Zelt HR vs Breathe HR: Which One Is Best for You? (2025)

When teams grow, choosing the right HR software becomes important. You want a system that helps you to manage people, data and processes without headaches, so employees don’t need to chase HR for basic updates.

In this article, I’ll compare two UK-based platforms, Zelt HR and Breathe HR. They offer strong tools but serve slightly different needs. We have compared the key features, strengths/weaknesses and all details about Breathe and Zelt to help you make the best decision.

Zelt HR vs Breathe HR: Quick Comparison (2025)

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See how Zelt brings payroll, HR, and people management together in one connected platform.

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Feature highlights: Zelt vs Breathe

Here’s a quick look at the main features of Zelt and Breathe HR. We compare core HR functions, leave management, onboarding, payroll and reporting. Understanding these differences can help you decide which platform fits your business needs best. Let’s dive in.

1. Core HR / Employee Records

Zelt positions itself as a next-generation HR system that acts as a single source of truth for employee and contractor data. You can store profiles, track organization structure, manage salary information and customize the fields you collect. It also links well with other processes like payroll and hardware provisioning.

Breathe offers centralized employee records for small and medium-sized organizations. You can keep documents, track employment details and enable basic employee self-service. It’s designed to keep core data simple and organized.

So, if you need deeper customization and want HR aligned with IT and payroll workflows, Zelt has the advantage. For smaller teams looking for straightforward record-keeping, Breathe is a good fit.

2. Leave, Absence and Time Off

Zelt includes time, attendance and PTO within its core feature set, with built-in approval workflows that also connect to other requests such as hardware or access changes. Its biggest strength here is how Leave sits alongside wider people operations.

Breathe places a strong focus on leave and absence. Holiday management, sickness tracking and calendar visibility are core elements of the system and frequently highlighted. It’s very easy to use and particularly strong for SMEs that need reliable absence tracking.

Both platforms handle leave well. If you want simpler holiday management, Breathe stands out. If you want time off to connect with IT or payroll, Zelt may offer better alignment.

3. Onboarding, Offboarding and Automation

Zelt emphasises fast onboarding. You can collect employee information, create accounts and ship hardware in one flow. Offboarding follows similar automation, helping teams avoid missed steps when someone leaves. Automated approvals and workflow routing are a key strength.

Breathe supports the admin side of onboarding, but automation is less prominent in public materials. Most of the value discussion focuses on records and holiday management.
If streamlined lifecycle management is important and you want fewer manual tasks, Zelt generally leads in this area.

4. Payroll and Benefits Integration

Zelt offers integrated payroll software, allowing pay runs, allowances and benefits to sit inside the same platform. Benefits administration is also part of the package, which helps reduce back-and-forth between different tools.

Breathe focuses more on HR administration. While payroll exports are available, full payroll processing is not a core capability. It’s mainly designed to support HR tasks rather than end-to-end pay.

For organisations wanting payroll and benefits in one system, Zelt is stronger. If you are happy to keep payroll elsewhere, Breathe works well.

5. Reporting and Analytics

Zelt provides dashboards, surveys and analytics to support people decisions. Reports can be customised and help highlight trends across the organisation.

Breathe includes reporting libraries and simple dashboards that allow you to export data and share insights easily. It’s built for quick visibility rather than deeply configurable analytics.

Both platforms offer useful reporting. Zelt is better if you want more depth, while Breathe focuses on clarity and simplicity.

6. Ease of Use, Target Market and Pricing

Zelt is aimed at companies that want modern, automated HR, IT and payroll workflows in a single ecosystem. Pricing starts at a per-employee rate, and the interface is positioned as modern and easy to navigate.

Breathe focuses specifically on small to medium-sized organisations. Pricing starts at a low monthly cost for micro teams, and users often mention the minimal learning curve.

If you’re a small business looking for simplicity and value, Breathe fits well. If you expect to scale or need more integrated workflows, Zelt may offer better long-term value.

7. Add-ons, Modules and Growth Capability

Zelt presents itself as an all-in-one system rather than relying heavily on separate add-ons. Most workflows and features are bundled into the same ecosystem, reducing the need for multiple tools.

Breathe offers optional modules such as rota planning, time and attendance, recruitment and expenses. You can start small and add more functionality later as your needs grow.

If you prefer modular expansion, Breathe provides more flexibility. If you want fewer products to manage and one integrated platform, Zelt may be more appealing.

Pricing comparison (2025)

Pricing plans vary depending on company size, feature requirements and chosen modules.

