9 Best Culture Amp Alternatives for Boosting Employee Engagement

Planning on using Culture Amp but aren’t convinced it’s the right tool for you? Wondering if any other alternatives would be better?

FACT: Culture Amp is an incredibly powerful tool. For many companies, it is the platform that helps them boost employee engagement, manage performance, or develop employees’ skills, knowledge, and effectiveness. 

But for others, Culture Amp is nothing but a massive, all-in-one giant with far too many features they’d ever need. Or, with some, the way it works just does not match how they’d like to approach helping people engage with their work even more. 

And if you’re one of those people, then good news—there are plenty of Culture Amp alternatives that could better suit your needs. 

In this guide, I’ll show you nine of the absolutely best alternatives to Culture Amp. Before we get to them, though, let’s take one final look at Culture Amp…

What is Culture Amp?

Culture Amp calls itself the “market-leading employee experience platform.” 

Naturally, I’m in no position to comment on whether the “market-leading” statement is true. But I can attest that the platform focuses on boosting experience on many levels: 

• First, it helps to engage employees by offering various capabilities and tools for collecting employee feedback. With these, you can better understand your employees, know what makes them tick, and use those insights to plan actions that would help boost their engagement even further. 
• Culture Amp also helps boost employee performance. From capabilities that help set up and track goals and OKRs to 360-degree performance reviews and more, the platform can help you build high-performing teams. 
• Finally, Culture Amp offers a dedicated platform to help you develop your employees, plan and manage their career paths, set growth goals, and more. 

Let’s see how the platform helps its users achieve all three of those outcomes.

Culture Amp – Core Capabilities

	Engage	Perform	Develop
What is it for?	Measure and employee engagement	Enhance performance through continuous feedback	Foster employee development and growth
Core features	– Engagement surveys- Pulse surveys- Onboarding surveys- Exit surveys- eNPS	– Performance reviews- Continuous feedback- Goal tracking- 1-on-1 conversations- Shoutouts- 360-degree feedback	– Personalized development plans- Career pathing- Competency frameworks- Skills development tools
AI-features	AI-powered comment analysis- AI-driven insights into engagement data	– AI-driven feedback analysis- Performance insights	– AI-driven development insights- Competency mapping and analytics

Pricing and Bundles

As you’ve seen above, Culture Amp targets three distinct use cases, each serving a completely different purpose in the employee experience. Depending on your needs, you can purchase each platform separately or bundle them together. 

However, I cannot report how much each of those platforms costs. That’s because Culture Amp does not reveal its overall pricing. You need to contact the company for a quote for each product. 

However, the company states that the pricing is based on three factors:

• The number of employees, 
• Selected platform (or all three), and 
• The service tier.

Finally, the company charges annually for subscriptions, meaning that you have to pay upfront for each year you use the service. 

Culture Amp – Pros and Cons According to Users

First, let me be clear about something – As someone who runs a software company, I can attest that no such product is perfect. 

Every software would have some flaws. Those don’t have to be actual bugs or issues with the software. It might be things that a user would prefer to be working differently. 

So, when you’re evaluating a product like Culture Amp (or its alternatives), it might be worth looking at what users like you have said about their experience with it.

Reviewing G2 Crowd, I can see that Culture Amp has an overall rating of 4.51 (based on 1095 reviews.)

According to the review site, users seem to acknowledge the platform’s ease of use, user friendly interface, or simplicity and primarily mention features in the “Perform” platform. 

However, they also raise concerns about the “Engage” platform (surveys, in particular) and its limited feature set. 

Let’s take a closer look at both opinions. 

Let’s start with the pros… 

Ease of Use

Mogan N. (mid-market company – 51-1000 employees) said:

“Culture Amp is extremely user-friendly. The layout and design are clear and eye-catching without being too busy, making it appealing to look at and very easy to navigate.”

Another review by Rachel A. (another mid-market company) reads:

“I love that it’s centralized and can be a source of truth for engagement data, 1-on-1, and goals. It conveniently integrates with Google Calendar, making my life easier by not having to worry about scheduling or creating new templates. It’s great when you meet with multiple direct reports weekly.”

One more review (by Heather E. Director of Learning, Development, and Colleague Engagement) tells us:

“From an implementation/getting started perspective, Culture Amp offered the most complete and comprehensive onboarding process. As an administrator, I was set up for success from Day One with an easy to use support system that walked me through each step and made sure any support resources were accessible at the click of a link.”

