourceGitHub: Who owns GitHub and when did the acquisition occur?
Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion USD, with the deal announced June 4, 2018 and completed October 26, 2018. GitHub operates as an independent subsidiary within Microsoft.
SourceRelated pages
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