Mellow vs BrightHR
Intelligence, not just compliance
Move beyond compliance checklists. Predict them.
Assistants that take action
Mellow’s agents generate contracts, run payroll estimates, start compliance workflows, and produce audit-ready documents — not just answer questions.
BrightHR
UK-built, Peninsula Group
1–500 employees
From ~£7+ PEPM (estimated)
Mellow
UK-built, UK-first
10–500+ employees
From £4/employee/month
Things to consider
- ✗Employment-law advice is a human Peninsula line (tier-bundled or add-on)
- ✗AI limited to a Q&A bot + document generation — no autonomous agents, no manager coaching
- ✗No IR35 determination depth
Feature comparison
| Feature | Mellow | BrightHR |
|---|---|---|
| Core HR | ||
| Employee records | ||
| Rota & shift management Basic shift tracking via Time & Attendance | ||
| Clock-in with GPS | ||
| Holiday management | ||
| Absence management | ||
| Compliance | ||
| Employment law guidance AI-powered — included in Intelligence tier | Requires Peninsula add-on | |
| ERA 2025 compliance ERA 2025 changes built in | ||
| IR35 determination | ||
| Tribunal risk scoring | ||
| Predictive compliance engine | ||
| Payroll | ||
| Native UK payroll engine Full PAYE/NI to the penny — included from £12 PEPM | Native engine now offered (RTI, auto-enrolment) — a paid add-on | |
| Payroll included in published price Included from Professional (£12 PEPM) | Payroll is a paid add-on | |
| AI | ||
| Specialist AI assistants AI assistants that draft documents and explain the figures Mellow computes | BRAINBOX+ Q&A bot + doc generation (human-authored content); no specialist assistants | |
| Employment Law Agent In-product AI agent, no add-on required | Q&A bot over expert content + human Peninsula line (tier add-on) | |
| AI manager coaching (People Coach) In-product coaching for conflict & team issues, grounded in your data | Human Peninsula advice line, not in-product AI coaching | |
| People | ||
| Adjustments Passport Living per-employee record of agreed workplace adjustments, per-country legislation, AI-drafted wording | No equivalent | |
| Team-health index from operational signals Fused from workload, ER, absence & recognition | Operational reporting only (Bradford/absence) — no engagement or health index | |
Our take
BrightHR is a solid UK compliance platform and a genuine choice for teams that want employment-law guidance backed by a human Peninsula advice line — it does that job well. Where the two diverge is approach to risk: BrightHR surfaces compliance requirements and routes judgement calls to human advisers; Mellow's predictive compliance engine, tribunal-risk scorer and People Coach are designed to catch and coach issues before they escalate. Both now run native UK payroll — BrightHR as a paid add-on, Mellow included from £12 PEPM. Which is right for you depends on whether you want human advisory plus admin, or in-product intelligence.
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