66 / 100

Breathe pricing teardown

https://www.breathehr.com/en-gb/hr-software/hr-software-prices

Breathe HR's pricing page uses a headcount-based tiered model with transparent starting prices (£24/mo) and a clean base-plus-add-ons structure, which is refreshingly self-serve for the HR software category. However, it lacks a clearly highlighted 'recommended' tier, has a confusing yearly toggle that shows no visible discount in the displayed price, and buries the actual price scaling logic behind a dropdown rather than a scannable comparison table.

Tier structure

Micro (1-10 people)

£24/mo

Starter (11-20 people)

£44/mo

Regular (21-50 people)

£99/mo

Pro (51-100 people)

£175/mo

Premium (101-150 people)

£419/mo

Plus (151-200 people)

£579/mo

Value metric

flat rate per business account scaled by employee headcount band, plus optional per-add-on modules

How limits scale

Employees covered 1-10 → 11-20 → 21-50 → 51-100 → 101-150 → 151-200
Monthly price £24 → £44 → £99 → £175 → £419 → £579

Escalation logic

All six tiers include the identical core HR feature set (holiday/absence, dashboards, documents, performance) with price increasing purely by employee headcount band rather than feature differences; growth is handled via a dropdown selector rather than displayed side-by-side, and expansion revenue comes mainly from add-on modules layered on top.

Psychological anchors

  • Low entry price anchor — 'Starting at £24 a month per business' is used prominently in the hero to anchor the whole page as affordable.
  • Annual toggle with savings badge — A Monthly/Yearly toggle shows a 'Savings with a yearly plan' badge, though the displayed price doesn't visibly change in the shown state, undermining the anchor.
  • Bundle discount framing — The Business Essentials Bundle shows a strikethrough price (£57) next to a discounted price (£14), a classic anchor-and-discount tactic to push bundle adoption over individual add-ons.
  • Free trial as risk-reducer — 14-day free trial with 'no credit card required' repeated multiple times lowers signup friction and anchors the offer as low-risk.
  • Social proof numbers — 'Join over 17,000 SMEs' and a G2/Feefo-style review quote serve as trust anchors near the bottom.

What this page is optimizing for

The page is built primarily for self-serve conversion and trial signups (visible starting price, instant 'Start your 14-day free trial' CTA, no credit card required) while also using an interactive configurator (plan selector + add-on toggles) to nudge add-on attach and upsell revenue at signup.

Red flags

  • Six tiers based on headcount bands with identical features makes differentiation unclear at a glance and requires using a dropdown instead of a scannable table.
  • The yearly toggle is present but the actual discounted annual price isn't shown in the visible screenshot state, creating ambiguity about real savings.
  • No 'most popular' or recommended tier is highlighted, leaving buyers without a decision heuristic.
  • Six separate add-ons plus a bundle option adds configuration complexity that could cause decision fatigue for SMEs.
  • Enterprise-scale businesses (200+ employees) have no visible tier or path, forcing a 'Talk to sales' detour with no context on pricing beyond that point.
  • FAQ mentions annual discounts vary by plan (15% vs 10%) but this isn't reflected anywhere in the main pricing UI, only buried in FAQ text.

Best-practices scorecard

What works · 4

  • Visible prices — All six tier prices and add-on prices are shown upfront without needing to contact sales.
  • Value metric matches usage — Pricing scales with employee headcount, which aligns well with HR software usage and avoids per-seat penalty for adding managers/admins.
  • FAQ or objection handling — An extensive FAQ section covers trial mechanics, security, cancellation, billing, and charity discounts.
  • Trust signals present — Customer count ('17,000 SMEs'), a review quote with star rating, and award badges appear near the page bottom.

Half measures · 2

  • Annual discount offered — A yearly toggle and 'savings' badge exist, but the discounted price isn't clearly displayed in the interface shown, and discount rates only appear in FAQ text.
  • Clear CTAs per tier — A single 'Start your 14-day free trial' CTA is tied to the selected plan/add-ons rather than distinct CTAs per tier card.

What's missing · 2

  • Clear recommended tier — No highlighted or 'most popular' plan is visible among the six headcount tiers.
  • Tier differences are scannable — Tiers differ only by price and headcount band via a dropdown selector rather than a side-by-side comparison, making differences hard to scan.