15Five Vs Leapsome: Which Performance Management Platform Is Right For You

Effective performance management serves as the foundation for organizational success, transforming individual contributions into collective achievement. Companies lacking structured performance systems frequently encounter challenges, including irregular feedback cycles and diminished workforce engagement. 

Performance management platforms like 15Five and Leapsome address these critical gaps by providing comprehensive frameworks for goal alignment, continuous feedback, and performance insights. Both solutions offer comprehensive HR functionality, yet their implementation approaches, feature architectures, and integration capabilities differ substantially. 

This 15Five vs Leapsome comparison provides an in-depth evaluation of how each platform supports organizational growth through scalability, customization options, and strategic alignment. 

15Five Vs Leapsome: At A Glance

15Five Vs Leapsome: At A Glance

Feature 

15Five 

Leapsome 

Performance Reviews 

Continuous feedback with regular check-ins 

360-degree reviews with customizable cycles 

Goal Management 

OKR tracking with real-time progress updates 

Advanced OKR management with cascade functionality 

Employee Engagement 

Employee engagement surveys and recognition tools 

Engagement surveys with AI-powered insights 

Learning And Development 

Basic coaching and development tools 

Personalized learning paths and onboarding  

1-on-1 Meetings 

Structured meeting templates and tracking 

Effective meeting management with collaborative agendas 

What Is 15Five?

15Five is a comprehensive performance management platform that helps to create effective managers, engaged employees, and high-performing organizations. The platform combines continuous feedback, goal tracking, and engagement tools in an intuitive system that promotes regular communication between managers and team members. 

Its core philosophy centers around weekly check-ins that take employees just 15 minutes to complete and managers 5 minutes to review, hence the name ‘15Five.’ With features spanning from objectives and key results (OKRs) management to peer recognition, the software helps organizations build a culture of continuous improvement. 

Unique Features 

15Five
  • Manager Development Program: Offers artificial intelligence (AI)-powered manager effectiveness training that combines on-demand content, live coaching, and personalized development paths to help managers think as leaders 
  • HR Outcomes Dashboard: Provides executive-level insights dashboard that converts existing people data into strategic intelligence to focus organizational efforts 
  • High Fives Recognition: A real-time peer-to-peer recognition system that allows team members to send and receive commendations, spotlight exceptional efforts, and celebrate milestones digitally 

15Five Pros And Cons 

Pros 

  • Intuitive interface that requires minimal training, making adoption quick and seamless across organizations 
  • Strong focus on continuous feedback rather than annual reviews, promoting ongoing development and communication 
  • Vision boards that help employees and managers collaboratively define career goals and align development with organizational objectives 

Cons 

  • Retroactive items are auto-marked as done, reducing reporting flexibility 
  • Navigating between 15Five and 1-on-1 features can be confusing 

What Is Leapsome?

Leapsome is an all-in-one people enablement platform that combines performance management, employee engagement, and personalized learning to help organizations develop their workforce. The platform focuses on creating comprehensive people development strategies through data-driven insights and automated workflows. 

Moreover, it is designed for companies looking to enhance their employee management processes and scale their business through structured development programs and comprehensive analytics. 

Unique Features 

Leapsome
  • Competency Framework Builder: Advanced tool for defining company-wide or team-specific skills to measure employee performance and track development over time 
  • Absence Management: Offers a fully integrated system for tracking, approving, and analyzing employee time off, directly within its broader people enablement platform 
  • ROI Calculator: Helps organizations quantify the financial impact of investing in employee engagement, performance, and development 

Leapsome Pros And Cons 

Pros 

  • Offers a culture-driven design that actively promotes continuous feedback, growth, and alignment across teams 
  • Provides responsive support to customer feedback and platform improvement that fosters a collaborative partnership 
  • Delivers complete transparency across the entire review and feedback cycle 

Cons

  • The feedback module can be difficult to configure, making it harder to minimize bias in evaluations 
  • Renewal process and license adjustments can be inflexible, making it difficult for the team members to manage 

15Five Vs Leapsome: In-Depth Feature Comparison

Performance Reviews

15Five emphasizes continuous performance management through its signature weekly check-ins and ‘Best-Self Review®’ system. The platform moves away from traditional annual reviews, instead focusing on regular touchpoints that provide ongoing visibility into employee performance and well-being. Managers receive structured updates that highlight accomplishments and upcoming priorities, enabling proactive support and recognition.

Leapsome, on the other hand, offers comprehensive 360-degree review capabilities with highly customizable review cycles. The platform supports multiple review types, including self-assessments, peer reviews, upward feedback, and traditional manager evaluations. Organizations can configure complex review workflows that automatically trigger notifications, reminders, and follow-up actions.

