11 Culture Amp competitors for boosting performance & engagement

Culture Amp began as a straightforward employee survey platform in 2009, but it has since grown into an industry leader in the performance management space, uniting tools for employee development, engagement, and performance management in one place. In a time when professionals want more initiatives that prioritize topics like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), wellbeing, and development, Culture Amp gives managers and leaders the features they need to take more effective and meaningful action.

However, despite its prominence in the market, Culture Amp isn’t ideal for organizations that want to optimize the relationship between performance management, goal management, and engagement. While Culture Amp offers good, industry best-practice engagement features, a lot of customers realize that it has some shortcomings with the performance and goal tools. For example, competency frameworks in Culture Amp lack customization, meaning if you want customized skills for every level in every department to ensure fair performance reviews, you might find that Culture Amp can’t support you with that.

If you’re trying to roll out OKR processes at your organization, there are better tools that allow for more in-depth, aligned goal management. For example, Culture Amp doesn’t allow you to set sub-goals within goals, and it doesn’t show how individual goals contribute to company OKRs. The site is also difficult for new users to navigate, and there’s no way to test it with a trial account. In addition, although it has enterprise-level appeal, Culture Amp lacks the holistic design and capabilities that would make it accessible to teams that are new to engagement software.

All in all, there are more effective and comprehensive solutions available, which is what we’ll explore in this breakdown of the top eleven Culture Amp alternatives. We compare each option based on the best use case, features, pros and cons, and pricing to help you make a more informed decision.*

*The information below is based on our research on Culture Amp competitors in April 2023. All user feedback referenced in the text has been researched and sourced from independent software review platforms such as G2 and Capterra in April 2023.

Companies
Pricing
Language options
Customer rating
Leapsome
Leapsome

Pricing starts at US$8/month per user. Free trial available.

13

4.8

Betterworks
Betterworks (Cultureamp)

Pricing not readily available.

1

4.3

CultureMonkey
Culturemoneky (Cultureamp)

Pricing not readily available.

6

4.8

Engagedly
Engagedly (Cultureamp)

Starting price for an annual agreement is US$5,000.

8

4.4

Glint (now Microsoft Viva Goals)
Glint (Cultureamp)

Pricing not readily available.

43

4.5

Limeade Listening (formerly TINYpulse)
Limeade (Cultureamp)

Pricing not readily available.

1

4.4

Officevibe (by Workleap)
Officevibe (Cultureamp)

Free plan available. Paid plans between US$3.50-5.

4

4.3

Qualtrics Employee Experience
Qualtrics (Cultureamp)

Pricing not readily available.

8

4.3

Quantum Workplace
Quantum (Cultureamp)

Pricing not readily available

23

4.5

SurveySparrow
SurveySparrow (Cultureamp)

Free plan available. Advanced plan has custom pricing

58

4.4

Workday (Peakon)
Workday (Cultureamp)

Pricing not readily available.

42

4.6

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Key criteria to look for in an employee engagement platform

According to Gallup’s 2022 State of the Global Workplace report, only 21% of professionals are engaged at work. Employee engagement software can help stagnant satisfaction rates trend up again, but only if it includes the combination of features and functionality that your business needs to take action on insights. Based on our research, essential capabilities include:

Performance review tools

Research shows engaged teams see an 18% increase in productivity and a 23% increase in profitability. That’s why it’s essential to invest in a platform that combines surveys and performance reviews. Doing so makes it easier to spot correlations between assessment scores and engagement data so you can take more relevant, decisive action.

Customizable learning paths and competency frameworks

When engagement surveys, pulse surveys, and anonymous feedback point to an employee desire for more training, consider implementing built-in development tools. The best engagement platforms have customizable course creation features. Additionally, if your software has performance review features, it should allow you to set up competency frameworks to ensure fair evaluations and gives employees clarity on which skill they need to prioritize to develop in their career.

Compensation and promotion management

Employees that feel financially healthy are 87% more likely to feel cared for at work. With this statistic in mind, prioritize a platform that helps set up fair promotion and salary processes so employees receive the recognition they deserve.

In-depth reporting

Well-designed employee engagement metrics dashboards compile data in a meaningful, digestible way, saving people ops leaders from having to sift through survey responses and interpret results with ad hoc processes. Additionally, solutions like Leapsome offer automated action plan recommendations to eliminate unnecessary trial and error.

