Sage HR can become a default for teams that are familiar with other Sage products, but is it the right choice for your small business? For teams that want a clean and modern interface, all features included, and stronger user permissions, a Sage HR alternative may be a better option.
In this guide, we’ll compare the best Sage HR alternatives for small UK businesses. Discover why teams move away from Sage HR, how the top alternatives compare on features, experience, and pricing, and how to find the best HR software for your small team.
Small teams often start using Sage for HR because they already use it for payroll or accounting. It’s natural to stick with software in the same ecosystem, but the easy option isn’t always the best for your business.
In particular, some users find that if they leave Sage Payroll but want to retain access to HR features (like core HR & leave and timesheets, included with the payroll plan) they face a major price increase:
For a team of 5 people that previously used Sage Payroll (and its included HR features), their previous plan cost of £5 per month would rise to £45 per month if they switched to a Sage HR plan.
This price increase is significant for small teams, and can keep them locked into using Sage products for longer than they want to.
Other reasons why small businesses seek Sage HR alternatives include:
These themes are common across Sage HR reviews and insights from calls with CharlieHR customers. Sage HR isn’t a bad tool for some teams, but it’s not the best choice for all — especially small business founders and CEOs.
Sage HR
CharlieHR
HiBob
Personio
BambooHR
Breathe
Core HR features
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Performance and engagement
☑️
✅
☑️
☑️
☑️
✅
Why it’s different
Easy integrations with other Sage software
Easy to use, even for first-time HR software users
Integrated payroll and finance
AI-powered platform for growth
Compliance training included
Shift scheduling and health and safety modules
Pricing
Starting at £5 per employee per month
Starting at £5 per month for a team of 1-4
Contact for pricing
Contact for pricing
Starting at £8.10 per user per month (£200 minimum spend per month)
Starting at £24 per month for a team of 1-10
Pricing transparency
Public
Public
Sales-led
Sales-led
Sales-led
Public
Contract length
Monthly
Monthly
Yearly
Monthly, yearly
Monthly, extended term
Monthly, yearly
G2 rating for ease of use
8.9
9.6
8.9
9.0
9.2
8.8
Setup complexity
Easy
Easy
Medium
Medium
Medium
Easy
Don’t choose if
You don’t need rota or shift scheduling
You run a big, complex business
Your only focus is core HR and performance reviews
You want an all-in-one system, rather than module-based
You prefer a UK-based platform
You’re a very small team
Best for
Teams already invested in Sage products that need basic HR records
UK small businesses under 30 employees
Consolidating HR, payroll, and finance in one place
AI-powered core HR and recruiting
Midsized businesses
UK SMEs wanting core HR admin structure
I spoke with our product managers and created this guide to help you find the best small business HR software for your needs. We’re hoping that’s Charlie, but if it’s not, we still want you to find the right Sage HR alternative.
This alternatives guide is the result of speaking to customers, reviewing sales calls, reading reviews, and gathering insights on all the tools on this list. Charlie isn’t paid for any links or placements within this guide, and we aim to update it every 6-12 months to reflect changes in features and pricing — this guide was last updated in July 2026 by product manager, Joe Hodges. If you have any questions about our compare HR software guides, reach out at help@charliehr.com
CharlieHR is ideal for teams under 30 people and first-time HR software users. This HRIS (Human Resources Information System) contains all the core HR features you need, so you can finally move away from spreadsheets or payroll tools with basic HR included.
Get set up in hours, not weeks — with no HR team or experience required. CharlieHR’s modern interface is easy to use, with must-have features and compliance built in.
Performance included as standard: CharlieHR’s performance review software are part of the core system, rather than a paid add-on.
Better data and records: Structured records with no gaps.
Genuinely simple workflows: Change roles, approve leave, or update policies in a couple of clicks.
Permissions and privacy settings: Control who sees what with customisable access controls.
Clean, modern, visual UI: A simple approach to user experience and navigation for founders and managers, not HR experts.
No payroll lock-in: Freedom to choose the payroll software you need, with integrations to Xero and PayCaptain.
