Five BrightHR alternatives, after you separate software from support.

It depends on the job. HollyHR fits focused core HR and current controlled early-access Free/£2 pricing; Breathe fits established UK-SME core and add-ons; CharlieHR fits performance, engagement, perks and optional advice; Sage HR fits mobile-first modular HR and Sage adjacency; Sense HR fits automation, ATS and attendance. Keep BrightHR when rota, clocking, expenses, mobile, advice, safety or wellbeing support is the fit.

Only when the team needs HollyHR's focused shipped core and accepts a manual, reconciled migration. HollyHR is not equivalent for rota and shift planning, Blip clocking, overtime, expenses, native mobile and push, performance, recruitment, e-learning, custom reports, perks, read receipts and document acceptances, 24/7 advice, health-and-safety software, EAP, insurance, managed payroll, Zapier reach or a complete migration of histories, files and specialist state. Planned workforce modules are not buyable today.

On the 36-month online journey checked on 16 July 2026, BrightHR showed Core/Enhanced/Full monthly totals before tax of £83.35/£106/£156.50 for 5 people; £107/£203/£304 for 10; £225/£430/£665 for 25; £275/£510/£915 for 50; and £330/£620/£1,280 for 100. Its FAQ says pricing can start from £3 per person depending on size, which is not the displayed micro-team price. BrightHR offers 24-, 36- and 60-month fixed terms. Current public terms describe same-length automatic renewal, a 90-day written-notice window and renewal-fee increases up to 7%; the signed agreement governs. Online prices exclude optional insurance.

HollyHR does not ship rota and shift planning, Blip-style clocking, overtime, timesheets, expenses, native mobile apps or push, performance, recruitment, e-learning, custom report building, a perks marketplace, advice lines, health-and-safety software, EAP and wellbeing services, insurance or managed payroll. It also lacks BrightHR-style document read receipts, acceptances, follow-up reminders and custom document reports. Treat those as separate replacement work or reasons to stay.

BrightHR publicly describes a Customer API for employee, Blip and absence data plus Zapier access; do not infer broader workflow writes without testing its current documentation and your package. HollyHR beta access is approved and organisation-scoped. Safe reads exclude document bytes, download links and compliance records; write-capable API/MCP access is Standard+, separately approved and controlled, and MCP writes are environment-disabled by default. HollyHR makes no BrightHR MCP parity claim.

No. HollyHR has no BrightHR adapter. Its generic importer manually maps 12 people fields and accepts up to 500 rows and 2 MB. Managers, working patterns, pay and bank data, leave balances and history, documents, acknowledgements, rotas, clock-ins, expenses, performance, reports, payroll and service records require separate handling.

BrightHR documents employee, absence and document reports, but those public report paths do not establish one complete account-and-files archive. Retrieve uploaded files and preserve read receipts, acceptances, expenses, rota and clocking state, payroll handoffs and specialist advice, safety or wellbeing evidence separately. Do not cancel until the retained artefacts and omissions list have been reviewed.

Test the exact records rather than assuming core-HR parity. HollyHR uses current FTE rather than historical or blended FTE and does not automate mid-year starter/leaver, irregular-hours statutory entitlement, final-pay or rota-coverage rules. It has no retrospective sickness, self-certification, fit-note, return-to-work, trigger or SSP casework. Aggregate sickness charts are visible to every signed-in member and can identify sickness in a small team.

HollyHR onboarding is manually launched and has no automatic enrolment, reminder or escalation delivery, or provider provisioning; its current future-starter controls are unsuitable for confidential starters. HollyHR accepts up to 10 document files per batch and 10 MB per file, with visibility boundaries, but has no BrightHR-equivalent read receipt, acceptance, follow-up reminder, custom document report or native mobile flow. BrightHR's acceptance feature should not be confused with a legal e-signature claim.

There is no honest universal time. It depends on the people CSV and how much leave, document, acknowledgement, rota, clocking, expense, performance, report, payroll, integration, advice, safety and wellbeing state must be retained or replaced. Check the remaining fixed term, assign an owner to every missing job and keep BrightHR available until a parallel run and evidence reconciliation pass.