Businesses with more advanced needs (payroll, IT assets, app provisioning) may find Zelt better value long-term.

 

Pros and cons

Still deciding between Zelt HR and Breathe HR? Here’s a quick breakdown of what each platform does well, along with a few areas to consider before choosing the best fit for your organisation.

Zelt HR – modern, integrated HR for growing teams

Pros

• Strong integration across HR, payroll and IT in one system
• Automates repetitive admin tasks like onboarding, provisioning and document collection
• Self-service tools reduce HR dependency and support requests
• Scales well as headcount and processes become more complex
• Hardware management built in (laptops, accessories, etc.)

Things to consider

• Broader features may require slightly more setup planning
• Best suited to businesses that want automation rather than basic HR record-keeping

Best suited for:
Companies looking for a single platform to handle HR, payroll, device management and modern automation, especially where efficiency and security matter.

Breathe HR – simple HR software for small UK businesses

Pros

• Clean, user-friendly interface with minimal training required
• Helpful tools for absences, holidays and document storage
• Add-ons available as HR needs grow (rota, learning, time tracking)
• Well-established in the UK market with a large customer base

Things to consider

• Limited automation for more advanced workflows
• Mobile app covers essentials only

Best suited for:
Small and medium-sized businesses that want a straightforward HR system to manage day-to-day people admin without heavy configuration.

Which HR software is right for you?

Choosing the right HR platform comes down to four main factors:

• How complex your HR processes are
• Whether you need payroll or IT integrated
• How much manual admin you want to eliminate
• How fast you expect your team to grow

For small to medium organizations that mainly need simple absence tracking, employee records and basic HR tasks, Breathe HR is a very strong choice. It’s cost-effective, easy to set up and doesn’t require much training. If your priority is simplicity and a system that “just works” out of the box, Breathe will feel familiar and straightforward.

However, companies that are growing quickly or already face more advanced requirements often benefit more from Zelt HR, the all-in-one HR system. It combines HR, payroll, time tracking, hardware management and app provisioning in one platform, which means:

• Fewer manual onboarding/offboarding tasks
• Payroll accuracy tied directly to attendance data
• Automatic handling of devices and software access
• Less switching between tools and shared spreadsheets

This kind of automation helps reduce human error and frees up internal admin time, especially as headcount increases. It also scales more smoothly when your workflows become more complex.

In short:

Choose Breathe if you want:

• Simple absence and employee record management
• Minimal onboarding effort
• Basic performance tracking
• UK support for day-to-day HR queries

Choose Zelt if you want:

• A unified system for HR, payroll, IT assets and time tracking
• Automated provisioning for hardware and apps
• Faster onboarding/offboarding with fewer missed steps
• Reduced admin workload across HR and Ops teams
• Integrated performance and feedback system for reviews, goals and surveys

Ultimately, it’s a question of simplicity vs. integration.

Breathe is great for smaller teams with straightforward needs, but Zelt offers better long-term value if you expect to grow, want automation, or need payroll and IT workflows tightly connected inside one platform.

Final Thoughts

Choosing between Zelt HR and Breathe HR depends on the workflows you need to support. For smaller teams that only need simple holiday tracking and employee records, Breathe HR is a reliable choice. It covers the basics without much setup or training.

If your company is scaling and needs automation across HR, payroll and IT, Zelt offers more long-term value. It includes device management, performance management and streamlined onboarding. This removes manual work across multiple teams. Both platforms are strong, but Zelt stands out as a modern, future-focused option for growing UK businesses.

Still exploring options? you might also want to explore our 10 Best HR Software in UK article to compare further choices.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the main difference between Zelt HR and Breathe HR?

The key difference is scope. Breathe HR focuses on core HR tasks such as absence tracking and employee records. Zelt goes wider, combining HR, payroll, IT, device management and app provisioning in one platform, which reduces manual admin across multiple teams.

Does Zelt have a mobile app?

Zelt is fully optimised for mobile use through the browser. It works smoothly on both iOS and Android, allowing employees to request time off, upload documents, and complete tasks easily.

Does Zelt offer integrated payroll?

Yes. Zelt includes payroll that syncs directly with employee records, leave data, and onboarding. This reduces duplicate work and removes the need for separate payroll software.

Which platform is better for remote teams?

Zelt is especially strong here. It can ship devices, manage access to apps, and automate onboarding for remote workers, so HR doesn’t have to chase IT or operations.

Can I migrate from Breathe HR to Zelt later?

Yes. Zelt offers data import support, device handover workflows, and migration tools that make switching simple as your needs evolve.