7 Best Performance Management Systems 2023
Modern performance management systems do more than record annual manager/employee reviews. They include 360-degree feedback, intermittent check-ins, goal setting and management, and more.
We’ve identified the best performance management systems that provide easy-to-use tools that help you evaluate and encourage your employees.
- AssessTEAM: Best overall performance management system, especially for budget-constrained businesses
- PerformYard: Best for ease of use
- Lattice: Best for performance-based compensation planning
- Zoho People: Best for growing HR responsibilities
- 15Five: Best for calibrating performance ratings with stakeholders
- Leapsome: Best for performance reporting
- BambooHR: Best for HR integrations
Performance management is the process by which a supervisor monitors, evaluates, and improves the work of an employee. It includes communicating responsibilities and expectations, setting goals, and providing feedback.
Need to know more? Check out our guide: What Is Performance Management?
At Fit Small Business, our mission is to provide small business owners with the best answers to their small business questions. We objectively assess each software based on a set of criteria, which includes features, pricing, ease of use, and customer support. We also apply our expert insights and consider real-world user feedback to help you make the best purchasing decision. Read more on how we evaluated the best performance management software below.
Best Performance Management Software Compared
All the performance management systems for small companies we reviewed offer performance review templates, automated reminders, reporting tools, and 360-degree feedback. Below are the providers’ pricing details.
Free Plan | Monthly Pricing ($/User) | Plan Requirements | Performance Review Tools in Base Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | No, but has a 10-day free trial | $3–$5 (for up to 500 users) | ✕ | ✓ |
 | ✕ | $5–$10 | Billed annually; minimum pricing applies* | ✓ |
 | ✕ | $8 or $11** | Billed annually; plan cost of at least $4,000 per year | ✓ |
 | Free for up to five users | $1.50–$10 | At least five users | Upgrade to the Premium plan ($3.50 per user monthly) |
 | No, but has a 14-day free trial | $4–$16 | Billed annually | Upgrade to the Perform plan ($10 per user monthly) |
 | No, but has a 14-day free trial | Starts at $8 | ✕ | ✓ |
 | No, but has a 7-day free trial | $8.75 (for the Advantage plan)*** | ✕ | Paid add-on ($5.25 per user monthly)*** |
*Contact the provider to get the minimum pricing details **Pricing is for the performance management module. This is available as a standalone solution ($8 per user monthly), but it’s also included in a bundle with goal tracking tools ($11 per user monthly). ***This is based on a quote we received | ||||
AssessTEAM: Best Overall Performance Management System
Overall Score:
4.63 / 5
Pros
- Customizable evaluation tools, feedback templates, workflows, and performance ratings
- Free support includes HR advisers and guided system rollout
- Has a library of pre-configured key performance indicators
Cons
- Analytics and reporting options aren’t robust
- Lacks a nine-box matrix for assessing high/low performers
We find AssessTEAM is best overall because it supports any small business that wants to conduct employee reviews with a huge range of features at a competitive price. AssessTEAM offers online tools that assess new hires during their probation period, allow 360-degree feedback, and let you evaluate projects as well as people. And though it’s available in 79 countries, it still offers personal support, even having HR advisers on hand to help you with evaluation strategies.
It has affordable plans (monthly fees start at $3 per user) and doesn’t have plan requirements like Lattice, Zoho People, and PerformYard do. However, it has a bit of a learning curve and report customization is limited. It also doesn’t directly integrate with a lot of HR software, and while users rated it highly on third-party review sites (like G2 and Capterra), there were not many reviews. These factors prevented AssessTEAM from getting a higher overall score in our evaluation.
With AssessTEAM, you can schedule performance reviews and choose whether peer, upward, or downward evaluations are needed. (Source: AssessTEAM)
AssessTEAM Overview
PerformYard: Best for Ease of Use
Overall Score:
4.27 / 5
Pros
- Customizable review cycles, templates, and goal weighting tools
- Offers employee development solutions, such as career tracks, competency matrices, and development analytics
- Compensation module includes market benchmarking data
Cons
- Can get pricey depending on the modules/features you want
- All plans are billed annually and requires a minimum annual contract of $4,000
- Has a bit of a learning curve
PerformYard is not the highest-ranked performance management software on our list but is one of the highest-rated by real-world users (earning an average score of 4.75 out of 5 on G2 and Capterra, as of this writing), mainly due to its intuitiveness and overall ease of use. It is also highly customizable. Its pricing is competitive, and it offers the essential tools needed to run regular evaluations, including peer praise and informal check-ins. It also has a nine-box matrix for ranking employees to find high performers and potential leaders.