Charlie’s pricing starts at £5 per month for a team of 1-4 people (for the first 6 months, £21 per month thereafter). Performance management, perks, and engagement are all included. Charlie Recruit is available from £55 per month, Charlie Grow from £179 per month.
HiBob is a Sage HR competitor that covers similar ground, offering HR, payroll, and finance management within one system. The platform combines this with a focus on AI-powered functionality and employee engagement features in a way that makes it appealing to mid-sized businesses.
Time and attendance: Track your team’s hours and approve them in a few clicks whilst keeping an eye on attendance.
Customisation: Teams can customise the platform and the names of each category to suit the culture of the business.
Payroll hub: Integrate your payroll platform directly on HiBob with a hub where you can keep track of all the data.
Onboarding: Create a positive experience for new hires through automated workflows, culture and engagement tools, shoutouts and personalised onboarding depending on the role.
HiBob’s pricing isn’t shared online, but you can contact their sales team for a personalised quote.
Personio is an AI-powered HR platform that’s ideal for fast-growing mid-sized businesses. Alongside core HR, Personio offers talent management software and pre-payroll functionality — giving it a similar feature set to Sage HR.
Absence management: Track leave, holiday requests and approvals, and use the built-in time clock and schedule features for accurate records.
Recruitment features: Personio’s applicant tracking system (ATS) helps create a smooth candidate experience and track every step of the process.
Preliminary payroll: Prepare data before your pay run, or use one of the integrations with popular UK payroll tools.
Onboarding and offboarding: Set up an onboarding flow for new starters and make sure they tick all the boxes before leaving the company.
Personio’s pricing isn’t shared online, but you can contact their sales team for a personalised quote.
BambooHR is a global-reaching HR platform that’s suitable for companies with more than 400 employees, as it covers all aspects of HR — including some that smaller businesses may not be able to focus on straight away.
HR data and reporting: Access to data, insights, and reports allows you to make data-driven decisions across the entire employee lifecycle.
Hiring: Create the right environment to attract talent with applicant tracking, onboarding, and offboarding features built in.
Performance management: Set goals, drive performance reviews and grow your team’s skills.
Employee experience: Get feedback from team members within BambooHR, with options that include eNPS® scoring.
BambooHR’s pricing starts at £8.10 per employee per month, or a minimum monthly cost of £200. Contact their sales team for a personalised quote.
Breathe is an HRIS designed for UK SMEs that want core HR like admin and document management. Like Sage HR, Breathe takes a module-based approach to plans that allows you to customise your package to match your needs.
Manage documents and HR policies: Teams can store company documents and policies in one central location for easy access.
Performance management included: Make performance reviews part of your routines without paying more for an add-on.
Monitor data from dashboards: Get an overview of upcoming holidays and milestones, and keep track of trends.
Optional rota, time, and attendance add-on: Recreate the experience of Sage HR’s timesheets module with Breathe’s alternative.
Breathe’s pricing starts at £24 per month for a team of 1-10 people on their intro-level plan. Add-ons are available, including the rota, time, and attendance add-on at £11 per month.
Sage HR
CharlieHR
HiBob
Personio
BambooHR
Breathe
Starting price
£5 per user per month
£5 per month for first 6 months for a team of 1-4 people
Contact for pricing
Contact for pricing
£8.10 per user per month
£24 per month for a team of 1-10 people
Pricing model
Per employee
Bracket
Custom
Custom
Per user
Bracket
Minimum users
1
1
Minimum applies, not publicly listed
10
Minimum monthly cost of £200 applies*
1
Contract length
Monthly
Monthly
Not publicly listed, but HiBob’s terms indicate a renewal of a 12 month term
Monthly, yearly
Monthly, extended term
Monthly, yearly
Add-ons
Performance — £2.50 per employee per month
Timesheets — £2.50 per employee per month
Shift scheduling — £2.50 per employee per month
Expenses — £1.25 per employee per month
Recruitment — £184.45 per month
Charlie Recruit — £55+ per month
Charlie Grow — £179 per month
Culture
HR automation tools
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
Pay transparency
Strategic hiring
(no pricing publicly listed)
Recruiting
Surveys
Performance & development
Compensation management
Whistleblowing
Premium support
Xero integration
(no pricing publicly listed)
Time & attendance
Employer of Record (powered by Remote)
(no pricing publicly listed)
Rota, time and attendance management — £11 per month per business
Learn — £11 per month per business
Recruitment tracking — £16 per month per business
Expenses management — £14 per month per business
Health and safety — £12 per month per business
Transparency level
Clear
Clear
Custom quote
Custom quote
Custom quote
Clear
*For companies with fewer than 25 employees, a flat rate of £200 per month applies instead of the per user pricing.
