SMB Verified Customer Reviews (2026)

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.

Most HR software is built for the US market and adapted for Canada as an afterthought — missing native payroll compliance, storing data on American servers, and offering no French-language support. Folks is different. A Canadian-owned platform designed from day one for the way Canadian businesses actually run. Folks handles CRA-compliant payroll natively: automatic T4 and RL-1 generation, ROE filing to Service Canada, CPP/QPP/CPP2 and EI deductions, multi-province tax calculations, WSIB/WCB, Ontario EHT, and direct deposit — no third-party payroll provider needed. The platform also covers HRIS, applicant tracking with AI-powered candidate matching and integrations with Indeed, LinkedIn, Jobillico, and Talent.com, plus performance management with 360° evaluations. SOC 2 Type 2 certified, with all data hosted exclusively in Canada — governed by PIPEDA and provincial privacy laws, not the US CLOUD Act. Fully bilingual in English and French. Plans start at $6/employee/month. 1,200+ Canadian SMBs across manufacturing, construction, healthcare, non-profit, and professional services already made the switch.

Sesame HR is a cutting-edge cloud-based solution that streamlines the management of human resources by automating and refining various HR tasks for companies. This platform offers a wide range of features, including the ability to monitor employee hours, manage absences, integrate payroll functions, and organize essential documents. Designed to be intuitive, it allows organizations to effectively oversee employee records, evaluate performance, and comply with labor regulations. Additionally, Sesame HR includes self-service functionalities that enable employees to submit leave requests, track their hours, and access vital documents, thereby enhancing the efficiency of HR operations. By simplifying these processes, the platform plays a crucial role in boosting overall productivity within the organization, ensuring that both management and employees can focus on their core responsibilities. Ultimately, Sesame HR serves as a valuable tool for fostering a more organized and efficient workplace.