Winner: Leapsome wins for providing more comprehensive and customizable performance review capabilities, particularly for organizations requiring structured evaluation processes and detailed analytics.

Goal Management

15Five provides comprehensive OKR management with real-time progress tracking and alignment visualization. This aligns individual and team goals with broader company objectives, ensuring accountability and focus. Managers gain real-time insights into progress, enabling early identification of obstacles and timely intervention to keep goals on track. Moreover, it makes goal setting accessible through automatic progress updates, helping teams maintain focus on priorities while providing transparency across organizational levels.

Leapsome, in contrast, offers OKR management with sophisticated cascade functionality that ensures strategic alignment from executive level to individual contributors. The platform supports complex goal hierarchies, weighted objectives, and automated progress calculations. Teams can visualize goal relationships and dependencies, making it easier to understand how individual contributions impact broader organizational success.

Winner: 15Five takes the lead with more user-friendly goal management that emphasizes simplicity and real-time visibility, making it easier for teams to stay aligned without complex configuration.

Employee Engagement

15Five focuses on engagement through continuous feedback, recognition, and employee surveys. Its recognition system encourages peer-to-peer appreciation, while regular check-ins provide opportunities for employees to share concerns and successes. The platform includes predictive analytics that help managers identify trends and potential issues before they escalate.

Leapsome, on the other hand, excels at employee surveys, feedback, and talent management. The platform offers comprehensive engagement survey capabilities with advanced question libraries, automated distribution, and sophisticated analytics. Organizations can track engagement trends over time, and benchmark results against industry standards. It also includes predictive analytics that help identify flight risks and engagement drivers across different organizational segments.

Winner: Leapsome wins for providing more comprehensive engagement measurement and analytics capabilities, making it superior for organizations prioritizing data-driven engagement strategies.

Learning And Development

15Five provides basic coaching and development features through its feedback mechanisms and goal tracking. The platform facilitates development conversations between managers and direct reports, encouraging skill building through regular touchpoints. However, the focus remains on organic development through continuous feedback and goal achievement rather than structured learning programs.

Leapsome, in comparison, includes an integrated learning management system that enables organizations to create structured development programs. The platform supports learning path creation, skill assessments, and competency gap analysis. Employees can access personalized development recommendations based on their role, performance data, and career aspirations. Furthermore, the organizations can track learning progress, measure skill development, and correlate training completion with performance improvements.

Winner: Leapsome clearly wins with comprehensive learning and development capabilities that create a complete talent development ecosystem.

1-on-1 Meetings

15Five provides structured 1-on-1 meeting templates and tracking capabilities that help managers prepare for and conduct effective meetings. The platform integrates check-in data and goal progress into meeting agendas, ensuring conversations are focused and productive. The system also sends reminders and prompts to ensure a regular meeting schedule.

Leapsome offers advanced meeting management with comprehensive agenda creation, action item tracking, and follow-up automation. The platform integrates performance data, goal progress, and engagement insights into meeting preparation, providing managers with rich context for development conversations. Meeting templates can be customized for different roles and meeting types, while automated workflows ensure consistent follow-through on action items and commitments made during meetings.

Winner: Leapsome wins for providing more sophisticated meeting management capabilities with better integration of performance data and automated follow-up processes.

15Five Vs Leapsome – Cost Structure Breakdown

15Five Vs Leapsome – Cost Structure Breakdown

15Five offers straightforward pricing tiers based on organizational size and feature requirements:

  • Engage: $4/user/month (billed annually)
  • Perform: $11/user/month (billed annually)
  • Total Platform: $16/user/month (billed annually)

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

Leapsome provides tiered pricing based on module selection and organizational needs:

  • Performance & Engagement: €7/user/month (billed annually)
  • Learning & Development: €5/user/month (billed annually)
  • All-in-One Plan: €10/user/month (billed annually)

The vendor offers a free trial for users who want to evaluate its features before purchasing. Disclaimer: The pricing has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change. 

15Five Vs Leapsome – Which One Should You Choose?

Both platforms provide advanced HR and performance management solutions, but their strengths cater to different business priorities.

15Five is ideal for companies focused on manager effectiveness, employee engagement, and retention. Its tools for weekly check-ins, 360° feedback, and career development make it a strong choice for businesses aiming to build a high-performance culture through continuous feedback and coaching.

Leapsome excels in combining performance management, learning, and HR automation. With customizable review cycles, engagement surveys, and integrated learning paths, it’s perfect for organizations seeking a scalable, all-in-one platform to drive employee development and operational efficiency.

Ultimately, the best choice between 15Five vs. Leapsome depends on your performance priorities, HR infrastructure, and long-term talent strategy.