Simple, efficient and affordable — Charlie was build to help small businesses bring clarity to their HR chaos.
Many businesses looking for a Sage HR alternative want software that’s easy to use, with a modern interface, and all the features they need included (rather than as an expensive add-on).
As you build your shortlist, here’s what to consider:
Ease of setup: Is this tool easy to use? Can everyone on the team use it with minimal training?
Permissions and privacy: Can we set custom access controls? Can we tailor who can access what by role, responsibilities, or user type?
Pricing and contract terms: Is the alternative affordable? Can we pay monthly, or is it an annual contract? Is the HR system tied to a payroll contract?
Better data storage: Will the software help us remove any data gaps and say goodbye to spreadsheets? Can all employee data be stored in one place for easy access?
Room to grow: Will we outgrow the software quickly? Can we add new features or do more with existing ones as we need them?
User reviews: What do other people say about their experience with the product? Are reviews generally positive, negative, or neutral? What keeps coming up in user reviews that we should be aware of?
Features: Is everything we need included? Can we run performance reviews, or is that only available as an add-on? Will we use the features included, or would another tool suit us better?
User experience: Are employees and managers likely to use the software? Could we persuade team members to successfully engage with it? What’s the user experience, navigation, and interface like?
Use your answers to these questions to build a picture of your ideal HR software, then see how the tools on this list compare against it.
Some teams have already made the move from Sage HR over to CharlieHR, with positive results. The setup experience is quick and easy, importing data is a simple process, and there’s freedom to customise your setup how you want it — or leave it default for now.
Highlights from founders and CEOs who’ve made the switch include:
If any of these goals resonate with you, add CharlieHR to your shortlist and book a demo to see what it’s like in person.
Sage HR might be the default option for businesses that already use Sage for payroll or accounting, but we believe that Charlie has more to offer small teams. With core HR and performance management included in one plan, and a clean, easy-to-use interface, CharlieHR takes the lead when it comes to features and experience.
CharlieHR’s highlights for small businesses include:
If you’re looking for a solid Sage HR alternative, try Charlie. Book a demo with our friendly team and they’ll show you around, answer your questions, and get you started with a free trial so you can see how everything works.
Some businesses may find Sage’s HR features too basic for them — especially if they subscribe to Sage Payroll and not the full HR product with optional modules.
Sage HR users can add performance management to their plan, but only as a paid add-on. Other alternatives to Sage HR, including CharlieHR, include performance reviews as standard at no extra cost.
Some of the teams we’ve talked to have mentioned that leaving Sage Payroll and moving to their HR product can result in a price increase. This happens because Sage Payroll customers have access to basic HR functionality as part of their subscription, and these features cost more when provided through Sage HR.
Sage HR is reasonably affordable for small-to-medium sized businesses, but the best value alternative for small UK teams is CharlieHR. With Charlie, small teams benefit from discounted pricing and access to all the features they need — including performance management, which is only available as a paid add-on with Sage HR.
Sage HR should allow you to export data from the system for easy upload into another HRIS, like CharlieHR. Migrating to Charlie from any tool is simple — if you have the data ready to go, you can import all your employees at once.
Our team has put together helpful guides comparing Charlie to all the competitors listed here. Hopefully that helps:
Joe is one of CharlieHR's product managers (and a former customer advocate!) which means he's responsible for product planning and user research.
Every week, he gets to speak to small businesses and startups to understand their individual needs and release features that are tailored to them.
He also spends a lot of time researching our competitors, signing up for free trials, getting on calls, networking, and has acquired a lot of knowledge about the HR software industry as a result.
