HR & Recruiting · head to head
Breathe HR vs Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft Power Automate
Automation & Integration
Automate tasks across cloud and on-premises apps
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Microsoft Power Automate 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; Microsoft Power Automate free plan limited to 750 flow runs/month and standard connectors only; premium connectors require paid plans
- They diverge on capability: Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Microsoft Power Automate covers Automated flows.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Breathe HR and Microsoft Power Automate actually diverge.
| Attribute | Breathe HR | Microsoft Power Automate |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | £13/month | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | Unknown |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, Ios, Android | Web, Cloud, Desktop |
| Category | HR & Recruiting | Automation & Integration |
| Founded | 2012 | 2016 |
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 Microsoft Power Automate
- Automated flows
- Instant flows
- Scheduled flows
- Desktop automation
- Process mining
- Business process flows
- Approval workflows
- 500+ connectors
Both cover
- Microsoft 365
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 Microsoft Power Automate
- Storing HR documents, contracts and e-signaturesnot Microsoft Power Automate
- Performance reviews and onboarding workflows for small teamsnot Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft Power Automate
- Workflow Automationnot Breathe HR
- Data Integrationnot Breathe HR
- Process Automationnot Breathe HR
- App Integrationnot Breathe HR
- API Connectivitynot 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
Microsoft Power Automate
- Free plan limited to 750 flow runs/month and standard connectors only; premium connectors require paid plans
- Not suitable for long-running workflows; can fail unexpectedly without warning
- Limited to simple linear logic; fails with complex workflows involving multiple stakeholders
- Tasks cannot automate at scale when requiring more than approximately 60 users
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
Microsoft Power Automate
Free- FreeFree
- 750 flow runs/month
- Standard connectors only
- Basic cloud flows
- Premium$15/user/month
- Cloud flows (DPA)
- Attended RPA
- 250 MB Dataverse database
- Process$150/bot/month
- Unattended automation
- Cloud and desktop flows
- 50 MB Dataverse database
- Hosted Process$215/bot/month
- Microsoft-managed virtual machine
- Unattended automation
- Same Dataverse entitlements as Process plan
Which should you pick?
Choose Breathe HR if
- You need employee database.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want absence management.
Choose Microsoft Power Automate if
- You need automated flows.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Cloud, Desktop.
- You also want instant flows.
Questions people ask
- Is Breathe HR or Microsoft Power Automate better?
- Neither clearly leads. Breathe HR starts at £13/month and Microsoft Power Automate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Breathe HR or Microsoft Power Automate?
- Microsoft Power Automate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at £13/month for Breathe HR and Free for Microsoft Power Automate.
- Does Breathe HR or Microsoft Power Automate run on more platforms?
- Breathe HR runs on Web, Ios, Android. Microsoft Power Automate runs on Web, Cloud, Desktop.
- Can I use Microsoft Power Automate for free?
- Yes. Microsoft Power Automate 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 Microsoft Power Automate is typically brought in for.
- What can Breathe HR do that Microsoft Power Automate cannot?
- Breathe HR covers Employee Database, Absence Management, Document Storage, HR Reporting. Microsoft Power Automate covers Automated flows, Instant flows, Scheduled flows, Desktop automation. Both handle Microsoft 365.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Microsoft Power Automate: Is Power Automate included with Microsoft 365?
Yes. If you have an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription, you can use Power Automate at no extra cost for flows relying only on standard connectors (SharePoint, Outlook, Teams). Premium connectors (Salesforce, SAP, Oracle) require paid plans.
SourceMicrosoft Power Automate: How many flow runs are allowed on the free plan?
Power Automate's free tier (included with Microsoft 365) is limited to 750 flow runs per month and standard connectors only. Out of 900+ total connectors, the free plan only includes Microsoft ecosystem apps and limited third-party apps.
SourceMicrosoft Power Automate: What's the difference between Premium and Process plans?
Premium ($15/user/month) provides attended automation with cloud flows and standard RPA. Process plan ($150/bot/month) enables unattended automation where bots run without human intervention on virtual machines for high-volume, repetitive tasks.
SourceMicrosoft Power Automate: Does Power Automate support long-running workflows?
No. Power Automate is not suitable for long-lasting workflows because they can run without warning and fail unexpectedly. The platform is built for linear, branching logic (if-then) rather than complex, multi-step business processes involving multiple stakeholders.
SourceRelated pages
More on Microsoft Power Automate
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- Microsoft Power Automate vs Zapier
- Microsoft Power Automate vs MuleSoft
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Parabola
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Zapier Plus
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Jitterbit
- Microsoft Power Automate vs mParticle
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Paragon
- Microsoft Power Automate vs RudderStack
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Workato
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Airbyte
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Automate.io
- Microsoft Power Automate vs Boomi
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