Comparison

Breathe HR vs CharlieHR

A side-by-side comparison of two UK employee platforms — pricing, contract terms, feature coverage. Every claim below is sourced from each company's public website or filings, verified 2026-06-10. This page is published by WagePerks as part of our sourced-claims comparison series; you'll find a "third option" section at the end if you'd like to consider us too.

Pricing

What you'll actually pay

Breathe HR
£24–£579 / business / month

Banded per-business: Micro £24 (1–10), Starter £44 (11–20), Regular £99 (21–50), Pro £175 (51–100), Premium £419 (101–150), Plus £579 (151–200)

  • Contract: Rolling monthly
  • Pricing published: Yes
  • Category: UK HR-only platform for SMEs
  • Customer count: 17,000+ UK SME customers (self-reported)
CharlieHR
£5–£735 / business / month

Banded per-business: £5/mo intro (1–4, rises to £20/mo), £45 (5–14), £105 (15–29), up to £735 (250+)

  • Contract: Monthly
  • Pricing published: Yes
  • Category: UK HR platform for small companies and startups
  • Customer count: 11,000+ small businesses (self-reported)
Features

Feature-by-feature comparison

All rows sourced from each company's public website, verified 2026-06-10. See the full source list at the bottom of this page.

Feature Breathe HR CharlieHR
UK brand discounts Not included 30,000+ partner deals (affiliate codes)
Discount voucher codes Not advertised Not advertised
24/7 GP access Not included Not listed
Employee Assistance Programme Not included Not listed
HR management Yes Yes
Rota / shift management Paid add-on (Rota T&A module) Paid Papershift integration only
GPS clock in/out Paid add-on (Rota T&A module) Not listed
Absence & leave Yes Yes
Payslip / P60 access Via paid Xero integration Not listed
Document management Yes Yes
Recognition & rewards Not advertised Not advertised
White-label branding Logo upload only Not advertised
Mobile app Yes (iOS + Android shipped) No native app advertised on charliehr.com
Contract length Rolling monthly Monthly
Breathe HR

Where Breathe HR has depth

Sourced from https://www.breathehr.com/en-gb/, verified 2026-06-10.

  • Native iOS and Android apps shipped
  • Performance management module (reviews, appraisals, goals) included in Core HR
  • 17,000+ UK SME customers since launch in 2012 (see renewal-pricing notes for one customer's report of a 57% rise post-acquisition)

Centric HR Ltd (trading as Breathe HR)

Incorporated 2012 (launch year). Ownership: ELMO Software (acquired Oct 2020); ELMO taken private by K1 Investment Management (2022).

CharlieHR

Where CharlieHR has depth

Sourced from https://www.charliehr.com/, verified 2026-06-10.

  • 30,000+ partner discount codes (charliehr.com)
  • Startup-segment positioning aimed at small VC-backed teams
  • Performance reviews, goals and 1:1 tracking built in
  • Capterra rating 4.7/5 across ~36 reviews

CHARLIE HR LTD

Companies House 09787589

Incorporated 21 September 2015. Ownership: Independent.

A third option to consider

WagePerks: one platform that covers both categories

Breathe HR and CharlieHR each cover different slices of the employee experience. WagePerks bundles eleven modules — benefits marketplace with voucher codes at purchase, HR, rotas, GPS clock-in, payslips, recognition, documents and an optional 24/7 GP + EAP add-on — at £4.50 per employee per month, rolling monthly.

£4.50 / employee / month

Published per-employee rate on the WagePerks pricing page. All eleven modules included at the headline price. Optional 24/7 GP + EAP add-on quoted on call.

Rolling monthly

Cancel with 30 days' written notice — no multi-year fixed-term contracts, no automatic renewals. Independent UK company (Wageperks Ltd, Companies House SC824820), no PE owner.

Eleven modules under one brand

Benefits marketplace, HR, rotas, GPS clock-in, payslips, documents, e-signatures, onboarding, recognition, absence, plus white-label branding — all included at the headline price.

Sources & verification

All claims on this page are sourced from each company's public website, App Store listing, or Companies House public filings — verified 2026-06-10. This page is published by WagePerks as part of our sourced-claims comparison series. We re-verify quarterly. Email us if anything's gone stale.

Breathe HR sources

  1. Pricing tiers
  2. Customer count & launch year
  3. About / founded 2012
  4. Feature list
  5. Rolling-monthly FAQ
  6. Mobile app
  7. ELMO Software acquisition (7 Oct 2020)
  8. Capterra reviews (incl. Alastair March 2025: 57% rise)

CharlieHR sources

  1. Pricing (banded per business)
  2. Customer count & deals
  3. Customers page
  4. Performance reviews
  5. Papershift rota integration
  6. Capterra reviews (4.7/5, ~36 reviews)
  7. CHARLIE HR LTD — Companies House 09787589