MHR alternative

MHR vs HBHR

Both run core HR for UK employers. HBHR adds real time labour cost, wellbeing and mental health and built in AI assistant in the same platform, so pay, hours and people data stop living in separate places.

  • Built for UK and Irish employers
  • ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials
  • Named onboarding lead

Rated higher by customers

Scores out of 5 on each review site, checked 18 September 2026.

Across 65 capabilities we compared

19 where HBHR goes further than MHR

HBHR 97%
MHR 74%
  • Real time labour cost
  • Wellbeing and mental health
  • Built in AI assistant
  • AI task automation
  • Ask a question, get a report

Fully included scores 1, limited or a paid add-on or integration scores a half. Public information, September 2026.

The short answer

Which one fits your team?

Choose MHR if

  • Leave and absence, Hiring and onboarding and Learning cover most of what you need
  • You need global payroll as a paid add-on or integration

MHR scores higher than HBHR on 1 of 65 capabilities we compared.

Choose HBHR if you want everything connected

  • See labour cost against budget as the shift happens.
  • Support your team's wellbeing inside the platform they use daily.
  • Ask HBHR anything and get an answer in seconds.
  • Reach your whole team without another app.
See it in a 30 minute demo

Side by side

MHR and HBHR, feature by feature

Tap any row for what it means in practice. We start with the differences; switch the toggle to see everything.

MHR and HBHR compared
Capability MHR
Core HR
Employee records Included Included

Single secure record for every employee: personal data, contracts, history.

See how HBHR keeps every employee record in one connected, secure place.

See it in a demo
Org chart and reporting lines Included Included

Visual, auto updating org chart and reporting lines.

Map your whole organisation in one live org chart.

See it in a demo
Employee and manager self service Included Included

Staff and managers action requests, data and approvals themselves.

Give managers and staff self service that actually gets used.

See it in a demo
Documents and e signatures Included Included

Store, share, version and e sign HR documents and contracts.

Store, send and e sign every HR document in one place.

See it in a demo
Handbook and policies Included Included

Central, acknowledged company policies and staff handbook.

Keep policies current and prove staff have read them.

See it in a demo
Workflow automation and approvals Included Included

Configurable automated workflows for HR processes and approvals.

Automate the HR admin that eats your team's week.

See it in a demo
Case Management (differs) Included Paid add-on or integration

All cases logged, managed and tracked in one place

See it in a demo
Open API Included Included

Provides secure API access so HBHR can connect with other systems

See it in a demo
Want to see these side by side on your own data? Book a demo
Leave and absence
Annual leave management Included Included

Book, approve and track annual leave with accurate entitlements.

Take the guesswork out of holiday and entitlements.

See it in a demo
Absence and sickness Included Included

Log, monitor and report on sickness and unplanned absence.

Spot absence patterns before they become a problem.

See it in a demo
Bradford Factor scoring Included Included

Automatic Bradford Factor scoring to flag persistent short term absence.

Flag persistent absence automatically with Bradford scoring.

See it in a demo
TOIL and overtime Included Included

Track time off in lieu and overtime accurately.

Track overtime and TOIL without spreadsheets.

See it in a demo
Time and rotas
Time tracking and clocking in Included Included

Digital clock in/out with accurate worked hours capture.

Capture every hour worked, accurately, in real time.

See it in a demo
Shift scheduling and rotas Included Included

Build, publish and manage staff rotas and shifts.

Build rotas around real demand, not guesswork.

See it in a demo
Timesheets Included Included

Digital timesheets feeding straight into pay.

Timesheets that flow straight into payroll.

See it in a demo
Real time labour cost (differs) Included Not built in

Live view of labour cost against budget as shifts run.

See labour cost against budget as the shift happens.

See it in a demo
GPS and geofenced clocking (differs) Included Paid add-on or integration

Location verified clock in for mobile, remote and multi site teams.

Verify who clocked in, and where, across every site.

See it in a demo
Working time compliance (differs) Included Paid add-on or integration

Guardrails for breaks, rest and working time rules built into rotas.

Keep every rota inside working time rules automatically.

See it in a demo
Payroll
Built in payroll Included Included

Native UK payroll inside the platform, no third party bridge.

Run payroll inside the same platform as your HR.

See it in a demo
Complex pay rules Included Included

Care and shift pay: sleep ins, on call, unsocial hours enhancements, multi cost centre and rolled up holiday.