Simplicity

Ben T (mid-market company) reveals:

“Compared to the previous tool our company used, Trakstar, the user interface is more intuitive and options for customizability are great. The integration with 3rd party tools, such as Teams, are also a useful addition to minimize friction and effort to use the platform.”

Crystal M (also a mid-market company) points out:

“Very easy to administer – with or without HRIS integration. The navigation is intuitive for employees using the platform. The base ‘out of the box’ package has a raft of features that anyone else would charge extra for, including a range of surveys from onboarding through to change readiness, or DEI.”

But let’s look at some cons, too, though.

Survey limitations

User William G from an enterprise-level company tells us:

“While there are pre-built templates and questions, companies don’t always fit into a mold. For rapidly evolving companies wanting to fine tune surveys to their culture, the template approach may feel somewhat constraining after awhile. I’d also like to see expanded optional anonymization features – anonymity brings candid feedback but Culture Amp lacks robust statistical methods that would enable drilling down results without compromising anonymity even for smaller subgroups.”

Another user from a mid-market company speaks about the lack of survey customization:

“While the platform offers some level of customization, such as the ability to add custom questions, the rating scale is fixed to a 5-point scale. This rigidity limits the flexibility for companies to tailor surveys according to their specific requirements.”

Limited features

Sarah-Jayne L. a Chief People Office at an eLearning mid-market company, says:

“The other features of the tool aren’t that great, so you still need other tools in your tech stack!”

Another user in higher education points:

“The least helpful information is some of the development articles. It gets confusing becasue they offer recommendations but then they are not included with our subscription, so I’d have to pay for them. I don’t care for so many reminders and would like to have the option to turn them off.”

But as I said, no software comes without any flaws or UX issues. 

And if the ones you find in Culture Amp really clash with what you’d expect from an employee engagement tool, here are 9 alternatives that might work out better for you. 

9 Best Culture Amp Alternatives for Boosting Employee Engagement

A quick note before we begin – In this list of Culture Amp alternatives, I’ve focused primarily on alternatives that match the features and functionality of Culture Amp’s “Engage” platform. 

And so, the tools you find below will help you collect and analyze employee feedback, and use those insights to boost their engagement further. 

Because of that, for each tool, I’ve provided information about these features specifically. 

You’ll learn: 

• What feedback collection methods each tool support
• Whether it offers an option to collect anonymous feedback
• It’s AI-powered features to engage employees, etc. 

So, without any further ado, here are the nine alternatives to Culture Amp that you should consider.

#1. Suggestion Ox

Type: Anonymous employee suggestion software

Overview:

Suggestion Ox (disclaimer—this is my tool) is a robust anonymous employee feedback tool that helps companies collect candid feedback from their employees. 

In a nutshell, our platform helps HR teams understand the concerns of employees, discover what’s really on their minds, and make changes or “turn down the temperature” before small issues become big issues.

Many of our customers also find Suggestion Ox a great way to find out what changes (like new policies, initiatives, or perks, for example) will most resonate with employees.

In other words, if you’re struggling with engagement and lack insights into what’s causing it and what you could do to turn things around, then Suggestion Ox is definitely for you. 

But there is more to Suggestion Ox than this, of course, so here’s a more detailed breakdown of what you could expect from Suggestion Ox as an alternative to Culture Amp.

Types of surveys:

• Anonymous suggestion boxes
• Polls
• Voting
• Whistleblower hotline

Feedback collection methods:

• QR code
• Shareable link
• MS Teams
• Slack

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes, absolutely. In fact, anonymity is at the core of every intake form created with Suggestion Ox.
• Suggestion Ox also facilitates anonymous replies and two-way conversations, allowing leaders and HR teams to investigate issues further without ever compromising the person’s identity.

Core features:

• Anonymous employee feedback collection
• Direct replies
• Private and secure anonymous responses and two-way conversations
• Case management
• Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations

AI Features

• AI tools to help write thoughtful responses or adjust the tone of your reply

Free trial: 14 days

(Screenshot of an actual employee suggestion box created with Suggestion Ox)

(The option to send anonymous direct replies in Suggestion Ox.)

Want to see how Suggestion Ox can help you collect truly candid feedback and gain insights to help you boost employee engagement? Sign up for a free trial and create your first employee feedback form now.

