Competitive Battlecard: 15Five
Last Updated: Nov 2025 | Category: Employee Engagement Platform
Company Overview
15Five - Performance management and employee engagement platform focused on continuous feedback, OKRs, and manager effectiveness.
- Founded: 2011
- Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
- Funding: $52M+ (Series B)
- Target Market: Mid-market companies (100-2,000 employees)
- Pricing: ~$8-15/user/month
What They Do Well (Acknowledge Strengths)
✅ Strong Performance Management - Weekly check-ins, 1-on-1 tools, OKR tracking ✅ Manager Training - Focus on making managers better coaches ✅ Simple UI - Clean, easy-to-use interface ✅ Integrations: Slack, Microsoft Teams, HRIS platforms ✅ Established Brand - Well-known in HR tech space
Where PulsePlus Wins (Our Advantages)
1. Privacy-First vs. Surveillance
15Five:
- Tracks manager-employee interactions
- Analyzes sentiment in written feedback
- Retains conversation history
PulsePlus:
- ❌ No tracking or surveillance
- ❌ No sentiment analysis of private conversations
- ✅ Privacy-first by design
- ✅ No data selling
Talk Track: "15Five monitors and analyzes employee-manager conversations. We believe in privacy—we don't track, analyze, or sell employee data."
2. Gamification vs. Check-Ins
15Five:
- Weekly check-in forms (feels like homework)
- Performance reviews (anxiety-inducing)
- Top-down feedback loops
PulsePlus:
- ✅ XP, achievements, quests, leaderboards
- ✅ Intrinsic motivation through gamification
- ✅ Immediate recognition vs. weekly reports
- ✅ Fun and engaging vs. administrative burden
Talk Track: "15Five relies on weekly check-ins that feel like homework. PulsePlus makes work rewarding through gamification—employees actually want to engage."
3. AI-Powered Content Generation
15Five:
- Managers manually create objectives
- HR manually designs engagement programs
- Time-consuming setup
PulsePlus:
- ✅ Gemini 2.0 AI generates quests, achievements, objectives instantly
- ✅ Launch in days vs. weeks
- ✅ 80% reduction in admin overhead
Talk Track: "With 15Five, HR and managers spend hours creating engagement programs. Our AI generates everything in seconds."
4. Comprehensive Features
15Five:
- Focus: Performance management, check-ins, OKRs
- Missing: Gamification, micro-learning, real-time chat, rules engine
PulsePlus:
- ✅ 9 integrated features (XP, achievements, quests, leaderboards, collaboration, chat, micro-learning, AI, rules engine)
- ✅ All-in-one platform vs. point solution
Talk Track: "15Five is great for performance reviews. But if you want gamification, training, chat, and automation, you need PulsePlus."
5. Research-Backed Effectiveness
15Five:
- Self-reported customer testimonials
- No published research on effectiveness
PulsePlus:
- ✅ 90% productivity gains (Microsoft research)
- ✅ 226% training completion (IBM research)
- ✅ Third-party validated results
Talk Track: "15Five shows customer testimonials. We show third-party research from Microsoft and IBM proving effectiveness."
Common Objections & Responses
"We're already using 15Five for performance management"
Response: "That's great—15Five is solid for performance reviews and 1-on-1s. PulsePlus complements that by adding gamification, training, and real-time engagement. Many customers use both: 15Five for formal reviews, PulsePlus for daily motivation and engagement."
"15Five has OKR tracking—doesn't PulsePlus?"
Response: "We have objectives and team goals, which work similarly to OKRs but with gamification layered on top. The difference is our objectives award XP, trigger achievements, and drive competition through leaderboards. OKRs become engaging instead of just tracked."
"15Five is cheaper"
Response: "15Five focuses on one thing—performance management. PulsePlus gives you gamification, training, chat, AI content generation, and automation in one platform. You're comparing a point solution to a comprehensive platform. When you add up what you'd need to get PulsePlus's capabilities from multiple vendors, we're actually more cost-effective."
Win/Loss Insights
Why We Win Against 15Five:
- Customer wants gamification, not just performance reviews
- Privacy concerns about sentiment analysis
- Need for training/onboarding capabilities
- Want all-in-one platform vs. multiple tools
Why We Lose to 15Five:
- Customer only needs performance management
- Already heavily invested in 15Five ecosystem
- Manager training is top priority (their strength)
- Simpler, narrower solution is preferred
Competitive Positioning
When 15Five is on the shortlist:
"15Five is a great performance management tool if all you need is check-ins and reviews. But if you're looking to transform engagement through gamification, accelerate training, and create a truly motivating culture, PulsePlus is purpose-built for that."
Differentiation Matrix:
| Feature | 15Five | PulsePlus |
|---|---|---|
| Performance Reviews | ✅ Strong | ⚠️ Basic |
| Gamification | ❌ None | ✅ Core Feature |
| Micro-Learning | ❌ None | ✅ Yes |
| AI Content Generation | ❌ No | ✅ Gemini 2.0 |
| Privacy-First | ❌ Tracks interactions | ✅ Yes |
| Real-Time Chat | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Rules Engine/Automation | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Research-Backed | ⚠️ Testimonials only | ✅ Microsoft/IBM |
Questions to Ask Prospects
Use these discovery questions to disqualify 15Five:
- "What's more important: formal performance reviews or daily employee motivation?"
- "Do you have concerns about employee data privacy and sentiment analysis?"
- "Are you looking for a point solution or a comprehensive engagement platform?"
- "How important is training and onboarding gamification vs. just performance tracking?"
Sales Plays
Best Scenarios to Position Against 15Five:
- Customer wants gamification (15Five doesn't have it)
- Privacy-conscious organizations (healthcare, finance, government)
- Change management or training-heavy initiatives
- Companies consolidating HR tech stack
Avoid Head-to-Head When:
- Customer only needs performance management
- Manager coaching is #1 priority
- Already using 15Five for 2+ years with high adoption
Battlecard Owner: Product Marketing Review Cadence: Quarterly (monitor 15Five product updates)