Tool profile
15Five: cost, fit and limits
15Five is a performance management and employee engagement platform made by 15Five, a United States company, that combines review cycles, OKRs, 360 feedback and engagement surveys with AI assistants for managers and HR teams, sold in three per-user plans billed annually.
What to know first
15Five sells three plans: Engage at $4, Perform at $11 and Total Platform at $16 per user per month, billed annually. The Perform plan holds the AI-assisted reviews, OKRs and 360 feedback, while the Kona notetaker and Kona Coach are add-ons priced apart. The pricing page carries a February 2026 date and says prices may change, and no trial is listed, so evaluation starts with a demo request.
15Five at a glance
| Maker | 15Five, United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | No |
| Entry price | $4 per user per month, billed annually |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best AI Performance Management Software in 2026, rank 1 of 10 |
| Website | 15five.com |
Who 15Five is best for
HR teams that want one vendor for surveys and reviews
Total Platform at $16 combines the Engage surveys with the Perform review tools, so survey results and review data sit in one product rather than two contracts.
Managers who need coaching prompts
Kona Coach is priced at $19 per manager per month and uses 15Five data to nudge managers in the flow of work, which lets a company pay only for people who lead teams.
Companies that tie pay to reviews
The compensation add-on lists pay ranges, total rewards dashboards and an optional Mercer salary benchmarking tier, so pay reviews can follow the performance cycle.
15Five plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Engage | $4 per user per month, billed annually | Employee engagement surveys, targeted assessments, action planning, heat maps and data breakdowns, and benchmarking against other companies. |
| Perform | $11 per user per month, billed annually | AI-assisted performance reviews, the AMAYA assistant, OKRs and goals, 360 feedback, talent matrix, career paths and plans, and an insights dashboard. |
| Total Platform | $16 per user per month, billed annually | Everything in Engage and Perform, plus manager training microlearnings and the HR dashboard, for companies that want surveys and reviews under one contract. |
| Add-ons | From $2 per employee per month | Kona Notetaker at $2 per employee, Kona Coach at $19 per manager, compensation at $9 or $11 per user, and manager content at $49 per manager. |
Checked October 2026.
What 15Five does
- AI-assisted reviews
- The Perform plan lists AI-assisted performance reviews and AI-synthesized feedback from open-text answers. A reviewer should still read the draft, since the page gives no measure of accuracy.
- AMAYA assistant
- AMAYA is described on the pricing page as an AI thought partner inside the Perform plan, next to an insights dashboard and 15Five Agents, which makes the assistant part of the base plan price.
- Engagement surveys
- Engage covers surveys, targeted assessments, action planning, heat maps and benchmarking. The page lists an AI-synthesized view of open-text comments among its AI-tagged features. Results can be cut by team through the heat maps.
- Kona notetaker
- The notetaker add-on records 1-on-1 notes, builds a performance snapshot and tracks action items at $2 per employee per month, so it is optional spending on top of a plan.
- Notifications and tools
- The page lists Slack and SMS notifications, Jira and Salesforce links and SSO, which gives managers reminders in channels they already open during the day.
How 15Five handles your data
15Five's security page says an independent firm audited the company against the SOC 2 framework, and the report is available under NDA. Data is stored in ISO 27001 compliant data centers in the United States, with SSL/TLS in transit and encryption at rest. The hosting provider is not named. The page does not say whether customer data trains AI models; it links to separate Supplemental AI Terms and a sub-processor list, which were not read for this page. Retention is also left to the privacy policy.
Where 15Five falls short in practice
- US hosting only stated. The security page names the United States as the data location and no EU region. A company with residency rules should request the sub-processor list and AI terms before signing.
- Price page is dated. The pricing page says it was updated in February 2026 and subject to change, and some add-ons carry minimum requirements, so the final quote can differ from the listed figures.
- No trial listed. Get started buttons lead to a demo request and no free trial is stated, so a team cannot test manager habits by itself before talking to sales.
Works with
Alternatives to 15Five
15Five: common questions
How much does 15Five cost per user?
As of November 2026 the pricing page lists Engage at $4, Perform at $11 and Total Platform at $16 per user per month, billed annually. Add-ons such as Kona Coach at $19 per manager and the notetaker at $2 per employee cost extra. The page is dated February 2026 and warns prices may change.
Which 15Five plan includes the AI-assisted reviews?
The pricing page places AI-assisted performance reviews, AMAYA, OKRs, 360 feedback and the talent matrix in Perform at $11. Engage at $4 covers surveys only. Total Platform adds both sets plus manager training microlearnings, so a buyer who wants review drafting needs at least Perform.
Does 15Five have a free trial?
The pricing page does not mention a trial or free plan, and its Get started buttons lead to a demo request. The contract is billed annually, so a team that wants to test the product should ask the sales contact for a pilot in writing.
Does 15Five train AI models on customer data?
The security page does not say. It links to Supplemental AI Terms, which this page did not read. Before signing, ask for the AI terms and the sub-processor list in writing, and confirm whether open-text survey comments are sent to outside AI providers.
Does 15Five replace an HRIS?
No. The pricing page lists HRIS integrations and no payroll or time-off module. Employee records stay in the HRIS, and 15Five reads them through an integration, so a company needs both systems. The page does not list time tracking or contract storage either, so check those needs separately.