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HR · head to head

Breathe HR vs Humaans

Breathe HR logo

Breathe HR

HR

Simple HR software for SMEs

From
£13/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Humaans logo

Humaans

HR

API-first HRIS for fast-growing companies that treat employee data as a system of record other tools read from

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; Humaans there is no payroll engine anywhere in the product, so every country you employ in still needs its own payroll vendor and a synchronisation that someone owns when it breaks.
  • They diverge on capability: Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Humaans covers Employee records.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Breathe HR and Humaans differ
AttributeBreathe HRHumaans
Starting price£13/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Humaans

  • Employee records
  • Workflows
  • Time off
  • Open API and webhooks
  • Onboarding
  • Reporting
  • App directory
  • Self service

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

Humaans

  • A 150 person technology company that wants employee data clean enough to drive access provisioning automaticallynot Breathe HR
  • An operations team that will build against an API rather than wait for a vendor integrationnot Breathe HR
  • A company replacing spreadsheets and Google Drive folders in weeks rather than running a six month HRIS projectnot Breathe HR
  • A multi-country employer that already has payroll handled per country and needs one consolidated employee recordnot 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

Humaans

  • There is no payroll engine anywhere in the product, so every country you employ in still needs its own payroll vendor and a synchronisation that someone owns when it breaks.
  • Applicant tracking, learning and benefits administration are absent, meaning a company wanting a single supplier will buy three or four contracts to match what a suite sells as one.
  • Acquisition by Employment Hero in 2024 puts an independent, integration-first product inside a vendor that sells a bundled employment platform, and buyers should ask directly how long the standalone product will be sold on its own terms.
  • Per employee per month pricing with tiered features means the cost rises with headcount growth at exactly the point a scale-up is least willing to renegotiate, and useful features such as workflows sit above the entry tier.
  • Country-specific compliance depth is limited, so statutory leave rules, local document requirements and reporting obligations often need configuring by hand rather than arriving as a maintained country pack.

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

Humaans

On request
  • Humaans$undefined/year
    • Priced per employee per month with tiered feature sets
    • Employee records, time off and documents
    • Workflows and reporting on higher tiers

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 Humaans if

  • You need employee records.
  • You also want workflows.
Humaans review

Questions people ask

Is Breathe HR or Humaans better?
Neither clearly leads. Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Humaans at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Breathe HR or Humaans?
Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Humaans at On request.
Does Breathe HR or Humaans run on more platforms?
Breathe HR runs on Web, Ios, Android. Humaans 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 Humaans is typically brought in for.
What can Breathe HR do that Humaans cannot?
Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Absence Management, Document Storage, HR Reporting. Humaans covers Employee records, Workflows, Time off, Open API and webhooks.

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
Humaans: Does Humaans run payroll?

No. It holds the employee record and pushes data to payroll providers. You buy payroll separately in each country.

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
Humaans: Who owns it now?

Employment Hero acquired Humaans in 2024. It continues to be sold, but the parent company also sells a bundled employment platform.

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
Humaans: Is the API genuinely complete?

Yes. It is the design centre of the product rather than an afterthought, with documented REST endpoints and webhooks across the core objects.

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
Humaans: How long does implementation take?

Typically weeks. There is no configuration consultancy requirement, which is a large part of why teams choose it over a mid-market suite.

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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