6 Best 15Five Alternatives for Performance & Engagement in 2026

15Five has built a strong reputation around manager enablement and structured check-ins. Its coaching-first philosophy resonates with organizations that prioritize the manager-employee relationship. But as teams grow and needs evolve, several common pain points push organizations to explore alternatives.

The most frequent complaint is pricing. 15Five's Total Platform costs $16/user/month, which adds up quickly for growing teams. A 100-person company is looking at $19,200 per year before any add-ons. The Engage plan at $4/user/month covers only surveys, and the gap between that and the full platform creates a frustrating middle ground where you either pay for too little or too much.

Beyond pricing, teams often cite fragmented functionality, limited well-being tracking, basic AI capabilities, and a performance review experience that, while functional, lacks the depth of purpose-built review platforms. If you are evaluating 15Five or considering a switch, here are six alternatives worth exploring.

Why Teams Look Beyond 15Five

The most common reasons organizations evaluate 15Five alternatives:

• Pricing fragmentation: The jump from $4/user (Engage) to $16/user (Total Platform) is steep, with limited mid-tier options.
• Performance reviews need more depth: While 15Five covers reviews, it is not as robust as platforms built with reviews as a core feature.
• Limited well-being features: Employee well-being tracking and burnout prediction are increasingly important, and 15Five's offerings here are basic.
• AI capabilities are maturing slowly: In a market where AI is rapidly transforming people analytics, 15Five's AI features have not kept pace with newer entrants.
• Manager training is separate: The Transform coaching program is valuable but priced as an add-on, increasing total cost of ownership.

The 6 Best 15Five Alternatives

1. Unmatched

Best for: Teams that want everything 15Five offers plus AI-powered analytics and well-being tracking at a lower price.

Unmatched delivers the complete employee engagement and performance management experience in a single platform: engagement surveys, performance reviews, 360-degree feedback, one-on-one meeting support, goal tracking, well-being monitoring, and AI-powered analytics. Where 15Five requires $16/user/month for the Total Platform, Unmatched provides the full suite at $3-5/user/month.

The most significant difference is Unmatched's AI-first architecture. Instead of relying on managers to interpret survey data and draft reviews from scratch, Unmatched's AI agents analyze engagement survey results automatically, identify themes in open-text feedback, surface burnout and turnover risks before they become visible problems, and generate specific, context-aware action plans for every manager. This is not a chatbot answering FAQ questions. These are intelligent agents that do the analytical work that would otherwise require a dedicated people analytics team.

Key features:

• Employee engagement surveys with automated AI analysis
• Pulse surveys and eNPS tracking with trend detection
• Performance reviews with AI-assisted drafting from multi-source data
• 360-degree feedback with anonymized aggregation and theme analysis
• Structured one-on-one meeting support with AI-suggested talking points
• Employee well-being tracking and burnout prediction
• Predictive turnover analytics
• AI chat for querying people data in natural language
• Exit surveys with retention analytics
• Agentic workflows that automate survey launches, reminders, and follow-ups

Pricing: $3/employee/month (Essentials: surveys, reviews, 360, goals, well-being). $5/employee/month (Intelligence: adds AI agents, predictive analytics, AI chat, advanced reporting). No minimum contract. 14-day free trial.

Pros:

• 70-80% cheaper than 15Five's Total Platform for equivalent or greater functionality
• AI capabilities that are significantly more advanced than 15Five
• Well-being tracking and burnout prediction are built in, not an afterthought
• Single, transparent pricing without confusing plan tiers
• No annual contract requirement — pay monthly and cancel anytime
• Purpose-built for teams of 20-500 employees

Cons:

• Does not offer a dedicated manager training program like 15Five's Transform
• Newer platform with a smaller community and knowledge base
• Check-in workflows are structured differently than 15Five's signature approach

Why choose Unmatched over 15Five: You get a more complete platform with significantly stronger AI capabilities and well-being features at less than one-third the cost. The trade-off is 15Five's established coaching methodology, which Unmatched replaces with AI-powered manager enablement.

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2. Lattice

Best for: Mid-size companies that want a comprehensive people platform and are willing to invest more for brand recognition.

Lattice is the largest player in the mid-market performance management space. It covers performance reviews, engagement surveys, goals (OKRs), compensation management, and has expanded into HRIS territory with payroll and time tracking.

Key features:

• Performance reviews and calibration
• Engagement and pulse surveys with benchmarking
• OKR and goal management with alignment views
• Compensation management and review cycles
• HRIS, payroll, and time tracking (newer additions)
• 360-degree feedback

Pricing: $11/person/month for the core platform. $22/person/month for the full suite. $4,000 annual minimum.

Pros:

• Comprehensive feature set with strong performance review workflows
• Large customer base and established brand
• Good integrations with HRIS, ATS, and communication tools
• Compensation management is a strong differentiator

Cons:

• Significantly more expensive than 15Five and Unmatched
• $4K annual minimum is prohibitive for very small teams
• HRIS expansion adds features many teams do not need
• Platform complexity has increased as features have been added

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3. Leapsome

Best for: European companies or teams that need OKR management and learning alongside performance and engagement.