Sleep ins, on call and multi post pay, calculated automatically.

See it in a demo
Fully managed payroll Included Included

HBHR's team runs payroll end to end on your behalf.

Lost your payroll person? Our team runs payroll end to end.

See it in a demo
HMRC RTI compliance Included Included

RTI submissions, statutory pay and year end handled correctly.

Stay on the right side of HMRC, automatically.

See it in a demo
Statutory and occupational pay Included Included

SSP, SMP and occupational sick pay schemes calculated automatically, not by hand.

Statutory and occupational pay worked out for you, not by hand.

See it in a demo
Pension auto enrolment Included Included

Automatic pension assessment, enrolment and re enrolment.

Auto enrolment handled without the headache.

See it in a demo
NHS and public sector pensions Included Included

Tiered/banded, multi post public sector schemes: NHS Pension, Teachers' Pension, LGPS.

NHS Pension and public sector schemes handled, not bolted on.

See it in a demo
Expenses Included Included

Submit, approve and reimburse employee expenses.

Cut expense admin and reimburse people faster.

See it in a demo
Irish payroll (Revenue PAYE) Included Included

Native Irish payroll and Revenue compliance for IE employers.

One platform that runs UK and Irish payroll properly.

See it in a demo
Global payroll (differs) Coming soon Paid add-on or integration

Payroll across multiple countries from one system.

Growing into Europe? See where HBHR is heading.

See it in a demo
Average Holiday Pay (differs) Included Not built in

Calculates holiday pay based on an employee’s average earnings over the relevant reference period.

See it in a demo
Pension by role (differs) Included Not built in

Allows pension settings and contribution rules to be applied by job role.

See it in a demo
Hiring and onboarding
Applicant tracking Included Included

Post roles, manage candidates and hire in one flow.

Run hiring end to end without leaving HBHR.

See it in a demo
Safer recruitment and checks Included Included

Safer recruitment workflows: DBS/PVG checks, Ofsted Schedule 2, automated reference chasing.

Safer recruitment and reference chasing without the admin.

See it in a demo
Employee onboarding Included Included

Structured digital onboarding for new starters.

Give every new starter a great first day.

See it in a demo
Offers and contracts signed online Included Included

Generate offers and issue e signed contracts.

Get contracts signed on day zero, not week two.

See it in a demo
Performance
Reviews and appraisals Included Included

Structured appraisals, review cycles and sign off.

Run review cycles people actually complete.

See it in a demo
Goals and OKRs Included Included

Set, cascade and track objectives and key results.

Connect everyday work to the goals that matter.

See it in a demo
One to ones and feedback (differs) Included Paid add-on or integration

Ongoing check ins and feedback, not just annual reviews.

Keep feedback flowing all year, not once a year.

See it in a demo
Recognition and rewards (differs) Included Not built in

Peer recognition, rewards and staff perks.

Recognise great work and make it stick.

See it in a demo
Engagement surveys and eNPS (differs) Included Paid add-on or integration

Pulse surveys and engagement measurement.

Hear what your people really think, and act on it.

See it in a demo
Wellbeing and mental health (differs) Included Not built in

Dedicated wellbeing support and mental health tools.

Support your team's wellbeing inside the platform they use daily.

See it in a demo
Learning
Learning management Included Included

Assign, deliver and track training and compliance learning.

Assign and track compliance training in HBHR Learn.

See it in a demo
Reporting
Reports and dashboards Included Included

Out of the box dashboards for the metrics that matter.

Get the HR numbers you need without a data team.

See it in a demo
Custom report builder Included Included

Build bespoke reports across HR, pay and time data.

Answer any people question with a custom report.

See it in a demo
Predictive AI analytics (differs) Included Paid add-on or integration

AI surfaced trends, risks and forecasts across your workforce.

Let AI spot the workforce risks before they cost you.

See it in a demo
AI
Built in AI assistant (differs) Included Not built in

Ask HR and payroll questions in plain language and get answers.

Ask HBHR anything and get an answer in seconds.

See it in a demo
AI task automation (differs) Included Not built in

AI executes routine HR and payroll actions, not just suggests them.

AI that does the work, not just points at it.

See it in a demo
Ask a question, get a report (differs) Included Not built in

Generate reports by asking a question, no report building.

Type a question, get the report. No spreadsheets.

