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HR · head to head

15Five vs Guild

15Five logo

15Five

HR

Performance management that drives results

From
$4/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Guild logo

Guild

HR

Employer-funded education benefit administered as a curated marketplace of degree and skilling programmes

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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; Guild no pricing is published at any level, and because the programme cost combines a platform relationship with tuition funding, comparing Guild against running reimbursement in-house requires modelling that Guild is best placed to supply and least neutral about.
  • They diverge on capability: 15Five covers Weekly check-ins, Guild covers Curated provider network.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where 15Five and Guild differ
Attribute15FiveGuild
Starting price$4/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2011Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (HR).

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 Guild

  • Curated provider network
  • Direct tuition payment
  • Coaching
  • Career pathing
  • Talent analytics
  • Benefit administration
  • Financial aid navigation

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 Guild
  • Performance reviews and continuous feedback cyclesnot Guild
  • Setting and tracking OKRsnot Guild
  • 360 degree feedback and talent matrix reviewsnot Guild
  • Compensation review cycles as a paid add-onnot Guild

Guild

  • A retailer with high hourly turnover that wants an education benefit with take-up rather than a reimbursement policy nobody claimsnot 15Five
  • An employer trying to build internal pipelines into hard-to-fill roles from its existing frontline workforcenot 15Five
  • A company that wants participation and completion reporting to justify the benefit to a finance committeenot 15Five
  • Replacing an in-house tuition reimbursement scheme whose administrative burden falls on an HR team that cannot advise on programme choicenot 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

Guild

  • No pricing is published at any level, and because the programme cost combines a platform relationship with tuition funding, comparing Guild against running reimbursement in-house requires modelling that Guild is best placed to supply and least neutral about.
  • The provider network is curated, so an employee who wants a specific local institution or an unusual specialism may find it is not available, which undercuts the benefit for exactly the motivated employees you most want to retain.
  • The whole model assumes US higher education, accreditation and federal financial aid, so it does not extend to a multinational workforce and cannot be a global benefit.
  • The retention case rests on outcome measurement that the vendor supplies, and independent scrutiny during 2025 and 2026 has questioned completion and career-mobility results, so a buyer should insist on raw participation and completion data rather than curated case studies.
  • Value depends almost entirely on take-up among frontline staff, and take-up depends on manager encouragement and shift scheduling that Guild does not control, so an employer with weak middle management can pay for a benefit that goes largely unused.

Pricing, plan by plan

15Five

$4/month
  • Engage$4/month
    • Employee Engagement Surveys
    • Targeted Assessments
    • Action Planning
  • Perform$11/month
    • Engage features
    • AMAYA
    • Insights Dashboard
  • Total Platform$16/month
    • Perform features
    • Manager Training Microlearnings

Guild

On request
  • Career Opportunity Platform$undefined/year
    • Enterprise agreement with no published rate card
    • Priced against workforce size and programme scope
    • Tuition funding is a separate employer cost from the platform relationship

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 Guild if

  • You need curated provider network.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want direct tuition payment.
Guild review

Questions people ask

Is 15Five or Guild better?
Neither clearly leads. 15Five starts at $4/month and Guild at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 15Five or Guild?
15Five starts at $4/month and Guild at On request.
Does 15Five or Guild run on more platforms?
15Five runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Guild runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 Guild is typically brought in for.
What can 15Five do that Guild cannot?
15Five covers Weekly check-ins, 1-on-1 meetings, OKRs & goal tracking, Performance reviews. Guild covers Curated provider network, Direct tuition payment, Coaching, Career pathing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

15Five: What are 15Five's core plan tiers and pricing?

15Five offers Engage ($4/user/month), Perform ($11/user/month, marked Most Popular), and Total Platform ($16/user/month). All prices are billed annually. Perform adds AI-assisted performance reviews, OKRs, and 360-degree feedback compared to Engage.

Source
Guild: Is Guild the same as Guild Education?

Yes. The company dropped Education from its name in 2023 when it repositioned around career mobility rather than degree programmes alone.

15Five: What add-on products does 15Five offer?

Manager Content costs $49/manager/month (annually billed). Manager Coaching is $399 per credit (1-on-1 coaching = 1 credit; group coaching = 5 credits). Kona AI Meeting Assistant is $2/employee/month. Kona AI Coach is $19/manager/month. Compensation add-ons start at $9/user/month for base package or $11/user/month with salary benchmarking.

Source
Guild: Who pays, the employer or the employee?

The employer funds the benefit and pays Guild. Employees generally access approved programmes without paying tuition upfront.

15Five: Are 15Five contracts flexible?

All 15Five plans require annual billing and contracts. Support is included as dedicated human support with all plans.

Source
Guild: Can employees study anywhere?

No. Programmes come from a curated network of vetted academic and skilling providers, which is the point of the model but also its main limitation.

Guild: Does Guild work outside the United States?

No. It is built around US institutions, accreditation and financial aid.

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