While its fees are generally reasonable, users have to sign up for an annual plan and meet a minimum cost requirement (pricing is undisclosed, so you have to call the provider to get more details). This is unlike AssessTEAM, BambooHR, 15Five, and Leapsome, which don’t have plan minimums. PerformYard also lacks the mobile app that most of the providers in this guide offer.
PerformYard allows you to create custom evaluation forms and review timelines. (Source: PerformYard)
PerformYard Overview
Lattice: Best for Performance-based Compensation Planning
Overall Score:
4.13 / 5
Pros
- Customizable review cycles, templates, and goal weighting tools
- Offers employee development solutions, such as career tracks, competency matrices, and development analytics
- Compensation module includes market benchmarking data
Cons
- Can get pricey depending on the modules/features you want
- All plans are billed annually and requires a minimum annual contract of $4,000
- Has a bit of a learning curve
Lattice may be one of the most expensive solutions on our list of best performance systems for small business owners, but it makes monitoring goals, business objectives and key results (OKRs), and work performance easier for users. It offers customizable templates, 360-degree and continuous feedback, and even employee development tools under its Grow module. Best of all, Lattice has a compensation solution, enabling you to plan performance-based merit increases and bonus payouts to reward eligible employees.
However, its platform isn’t as easy to learn and use as Perform Yard or BambooHR. You also don’t get phone support—you can only contact Lattice’s support team via chat or email. Plus, it isn’t a good option for budget-constrained businesses because it requires an annual contract of at least $4,000. AssessTEAM is a better option if you want an affordable performance management solution without any plan minimums.
With Lattice, you can integrate OKRs into performance reviews to create alignment and drive goals achievement against business priorities. (Source: Lattice)
Lattice Overview
Zoho People: Best for Growing HR Responsibilities
Overall Score:
4.09 / 5
Pros
- Multilanguage support
- Feature-rich HR software with a wide range of solutions—from hiring to time tracking and learning management
- Inexpensive for the toolset
Cons
- Need at least the Premium plan for performance management
- Email assistance is free; 24/5 phone support available only in paid support plans
- Requires at least five users
Zoho People has a terrific set of performance management tools and offers more HR tools than the other providers (except BambooHR) on our list. It’s even on our buyer’s guides for the best HR software and best HR information system (HRIS) because of its versatility and solid HR features. Thus, if you’re a small business that is growing your HR department or looking to add software to help automate HR processes, Zoho People is worth considering.
Further, Zoho People’s price point is excellent, especially for the rich feature set it offers. However, if you don’t need all the HR functions, you may find it too complex for your needs. It also has a slightly high learning curve, and you’ll have to pay extra if you want phone support.
Zoho has a bright interface with a complex toolset. (Source: Zoho People)
Zoho People Overview
15Five: Best for Calibrating Performance Ratings With Stakeholders
Overall Score:
4.05 / 5
Pros
- Transparent pricing
- Customizable nine-box matrix, review cycles, and reports
- Offers a manager coaching module
Cons
- Requires annual billing (yearly fees paid in a lump sum and upfront)
- Lacks phone support (email only)
- Limited HRIS integrations
15Five’s performance platform comes with performance reviews, OKR and goals tracking, and employee career development tools. This is unlike Lattice, which offers career development as an add-on module. In addition to competency-based assessments, 360-degree feedback, and a customizable talent matrix, 15Five’s has calibration solutions for analyzing whether an employee is ready for a new role (or a promotion) or needs extra help to better perform at work.
While pricing is transparent, 15Five’s performance review module isn’t as affordable as Zoho People and AssessTEAM. Integration options are limited and you can only request help via email. New users will also need more time to learn how to navigate through all of its features.
With 15Five, stakeholders can run private team calibrations when assessing employee performance. (Source: 15Five)
15Five Overview
Leapsome: Best for Custom Performance Reporting
Overall Score:
4.02 / 5
Pros
- Core platform includes instant feedback, meetings, and competency framework tools
- Supports feedback from external reviewers
- Dedicated customer support
- Multilingual software (13+ languages)
- Customizable reports, templates, and review cycles
Cons
- While its starter pricing is available on its website, you need to request a quote based on the features you need
- System implementation and customer success services available to clients with annual
- contracts of at least $6,000
- Has a slight learning curve
- No mobile app (only has a Leapsome app for Slack)
Leapsome has similar functionalities as Lattice—both offer modules for performance reviews, goals tracking, surveys, and compensation planning. But unlike Lattice, Leapsome’s core platform comes with basic tools for gathering instant feedback, managing meetings, and tracking employee competencies. Leapsome also offers robust reporting and customization features, allowing you to easily build the reports, templates, cycle timelines, analytics, and skills profiles that you need.
