4.4 out of 5 stars
(655 Ratings)
Breathe (also known as Breathe HR/BreatheHR) is a UK HR platform, founded in 2012, for small and medium-sized businesses. It brings people records, leave, documents, performance, reporting and compliance into one place, replacing scattered spreadsheets and disconnected tools.
What's included
Core HR: secure central employee records and documents, holiday and leave requests, sickness and absence tracking, self-service, e-signatures, performance management (goals, feedback, one-to-ones, reviews), reporting and analytics.
Optional modules:
- e-Learning: training management, UK-specific courses, completion tracking
- Health and Safety: risk assessments, incident reports, certifications, compliance evidence
- Recruitment: hiring workflows, job ads, candidate tracking - Expenses: claims, receipts, manager approval, spend tracking
- Rota, Time and Attendance: shifts, availability, hours, attendance
In development: an AI Assistant answering HR and policy questions from company information. Payroll planned for late 2026.
Problems solved
- Scattered data → one accurate central record
- Chasing approvals → self-service, e-signatures, shared workflows
- Lean HR teams → start with Core HR, add modules as needs grow
Result: less duplicate entry and chasing, clearer visibility, more manager and employee involvement.
Who it's for
Best fit: UK SMEs with up to 200 employees moving HR off spreadsheets, e.g. start-ups, charities, healthcare, retail, education and professional services, especially with lean or shared HR roles.
Evaluate carefully: 200+ employees, or needs for multinational payroll, complex global compliance, extensive custom workflows or enterprise workforce planning. Not a global enterprise HCM suite.
Why Breathe
- 17,000+ businesses; 1,000+ UK HR consultancies
- From £24/month per organisation, no long-term contracts or hidden fees
- Free 14-day trial, no obligation
- UK-based support from setup onwards
- ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 accredited; GDPR-conscious; UK data centres, encryption, access controls
Bottom line: a flexible, self-service way for UK SMEs to organise HR and cut admin, with room to grow into recruitment, learning, safety, expenses, rotas and payroll (late 2026).
Learn more about Breathe
4.6 out of 5 stars
(209 Ratings)
Folks is a Canadian-owned HR platform built for SMBs, combining three seamlessly integrated products to help you hire, manage, and pay your team — all in one place. Trusted by 1,200+ Canadian organizations managing over 125,000 employee records.
With Folks HRIS, centralize employee records, onboarding, time tracking, absence management, and compliance — configured for Canadian employment standards across all provinces. Folks ATS streamlines recruitment with AI-powered candidate matching, job board integrations (Indeed, LinkedIn, Jobillico, Talent.com), and applicant tracking — built on the Glow Talents acquisition (2024). Folks Payroll handles CRA remittances, T4/RL-1 generation, ROE filing, CPP/QPP/CPP2, EI, multi-province tax calculations, WSIB/WCB, and direct deposit — no third-party payroll provider needed.
SOC 2 Type 2 certified. All data hosted in Canada. Fully bilingual (English/French). Plans start at $6/employee/month.
Learn more about Folks
BambooHR
4.7 out of 5 stars
(37 Ratings)
BambooHR® is an award-winning, people-first HR platform with an intuitive design that scales with your business. It centralizes all your HR data in one secure system so you can focus less on paperwork and more on what matters most: your people.
With BambooHR, you can:
• Hire and onboard top talent seamlessly
• Manage all your employee data and records in one place
• Run payroll and administer benefits with confidence
• Track time, manage performance, and measure employee engagement
• Gain actionable insights with AI-powered analytics and reporting
• Connect your favorite tools with seamless integrations
• Get expert help with HR strategy, plus managed payroll for US employees
By consolidating HR processes into one intuitive system, BambooHR empowers you to elevate the employee experience, drive business growth, and simplify HR management.
Learn more about BambooHR
iSpring LMS
4.8 out of 5 stars
(4 Ratings)
iSpring LMS is a training platform that helps companies manage the full employee development cycle, from onboarding to ongoing skill growth. With iSpring LMS, you can launch corporate training in less than a day using smart automation, training and user management features, and authoring capabilities.
The platform also offers ROI-driven training analytics, online and offline mobile learning, and best-in-class technical support. Companies can use iSpring LMS for any training scenario and scale it quickly as teams grow.
Learn more about iSpring LMS