Relentify HR vs BrightHR: Which Does More for Small Businesses?

BrightHR is one of the most recognisable HR software brands in the UK. Part of the Peninsula Group, it serves small and medium businesses with a platform covering absence management, shift scheduling, document storage, and employee self-service. It is heavily marketed and has built a large user base.

Relentify HR takes a similar approach — making HR administration manageable for small businesses without an HR department — but bundles more features into its plans and charges less for them.

Here is a detailed comparison.

Pricing

| Aspect | Relentify HR | BrightHR | |--------|-------------|----------| | Free tier | Yes (up to 5 employees) | No | | Starter plan | From £3/employee/month | From £5/employee/month | | Professional plan | From £5/employee/month | From £8/employee/month | | Contract | Monthly, cancel anytime | Annual contract typical | | Setup fee | None | May apply | | Per-feature add-ons | None (all included) | Yes (several) |

BrightHR's headline pricing is competitive, but the total cost can creep up with add-ons. Features like BrightSafe (health and safety), BrightAdvice (24/7 HR helpline), and Occupational Health are sold separately, each adding to the monthly bill.

Relentify HR includes all features in the plan price. There are no add-ons to purchase separately.

Feature comparison

| Feature | Relentify HR (Starter) | BrightHR (Standard) | |---------|----------------------|---------------------| | Employee records | Yes | Yes | | Absence management | Yes | Yes | | Holiday tracking | Yes | Yes | | Shift scheduling | Yes | Yes | | Document storage | Yes | Yes | | Employee self-service | Yes | Yes | | Timesheet integration | Yes (native) | Separate product | | Onboarding workflows | Yes | No (Connect add-on) | | Performance reviews | Yes | No | | Expense management | Yes | No | | Custom fields | Yes | Limited | | Employee timeline | Yes | Basic | | Compliance alerts | Yes | Yes | | Reporting | Full (all plans) | Standard | | API access | Yes | No |

BrightHR covers the basics well — absence management, holiday tracking, shift scheduling, and document storage are its core strengths. But features like onboarding workflows, performance reviews, and expense management either require add-ons or are not available.

Relentify HR includes a broader feature set from the start, making it less likely you will need to bolt on additional tools as your needs grow.

Absence management

Both platforms handle absence management competently, which is typically the feature that convinces small businesses to adopt HR software in the first place.

| Absence feature | Relentify HR | BrightHR | |-----------------|-------------|----------| | Holiday requests | Yes (self-service) | Yes (self-service) | | Manager approval | Yes (workflow) | Yes | | Holiday calendar | Yes (team view) | Yes | | Sickness recording | Yes | Yes | | Bradford Factor | Yes | Yes | | TOIL tracking | Yes | Limited | | Carry-over rules | Yes (configurable) | Yes | | Public holidays | Auto-populated (UK) | Auto-populated | | Custom leave types | Yes (unlimited) | Limited | | Absence reports | Detailed | Standard | | Return-to-work | Yes (prompted) | Yes |

Both platforms handle the standard absence workflow well. Relentify adds more flexibility with custom leave types and TOIL tracking, which matters for businesses with varied absence policies.

Shift scheduling

BrightHR includes shift scheduling as a core feature, allowing managers to create schedules, assign shifts, and notify employees. The scheduling interface is straightforward and well-designed for small teams.

Relentify HR includes scheduling and integrates it directly with timesheets. When a worker is scheduled for a shift, their clock-in data is automatically compared to the schedule — late arrivals, early departures, and no-shows are flagged automatically.

| Scheduling feature | Relentify HR | BrightHR | |--------------------|-------------|----------| | Shift creation | Yes | Yes | | Drag-and-drop | Yes | Yes | | Shift templates | Yes | Yes | | Availability | Yes | Yes | | Shift swap | Yes | Yes | | Notifications | Yes | Yes | | Timesheet integration | Native (automatic) | Separate | | Late/no-show alerts | Automatic | Manual | | Labour cost view | Yes | Limited |

Document management

Both platforms provide secure document storage for employment contracts, policies, and employee documents.

| Document feature | Relentify HR | BrightHR | |------------------|-------------|----------| | Secure storage | Yes | Yes | | Employee documents | Yes | Yes | | Company policies | Yes | Yes | | Document acknowledgement | Yes | Yes | | Expiry reminders | Yes (automatic) | Yes | | Document templates | Yes | Limited | | E-signatures | Yes (via Relentify eSign) | No | | Version control | Yes | Basic |

Relentify HR integrates with Relentify eSign for electronic signatures, allowing employment contracts and policy acknowledgements to be signed digitally within the platform. BrightHR does not include built-in e-signatures.

