Comparison

Harmny vs 15Five: Features, Pricing & Fit (2026)

By Harmny Editorial Team · Last updated September 2026

Bottom line

For most teams: Harmny is cheaper (Starter at $8/user/month vs 15Five's Perform tier at $11/user/month or Total Platform at $16/user/month), with stronger career frameworks, real engagement surveys, AI-generated 1:1 coaching prep on the Growth plan, and a much broader HR feature set (time off, attendance, org chart, onboarding, compliance, recruiting). 15Five's genuine differentiators are the Best-Self Review methodology and Kona AI, its real-time in-meeting coaching add-on. The biggest philosophical difference: 15Five bets on in-the-room coaching, while Harmny bets on before-the-room prep plus handling your HR operations so you don't need a second tool.

Quick comparison

Pricing as of September 2026. 15Five figures use its Perform tier ($11/user/month) unless noted; Harmny's AI features require the $16/user/month Growth plan.

	Harmny	15Five
Price	Starter $8/user/mo (Growth $16)	Engage $4 / Perform $11 / Total $16
Free tier	✓ Up to 10 users	✗ (14-day trial)
Performance reviews	✓ Full cycle	✓ Best-Self Review
Review methodology	Flexible	Strengths-based (Best-Self)
Goals / OKRs	✓ Cascading	✓ Cascading
1:1 meetings	✓ Shared agendas + history	✓ Shared agendas
Competency frameworks	✓ Full framework builder	Basic competencies in reviews
Career pathing	✓ Employee-visible gap analysis	✗ Not native
AI 1:1 coaching prep	✓ Prep notes + tone selection (Growth plan)	Kona AI (real-time, $19/mgr/mo add-on)
9-Box talent calibration	✓ Built-in	✓ Built-in
Engagement surveys	✓ eNPS + department heatmaps	Pulse check-ins (Engage tier)
AI assistance	✓ Org Brain + coaching prep (Growth plan, BYOK/hosted)	Kona AI add-on (in-meeting coaching)
Gamification & rewards	✓ XP, badges, streaks + redeemable rewards catalog	✗
Compensation management	✓ Salary bands, job architecture, merit adjustments, Total Rewards	✗
Time off management	✓ Custom policies, one-click approvals, team calendar	✗
Attendance tracking	✓	✗
Org chart	✓	✗
Automations / workflow automation	✓ Trigger-action rules on HR events	✗
Onboarding checklists	✓ Structured checklists	✗
Recruiting & offer letters	✓ E-sign offers, auto-convert to onboarding	✗
Compliance (I-9, EEO-1)	✓ E-signatures + audit trail	✗
Self-serve setup	✓ Same day	✓ Same day
Total Rewards statements	✓ Base + benefits + bonuses + recognition value (PDF)	✗
Succession planning	✓ Nominee tracking with readiness levels	✗
Job architecture + salary bands	✓ Job families, salary bands, compa-ratio	✗
Attrition Forecast	✓ Predictive flight risk + driver drill-down	✗
Meeting rooms	✓ Bookable rooms, duration, recurring	✗
Best team size	10–500	50–1,000

AI 1:1 coaching: real-time versus prep

Both platforms have shipped AI-assisted manager coaching, and the two serve genuinely different moments.

15Five's Kona AI is a real-time, in-meeting coaching assistant, sold as a $19/manager/month add-on on top of any 15Five plan. During a live 1:1, Kona listens to the conversation and surfaces coaching suggestions in the moment: what to say next, when to ask a clarifying question, how to reframe a response. It's the closest thing to having a coach in your ear during the meeting.

Harmny's AI 1:1 coaching prep (Growth plan, $16/user/month) works the day before, not during the meeting. It reads the direct report's open goals, competency scores, and the last several 1:1 logs, then drafts talking points and suggested questions in a tone you choose: supportive, curious, direct, or celebratory. It's a first draft the manager edits before walking into the room.

Harmny's version is prep, not real-time coaching, and it's built from goals, competency data, and meeting history already in the platform, not a separate proprietary analytics layer. If the manager's pain point is walking in prepared, Harmny covers that. If the manager needs live, in-the-moment coaching during the conversation itself, Kona is the more real-time tool, at its added price.

The key difference: philosophy

Both platforms cover the same core performance ground: reviews, goals, 1:1s. The meaningful difference is what each bets on as the driver of employee development, and how much of the broader HR stack each covers.

15Five bets on review quality and in-room coaching. The Best-Self Review is designed by behavioral scientists to produce a review experience that employees don't dread: strengths-focused, forward-looking, with explicit manager coaching to make conversations productive. The review and the (add-on) Kona AI are the development drivers.