See it in a demo
AI alerts and anomaly detection (differs) Included Not built in

Proactive AI alerts on risks, deadlines and data anomalies.

Get warned about the problem before it lands.

See it in a demo
Autonomous AI agent (differs) Included Not built in

AI agents complete HR and payroll tasks automatically in the background without manual intervention.

Let AI handle repetitive HR work for you.

See it in a demo
Facial Recognition Scanner (differs) Included Paid add-on or integration

Auto clock in device for rota time and attendance

See it in a demo
Compliance
ISO 27001 certified Included Included

Independently certified information security management.

Your people data, protected to ISO 27001.

See it in a demo
GDPR compliant Included Included

Built for UK/EU data protection compliance.

GDPR ready from day one.

See it in a demo
Cyber Essentials certified Included Included

UK Cyber Essentials security certification.

Certified to UK Cyber Essentials.

See it in a demo
UK and Irish data residency Included Included

UK and Ireland home market, data and support, not a US bolt on.

Built for UK and Irish employers, not adapted from the US.

See it in a demo
Health and safety (differs) Included Not built in

H and S, risk assessments and incident reporting.

Managing H and S risk? Let's talk about what HBHR covers.

See it in a demo
Employment law advice Not built in Not built in

Access to employment law guidance and support.

See it in a demo
Single Central Record (SCR) Included Included

Maintain a compliant Single Central Record with automated checks, staff records and safeguarding information in one place.

Simplify SCR compliance and keep safeguarding records always up to date.

See it in a demo
School Workforce Census (SWC) Included Included

Prepare, validate and submit School Workforce Census (SWC) data accurately with automated workforce reporting.

Simplify School Workforce Census submissions and reduce manual reporting.

See it in a demo
Further Education Workforce (FEW) Included Included

Prepare, validate and submit Further Education Workforce (FEW) data accurately with automated workforce reporting.

Simplify FEW returns and reduce manual workforce reporting.

See it in a demo
Gender pay gap reporting Included Included

Calculate, analyse and generate compliant gender pay gap reports with automated workforce data.

Produce accurate gender pay gap reports without manual spreadsheets.

See it in a demo
Platform
Mobile app Included Included

Full featured mobile app for staff and managers.

Everything your team needs, in their pocket.

See it in a demo
Team chat (differs) Included Not built in

Built in messaging and internal communications.

Reach your whole team without another app.

See it in a demo
Open API and integrations Included Included

Connect to your finance, ATS and productivity stack.

Plug HBHR into the tools you already run.

See it in a demo
Named onboarding and human support Included Included

Real people onboarding and ongoing support, not just a chatbot.

Get set up by real people who know your sector.

See it in a demo
HR, payroll and time in one platform Included Included

One platform for HR, payroll and workforce, not stitched together integrations.

One platform, one data model. Stop running on disparate systems.

See it in a demo
  • Included
  • Limited
  • Paid add-on or integration
  • Not built in
  • Coming soon
  • Marked rows differ

Based on publicly available information as of September 2026.

Build your shortlist

What does your next platform have to do?

Tick your must haves and see how each platform covers them. Your list comes with you to the demo, so we show you the parts that matter to you first.

Your must haves

The cost of staying put

What would one connected platform give back?

Three numbers, the same maths as our full calculator. Every assumption is on the pricing page, ready to change.

UK median full time pay is a sensible start

Estimated saving every year

£91,744

£275,231 over three years

2,188 admin hours back a year

HR admin reclaimed £21,840
Payroll and finance admin reclaimed £12,133
Manager time reclaimed £23,739
Reduced attrition £29,531
Payroll accuracy and compliance £4,500

A gross estimate from your inputs and the default assumptions on our pricing page. It does not include the cost of HBHR.

Where HBHR goes further

Four reasons teams move from MHR

Real time labour cost

See labour cost against budget as the shift happens.

MHR: Not built in

Wellbeing and mental health

Support your team's wellbeing inside the platform they use daily.

MHR: Not built in

Built in AI assistant

Ask HBHR anything and get an answer in seconds.

MHR: Not built in

Team chat

Reach your whole team without another app.

MHR: Not built in

Trusted by the world’s leading global employers

In their words

Why teams make the move to HBHR

Switching stories

The transition from our old system to HBHR was seamless.

