Is 15Five or Census better?

Neither clearly leads. 15Five starts at $4/month and Census at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, 15Five or Census?

Census has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $4/month for 15Five and Free for Census.

Does 15Five or Census run on more platforms?

15Five runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Census runs on Web, Api.

Can I use Census for free?

Yes. Census has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. 15Five starts at $4/month.

What is 15Five best used for?

15Five is most often used for running engagement surveys with heat maps and benchmarking, performance reviews and continuous feedback cycles, setting and tracking okrs, 360 degree feedback and talent matrix reviews. Of those, running engagement surveys with heat maps and benchmarking and performance reviews and continuous feedback cycles are not what Census is typically brought in for.

What can 15Five do that Census cannot?

15Five covers Weekly check-ins, 1-on-1 meetings, OKRs & goal tracking, Performance reviews. Census covers Reverse ETL, Data syncing, Transformation, Real-time activation. Both handle GDPR.

HR & Recruiting · head to head

15Five vs Census

15Five

HR & Recruiting

Performance management that drives results

From: $4/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Census

Automation & Integration

The reverse ETL infrastructure for data activation

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Census has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: 15Five split across three tiers, so performance reviews, OKRs and 360 feedback need Perform at $11 per user per month rather than the $4 Engage tier; Census census was folded into Fivetran Activations, per the vendor: "Previously, this was called a sync in Census", and its own pricing page redirects to Fivetran pricing rather than showing Census plans
They diverge on capability: 15Five covers Weekly check-ins, Census covers Reverse ETL.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 15Five and Census actually diverge.

Attributes where 15Five and Census differ
Attribute	15Five	Census
Starting price	$4/month	Free
Pricing model	subscription	usage-based
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, Ios, Android, Api	Web, Api
Category	HR & Recruiting	Automation & Integration
Founded	2011	2020

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in 15Five

Weekly check-ins
1-on-1 meetings
OKRs & goal tracking
Performance reviews
High fives recognition
Engagement surveys
Pulse surveys
Manager effectiveness

Only in Census

Reverse ETL
Data syncing
Transformation
Real-time activation
Error handling
Monitoring
Analytics
150+ destinations

Both cover

GDPR

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

15Five

Running engagement surveys with heat maps and benchmarkingnot Census
Performance reviews and continuous feedback cyclesnot Census
Setting and tracking OKRsnot Census
360 degree feedback and talent matrix reviewsnot Census
Compensation review cycles as a paid add-onnot Census

Census

Syncing customer data from a warehouse into marketing and sales tools (reverse ETL)not 15Five

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

15Five

Split across three tiers, so performance reviews, OKRs and 360 feedback need Perform at $11 per user per month rather than the $4 Engage tier
Manager training microlearnings are only in Total Platform at $16 per user per month
Compensation is a paid add-on at $9 per user per month, rising to $11 with benchmarking
The Kona meeting assistant is a further $2 per employee per month and Kona Coach $19 per manager per month
Advertised prices are the annual rates

Census

Census was folded into Fivetran Activations, per the vendor: "Previously, this was called a sync in Census", and its own pricing page redirects to Fivetran pricing rather than showing Census plans
Free Fivetran Activations tier caps at 3,500 monthly active rows

Pricing, plan by plan

15Five

$4/month

Engage$4/month
- Engagement surveys
- Pulse surveys
- Action planning
Perform$10/month
- Weekly check-ins
- 1-on-1s
- Performance reviews
Total Platform$16/month
- Everything in Engage & Perform
- Career paths
- Competencies

Census

Free

FreeFree
- Basic syncing
- Limited destinations
Pro$250/month
- Advanced syncing
- Email support
Enterprise$1500/month
- Unlimited syncing
- Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose 15Five if

You need weekly check-ins.
You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
You also want 1-on-1 meetings.

15Five review

Choose Census if

You need reverse etl.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want data syncing.

Census review

Questions people ask

Is 15Five or Census better?: Neither clearly leads. 15Five starts at $4/month and Census at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 15Five or Census?: Census has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $4/month for 15Five and Free for Census.
Does 15Five or Census run on more platforms?: 15Five runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Census runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Census for free?: Yes. Census has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. 15Five starts at $4/month.
What is 15Five best used for?: 15Five is most often used for running engagement surveys with heat maps and benchmarking, performance reviews and continuous feedback cycles, setting and tracking okrs, 360 degree feedback and talent matrix reviews. Of those, running engagement surveys with heat maps and benchmarking and performance reviews and continuous feedback cycles are not what Census is typically brought in for.
What can 15Five do that Census cannot?: 15Five covers Weekly check-ins, 1-on-1 meetings, OKRs & goal tracking, Performance reviews. Census covers Reverse ETL, Data syncing, Transformation, Real-time activation. Both handle GDPR.

15Five vs Census

15Five

Census

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in 15Five

Only in Census

Both cover

What people use each for

15Five

Census

Where each one falls short

15Five

Census

Pricing, plan by plan

15Five

Census

Which should you pick?

Choose 15Five if

Choose Census if

Questions people ask

Related pages

More on 15Five

More on Census

Keep looking

Other head to heads