The Happiness Index vs 15Five: Comparison

Hero image Support and success comparison table showing key differences between The Happiness Index and 15Five employee engagement platforms

The Happiness Index vs 15Five

Compare employee engagement platforms

Compare The Happiness Index vs 15Five

Short on time?

Choose 15Five if you want continuous performance management bundled with weekly check-ins, OKRs and manager coaching tools.
Choose The Happiness Index for faster implementation, neuroscience-backed insights, global benchmarking and hands-on support.

This comparison was last reviewed on 24/8/26

Looking for a continuous listening platform?

15Five and The Happiness Index both help organisations gather employee feedback and turn it into action. However, they serve fundamentally different primary needs.

15Five is built primarily as a performance management and manager effectiveness platform, combining weekly check-ins, 360 reviews and OKRs alongside a dedicated employee engagement survey suite. Based on G2 reviewer demographics, it has particularly strong adoption among mid-market organisations with 51–1,000 employees, with technology-related sectors heavily represented.

The Happiness Index is built for mid-market, growing and global organisations that want pure, specialist employee listening. Our neuroscience-backed methodology measures emotional happiness alongside cognitive engagement without requiring organisations to adopt a broader performance-management workflow or per-user pricing model.

The Happiness Index and 15Five at a glance

	The Happiness Index	15Five
Best for	Mid–market, growing organisations and specialist employee listening	Mid-market companies (51–1,000 employees) wanting integrated weekly check-ins, OKRs and performance management
Primary strength	Neuroscience, happiness and hands-on support	Weekly manager check-ins, 1-on-1 agendas and performance reviews
Ideal customer	Organisations wanting agility and neuroscience-backed insights	Organisations seeking to combine employee engagement, manager effectiveness and performance management within a single platform

Comparing key features

Pricing and implementation

Key feature/Metric	The Happiness Index	15Five
Pricing model	Starting price: £3,000 for The Happiness Index Survey Starting price: £3,000 for consultancy Starting price: £2,500 for custom benchmarking or market research reports Free platform use for 2 months for organisations with <250 employees. Free global benchmarking reports for individuals	*Engage:* $4/user/month, billed annually *Perform:* $11/user/month, billed annually *Total Platform:* $16/user/month, billed annually (Source: 15Five pricing page)
Free trial	✅	✅
Free onboarding assets (posters, videos, email templates)	✅	✅
Average time to implementation	10-20 working days	Implementation varies depending on products, integrations and configuration

Survey methodology and employee listening

Key feature	The Happiness Index	15Five
Dedicated measurement of emotional happiness alongside cognitive engagement	✅	❌
Proprietary neuroscience framework	✅	❌
Employee lifecycle surveys	✅	✅
Custom survey builder	✅	✅
Anonymous employee feedback	✅	❌ 15Five describes its engagement responses as confidential rather than technically anonymous
Respond to feedback while protecting anonymity	✅ Two-way anonymous comment conversations	❌
Easy access for field and frontline staff	✅	✅

Insights and reporting

Key feature	The Happiness Index	15Five
Benchmarking powered by The Global Workplace Happiness Report	✅	❌
Free individual benchmark	✅	❌
Board-level benchmarking reports	✅	✅
AI-supported insights and action planning	✅ Powered by QuokkaAI via Gemini	✅ Powered by 15Five AI, including AMAYA, Kona and AI-assisted features
Use multiple filters in one search	✅	✅
On-demand customisable downloadable reports	✅	✅

Support and success

Key feature	The Happiness Index	15Five
UK-based customer success	✅	UK-based support not publicly stated
Specific service to help train managers	✅	✅
Consultancy arm	✅ Paid add-on	✅ Available via Manager Products and Coaching add-ons
Dedicated/named Customer Success Manager	✅ Included for every customer	❌ Pooled expert support model rather than a single CSM
Knowledge Hub with 24/7 access to resources	✅	✅

Integrations and enterprise

Key feature	The Happiness Index	15Five
Microsoft Teams integration	✅ Using custom integration	✅ App integration
Slack integration	✅ Using custom integration	✅ Native app
WhatsApp integration	✅	Not publicly documented
HRIS integrations	✅	✅
API availability	✅	✅
Single Sign–On (SSO)	✅	✅
Multi–language surveys	✅	✅
Workday integration	✅	✅

How we researched this comparison

It’s based on publicly available product information, official 15Five documentation, and independent third-party platforms including G2, Capterra, and Software Advice. Features, pricing, and capabilities may change over time. This comparison was last reviewed on 24/8/26 and is subject to change. If you represent 15Five and notice an inaccuracy, please contact us at marketing@thehappinessindex.com and we’ll review it promptly. Where objective third-party data is available, we’ve referenced it directly. Where it isn’t, we’ve relied on publicly available product documentation and feature information.

What makes The Happiness Index different?

Our approach combines three elements that set us apart:

A neuroscience-backed methodology that explores how your people think and feel
More than 250 million proprietary workplace data points
Global happiness and engagement benchmarking powered by The Global Workplace Happiness Report

Together, these elements help leaders move beyond surface-level engagement scores. You can understand the human experiences behind the numbers and focus your energy where it will have the greatest business impact.