Charlotte Langley Head of Colleague Experience · Inspired Pet Nutrition Case study

HealthBox are such a breath of fresh air in the world of HR/Payroll systems. They are completely different to my experience with other systems in so many (positive) ways.

Emily Whiter YMCA

We have been using HBHR for around 6 months. The platform itself is very user friendly for both admins and users, and is easy to adapt to your needs.

Hannah Clifton Miele

Having tried other HR software I have to say that I think Healthbox HR is the best on the market.

Diane Page Dumbarnie Links

We transitioned to HealthboxHR to find a more cost-effective solution for managing our workforce.

Jane Burton Delamode

Exceptional Support We switched over from an American HR platform to HBHR in search of a better feature for booking time off.

Lisa Tucker Intelleck

We’ve had a very positive experience with HealthBoxHR. The system brings all HR processes into one place, making day-to-day tasks much more efficient and reducing manual work.

Shelley Jenkins Frontier Medical Group

We have just rolled out HealthBox HR and have had an excellent experience so far.

Shane Lynch ProStrategy

We moved to HealthBoxHR about a year ago.

Laura Aslte-Sander UTP/MyPros

Great engagement and full support offered all the way through the transaction process from our previous HR platform to Healthbox HR.

Clare Rose Robins Foundation

We have been using Healthbox HR for over 12 months, and on the whole the experience has been a very positive one.

Dan Watton Grainger & Worrell

I was approached by HealthBoxHR in relation to this new platform; naturally sceptical i tentatively agreed to a meeting to be introduced to the software and was blown away almost immediately by what it can do.

Alistair Express Appliances

We have just launched HealthBox HR so it's still early days but the support we have received from the HealthBox team during the implementation phase is second to none!

Andra Westbank

We have recently started using HealthBox HR and I have been very impressed with the implementation and support we have received.

Sian Farrington G2 Legal

We were searching for a HR & Payroll Platform that met our needs being an SME in the construction industry.

Steve Johnson Beaver Bridges

Excellent service from HealthBox HR from the initial sign up and ongoing, nothing is too much trouble. Great platform to use, does exactly what it says on the tin.

Nicola Hayes Schuelke

I have been using HBHR for about 8 months now. When looking for a HRIS I feel like HBHR stood out from the rest.

Ella Holland Huler

HealthboxHR does just want you would expect and more. The functionality is great and the app works really well for our teams.

Anne Davison Jungle IT

We have had a great experience with Health Box HR from the initial Sales meetings (they were very reactive to all our questions and queries) to the support we receive, which is still going strong.

Klara O'Malley Irish Heart Foundation

We've been using HealthboxHR for a while now, and it's made a noticeable difference in how we manage our HR tasks.

Stephen Gillespie Smart Impact

We have been using HBHR for around 6 months now and its helped to streamline our processes and manage some of the more mundane HR tasks more efficiently.

Inderjit Marwaha RK Wholesale

We launched HBHR to our employees a few month ago and have had a great response to our new platform, not all modules are live yet and I think the phasing of modules is a great feature of HBHR.

Megan Blackburn Bartec

Since implementing HealthboxHR, we have been thoroughly impressed by the platform's dependability and the outstanding service levels provided by the team, it has been a real game changer for our company, and we have found the platform to be exceptionally reliable with no outage time.

Liz Hendriks Naafi

Having all our employees information central, homepage with all main info in one page, really helpful team

Dovi Jakelaityte 361 Degrees Gartner

58 reviews from 38 organisations

Questions

Comparing MHR and HBHR

Is HBHR a good MHR alternative?

For UK and Irish employers who want HR, payroll and time in one platform, yes. On the 65 capabilities we compared, HBHR goes further on 19, including real time labour cost, working time compliance, wellbeing and mental health and predictive AI analytics.

What does MHR do that HBHR does not?

MHR scores higher on global payroll. If those are central to your team, weigh them honestly, and ask us how customers cover them today.

How much could we save by moving from MHR?

It depends on team size, pay and how much admin sits between systems. Run the estimate with your own numbers to see what a team your size could reclaim.

Does HBHR run Irish payroll as well as UK payroll?

Yes. UK (HMRC RTI) and Irish (Revenue PAYE) payroll run natively in the same platform. MHR is shown as including Irish payroll in public information.

How long does it take to switch from MHR?

Most moves follow four stages: a scope call, data migration, a parallel payroll run and go live, led by one named person. Your timeline depends on size and how many systems you are consolidating.