ConnX vs. Open Smartflex Comparison Chart

Breathe (also known as Breathe HR/BreatheHR) is a UK HR platform, founded in 2012, for small and medium-sized businesses. It brings people records, leave, documents, performance, reporting and compliance into one place, replacing scattered spreadsheets and disconnected tools. What's included Core HR: secure central employee records and documents, holiday and leave requests, sickness and absence tracking, self-service, e-signatures, performance management (goals, feedback, one-to-ones, reviews), reporting and analytics. Optional modules: - e-Learning: training management, UK-specific courses, completion tracking - Health and Safety: risk assessments, incident reports, certifications, compliance evidence - Recruitment: hiring workflows, job ads, candidate tracking - Expenses: claims, receipts, manager approval, spend tracking - Rota, Time and Attendance: shifts, availability, hours, attendance In development: an AI Assistant answering HR and policy questions from company information. Payroll planned for late 2026. Problems solved - Scattered data → one accurate central record - Chasing approvals → self-service, e-signatures, shared workflows - Lean HR teams → start with Core HR, add modules as needs grow Result: less duplicate entry and chasing, clearer visibility, more manager and employee involvement. Who it's for Best fit: UK SMEs with up to 200 employees moving HR off spreadsheets, e.g. start-ups, charities, healthcare, retail, education and professional services, especially with lean or shared HR roles. Evaluate carefully: 200+ employees, or needs for multinational payroll, complex global compliance, extensive custom workflows or enterprise workforce planning. Not a global enterprise HCM suite. Why Breathe - 17,000+ businesses; 1,000+ UK HR consultancies - From £24/month per organisation, no long-term contracts or hidden fees - Free 14-day trial, no obligation - UK-based support from setup onwards - ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 accredited; GDPR-conscious; UK data centres, encryption, access controls Bottom line: a flexible, self-service way for UK SMEs to organise HR and cut admin, with room to grow into recruitment, learning, safety, expenses, rotas and payroll (late 2026).

LinkSquares is the leading Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software designed to help legal, procurement, and business operations teams master the entire contract lifecycle, from creation to execution and renewal. The platform transforms how companies manage agreements by centralizing data, automating routine work, and providing actionable insights powered by AI. This single, connected source of truth helps teams eliminate manual processes, streamline workflows, boost visibility, and ensure compliance across thousands of contracts, ultimately reducing risk and administrative burden. Organizations choose LinkSquares to empower legal, sales, finance, and procurement teams to collaborate seamlessly, make faster and more informed decisions, and optimize deal outcomes. With LinkSquares, organizations benefit from accelerated contracting cycles, enhanced compliance controls, and the freedom for teams to focus on high-value strategy instead of paperwork.

RemotePeople is a global Employer of Record (EOR) and workforce management platform. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in New York, it helps companies recruit, hire, pay and manage employees in 150+ countries without setting up local entities. RemotePeople serves 3,000+ companies with dedicated account managers and in-country HR support. EMPLOYER OF RECORD RemotePeople manages employment contracts, onboarding, payroll, tax administration, statutory benefits and local employment compliance. Clients direct employees' daily work. EOR Flex starts at $199 per employee/month. EOR Plus starts at $399 per employee/month, billed annually for teams of 5+. EOR Switch supports provider transitions. Salaries, statutory employer contributions and other employment costs are additional; country-specific terms apply. RECRUITMENT In-house recruiters source and assess international talent. Services include Global Recruitment, Executive Search, recruitment process outsourcing, embedded recruiters, temporary staffing and talent mapping. Recruitment + EOR combines candidate sourcing with local employment. Its recruitment fee is 2% of the candidate's annual salary each month, plus the EOR fee. PAYROLL, CONTRACTORS AND US PEO Global Payroll and US Payroll support employees hired through clients' own entities. Contractor Management covers onboarding, agreements, invoices and payments. Contractor of Record adds classification support and contractual protections. US PEO provides co-employment, payroll, benefits and HR support. BENEFITS, MOBILITY AND EXPANSION Services include Global Benefits, Global Equity, visas and immigration, company incorporation, entity management and EOR-to-entity transfers. Employment and workplace add-ons include custom contracts, legal assistance, compliance audits, background checks, IT equipment, offices and fleet, stipends, expenses, severance and offboarding. AI COMMAND CENTER AI Command Center supports onboarding, payroll, leave, expenses and contract changes through natural-language requests, with expert review of high-impact changes and action records. The web platform includes employee self-service, documents, payroll reporting and approval workflows. RemotePeople supports startups, growing businesses and enterprises building international teams. Service availability and employing arrangements are confirmed by country. Request a demo or country-specific quote.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) is the operations system for every site, shift and standard. Trusted by over 80,000 organisations, Mitti brings your people, training records and workflows into one operating picture. From the frontline to the boardroom, it gives everyone a clear understanding of who's trained and ready for the shift ahead, highlights what needs attention and recommends what to do next. Every course completed, skill verified and action taken becomes intelligence your teams can use to improve every day.