Leapsome combines performance management, engagement surveys, OKRs, learning management, and compensation tools in a single platform. Its European roots make it particularly strong for companies that need GDPR compliance and multi-language support.

Key features:

• Performance reviews with customizable cycles
• 360-degree feedback
• Engagement surveys with action planning
• OKR and goal management
• Learning management system
• Compensation management

Pricing: From approximately $8/user/month. Module-based pricing with annual contracts.

Pros:

• Broad feature set in a single platform
• Strong GDPR compliance and European data residency
• Good OKR management tools
• Learning management is a differentiator vs. 15Five

Cons:

• Higher starting price than Unmatched or 15Five's Engage plan
• Annual contracts reduce flexibility
• AI features are behind newer platforms
• Can be complex to administer for smaller teams

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4. Workleap

Best for: Teams that want a simple, affordable starting point for engagement measurement and feedback.

Workleap (formerly Officevibe) is a lightweight tool focused on pulse surveys, anonymous feedback, and basic performance management. It is the easiest platform on this list to get started with and offers a free tier for small teams.

Key features:

• Automated pulse surveys and engagement tracking
• Anonymous employee feedback
• One-on-one meeting tools
• Basic performance reviews
• Recognition and kudos

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans from approximately $5/user/month.

Pros:

• Free tier to test before committing
• Minimal setup and administration required
• Strong Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations
• Clean, employee-friendly interface with high participation rates

Cons:

• Not a replacement for 15Five's full platform capabilities
• Performance review features are basic
• No 360 feedback or well-being tracking
• Analytics are surface-level

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5. Engagedly

Best for: Mid-size companies that want performance, engagement, and learning in one platform with gamification.

Engagedly offers a broad feature set spanning performance reviews, engagement surveys, learning management, and recognition. Its gamification elements can drive adoption in organizations where traditional tools struggle to gain traction.

Key features:

• Performance reviews and 360 feedback
• Engagement surveys and pulse checks
• Learning management system (LMS)
• Recognition with gamification
• Goal alignment and OKRs
• Mentoring module

Pricing: Approximately $6/user/month. Module-based with custom quotes for full platform.

Pros:

• Broad feature set at a moderate price point
• LMS and mentoring modules are differentiators
• Gamification can boost engagement with the tool itself
• Covers more of the employee lifecycle than 15Five

Cons:

• Interface is less polished than 15Five or Unmatched
• AI capabilities are limited
• Survey analytics lack the depth of dedicated survey platforms
• Mixed reviews on customer support responsiveness

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6. Small Improvements

Best for: Teams that want a straightforward, reliable performance management tool without complexity.

Small Improvements has been in the market for over a decade, offering a focused set of performance management features in a clean, easy-to-use interface. It is a good choice for teams that want the basics done well without the complexity of larger platforms.

Key features:

• Performance reviews and check-ins
• 360-degree feedback
• Goal tracking
• Praise and recognition
• One-on-one meeting notes

Pricing: Approximately $5/user/month. Custom pricing for larger deployments.

Pros:

• Clean, intuitive interface with minimal learning curve
• Mature, stable platform with proven reliability
• Good 360 feedback implementation
• Solid customer support

Cons:

• Engagement survey features are limited compared to 15Five
• No AI-powered analytics or insights
• Fewer integrations than larger platforms
• Product development pace has slowed

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Comparison Table

Feature	Unmatched	Lattice	Leapsome	Workleap	Engagedly	Small Improvements
Full Suite Price	$5/user/mo	$22/user/mo	~$15/user/mo	~$8/user/mo	Custom	Custom
Engagement Surveys	Advanced	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited
Performance Reviews	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic	Yes	Yes
360 Feedback	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
One-on-One Tools	Yes	Yes	Basic	Yes	Basic	Yes
AI Analytics	Advanced	Basic	Basic	No	Basic	No
Well-being Tracking	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Turnover Prediction	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Learning/LMS	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Manager Training	AI-powered	No	No	No	No	No
Minimum Contract	None	$4K/year	Annual	None	Annual	Annual

What 15Five Does Well (And Where Alternatives Excel)

To be fair to 15Five, there are areas where it genuinely excels:

• Structured check-ins: 15Five's weekly check-in framework is well-designed and effective. Few alternatives match the depth of this specific workflow.
• Manager coaching (Transform): The Transform program provides real coaching and training for managers, which is rare in a software platform.
• Question design: 15Five's engagement survey questions are research-backed and well-crafted.

Where alternatives like Unmatched excel is in breadth, depth, and price. If you need engagement surveys, performance reviews, 360 feedback, well-being tracking, and AI-powered analytics in a single platform at a sustainable price, the alternatives listed above offer compelling options. The question is not whether 15Five is a good product — it is — but whether the value it provides at $16/user/month justifies the cost when comparable or superior alternatives exist at a fraction of the price.

For most growing teams, Unmatched offers the strongest value proposition: a complete platform with advanced AI capabilities at $3-5/user/month. Start a free trial to compare the experience directly.