Both are UK HR products with a permanent free plan for up to 10 people and a £2 monthly price per person on their paid plans. Compare what each plan includes to see which fits your team.
No card, no sales call and no trial clock.
The short answer
Choose HollyHR when you want onboarding, an AI assistant and API and MCP access on the free plan. Choose Buzz HR when you want recruitment, timesheets, expenses, performance and surveys on its £2 Growth plan, or a supplier that states ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.
HollyHR Free covers up to 10 active employees and Standard is £2 per active employee each month. Buzz HR Free covers up to 10 users and Growth is £2 per user each month before VAT.
Monthly prices. HollyHR counts active employees; Buzz HR counts users. HollyHR examples use Free at 10 and Standard above 10. Volunteer-only profiles do not count towards billing under HollyHR's published policy. Buzz HR examples use Free at 10 and Growth above 10, before VAT.
Both products keep a small team at £0 with no trial clock. Above 10, both paid plans charge £2 a month for everyone: per active employee with HollyHR, per user with Buzz HR.
HollyHR
Free
Counts active employees. No card and no trial clock.
Buzz HR
Free
Counts users. Buzz HR says the plan is free forever.
HollyHR
£2 per active employee each month
Standard, or £20 per active employee per year.
Buzz HR
£2 per user each month
Growth plan. Rolling monthly with no long-term contract.
HollyHR
Included on Free
Buzz HR
Included on Free
Employee records, self-service and absence tracking.
HollyHR
Included on Free
Unlimited storage (fair use), up to 25 MB a file.
Buzz HR
Included on Free
Buzz HR lists unlimited document storage on Free.
This is where the two differ most. Buzz HR's Growth plan bundles more workforce modules today, while HollyHR's are planned for Plus.
HollyHR
Included on Free
Buzz HR
Growth plan
HollyHR
Coming with Plus
Coming soonPlus is not available to buy yet.
Buzz HR
Growth plan
An applicant tracking system.
HollyHR
Coming with Plus
Coming soonBuzz HR
Growth plan
HollyHR
Coming with Plus
Coming soonBuzz HR
Growth plan
Performance management and pulse surveys.
HollyHR
Ask Holly on every plan
Free includes a usage allowance.
Buzz HR
Smart AI Advisor on Growth
Buzz HR states more security credentials. HollyHR opens more developer access on its free plan.
HollyHR
Reads on every plan
On Standard, a System Admin can let other tools make changes.
Buzz HR
Enterprise plan
Listed with payroll software integration and single sign-on.
HollyHR
Included on every plan
Events cover changes to people and time off, made in the app or through the API, but not every action in the app.
Buzz HR
Nothing documented
We found no public MCP or webhook documentation.
HollyHR
Not certified today
No ISO 27001, SOC 2 or Cyber Essentials, and no external pen test yet.
Buzz HR
ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus
As stated in Buzz HR's pricing FAQ.
HollyHR
EU database, UK files
Records in AWS Frankfurt; documents and backups in AWS London.
Buzz HR
Microsoft UK cloud
Backed up across two UK regions.
HollyHR
None published
Live service status is public.
Buzz HR
99.9% uptime guarantee
Listed on the pricing page without plan detail.
HollyHR
Email on every plan
First reply targets: 3 UK business days on Free, 1 UK business day on Standard.
Buzz HR
Email on Free
Priority support on Enterprise.
Start with the work your team does every week. If recruitment, timesheets, expenses, performance or surveys are part of your Growth setup, decide where that work will live before you move.
Export your employee records, absence history and documents, then test a HollyHR import with a small sample. Check leave balances and who can see what before you switch.
Compare the best HR software for UK small businessesPrices and product details checked on 14 November 2026. Suppliers change both, so check their live pages before you sign.
The headline prices are the same. Both are free for up to 10. On the paid plans, HollyHR Standard is £2 per active employee each month and Buzz HR Growth is £2 per user each month, counting everyone. Buzz HR's prices are before VAT, so a business that cannot reclaim VAT pays £2.40 per user with Buzz HR Growth. HollyHR counts active employees and Buzz HR counts users, so check how each would count your team.
Buzz HR lists unlimited document storage and payroll-ready exports on Free, and both free plans include records, absence, documents and reporting. HollyHR Free also includes onboarding, Holly (its AI assistant) and API and MCP reads; Buzz HR lists onboarding and its AI advisor on Growth, and API access on Enterprise.
On paid plans, yes. Buzz HR Growth includes recruitment, onboarding and offboarding, timesheets, expenses, performance management, pulse surveys and an AI advisor for £2 per user. HollyHR already includes onboarding and Holly on Free, and plans recruitment, timesheets, expenses, performance and surveys for Plus, which is not available to buy yet.
Buzz HR states that it holds ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation and hosts data on Microsoft's UK cloud. HollyHR is not certified today and keeps its main database in the EU, with documents and backups in London. Both say they encrypt data. If certification is on your checklist, Buzz HR meets it today and HollyHR does not.
Yes, if HollyHR covers the work you rely on. Export your employee records, absence history and documents from Buzz HR, test HollyHR's CSV import with a small sample, and reconcile leave balances and permissions. Recruitment, timesheet, expense and performance records need their own plan.
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.
