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Absenca

Breathe HR alternative

A Breathe HR alternative for teams that only need leave

Breathe HR is an HR suite for small UK businesses, with records, documents, performance and holiday tracking. Breathe charges each business a flat monthly fee by headcount: £24 for 1–10 people, £44 for 11–20 and £99 for 21–50, excluding VAT.1 If leave is what you need, Absenca does that on its own: free for up to 10 people, and Pro at $37.50 a month for up to 50.

In short

Choose Breathe HR if you want a small-business HR suite. Choose Absenca when leave is the job and you want it in Slack, with a leave year per office.

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Breathe HR vs Absenca

Breathe HR compared with Absenca
Breathe HR Absenca
Free plan None; a 14-day trial1 Free for up to 10 people
Price £24 to £99 a month per business, up to 50 people1 Pro: $37.50 a month for up to 50 people
Add-ons Paid add-ons, on by default1 None; one plan
Accruals, carry-over & seniority Yes2 Yes, on every plan
TOIL (time off in lieu) Added by hand3 A TOIL balance, on every plan
Bradford Factor analytics Yes, with alerts4 Yes, on Pro
Chat bots No native apps; through a third party5 A native Slack bot, on Pro
Calendar sync A one-way feed, up to 48 hours behind6 Google and Outlook sync, on every plan
Leave attachments On sickness records7 On any leave request
Several offices One holiday year per account8 A leave year, work week and holidays per office
Public holidays National, per employee9 190+ countries, per office
Blackout periods Yes10 Yes
Records, documents & performance Yes11 No; Absenca tracks leave only

Breathe HR bills each business by headcount band in pounds and Absenca in US dollars, so this page compares no team totals.

Absenca vs Breathe HR →

Why teams pick Absenca

Pay for leave, not a whole HR suite

If leave is the part you need, Absenca covers it without HR modules on top. Breathe sells Rota, Time & Attendance, Learn, Recruitment, Expenses and Health & Safety as paid add-ons, switched on by default and chargeable after the trial.1

Deeper leave tooling

A TOIL balance, a leave year per office, and attachments on any request. Breathe tracks TOIL by adding it to holiday entitlement by hand; it doesn't calculate TOIL.3 Breathe's help centre documents one holiday-year setting for the whole account.8

A free plan you can run a team on

Free for up to 10 people, with no time limit. Breathe has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial.1

Leave in Slack

A native Slack bot, on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan. Breathe has no native Slack or Microsoft Teams app; a third-party AI assistant connects it to Slack, Teams or Google Chat.5

How to switch from Breathe HR

  1. Pick a cut-over date

    Choose the day Absenca takes over, and on that day note each person's remaining balance in Breathe HR.

  2. Set up your office

    Add your office with its work week, leave year start and public holidays for its country. Then add your leave types and policies: accrual schedules, carry-over caps and expiry, and seniority tiers.

  3. Import your people from a CSV

    Fill in Absenca's template with each person's name, email, department, role, office and start date. Absenca checks every row before it imports anyone, then emails each person an invitation. CSV import is on every plan.

  4. Set opening balances

    Adjust each person's balance to what Breathe HR showed on the cut-over date. Absenca records each adjustment, with your reason, in the audit log.

  5. Go live

    Your team signs in with a Google, Microsoft or Slack account. Approved leave syncs to Google or Outlook calendars, on every plan. Turn on the Slack bot, on Pro, to request and approve leave in Slack.

The full walkthrough, with what to check before and after the cut-over: move your leave data.

Where Breathe HR might be the better fit

We'd rather you pick the right tool than the loudest one. If the points above matter more to you than price, Breathe HR is a perfectly good choice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Absenca a good Breathe HR alternative?

Yes, if leave is what you need. Absenca covers leave requests, approvals, accruals and TOIL free for up to 10 people, and approvals in Slack on Pro. Breathe has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial.1

How does Absenca's pricing compare to Breathe HR?

Absenca is free for up to 10 people. Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50 people, or $33.75 a month billed annually ($405 a year). Breathe charges each business a flat monthly fee by headcount: £24 for 1–10 people, £44 for 11–20 and £99 for 21–50, excluding VAT.1 The two bill in different currencies and shapes, so compare the monthly totals for your team size.

Does Absenca do documents, e-signatures and performance reviews like Breathe?

No. Absenca tracks leave and absence only. Breathe's core plan includes performance management, e-signatures and document tracking.11

Can I move my leave data from Breathe HR to Absenca?

Yes. Absenca bulk-imports your people from a CSV during setup, on every plan.

Does Absenca work with Slack and Microsoft Teams?

With Slack, yes: Absenca has a native Slack bot, and it's on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan. Its Microsoft Teams bot isn't available yet. Breathe has no native Slack or Microsoft Teams app; a third-party AI assistant connects it to Slack, Teams or Google Chat.5

Other comparisons

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Every Breathe HR fact on this page links to its source and the date we checked it. Features and prices change, so check Breathe HR's own pages before you decide.

Sources

  1. breathehr.com/en-gb/hr-software/hr-software-prices, checked
  2. intercom.help/breathehr/en/articles/2096560-length-in-service, checked
  3. intercom.help/breathehr/en/articles/3558065-how-to-manage-toil, checked
  4. breathehr.com/en-gb/hr-software/absence-management, checked
  5. intercom.help/breathehr/en/articles/10550672-harriet-integration, checked
  6. intercom.help/breathehr/en/articles/2089478-setting-up-the-calendar-sync, checked
  7. intercom.help/breathehr/en/articles/2096447-sickness, checked
  8. intercom.help/breathehr/en/articles/3934203-how-to-change-your-holiday-year, checked
  9. intercom.help/breathehr/en/articles/2089495-statutory-holiday, checked
  10. breathehr.com/en-gb/hr-software/holiday-tracking, checked
  11. breathehr.com/en-gb/hr-software/hr-whats-included, checked