The base subscription is monthly rolling with no minimum term and requires 30 days' cancellation notice. Recruit and Advice have separate prices and commitments.
CharlieHR alternatives
Alternatives to CharlieHR for UK employers.
CharlieHR combines day-to-day HR with performance and engagement, and sells recruitment and HR advice separately. Compare alternatives when the headcount band, add-ons or work you use no longer fit.
What needs to change?
Keep CharlieHR
Its reviews, engagement tools, Recruit or Advice are used and worth the cost.
Choose HollyHR
A focused HR core covers the work, and you want the monthly price to follow active employee count.
Choose another route
You need a different mix of mobile access, workforce tools or professional support.
The short answer
What is a good alternative to CharlieHR?
HollyHR is a sensible alternative for teams of roughly 5 to 100 when people records, leave, sickness, documents and onboarding cover the job.
Free covers up to 10 active employees. Standard is £2 per active employee each month, and Plus is coming soon at £4.
Keep CharlieHR when performance reviews, engagement surveys, perks, custom reports, Recruit or Advice are useful. Breathe adds an established UK HR core and optional workforce tools, BrightHR adds rotas, clocking and advice services, and Sage HR adds mobile apps and modular workforce tools.
Price and commitment
Compare the total cost and the contract.
Use your current team, the next hire and the term you are actually signing.
Standard has no employee bands. Plus is coming soon at £4 per active employee and is not available to buy yet.
Prices before applicable tax. CharlieHR changes the subscription price when the team crosses a band. Check each product, notice period and commitment in the agreement you sign.
Your routes
Four alternatives to CharlieHR, plus staying.
Compare the best fit, current price, strongest reason to choose it and the point at which it stops fitting.
Performance and engagement
CharlieHR
Price
The base subscription is £45 a month for 5–14 people and £105 for 15–29 before tax. Recruit and Advice cost extra.
Best fit
Employers using CharlieHR's reviews, engagement surveys, perks, custom reports, Recruit or Advice.
Strong when
Core HR sits alongside performance reviews, engagement surveys, perks, reporting, integrations and a public REST API.
Look elsewhere when
Check whether each headcount band and separately contracted add-on still earns its place.
Focused small-team HR
HollyHR
Price
£0 for up to 10 active employees. Standard is £2 per active employee each month.
Best fit
Teams of roughly 5 to 100 that need a clear HR core and public pricing.
Strong when
People records, leave, sickness, documents, onboarding, reports and export in one focused product.
Look elsewhere when
Not the right route when you need a native mobile app, a payroll engine, HR advice or broad workforce modules today.
Established UK-SME core
Breathe HR
Price
£24 per month for 1-10 employees, before VAT.
Best fit
Teams that value a longer operating record, mobile access and optional workforce add-ons.
Strong when
Core HR includes absence, documents, reporting and performance, with rota, learning, recruitment, expenses and safety sold separately.
Look elsewhere when
Price moves through employee bands, and the add-ons increase the monthly total.
Software with advice
BrightHR
Price
Core costs £83.35 per month for five employees, before tax.
Best fit
Employers that want rotas, clocking or HR, safety and wellbeing services in one package.
Strong when
Core software can be expanded with 24/7 advice, safety support, wellbeing and separately priced payroll routes.
Look elsewhere when
Packages use fixed 24, 36 or 60-month terms, so the service bundle and commitment need to earn their place.
Modular HR
Sage HR
Price
£5 per employee per month for Core HR and Leave on the dedicated UK product page.
Best fit
Teams that want mobile apps, e-signatures, modular workforce tools or Sage payroll adjacency.
Strong when
Core HR and leave can be extended with performance, timesheets, shifts, expenses and recruitment.
Look elsewhere when
The useful comparison is the full module total, not the Core price in isolation.
Inside HollyHR
See what HollyHR covers today.
HollyHR keeps employment details, documents, leave and sickness records together, so managers can handle onboarding, absences and routine reporting in one place.
