Culture Amp vs 15Five: Which Engagement and Performance Platform Fits Your Team?

Short answer: Pick Culture Amp if the annual survey and its benchmark are the center of your people program and you can live with a sales call to learn the price. Pick 15Five if your problem is manager habits between reviews, you want a per-user price you can model yourself and you accept that the survey side is lighter.

Side by side

How are Culture Amp and 15Five different?

The two platforms overlap on paper but differ in where they put the weight. Culture Amp is built around the survey: templates, a diagnostic, pulses, benchmarks and a follow-up plan. Its performance product, Perform, comes second in the vendor's own structure and is sold separately.

15Five starts from the manager. Employees answer a short weekly set of questions, managers respond, and that trail feeds reviews, goals and 1-on-1s. Engagement surveys are one tier of a platform whose center is performance management.

In our employee engagement ranking Culture Amp is first and 15Five third. In our performance management ranking Culture Amp is second and 15Five third. The order reflects survey depth in the first list and a joined-up survey-to-review picture in the second, not a gap in usefulness.

Which has the stronger engagement survey?

Culture Amp has the deeper survey product. Its Engage product lists a diagnostic survey, ready-made templates, retention insights, a DEI survey, pulses and benchmarking, plus AI summaries of written comments. For a company that runs one serious annual cycle and wants to compare results with outside data, that is the fuller kit.

15Five lists surveys, targeted assessments, action planning, heat maps and benchmarking. That covers the core job, and heat maps help managers see which teams need attention. Our ranking notes that its survey science is less deep than Culture Amp's, which matters most to HR leads who defend results to executives.

If surveys are a side task for you, the difference may not justify a higher bill. If they are the main task, it probably does.

How do pricing and add-ons compare?

15Five is the easier one to budget. It publishes Engage at $4, Perform at $11 and Total Platform at $16 per user per month, billed annually. For 300 people on Engage that is a number you can write down before talking to anyone.

Culture Amp publishes no price. Cost depends on employee band (under 200, 200 to 999, 1,000+), product and service tier, so you need a sales conversation, and there is no free trial. Neither vendor lists a trial.

Watch the add-ons at 15Five: manager content is $49 per manager per month, coaching is $399 per credit and the notetaker is $2. These can raise the bill well above the headline rate. Ask Culture Amp what its service tier includes, since the support model is part of what you pay for.

What does each do for performance management?

Culture Amp's Perform is a review-first module; 15Five's performance side is a habit-first one. Perform offers reviews with calibration, continuous 360 feedback, 1-on-1s, goals, development plans and an AI coach. Its strongest point is the link to survey data, so an HR lead can compare engagement scores with review outcomes.

15Five offers weekly check-ins, reviews, OKRs, 1-on-1 agendas and 360 feedback. The check-in trail reduces recency bias at review time, but it only works while people keep filling it in. Adoption often fades after the first months, and review configuration and calibration are less flexible than at Culture Amp.

A company that wants a structured twice-yearly review with calibration leans to Culture Amp. A company that wants regular conversations leans to 15Five.

Who should avoid each one?

Culture Amp is wrong for teams under 50 people and for buyers who need a price before a demo. Performance tools sit in a separate product, so combining them raises the cost. Smaller companies may find the full platform more than they need. Our category page points those buyers to Small Improvements or Officevibe.

15Five is wrong for a company that only wants a survey tool. The platform is built around performance management, so engagement can feel like one module among many, and you will pay for features you never open. Our category page suggests Winningtemp or Netigate for that case.

Two things we could not confirm from our sources: 15Five's data hosting location and Culture Amp's security certifications. Ask both vendors before you sign.

How should you decide between them?

Start with the problem you are paying to solve. If leadership keeps asking why people leave and how your scores compare with other companies, the survey and benchmark are the product, and Culture Amp is built for that question. If the real complaint is that managers skip 1-on-1s, give vague feedback or surprise people at review time, 15Five addresses it more directly.

Think about who will run the program. Culture Amp groups its service by company size, so a mid-sized firm gets a named customer success partner and project support, which helps a small HR team that cannot build the survey process alone. 15Five asks more of your managers, because the weekly check-in only produces value when employees and managers both keep using it.

Then run the numbers with real headcount. Ask Culture Amp for a written quote covering both Engage and Perform if you want both, since they are separate products. For 15Five, price the tier you need plus the add-ons you expect to use, because coaching and manager content are billed on top of the per-user rate.

Consider the upgrade path too. With 15Five you can start on Engage and move to Perform or Total Platform inside the same vendor, and the price of each step is visible. With Culture Amp you add Perform to Engage through a new quote, which gives room to negotiate but no published benchmark to negotiate against.

Finally, ask each vendor for a reference at your size. Customer counts and claims on vendor sites are the vendor's own, so a call with a customer of similar headcount tells you more than a feature list. For other options see the engagement ranking, the performance management ranking and our comparisons index.

Frequently asked questions

Is Culture Amp or 15Five better for engagement surveys?

Culture Amp has the deeper survey product, with a diagnostic, templates, pulses, a DEI survey, retention insights and benchmarks. 15Five covers surveys, targeted assessments, action planning and heat maps, which is enough for many teams that care more about manager follow-up.

Which is cheaper, Culture Amp or 15Five?

15Five publishes its prices: Engage $4, Perform $11 and Total Platform $16 per user per month, billed annually, plus paid add-ons. Culture Amp is quote only, so a comparison needs a written quote for your headcount and tier.

Do Culture Amp and 15Five offer a free trial?

Neither lists a free trial in our sources. Culture Amp is quote only with no trial, and 15Five offers a demo but no trial.

Can either replace a performance review tool?

Yes, both include reviews. Culture Amp's Perform adds calibration and development plans. 15Five adds weekly check-ins, OKRs and 1-on-1 agendas, though calibration and competency mapping are less flexible.

Which suits a company of 300 people?

Both can. Culture Amp fits a 300-person company that runs an annual survey and wants benchmarks. 15Five fits one that wants published pricing and manager coaching, as long as it will keep up the weekly check-in habit.