However, its reviews and goals management modules are paid add-ons to its core platform. While its starter monthly fee ($8 per user) may seem reasonable, you may end up having to pay more, depending on the features you selected. Leapsome also lacks a mobile app, and you need to have an annual contract of at least $6,000 if you want to get its customer success services, which include access to a dedicated account manager.
Viewing stakeholder assessments for employees is easy with Leapsome’s performance reports. (Source: Leapsome)
Leapsome Overview
BambooHR: Best for HR Tools Integration
Overall Score:
4.01 / 5
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Offers a seven-day free trial
- Feature-rich HR platform; has applicant tracking, onboarding, surveys, payroll, and time tracking tools
- Customizable performance review cycles with automated reminders
Cons
- Non-transparent pricing; you have to call the provider to request a quote
- Can get pricey as you add more features
- Performance management is a paid add-on
- Implementation can take four to six weeks, depending on the employee count
BambooHR capitalizes on its user-friendly platform by providing a straightforward yet engaging performance management tool. It lets you create and track employee work goals using automated notifications, reminders, and built-in reporting tools. It’s best for organizations already using other HR solutions as it integrates easily with popular payroll, applicant tracking, time tracking, and learning management tools. AssessTEAM can connect to 200+ apps, but it has limited support for HR apps.
If you’re considering BambooHR, note that its performance management tool is a paid add-on, meaning you need to subscribe to either its Essentials or Advantage Plan first. If you only need a performance management tool, then it’s not for you. Plus, its starter Essentials plan only comes with email support—you have to upgrade to its Advantage tier if you want additional phone and chat support.
BambooHR’s user-friendly interface lets you access performance management tools easily. (Source: BambooHR)
BambooHR Overview
How We Evaluated the Best Performance Management Systems
For this guide, we considered over a dozen different systems, most of which are not part of a full HR system. We looked for features to help users conduct performance reviews, manage employee goals, keep track of manager and peer feedback, and provide actionable reports. Lastly, we checked pricing, ease of use, integration options with HR systems, customer support, and feedback from actual users.
Click through the tabs below for our full evaluation criteria.
25%
Pricing
40%
Performance Review Tools
10%
Popularity
10%
Forms and Reports
15%
Ease of Use
25% of Overall Score
Many performance management and HR systems require quotes or annual minimums. We considered those aspects as well as the per-employee price and the availability of a free plan.
40% of Overall Score
We looked at the breadth of tools, from online evaluation forms and goal tracking to 360-degree feedback and mobile app functionality. We also checked if the software offer unique features, such as nine-box assessments, review scheduling, and an e-signature solution.
10% of Overall Score
This looks at real-world user feedback found on third-party review sites like Capterra and G2. We considered not only the overall score but also how many people gave reviews.
10% of Overall Score
Preference was given to software with built-in basic performance reporting tools, analytics, and form/report customization options.
15% of Overall Score
We considered interface, customer support, online guides, HR software integration options, and learning curve when compiling this score.
*Percentages of overall score
How to Choose the Best Performance Management Software
In choosing the right solution to handle your company’s performance tracking needs, consider the following factors:
- Size of your workforce
- Your budget (note that performance management software can cost anywhere from $3 to more than $10 per user monthly)
- Essential performance management features, such as goal setting, customizable evaluation templates, automated reminders, reporting tools, and various feedback options (peer, manager, and 360-degree)
- Ease of use
- Integration with HR solutions (such as payroll)
- Support services (such as 24/7 assistance and dedicated support)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Performance management software helps monitor employee performance in a consistent and measurable way. It’s designed to be collaborative—with employees and managers working together in setting expectations, identifying goals, and defining performance measurement. It also allows users to share performance reviews and provide feedback.
Performance management systems come with several benefits—these help organizations to track continuous feedback, work goals, and employee performance. Most performance management software also come with analytics solutions for assessing your company’s high/low performers and recognition tools to praise workers for their achievements.
Any organization that has employees, big or small, regardless of industry, should use performance management software.
The short answer is yes. Aside from improving workplace productivity, supporting better employee engagement, and reducing turnover, a performance management system can also give valuable insights that will help support human resource management decisions.
Bottom Line
Gone are the days of the annual performance report. Performance management has grown to include goal setting, frequent feedback, and peer evaluation. The best performance management software works with these changes, providing you with options for developing programs that help in employee management and molding workers into the best they can be.
For a standalone performance management system, we rated AssessTEAM as the top software. It has the goal-setting and performance review features you need not only to assess teams and new employees during their probation period but also to evaluate projects.
Sign up for AssessTEAM’s free trial and try it out.