Ease of use and customization

An engagement platform with a clunky, hard-to-navigate user interface (UI) can cause bottlenecks or errors and may even impede employees from completing surveys. Ensure to test the platform from both an admin and a user perspective before making a final decision.

Pricing and affordability

Tiered pricing models may seem straightforward, but they’re designed to prevent you from accessing specific tools until you upgrade to a more expensive plan. However, platforms like Leapsome allow you to customize your plan based on the features you need, which offers more value without exceeding your budget.

Engage and empower your talent with customizable surveys & development-focused reviews

Leapsome users love how you can adapt every aspect of the platform to fit their specific company needs.

1. Leapsome

Screenshot of the Leapsome survey module

Leapsome is a holistic people enablement software solution that’s even more comprehensive and intuitive than Culture Amp.  Our platform interconnects engagement and employee feedback processes with goals and OKRs, learning and development, and compensation frameworks to make work more meaningful for team members and help improve your current HR processes.

With seven modules for you to choose from, Leapsome is highly customizable, although these do work best when they’re used together. These include:

  • Reviews
  • Goals
  • Surveys
  • Learning
  • Compensation
  • Meetings
  • Instant Feedback

Designed for organizations of all sizes, Leapsome has everything people ops professionals and managers need to gather feedback, synthesize data, and take relevant action. With our platform, you can do the following:

  • Build surveys with your own questions or choose from our best-practice question library and templates and set up automatic engagement surveys for every phase of the employee lifecycle.
  • Conduct regular pulse surveys to gauge staff satisfaction and sentiment.
  • Discuss and brainstorm engagement initiatives in structured team meetings and 1:1s.
  • Use survey action plan recommendations to create goal trees and OKRs for different teams and departments.
  • Establish OKR processes and align the whole company by setting up interconnected individual, team, and company goals.
  • Exchange instant feedback at any time.
  • Organize performance reviews to have open-ended discussions about how team members are feeling and progressing at work.
  • Build competency frameworks with customizable skills, levels, and titles for each department or team.
  • Leverage promotion and compensation management features to set up fair promotion processes based on employee input.

Notable features

  • Engagement and pulse surveys
  • Personalized learning paths
  • Competency frameworks to provide structured employee development paths
  • Trackable, flexible goal and OKR-setting features with integrated comments and feedback for optimal collaboration
  • Goals module syncs with 1:1 meetings and performance reviews
  • Questionnaire templates and action-driven surveys
  • Powerful data and analytics
  • Instant feedback and praise features to give meaningful  appreciation to employees
  • Integrated compensation and promotion management tools to incentivize and motivate team members
Pros
  • Connects performance to goal-management and engagement data
  • All-in-one solution for people management and enablement processes
  • Award-winning customer service that replies within 12 hours
  • Available in 13 languages
  • Scalable and customizable
  • Easy-to-navigate user interface (UI)
  • GDPR compliant and ISO-27001 certified
cons
  • Ongoing improvement can lead to occasional bugs
  • No mobile app yet
  • Variety of features can present a bit of a learning curve
Trusted By:

“With Leapsome, we’ve seen some amazing improvements. The initiatives we identified from the survey results decreased our turnover by 12,2%, increased our survey participation rate to 82%, and it made people more productive and excited to come to the office.

Listening and transparency is a part of our culture, and Leapsome is a tool that gives our people a voice. The results are visible to the team members, so they can openly discuss with their managers during their retros.”

Natasa Kovacevic

People and Culture Manager
Read case study

2. Betterworks

Screenshot of the Betterworks UI

Betterworks performance management software helps organizations dig into company-wide and individual engagement data with surveys and turn these results into action with goals and OKRs. Additionally, the Conversations feature leverages goals and performance review information to make regular assessments more objective.

One of Betterworks’ most user-friendly tools is the Performance Snapshot sidebar that appears during check-ins. It allows managers to see how each employee is performing in terms of their current objectives and previous feedback without having to switch between dashboards during review discussions.

