The Happiness Index vs Microsoft Viva Glint: Comparison

Compare The Happiness Index vs Microsoft Viva Glint

Short on time?

Choose Microsoft Viva Glint if you want enterprise-scale employee engagement closely integrated with Microsoft Viva, Teams and the Microsoft ecosystem.
Choose The Happiness Index for faster implementation, neuroscience-backed insights, global benchmarking and hands-on support.

This comparison was last reviewed on 21/8/26

Looking for a continuous listening platform?

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

Microsoft Viva Glint is Microsoft’s employee engagement platform within the broader Viva ecosystem. It uses Microsoft Entra ID for identity and access management and integrates with Microsoft Teams for survey invitations, reminders and results notifications.

The Happiness Index is built for mid-market, growing, and global organisations that want fast implementation, flexible employee listening, and hands-on expert support without requiring a Microsoft technology environment.

The Happiness Index and Microsoft Viva Glint at a glance

	The Happiness Index	Microsoft Viva Glint
Best for	Mid–market, growing organisations and specialist employee listening	Enterprise HR teams deeply embedded in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem
Primary strength	Neuroscience, happiness and hands-on support	Enterprise employee engagement within the wider Microsoft Viva ecosystem
Ideal customer	Organisations wanting agility and neuroscience-backed insights	Enterprise IT/HR teams centralising engagement inside Microsoft Viva

Comparing key features

Pricing and implementation

Key feature/Metric	The Happiness Index	Microsoft Viva Glint
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	Viva Glint: £1.54 user/month, paid yearly, requires an existing Microsoft 365 enterprise licence (Source: Microsoft Viva Pricing Page) Viva Workplace Analytics & Employee Feedback: £4.60 user/month, paid yearly (Source: Microsoft Viva Pricing Page) Full Microsoft Viva Suite: £9.20 user/month, paid yearly (Source: Microsoft Viva Pricing Page) G2 Pricing Sentiment: Rated 4/5 ($$$$) on G2 Cost Index. Enterprise pricing sits 5% higher than the average employee engagement product (Source: G2)
Free trial	✅	✅ 90-day, 50-user controlled trial for eligible late-stage opportunities. Requires an active Microsoft Entra tenant and a Microsoft 365 Global Administrator to manage and assign licenses.
Free onboarding assets (posters, videos, email templates)	✅	✅
Average time to implementation	10-20 working days	2 months (aggregated G2 data)

Survey methodology and employee listening

Key feature	The Happiness Index	Microsoft Viva Glint
Dedicated measurement of emotional happiness alongside cognitive engagement	✅	❌
Proprietary neuroscience framework	✅	❌
Employee lifecycle surveys	✅	✅
Custom survey builder	✅	✅
Anonymous employee feedback	✅	❌ Uses confidential rather than anonymous surveys; some survey types can be identifiable
Respond to feedback while protecting anonymity	✅ Two-way anonymous comment conversations	❌ No equivalent two-way anonymous conversation feature publicly documented
Easy access for field and frontline staff	✅	✅

Insights and reporting

Key feature	The Happiness Index	Microsoft Viva Glint
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 Copilot in Viva
Use multiple filters in one search	✅	✅
On-demand customisable downloadable reports	✅	✅

Support and success

Key feature	The Happiness Index	Microsoft Viva Glint
UK-based customer success	✅	✅ Global Microsoft enterprise support network
Specific service to help train managers	✅	✅
Consultancy arm	✅ Paid add-on	Partner network/Implementation services available
Dedicated/named Customer Success Manager	✅ Named CSM included for every customer	Varies by Microsoft deployment/support arrangement
Knowledge Hub with 24/7 access to resources	✅	✅

Integrations and enterprise

Key feature	The Happiness Index	Microsoft Viva Glint
Microsoft Teams integration	✅ Using custom integration	✅
Slack integration	✅ Using custom integration	❌ Designed natively for Microsoft ecosystem
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 Microsoft Viva Glint 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 21/8/26 and is subject to change.

If you represent Microsoft 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 engagement tools focus purely on cognitive feedback. That tells you what your people think, but ignores how they feel. Neuroscience shows that emotion drives human behaviour. Our surveys measure cognitive engagement alongside emotional happiness to highlight the true drivers of performance and retention.
Launch quickly without IT complexity: Aggregated G2 data reports an average implementation time of 2 months for Viva Glint. The Happiness Index launches within 10–20 working days without requiring complex IT rollouts.
Get support from real people: Both platforms provide customer support. The Happiness Index gives you direct access to Customer Success Managers and People Scientists who work with your team to interpret results, prepare executive summaries and build actionable strategies.
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 Microsoft Viva Glint vs The Happiness Index

Microsoft Viva Glint could be the stronger option when:

You are an enterprise organisation fully committed to Microsoft 365, Teams, and Viva.
You want employee engagement data directly integrated alongside Microsoft Copilot and Viva Insights.
You need an engagement platform that manages large-scale IT permissions through Entra ID.

Its greatest strength is its native integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. For large IT-driven enterprises, 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 Microsoft Viva Glint or Microsoft Teams?

Yes. Organisations can use Microsoft Viva Glint or Microsoft Teams for internal communication and ecosystem workflows while using The Happiness Index for specialised workplace happiness, employee engagement, benchmarking, or consultancy projects. You can easily distribute surveys and notifications via Teams without needing to rely on the broader Viva Glint platform.

Does Viva Glint measure employee happiness?

Viva Glint measures employee engagement and supports recurring, pulse and employee lifecycle feedback programmes. The Happiness Index uses a dedicated neuroscience framework that separately measures emotional happiness alongside cognitive engagement.

How long does it take to implement The Happiness Index?

The Happiness Index typically launches within 10–20 working days. According to aggregated G2 data, Viva Glint has an average implementation time of 2 months.

Do we need Microsoft 365 to use The Happiness Index?

No. The Happiness Index is platform-agnostic. You can collect feedback across email, SMS, QR codes, WhatsApp, or web links without requiring Microsoft licenses.

Which platform provides better support?

Both platforms provide customer support. Microsoft provides Viva Glint technical and product support through Microsoft Support, with partner-based adoption and advisory services also available. The Happiness Index gives customers direct access to a dedicated Customer Success Manager and People Scientists to help interpret results and turn feedback into action.

Which platform is more cost-effective?

Microsoft Viva Glint uses a per-user, per-month pricing model starting at £1.54 per user/month for the Viva Glint add-on, £4.60 per user/month for Workplace Analytics & Employee Feedback, or £9.20 per user/month for the complete Viva Suite (all billed annually, excluding VAT). According to G2 data, Viva Glint’s enterprise pricing scores a 4 out of 5 on the G2 Cost Index and sits 5% higher than the market average for employee engagement products.

The Happiness Index offers transparent packages starting at £3,000, including 2 months of free platform access for organisations under 250 employees and free individual benchmarking.

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.