15Five vs Culture Amp

15Five is a transparently priced, per-user performance and engagement platform built around AI-assisted reviews and the Kona coaching assistant. Culture Amp…

Best for 15Five: Smaller or mid-size teams wanting predictable per-user pricing ($4-$16/month), mobile apps, and straightforward reviews plus engagement surveys.
Best for Culture Amp: Larger organizations needing DEI assessments, benchmarking against 6,000+ companies, 360-degree feedback, and documented SOC II/ISO/GDPR compliance, willing to go through a custom quote process.

At a Glance

 15FiveCulture Amp
Primary categoryHRHR
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelSubscription (per user/month, billed annually)Custom
Starting price$4/user/month (Engage plan, billed annually)Not documented
Free planNot documentedNot documented
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesYes
Public APINot documentedYes

Key Differences

Pricing Transparency

15Five: 15Five publishes exact per-user tiers: Engage at $4/user/month, Perform at $11/user/month, and Total Platform at $16/user/month, billed annually.

Culture Amp: Culture Amp has no public pricing; it requires a quote based on employee count, products selected, and service tier.

Published pricing lets smaller teams budget without a sales cycle, while custom pricing usually reflects enterprise-scale deals.

360-Degree Feedback

15Five: 15Five's feature list does not document 360-degree feedback specifically.

Culture Amp: Culture Amp's Perform module explicitly includes 360-degree feedback alongside continuous feedback and reviews.

360 feedback requires structured multi-rater workflows that aren't the same as manager-only reviews.

DEI Assessments and Benchmarking

15Five: 15Five's engagement surveys include predictive analytics but don't document DEI assessments or cross-company benchmarking.

Culture Amp: Culture Amp's Engage product explicitly includes DEI assessments and benchmarking against other companies.

Benchmarking against peer companies gives context to engagement scores that raw internal data can't provide.

AI Feature Focus

15Five: 15Five offers Kona, an add-on AI assistant for manager coaching, plus AI-assisted performance reviews.

Culture Amp: Culture Amp offers AI Coach for instant performance insights and AI-generated comment summaries within Engage surveys.

The two platforms apply AI to different parts of the workflow - manager coaching versus survey comment summarization.

Compliance Certifications

15Five: 15Five does not publicly document specific compliance certifications.

Culture Amp: Culture Amp states it is SOC II, ISO, and GDPR compliant.

Enterprise procurement often requires documented compliance certifications before approving a vendor.

Feature-by-Feature

Performance Management

Feature15FiveCulture Amp
AI-assisted performance reviewsAvailableAvailable
360-degree feedbackNot documentedAvailable
Goals/OKR trackingAvailableAvailable
1-on-1 meeting toolsAvailableAvailable

Engagement & Surveys

Feature15FiveCulture Amp
Pulse/engagement surveysAvailableAvailable
DEI assessmentsNot documentedAvailable
Cross-company benchmarkingNot documentedAvailable
AI-generated survey comment summariesNot documentedAvailable

Pricing, Compliance & Access

Feature15FiveCulture Amp
Published per-user pricingAvailableUnavailable
Compliance certifications (SOC II/ISO/GDPR)Not documentedAvailable
Mobile apps (iOS/Android)AvailableNot documented
Broad HRIS/HR SaaS integrationsNot documentedAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

15Five

Engage — $4 per user/month, billed annually
Perform — $11 per user/month, billed annually
Total Platform — $16 per user/month, billed annually

Culture Amp

Small/Medium (under 200 employees) — Custom quote annual
Mid-Market (200-999 employees) — Custom quote annual
Enterprise (1,000+ employees) — Custom quote annual

Pros & Cons

15Five

Pros

  • Combines performance, engagement, and compensation in one platform
  • AI-assisted review writing and dedicated manager coaching (Kona)
  • Strong analytics and benchmarking for HR leaders
  • Modular pricing lets teams start with just Engage or Perform

Cons

  • Total Platform plus add-ons (Kona, Compensation) can add up in cost for larger organizations
  • Feature depth is oriented toward mid-market/enterprise HR teams, which may be more than very small teams need
  • Some capabilities (Kona Coach, Manager Content) are priced as separate add-ons rather than included

Culture Amp

Pros

  • Survey methodology grounded in organizational behavior and I/O psychology research
  • Strong benchmarking data across industries, regions, and company sizes
  • Combines engagement surveys and performance management in one platform
  • Support model scales with company size, including executive coaching for enterprise customers

Cons

  • Pricing is not publicly published and requires a sales quote
  • All contracts are billed annually, which may not suit companies wanting monthly flexibility
  • Additional modules like Develop and People Science Consulting cost extra
  • Can be a larger investment than lighter-weight pulse-survey-only tools for very small companies

Use Cases

Choose 15Five: Smaller or mid-size teams wanting predictable per-user pricing ($4-$16/month), mobile apps, and straightforward reviews plus engagement surveys.
Choose Culture Amp: Larger organizations needing DEI assessments, benchmarking against 6,000+ companies, 360-degree feedback, and documented SOC II/ISO/GDPR compliance, willing to go through a custom quote process.
Need both: There's no clear complementary scenario here - 15Five and Culture Amp overlap heavily on reviews, surveys, and 1-on-1 tools, so companies typically pick one as their system of record rather than running both.

15Five

  • Performance review cycles — AI-assisted reviews, 360-degree feedback, and calibration for mid-market and enterprise HR teams.
  • Employee engagement measurement — Engagement surveys, benchmarking, and action planning to track and improve engagement.
  • Manager coaching and development — AI coaching via Kona plus manager-training content to build stronger managers.
  • Compensation benchmarking — Pay-range management and salary benchmarking as part of total-rewards planning.

Culture Amp

  • Company-wide engagement surveys — HR teams run annual and pulse engagement surveys to measure sentiment and benchmark results against industry peers.
  • Structured performance review cycles — People teams run goal-setting, continuous feedback, and 360-degree performance review cycles through the Perform product.
  • Manager coaching and development — Enterprise customers use AI Coach and People Science Consulting to help managers act on feedback and develop their teams.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, 15Five or Culture Amp?

15Five publishes fixed tiers of $4, $11, and $16 per user/month. Culture Amp requires a custom quote with no public pricing, so a direct cost comparison isn't possible from public information.

Does Culture Amp offer 360-degree feedback?

Yes, as part of its Perform product. 15Five's feature list does not document 360-degree feedback specifically.

What AI features does each offer?

15Five has Kona, an add-on AI assistant for manager coaching, plus AI-assisted reviews. Culture Amp has AI Coach for instant performance insights and AI-generated comment summaries within Engage.

Which has stronger documented compliance credentials?

Culture Amp publicly states SOC II, ISO, and GDPR compliance. 15Five does not document specific certifications.

Does 15Five have a free trial or free plan?

No. Per its own FAQs, no free tier is listed on 15Five's pricing page - all tiers require a paid subscription.

Which platform serves more customers?

Culture Amp reports 6,000+ companies including Canva, Etsy, and Intercom. 15Five reports 3,000+ customers and 250,000+ employees.

Read the full 15Five review · Read the full Culture Amp review