Notable features

  • Goals and OKR management
  • Customizable meeting agenda templates
  • Employee engagement surveys
  • Automations for scheduling staff feedback
  • Recognition and praise features
  • Templates for performance reviews and check-ins
  • Analytics and reporting dashboards
  • Provides helpful tutorials for setting up OKRs
  • Attentive support team
  • User-friendly UI
cons
  • Users sometimes feel they have more features than they need
  • Difficult to integrate with third-party tools

3. CultureMonkey

Screenshot of the CultureMonkey UI

CultureMonkey is an ideal option for organizations that are looking to make surveys a more integral component of their internal retention strategies. The lifecycle surveys allow people ops leaders to customize and schedule questionnaires to be sent out at various stages of the employee journey, including the following:

  • Onboarding
  • Adaptation
  • Productivity
  • Comfort
  • Growth
  • Burnout and wellness
  • Separation

Notable features

  • Employee engagement surveys
  • Pulse surveys
  • Anonymous feedback
  • eNPS surveys
  • Employee lifecycle surveys
  • Helps you capture engagement data at every stage of the employee lifecycle
  • Advanced, customizable analytics dashboards
  • Responsive support team

cons
  • Lacks tools for performance reviews, goals and OKRs, and 1:1 meetings
  • Very few integrations

4. Engagedly

Screenshot of the Engagedly UI

Engagedly is a people strategy platform that provides tools to manage and track performance, facilitate development, and engage team members. Like Culture Amp, it offers features for goal tracking and engagement surveys, but it also has a learning module for course creation.

One of Engagedly’s standout features is its E10 Employee Engagement Survey, which is a science-backed questionnaire that was developed by organizational psychologist Dr. Edie Goldberg. It’s designed to highlight perception gaps and yield detailed analytics, even across distributed organizations.
 

Notable features

  • Performance management system
  • Goals and OKRs
  • Engagement surveys
  • 360-degree and multi-rater reviews
  • Built-in LMS (learning management system)
  • Recognition and rewards
  • A comprehensive solution
  • Highly customizable performance management features
  • Intuitive UI
cons
  • Performance review process could be more streamlined and automated
  • Some features are difficult to find
  • Lacks compensation and promotion management tools

5. Glint (now Microsoft Viva Goals)

Screenshot of the Glint UI

Glint is a straightforward engagement survey and feedback software solution. It was acquired by LinkedIn in 2018 and was then moved into the Viva Suite by Microsoft.

Glint allows organizations to collect employee input at every level via engagement surveys, pulse surveys, and continuous feedback channels. The platform may not be as versatile as other options on this list, but it might still be worth checking out if you're starting to build out engagement and performance processes.

Notable features

  • Engagement and pulse surveys
  • 360-degree and 180-degree feedback features
  • Goals dashboards
  • Feedback and recognition tools
  • Integrates with Microsoft Viva for deeper engagement insights
  • Analytics dashboards
  • A wide variety of in-depth insights
  • Company commitment to DEI
  • Layers of security and thorough survey data confidentiality
cons
  • 360-degree anonymous feedback can be hard to capture for small organizations
  • No built-in competency frameworks or performance reviews

6. Limeade Listening (formerly TINYpulse)

Screenshot of the Limeade Listening UI.

The enterprise-level wellbeing software solution Limeade Listening recently acquired TINYpulse. That means TINYpulse Engage has now become Limeade Listening, which currently offers engagement surveys, employee recognition tools, 360 assessment features, and 1:1 meetings.    

Limeade Listening users can also access the platform’s other module, Limeade Wellbeing, which makes employee benefits and rewards more accessible and personalized for teams of all sizes.

Notable features

  • Engagement surveys and templates
  • Employee recognition software
  • 1:1 meetings
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Mobile app
  • Great for connecting large, dispersed global teams
  • Easy to use and supports in creating a positive work environment
cons
  • Recent acquisition by Limeade, so implementation may be confusing
  • Certain users report that survey questions occasionally feel irrelevant

7. Officevibe

Screenshot of the Officevibe UI

Employee recognition is an essential part of boosting engagement and reducing turnover. Officevibe’s solution to this problem is its new Good Vibes tool, which allows team members to send virtual cards to each other with encouraging messages based on specific soft skills and company values.

Because everyone can view Good Vibes notes, it’s easy for colleagues to celebrate each others’ successes publicly. Plus, platform administrators can access Good Vibes reporting, which shows the values and employees people are celebrating the most.

Notable features

  • Custom employee surveys
  • Automated pulse surveys
  • Anonymous feedback and messaging
  • Goals and OKRs
  • One-on-one meetings
  • Peer recognition
  • Ease of use
  • Actionable engagement insights
  • Helps organizations become more attractive places to work
cons
  • Goals and 1:1 meetings aren’t very customizable
  • Some templates are clunky to use

8. Qualtrics Employee Experience

Screenshot of the Qualtrics UI.