- People records, employment details and documents
- Leave requests, sickness records and who's away
- Onboarding, reports, CSV import and organisation export
Before you choose
Give every route the same four tests.
Use your own records and roles. A prepared demo should not decide the shortlist.
Run one ordinary week
Add a starter, approve leave, record sickness and find the document a manager needs.
Try the awkward permission
Sign in as a manager and check what they can see about their team and everyone else.
Price the next headcount
Use today, your next hire and a realistic growth point. Include required modules and the signed term.
Take a usable export
Keep sample people, leave, sickness and document data, then list anything that needs a separate route.
If you decide to move
Plan the full move from CharlieHR.
Keep a copy of the source, check the new records and assign an owner to anything that needs a separate move.
Map every subscription and deadline
List the base product, Concierge, Recruit, Advice, integrations and reports in use. CharlieHR's base subscription requires 30 days' notice, Recruit has a 12-month minimum and auto-renews, and Advice requires 60 days' notice. Your signed agreement controls.
Take the full export before deletion
A Super Admin can request CharlieHR's XML-and-folder account export and download CSV reports. Save the people data, leave, sickness, documents and specialist records you need while the account is available.
Move the core and plan the rest
Test a supported people import, then reconcile leave, sickness, permissions and files. Reviews, surveys, perks, recruitment, advice history and other specialist data need a separate plan.
Primary sources
Prices and supplier capabilities can change. Check the live page before signing.
- CharlieHR pricing and add-ons
- CharlieHR billing guidance
- CharlieHR cancellation guidance
- CharlieHR full export guidance
- CharlieHR account deletion guidance
- CharlieHR reporting guidance
- Charlie Recruit pricing and terms
- Charlie Advice pricing and scope
- CharlieHR API documentation
- Breathe pricing
- BrightHR pricing and packages
- Sage HR product and module pricing
Questions
Questions about CharlieHR alternatives.
What is a good alternative to CharlieHR?
HollyHR fits employers with roughly 5 to 100 people when a focused HR core covers the work. Breathe adds established UK HR and optional workforce tools, BrightHR adds rotas, clocking and advice services, and Sage HR offers mobile and modular workforce tools. Keep CharlieHR when your team uses its performance reviews, engagement surveys, reports, Recruit or Advice.
How much does CharlieHR cost?
CharlieHR currently charges £45 a month for 5–14 people, £105 for 15–29, £180 for 30–49 and £315 for 50–99 before VAT. For 1–4 people, the published offer is £5 a month for six months and £20 afterwards. Recruit starts at £55 and Advice starts at £179 each month before VAT.
Does CharlieHR have a free plan?
CharlieHR offers a seven-day trial without a credit card, not an ongoing free plan. Separately priced add-ons are not automatically included in the trial. HollyHR Free covers up to 10 active employees without a trial clock.
Is HollyHR a complete replacement for CharlieHR?
Not when you need CharlieHR's performance reviews, engagement surveys, perks, custom reports, Recruit, Advice, native integrations or broader public REST API today. HollyHR is a focused HR core, not a like-for-like replacement for every CharlieHR product.
Can we move from CharlieHR to HollyHR?
Yes, when HollyHR's supported core fits, but there is no one-click CharlieHR migration. Request the full XML-and-folder export and suitable CSV reports before deletion, test a small people import, and reconcile leave, sickness, permissions and documents. Specialist performance, engagement, recruitment and advice data need a separate plan.
Should we keep CharlieHR instead?
Keep CharlieHR when its reviews, engagement surveys, perks, reports, integrations, API, Recruit or Advice are useful in everyday work and justify the band and add-on costs. Changing supplier is worthwhile only when it solves a real mismatch.
Start free with up to 10 active employees.
Bring your team over from a spreadsheet. There is no card, no sales call and no lock-in. For up to 10 active employees, everyday HR is free.
Import your people data. Export your organisation's people records and uploaded files.