Sympa vs. Breathe

HR that simply works. Created to meet the needs of any organisation, Sympa empowers HR teams to simplify processes, integrate systems and support business growth. From day-to-day HR administration to managing employees across multiple countries, Sympa brings employee data, workflows, reporting, payroll connectivity and AI-powered functionality together in one platform. Built to support organisations with multiple business units, Sympa takes care of complexity behind the scenes. An open API and a broad ecosystem of integrations enable HR teams to manage local country requirements while maintaining a single source of truth across the organisation. Designed to evolve with your business, Sympa offers the flexibility to meet changing organisational needs. Whether adjusting organisational structures, adopting AI securely or preparing for new legislation, Sympa gives organisations the tools to move forward with confidence. With more than 20 years of HR expertise in the Nordics and dedicated local implementation and customer success teams, Sympa helps organisations create better HR together.

If your employee details are spread across spreadsheets, emails and disconnected apps, Breathe brings them together. It's a UK HR platform launched in 2012 for small and medium-sized businesses. More than 17,000 of them use it, along with over 1,000 UK HR consultancies. Three everyday HR problems Breathe fixes Information everywhere: one central, accurate record for every employee. Endless chasing: staff book leave, sign documents electronically and follow shared workflows. A small HR team: start with the essentials and add more as you grow. The essentials: Core HR Store records and documents securely, manage holiday and leave, track sickness and absence, and let staff update their own details. Collect e-signatures, set goals, run one-to-ones and reviews, and spot trends with built-in reports. Optional extras Rota, Time and Attendance: plan shifts and track hours Expenses: claims, receipts and manager sign-off Recruitment: advertise roles and follow each candidate Health and Safety: risk assessments, incidents and compliance evidence e-Learning: assign UK-specific courses and see who's completed what Breathe is also building an AI Assistant to answer HR and policy questions, and plans to launch payroll in late 2026. Who gets the most from it UK organisations with up to 200 people, particularly charities, schools, healthcare, retail, start-ups and professional services firms with lean HR. If you need multinational payroll, global compliance or enterprise workforce planning, weigh it up first. Pricing, support and security Plans start from £24 a month for your whole organisation, with no long-term contracts or hidden fees. Try it free for 14 days, with UK-based support from setup onwards. Breathe holds ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 accreditation and keeps your data in UK data centres, protected by encryption and access controls.