Qualtrics Employee Experience could be an option for enterprise-level companies. It takes engagement data and turns it into actionable insights for HR professionals and leaders. Similar to CultureMonkey, the platform is designed for gathering findings at the most crucial moments of the employee lifecycle.

Unlike other solutions, however, Qualtrics’s XM Discover feature gathers and synthesizes team members’ feedback from external sources like social media platforms, review sites, and forums, in addition to integrating internal input from surveys and 360-degree feedback.

Notable features

  • Pulse surveys
  • 360-degree feedback tools
  • The ability to gather employee feedback from external and internal channels
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Comprehensive 360-degree insights
  • Allows for streamlined feedback processes
  • Pre-built survey templates
cons
  • Survey data not always accurate
  • Integrating with other platforms can be complicated

9. Quantum Workplace

Screenshot of the Quantum Workplace UI.

Quantum Workplace unifies engagement and performance management tools in one platform and incorporates the analytics that people ops professionals need to make action planning simpler. One notable feature is Quantum Workplace’s data feed, which is particularly useful for large organizations that have to deal with a lot of engagement statistics and feedback.

Another element that makes Quantum Workplace user-friendly is its mobile app, which is helpful for remote teams and offers most of the same functionalities as the desktop version.

Notable features

  • Engagement, pulse, and lifecycle surveys
  • Analytics dashboard and data feed
  • Goals and OKRs
  • Continuous feedback tools
  • Performance management system
  • 1:1 meeting tools and templates
  • Public peer-to-peer recognition dashboard
  • Mobile app
  • Useful mobile app alerts and reminders
  • Practical for smaller teams
  • User-friendly interface
cons
  • No auto-save feature
  • Some users find the OKR tool doesn’t accurately follow the OKR methodology

10. SurveySparrow

Screensho of the SurveySparrow UI.

While most of its product suite caters to customer experience (CX), SurveySparrow also integrates employee experience tools into its 360 Assessments module. This allows organizations to gather feedback from managers, peers, direct reports, and reviewees for every appraisal, providing a more holistic picture of each team member’s performance.

Overall, SurveySparrow’s offerings aren’t as broad as the other entries on this list, but it’s a solid option for companies that want to conduct more in-depth customer and employee experience research.

Notable features

  • 360-degree employee assessments
  • Customer surveys
  • Reputation management tools
  • Research panel software
  • Supports a high number of languages
  • Simple survey setup process
  • Great UI and customer support team
cons
  • Pricing for access to certain features is high
  • Customization requires a lot of technical knowledge

11. Workday (Peakon)

Screenshot of the orkday UI.

Widely known for its financial and human capital management products, Workday bought Peakon and rebranded it as Workday Peakon Employee Voice, an engagement platform with customizable surveys, feedback features, and analytics. This may be an advantage for organizations that are familiar with Workday and need a solution that’ll integrate easily with the tools they already use.

Another potential advantage to Workday Peakon Employee Voice is that it’s easy to see how your current engagement scores compare with other companies in your industry. This easily accessible data saves HR teams from having to research and compile their own benchmarking data.

Notable features

  • Engagement surveys
  • Analytics
  • Built-in industry benchmarking data
  • Personalized manager and employee dashboards
  • Employee comments dashboard
  • Anonymous conversations tool
  •  Actionable, in-depth insights 
  • Short learning curve 
  • Workday acquisition makes for smooth product integration
cons
  • Lacks features for development and learning
  • UI isn’t user-friendly 
  • Survey scoring can be confusing
  • More expensive than other options on this list

Why customers love us

5 rating stars

“We've been using Leapsome for over a year, and we love it”

Susie P.

HR manager

AI software (10-100 employees)

5 rating stars

“I love how easy Leapsome is to set up and explore as a manager and user”

Sarah S.

Chief operational officer

B2B agency (10-100 emp.)

5 rating stars

“Leapsome has provided more ways to keep our employees engaged”

Katy S.

Exec. Administrator & Comms. Manager

Research Services (500-1000 emp.)

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What to know

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you recommend an alternative to Cultureamp that focuses on specific aspects of employee feedback, such as 360-reviews or continous feedback?
Are there employee feedback tools that integrate with popular HR systems or communication tools?
Do any of the Cultureamp competitors offer advanced analytics and reporting capabilities for survey data?

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