Small business-friendly pricing.
No hidden fees. No contract. Cancel anytime.
BreatheHR
Personio
HiBob
BambooHR
Spread-sheets
Ease of use
+++
+
++
++
++
++
Time to implement
< 1 day
< 1 day
< 2 days
< 2 days
< 2 days
< 2 days
HR experience needed
None
None
Some
Some
Some
Some
Support &
Customer Service
+++
+++
++
++
++
++
Response time
< 20 min
< 25 min
?
?
?
?
Upgrade service
Rota, time & attendance.
Learning platform
CorePro
CorePro
CorePro
CorePro
Live chat & email
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Webinars
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Self-serve for employees
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Holiday allowance and multiple holiday policies
✅
❌
?
?
?
?
Holiday rollover and pro rata calculations
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Public holidays & custom leave types
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Permissions
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Full company calendar & dashboard
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Slack integration
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Reports
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
New hires submit their details
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Legally compliant
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Onboarding slides
✅
❌
✅
✅
✅
✅
Simple review builder
✅
❌
❌
❌
❌
❌
Built-in templates
✅
❌
✅
✅
✅
✅
Automated launch
✅
?
✅
✅
✅
✅
Progress tracker and automated notifications
✅
?
✅
✅
✅
✅
360 degree feedback
✅
❌
❌
❌
❌
❌
ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Tailored hiring flow
✅
❌
✅
✅
✅
✅
Blind hiring features & scorecards
✅
❌
?
?
?
?
Branded careers page
✅
❌
✅
✅
✅
✅
Smart interview scheduling
✅
❌
✅
✅
✅
✅
Seamless integration with HR software
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
AI assistant for comms and best fit analysis
✅
❌
✅
✅
✅
✅
Employee engagement & Benefits
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Discounts platform
✅
❌
❌
❌
❌
❌
Engagement surveys
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Benefits management software
❌
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Employee handbook & HR policies creation
✅
❌
?
?
?
?
HR audit & compliance review
✅
❌
?
?
?
?
Employment contracts reviews
✅
❌
?
?
?
?
Advice and support for challenging HR situations (redundancies, grievances, etc.)
✅
❌
?
?
?
?
Pricing
From £5 per month (core CharlieHR)
From £18 per month (Core HR)
Prices not available on website – quote only
Prices not available on website – quote only
Prices not available on website – quote only
Prices not available on website – quote only
Small businesses deserve HR software that works for them. We’ve created these comparison guides to help you find the best match for your needs, goals, and budget. In each guide you’ll find research-backed insights into features, pricing, and who each tool is best designed for.
These guides are created and reviewed by our product managers using insights from customer interviews, product research, and real user reviews. They’re built with CEOs, founders, and managing directors in mind—no previous HR experience required.
We’re not afraid to introduce you to alternatives (even ones you may not have heard of) because we think Charlie is the best HR software for small businesses. This guide was last updated in July 2026.
These HR software comparison guides are ideal for busy CEOs, founders, managing directors, and early team members that take care of HR as part of their role. The HR software we cover in the guides solves challenges like:
If any of these issues resonate with you, our comparison guides should help you find a way forward—whether that’s with Charlie or an alternative.
Find your best-fit HR software with our in-depth comparison guides. Compare each tool’s features, pricing, user experience, strengths, and weaknesses to build a shortlist of the best HR software for your small business.
See how Charlie compares to popular alternatives for UK businesses.
Compare alternatives, types of HR software, and free HR tools.
Check out our other content on competitors:
HR can often become a constant background noise when you're juggling so many responsibilities – so many things, so little time.
With Charlie, you can automate the core HR processes that matter for your business and forget about them – it’s all running in the background:
Super easy to use and set up: no need to train your team on it, set it up in less than one day
Delegate whenever you feel ready: tailor the software’s permissions to give the people you trust access to the platform
Automated your core HR processes: employee database, onboarding, time off, performance management, engagement surveys & perks all in one place
As someone in charge of HR, you're likely spending time chasing admin queries, answering team questions, double-checking calendars and spreadsheets, onboarding new hires – all whilst trying to grow your business!
And if you’re not an HR person, it’s double the work. With Charlie, you can get that time back straight away and focus on your main role again:
Allow your team members to self-serve: review their requests on the platform and let them update their details
Remove spreadsheets, documents and emails: everything is communicated, automated and updated directly on the platform
Keep an eye on what’s going on: get access to your team calendar and dashboard or download insightful reports.
Staying compliant may look easy, but it’s something you can quickly get wrong – and risk paying the price for it.
With Charlie, you’ll be able to do everything by the book by having:
A secure space to store all of your HR documents, letters, contracts and policies
An interactive feature to add each of your HR policies to the platform and easily update them – with immediate access for your team whenever they need it
A GDPR, Cyber Secure and ISO 007 platform to avoid any data breach and security issues
Pick CharlieHR for your small business
Before Charlie
Wasting time dealing with every time off request yourself
Tired of never being able to find employee info or company docs
Too distracted to focus your own work
Worrying when legal compliance is finally going to catch you out
After Charlie
Focusing your time on strategy, growth and what really matters to the business
In control of your employee data and can easily find all the info you need
Clear-minded and focussed on the task at hand
Confident that your company is legally water-tight
James Gill, CEO
No hidden fees. No contract. Cancel anytime.