WorkTango is an innovative Employee Experience platform designed to assist organizations in enhancing employee engagement, improving retention rates, and boosting overall performance while simultaneously reducing operational costs. This platform offers a comprehensive suite of tools, including Employee Surveys and Recognition & Rewards software, aimed at fostering a positive workplace culture and empowering employees. The platform serves a diverse target audience, including HR professionals, team leaders, and organizational executives who are keen on cultivating an engaging work environment. WorkTango is particularly beneficial for organizations looking to gather actionable insights from their workforce through surveys, as well as those aiming to recognize and reward employee achievements effectively. By addressing these critical areas, WorkTango helps organizations create a workplace where employees feel valued and motivated.

Serviceaide is a complete service management solution that can be implemented in weeks, not months, and intuitive to use. With low administration costs and quick implementation, you will see a real return on your investment. A flexible platform that works either on premise or in the cloud. Serviceaide is based on ITIL best practices and has been designed to be a comprehensive solution with all the components your team needs. You can choose the environment that best suits your technology, compliance, and infrastructure needs. Affordable and comprehensive, Serviceaide provides IT staff with the functions required to manage everything from ticketing to incident, change and asset management and more. Serviceaide includes a virtual agent, self-service portals and AI-based features to support analyst and end user productivity. Automate processes across technical workflows, services and business processes for business agility.

HR Partner is a simple, all-inclusive online HR Management system for businesses with 20 to 500+ employees. It gives you everything you need to manage your HR processes and reduce the time spent on HR administration tasks. HR Partner includes: - Employee Records Management One secure place to store contact data, files, reviews, assets, and more - Leave Requests, Accruals & Approvals A simple, transparent process for employees and admin users - Onboarding & Training Checklists Assign a set of tasks for employees to check off, read, sign, upload or watch - Recruitment and Applicant Tracking Publish jobs and manage applicants with a visual tracking system - Employee Portal Empower team members the information and tools they need - Electronic Signatures Let employees or job applicants sign HR documents electronically -Plus a Lot More 100's more features including timesheets, library, organizational chart, and more. Start a free trial or request a demo!

Paylocity delivers the most innovative technology bringing HR, payroll, and IT together in one modern, easy-to-use platform to empower teams, simplify processes, and deliver real results. The platform enables businesses to manage payroll, benefits, employee engagement, and other core HR functions while also managing non-payroll spend, including expenses, account payable, corporate cards, procurement, and headcount planning. Paylocity's integrated platform includes mobile access, workflow automation, seamless third-party integrations, and real-time insights that help businesses manage employees and business operations more effectively. Paylocity also provides dedicated customer support, implementation services, and scalable solutions designed to meet the needs of growing businesses and enterprise organizations.

Zendesk is an AI-powered service solution that’s easy to set up, use, and scale. It works out-of-the-box and adapts quickly, enabling businesses to move faster. Built on billions of CX interactions, Zendesk AI supports the whole service journey—from self-service to agents to admins—helping teams resolve issues faster and operate efficiently at scale. Zendesk empowers agents with tools, insights, and context to deliver personalized service on any channel—social messaging, phone, or email. It unifies personalized conversations, omnichannel case management, AI workflows, automation, and a Marketplace of 1200+ apps. Easy to implement, it frees teams from relying on IT or costly partners. Serving over 130K global brands in 30+ languages, Zendesk simplifies business complexity to create meaningful customer connections. Headquartered in San Francisco, it operates worldwide.

AnalyticsCreator is a metadata-driven design application for data warehouse automation and data product engineering across the Microsoft data stack. At its core is the AnalyticsCreator Governed Control Model, which keeps business meaning, data structures, transformation rules, dependencies and technical implementation connected in one controlled project model. Data teams design the required architecture in AnalyticsCreator, then generate native Microsoft assets from that design. Generated assets can include SQL Server objects, SSIS packages, Azure Data Factory pipelines, Microsoft Fabric components, deployment artefacts and Power BI semantic models. AnalyticsCreator supports dimensional, 3NF and hybrid modelling approaches together with ingestion, transformations, delta loading, historisation, Slowly Changing Dimensions, snapshots and repeatable data-processing patterns. Changes made in the model can be propagated across dependent project assets, while lineage, documentation and impact analysis remain connected to the underlying design. This helps teams reduce repetitive engineering work, standardise delivery and understand the effect of change before regenerating affected assets. AnalyticsCreator generates native Microsoft technology rather than requiring a proprietary runtime. Organisations retain ownership of the resulting implementation and can integrate generated assets into existing Git, Azure DevOps and CI/CD processes. Design Intelligence extends this governed project context into AI-assisted data engineering by giving authorised AI tools and agents structured access to metadata, lineage, dependencies and design rules. Typical use cases include enterprise data warehouse development, Microsoft Fabric adoption, SQL Server and SSIS modernisation, governed Power BI delivery, SAP-to-Microsoft analytics architectures and repeatable data product engineering.