Onboarding

Getting new starters set up efficiently saves time and makes a good first impression.

BrightHR offers onboarding through its BrightConnect add-on (additional cost). Without it, onboarding is a manual process of sending documents and setting up the employee record.

Relentify HR includes onboarding workflows in the standard plan:

• Pre-start checklists
• Automated document sending
• New starter information collection
• First-day task lists
• Progress tracking for managers
• Integration with document storage for contracts

Performance management

BrightHR does not include performance review functionality. If you want structured performance conversations, goal setting, or review cycles, you need a separate tool.

Relentify HR includes basic performance management:

• Review scheduling and tracking
• Goal setting and progress
• Review forms and templates
• Manager notes and feedback
• Performance timeline per employee

For small businesses that want some structure around performance conversations without buying a dedicated performance platform, this is a useful inclusion.

Health and safety

BrightHR offers BrightSafe as a separate add-on, which includes risk assessments, accident reporting, and health and safety documentation. This is one of BrightHR's differentiators — the health and safety module is well-developed.

Relentify HR includes basic health and safety record-keeping (accident reporting, compliance documents) but does not match BrightSafe's depth. For businesses in higher-risk industries where comprehensive health and safety management is important, BrightSafe may be worth the additional cost.

HR advice

BrightHR offers BrightAdvice — a 24/7 HR and employment law helpline — as an add-on. For small businesses without an HR professional, access to expert advice can be invaluable, particularly when dealing with disciplinary issues, redundancies, or complex absence situations.

Relentify HR does not include a human advice helpline. It provides compliance guidance within the software and a knowledge base of HR articles, but does not offer telephone access to HR advisors.

For businesses that value having an HR expert to call, this is a genuine advantage for BrightHR — though it comes at an additional cost.

Reporting

| Report type | Relentify HR | BrightHR | |-------------|-------------|----------| | Absence analytics | Detailed | Standard | | Headcount | Yes | Yes | | Turnover | Yes | Limited | | Bradford Factor | Yes | Yes | | Diversity | Yes | Limited | | Custom reports | Yes | Limited | | Scheduled reports | Yes | No | | Export | CSV, PDF | CSV, PDF |

Integration with Relentify ecosystem

Relentify HR integrates natively with:

• Relentify Timesheets — shift data, clock-in records, and timesheet approval
• Relentify Accounting — payroll data export, expense processing
• Relentify eSign — employment contracts and document signing

This means employee data, timesheets, payroll, and HR records are all connected without third-party integrations or manual data transfer.

BrightHR integrates with some payroll providers and accounting tools, but the integrations are more limited.

Who should choose which?

Choose Relentify HR if:

• You want more features included without add-on charges
• Native timesheet and accounting integration matters
• Performance reviews and onboarding workflows are needed
• You prefer monthly contracts without commitment
• Lower per-employee pricing is important

Choose BrightHR if:

• 24/7 HR advice helpline access is important to you
• Health and safety management (BrightSafe) is a priority
• You are already using Peninsula Group services
• The BrightHR brand recognition provides confidence

The bottom line

BrightHR is a solid HR platform with a strong brand and useful add-ons like BrightSafe and BrightAdvice. For businesses that need those specific services, BrightHR delivers value.

But the core HR platform — absence management, scheduling, document storage, employee records — is more expensive than Relentify HR while including fewer features. Onboarding, performance management, expense tracking, and e-signatures all come standard with Relentify HR, while BrightHR either charges extra or does not offer them.

For small businesses that want comprehensive HR software at a fair price, with no add-on surprises, Relentify HR offers better value.

Try Relentify HR free and see what included really means.