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HR · head to head

Breathe HR vs Guild

Breathe HR logo

Breathe HR

HR

Simple HR software for SMEs

From
£13/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Guild logo

Guild

HR

Employer-funded education benefit administered as a curated marketplace of degree and skilling programmes

From
On request
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; Guild no pricing is published at any level, and because the programme cost combines a platform relationship with tuition funding, comparing Guild against running reimbursement in-house requires modelling that Guild is best placed to supply and least neutral about.
  • They diverge on capability: Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Guild covers Curated provider network.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Breathe HR and Guild differ
AttributeBreathe HRGuild
Starting price£13/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (HR).

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 Guild

  • Curated provider network
  • Direct tuition payment
  • Coaching
  • Career pathing
  • Talent analytics
  • Benefit administration
  • Financial aid navigation

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

Guild

  • A retailer with high hourly turnover that wants an education benefit with take-up rather than a reimbursement policy nobody claimsnot Breathe HR
  • An employer trying to build internal pipelines into hard-to-fill roles from its existing frontline workforcenot Breathe HR
  • A company that wants participation and completion reporting to justify the benefit to a finance committeenot Breathe HR
  • Replacing an in-house tuition reimbursement scheme whose administrative burden falls on an HR team that cannot advise on programme choicenot 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

Guild

  • No pricing is published at any level, and because the programme cost combines a platform relationship with tuition funding, comparing Guild against running reimbursement in-house requires modelling that Guild is best placed to supply and least neutral about.
  • The provider network is curated, so an employee who wants a specific local institution or an unusual specialism may find it is not available, which undercuts the benefit for exactly the motivated employees you most want to retain.
  • The whole model assumes US higher education, accreditation and federal financial aid, so it does not extend to a multinational workforce and cannot be a global benefit.
  • The retention case rests on outcome measurement that the vendor supplies, and independent scrutiny during 2025 and 2026 has questioned completion and career-mobility results, so a buyer should insist on raw participation and completion data rather than curated case studies.
  • Value depends almost entirely on take-up among frontline staff, and take-up depends on manager encouragement and shift scheduling that Guild does not control, so an employer with weak middle management can pay for a benefit that goes largely unused.

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

Guild

On request
  • Career Opportunity Platform$undefined/year
    • Enterprise agreement with no published rate card
    • Priced against workforce size and programme scope
    • Tuition funding is a separate employer cost from the platform relationship

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 Guild if

  • You need curated provider network.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want direct tuition payment.
Guild review

Questions people ask

Is Breathe HR or Guild better?
Neither clearly leads. Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Guild at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Breathe HR or Guild?
Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Guild at On request.
Does Breathe HR or Guild run on more platforms?
Breathe HR runs on Web, Ios, Android. Guild runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 Guild is typically brought in for.
What can Breathe HR do that Guild cannot?
Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Absence Management, Document Storage, HR Reporting. Guild covers Curated provider network, Direct tuition payment, Coaching, Career pathing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Breathe HR: Is there a free trial available?

Yes, Breathe HR offers a free trial with no credit card required to get started.

Source
Guild: Is Guild the same as Guild Education?

Yes. The company dropped Education from its name in 2023 when it repositioned around career mobility rather than degree programmes alone.

Breathe HR: Are there long-term contracts required?

No. Breathe HR explicitly states there are no long-term contracts, no hidden costs, and you have the freedom to cancel anytime.

Source
Guild: Who pays, the employer or the employee?

The employer funds the benefit and pays Guild. Employees generally access approved programmes without paying tuition upfront.

Breathe HR: What company sizes does Breathe HR support?

The software is designed to support businesses with up to 250 employees. Organization size options mentioned include 1-10, 11-50, and 51-250 employees.

Source
Guild: Can employees study anywhere?

No. Programmes come from a curated network of vetted academic and skilling providers, which is the point of the model but also its main limitation.

Breathe HR: Are there different features for different plans?

Yes, flexible subscription-based plans exist with some features like Polls & Surveys available only for regular and above plans. The page does not specify plan names or detailed feature breakdowns.

Source
Guild: Does Guild work outside the United States?

No. It is built around US institutions, accreditation and financial aid.

Breathe HR: What happens if I want to cancel my subscription?

You can cancel anytime without worrying about hidden costs. Breathe HR emphasizes no long-term commitment and the freedom to leave whenever your needs change.

Source
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