Harmny bets on continuous visibility and operational completeness. Development happens between reviews, not during them. By making career paths and competency gaps visible year-round, giving managers AI-generated prep before each 1:1, and handling HR operations (time off, attendance, onboarding, compliance, recruiting) in the same platform, Harmny aims to replace the stack of tools a growing team typically accumulates. Its Tasks module also puts projects, approvals, and calendars alongside reviews and 1:1s, so day-to-day work and people development live in one system.

Neither is wrong. The right choice depends on where your managers struggle most: with what to say during the 1:1 (choose 15Five's Kona) or with knowing what to prepare, who needs attention, and managing the HR operations around those people (choose Harmny).

Pricing difference for common team sizes

Team size	Harmny / mo	15Five / mo	Annual savings
10 users	Free	$110	$1,320/yr
25 users	$200	$275	$900/yr
50 users	$400	$550	$1,800/yr
100 users	$800	$1,100	$3,600/yr

Figures compare Harmny's Starter plan against 15Five's Perform tier ($11/user/month). 15Five's Engage tier runs $4/user/month for pulse surveys only; Total Platform runs $16/user/month. Harmny's AI features (coaching prep, dev plan drafts, Org Brain) require the $16/user/month Growth plan.

Choose Harmny if:

✓ Career framework visibility matters to your team
✓ You want to start free and grow into paid
✓ You want AI-generated 1:1 prep with talking points and tone control (Growth plan)
✓ You want eNPS surveys and department engagement heatmaps
✓ You want AI-assisted development plans and review drafts (Growth plan)
✓ Budget is a real constraint
✓ You want review flexibility, not an opinionated methodology
✓ You need time off, attendance, org chart, or onboarding in the same tool
✓ You want compliance tools (I-9, EEO-1, e-signatures) without a separate HRIS
✓ You want to send and e-sign offer letters and auto-convert hires to onboarding
✓ You want a redeemable rewards catalog tied to recognition

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Choose 15Five if:

• You want real-time in-meeting coaching (Kona AI add-on) during live 1:1s
• You want the Best-Self Review methodology (strengths-based, opinionated)
• Manager coaching quality during the conversation is your primary investment
• Review experience and in-room coaching are your primary pain points
• You already have a separate HRIS handling time off, compliance, and onboarding

For more alternatives: 8 best 15Five alternatives. Weighing 15Five against Lattice instead? See 15Five vs Lattice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Harmny cheaper than 15Five?

Yes, in most cases. Harmny costs $8/user/month (Starter) with a free tier for up to 10 users. 15Five now sells three tiers billed annually: Engage at $4/user/month (pulse only), Perform at $11/user/month (reviews and continuous feedback), and Total Platform at $16/user/month (both, plus manager enablement). For a 25-person team, Harmny's Starter plan runs $200/month against 15Five's Perform tier at $275/month, roughly $900/year saved, and more against Total Platform. Harmny also covers time off, attendance, org chart, onboarding, compliance, and recruiting that 15Five doesn't have at all.

What does 15Five have that Harmny doesn't?

15Five has two genuine differentiators. First, the Best-Self Review methodology: a strengths-based review process designed by behavioral scientists. If you want an opinionated, positive-development-first review experience, it's distinctive. Second, Kona AI: a real-time, in-meeting coaching assistant, now sold as a $19/manager/month add-on. Kona listens to the conversation as it happens and suggests coaching moves in real time. Harmny has AI-generated 1:1 coaching prep with tone selection (on its $16/user/month Growth plan), but that's prep you read before the meeting, not live in-meeting coaching. If real-time coaching during the conversation itself is the priority, Kona is the option at this price tier.

What does Harmny have that 15Five doesn't?

Quite a bit. Harmny has time off management (custom policies, one-click approvals, team calendar), attendance tracking, org chart visualization, structured onboarding checklists, recruiting and e-sign offer letters, compliance tools (I-9, EEO-1, policy e-signatures with audit trail), company announcements with read tracking, automations that fire on HR events, full compensation history and merit adjustments, a redeemable rewards catalog (stars for wellness, learning, team experiences), eNPS engagement surveys with department heatmaps, and career pathing with live competency gap analysis. 15Five is primarily a performance and engagement tool; it does not cover HRIS operations.

Which is better for career development tracking?

Harmny. Career development is one of Harmny's core differentiators: it includes employee-visible career paths, live competency gap analysis against the next career level, and development goals connected directly to career path gaps. 15Five has some career development features but they are less developed than Harmny's framework-first approach.

Does Harmny have OKRs like 15Five?

Yes. Both platforms have goal and OKR tracking with cascading goals from company to individual. Harmny supports both OKR-style (objectives + key results) and simple target-based goals. The goal feature sets are comparable; neither has a significant edge on basic goal tracking.

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Pricing and feature data sourced from each vendor's public website. Competitor information reflects what was publicly available at time of publication; verify current details directly. Harmny maintains this page and is one of the vendors reviewed.