How that plays out, day to day

The neuroscience approach: Traditional tools focus on cognitive feedback: what employees think about their roles. Neuroscience shows that emotion drives human behaviour. Our surveys separately measure emotional happiness alongside cognitive engagement to reveal the true root causes of stress, performance, and retention.
Launch quickly without performance setup: Organisations using 15Five’s broader performance suite may also configure check-ins, review cycles, OKRs and manager workflows. The Happiness Index launches in 10–20 working days, delivering specialist employee listening out-of-the-box.
Get support from real people: Both platforms offer customer support. The Happiness Index provides direct, named access to Customer Success Managers and People Scientists to help you interpret data, brief executive boards, and shape cultural strategy.
Benchmark more than engagement: We give you direct access to global workplace happiness benchmarks powered by over 250 million proprietary data points. You can contextualise your scores across key demographics and regions.

When to choose 15Five vs The Happiness Index

15Five could be the stronger option when:

You are a mid-market organisation (51–1,000 employees) wanting to combine engagement surveys with 360-degree performance appraisals and OKRs.
You want structured weekly check-in agendas and 1-on-1 meeting frameworks for managers.
You need dedicated manager coaching and micro-learning modules built directly into your software suite.

Its greatest strength is its ability to unite continuous performance management, OKR tracking, and manager check-ins into a single workflow. For HR teams looking to manage appraisals and engagement under one roof, that structure fits well.

When should you choose The Happiness Index?

The Happiness Index could be the stronger option when:

You want to understand both employee engagement and emotional happiness.
You value a neuroscience-backed approach to workplace culture.
You need to launch quickly without a lengthy technical implementation.
You want a flexible platform that can adapt as your organisation grows.
You value direct support from Customer Success Managers and People Scientists.
You want global benchmarking informed by proprietary happiness and engagement data.
You need clear insights you can act on.

We work particularly well with mid-market and growing organisations that want sophisticated insight without unnecessary complexity. We also support global organisations that prefer specialist expertise and agility over a broad HR software suite.

Frequently asked questions

Can we use The Happiness Index alongside 15Five?

Yes. Organisations can use 15Five for continuous performance management, 360 reviews or OKRs while using The Happiness Index for specialised employee listening, neuroscience-backed happiness surveys, benchmarking, or consultancy projects. You can easily import historical survey data, giving you the benefits of both platforms without disrupting your existing management workflows.

Does 15Five measure employee happiness?

15Five measures employee engagement, pulse sentiment and performance metrics. The Happiness Index uses a dedicated neuroscience-backed framework to measure emotional happiness alongside cognitive engagement.

How long does it take to implement The Happiness Index?

15Five does not publicly publish standard implementation timelines. Timelines vary depending on the products, integrations and workflows being configured. The Happiness Index typically launches within 10–20 working days.

Which platform is more flexible?

Both platforms support custom surveys, continuous listening and pulse feedback. 15Five is designed as a broader manager-effectiveness and performance platform, with survey capabilities sitting alongside structured 1-on-1 agendas, 360-degree review cycles and OKR frameworks.

The Happiness Index offers a more specialist approach to employee listening. You can run neuroscience-backed surveys, build fully customised listening programmes from scratch or combine both approaches without needing to adopt additional performance management workflows.

Which platform provides better support?

Both platforms provide customer support. 15Five offers tiered support alongside optional paid coaching and manager enablement add-ons. The Happiness Index gives you direct, named access to a dedicated Customer Success Manager and People Scientists to help you interpret results, brief executive boards, and turn employee feedback into meaningful business action.

Which platform is more cost-effective?

According to G2 reviewer sentiment, 15Five presents a nuanced value picture. Mid-market teams (51–1,000 employees) report value from combining performance management and engagement capabilities within the platform. Some G2 reviewers raise pricing or value concerns, while others report strong value from having performance and engagement capabilities within the same platform.

The Happiness Index offers transparent, predictable packages starting at £3,000, including 2 months of free platform access for organisations under 250 employees and free individual benchmarking, without requiring per-user tier upgrades, mandatory manager add-ons, or multi-module software bundles.

What makes a neuroscience-backed survey different?

Traditional engagement surveys focus mainly on what employees think about work. Our neuroscience-backed methodology also measures how they feel. By combining cognitive engagement with emotional happiness, you gain a deeper understanding of the behaviours driving performance, wellbeing and retention.

Can we create our own surveys?

Yes. You can use our neuroscience-backed survey framework, build your own surveys from scratch or combine both approaches. This gives you consistency where you need it and flexibility where it matters.

Does The Happiness Index provide benchmarking?

Yes. Our benchmarking is powered by more than 250 million proprietary workplace data points and over 1.9 million insights from The Global Workplace Happiness Report, helping you understand how your organisation compares across key workplace measures.

Does The Happiness Index support managers after a survey?

Yes. Managers receive reports, recommendations and practical action-planning support. Our Customer Success team and People Scientists also help leaders understand the findings, have better conversations and turn insights into measurable improvements.

The final verdict

15Five and The Happiness Index are both strong platforms serving distinct needs.

15Five suits mid-market organisations looking to unify employee engagement with continuous performance management, OKRs and weekly manager check-ins in one tool.

The Happiness Index is ideal for organisations seeking agility, specialist expertise and deep cultural insights. Our neuroscience-backed framework measures emotional happiness alongside engagement, giving leaders clear data without requiring a broader performance management suite.

Comparing your options?

Choosing the right employee engagement platform depends on your organisation, goals and the insights you need. Explore our side-by-side comparisons to see how leading employee listening platforms differ across features, pricing, implementation and support.

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