#2. SurveySparrow

Type: Enterprise survey software

Overview:

As its name suggests, SurveySparrow is a platform dedicated to creating customizable surveys. What’s also important about it is that it primarily focuses on the needs of large, enterprise-level companies. 

For you, this means two things. 

One is that SurveySparrow isn’t a dedicated employee feedback tool but provides a more versatile set of features to help organizations run all kinds of surveys. But naturally, this also means that you can create employee feedback forms with the platform as well. 

And the other is that that platform’s capabilities and features are optimized for the needs of larger organizations, rather than SMEs (which is great news when you need to convince the procurement department about which tool to get for you.)

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• Email, 
• SMS, 
• Chatbots, 
• Social Media, 
• QR codes, 
• Slack

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Customizable surveys, 
• Multi-channel surveys, 
• NPS, 
• Workflow automation

AI Features:

• AI-powered survey creation, 
• Data analysis

Free trial: 14 days

#3. Leapsome

Type: Employee engagement survey software

Overview:

Very much like Culture Amp, Leapsome is an all-in-one platform. It targets several use cases, and includes a host of capabilities to deliver on those – from employee feedback, performance reviews, goal management, to learning and development, and more. 

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• Email

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Goals & OKR management, 
• Performance reviews, 
• Learning & development

AI Features:

• Personalized learning paths, 
• AI-driven insights

Free trial: 14 days

#4. 15five

Type: Employee engagement platform

Overview:

Another large and all-in-one platform on the list. 15five is a perfect tool for HR teams that look to boost employee performance and improve how their managers’ effectiveness, too. It features capabilities like the HR Outcomes Dashboard to monitor and improve team metrics. Its built-in AI, Spark, helps streamline such tasks as summarizing open-text feedback into themes or collating data points across the entire platform. Other capabilities include weekly check-ins, templates for 1-on-1’s, real-time employee feedback tools, and more. 

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• In-app feedback, 
• Email, 
• Slack

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Continuous feedback, 
• OKR tracking, 
• 1-on-1s

AI Features:

• Sentiment analysis

Free trial: 14 days

#5. Lattice

Type: Employee feedback platform

Overview:

Lattice offers several different modules that help companies engage employees, manage their performance, help them grow, and more. But since we’re focusing on Culture Amp alternatives for employee engagement, let me tell you about Lattice Engagement. 

The Engagement module helps organizations get a good idea about their employees’ experience through pulse surveys, onboarding and exit questionnaires, eNPS, and custom surveys. 

Lattice also offers some AI capabilities that help analyze survey results quickly. These capabilities also help review open-ended feedback, identify common trends and patterns, and can even offer recommendations as to the best next actions to take. 

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• Email, 
• Slack

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Goal setting, 
• Performance reviews, 
• Continuous feedback

AI Features:

• Predictive analytics, 
• AI-driven insights

Free trial: 14 days

#6. Engagedly

Type: Talent management platform

Overview:

Engagedly also features distinct modules that help companies engage, elevate, and develop employees. The core of the “Engage People” module is the ability to run E10 employee engagement surveys. And there is a kicker – The company is offering this module completely free (at least at the time of writing this article.) However, you have to be a US company to be eligible. 

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• Email, 
• Mobile app

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Real-time feedback, 
• Goal setting, 
• Performance reviews, 
• Rewards

AI Features:

• AI-driven feedback analysis, 
• Sentiment analysis

Free trial: No information

#7. Workleap

Type: Employee engagement software

Overview:

As with many other Culture Amp alternatives on my list, for Officevibe/Workleap the ability to measure employee engagement is just one of the tool’s many capabilities. You can also use the tool to manage employee performance or recognize their efforts, and more. 

However, the tool also offers robust options to collect employee feedback – run automated pulse checks, collect anonymous feedback (and reply anonymously, too), run eNPs surveys, DEIB surveys, and more

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• Email, 
• Mobile app

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Employee engagement surveys, 
• Pulse surveys, 
• Customizable feedback forms, 
• Reporting and analytics, 
• Integration with HRIS, Slack, and Teams

AI Features:

• Sentiment analysis, 
• Predictive analytics, 
• AI-driven insights

Free trial: No information available

#7. Vantage Circle/Vantage Pulse

Type: Employee survey tool

Overview:

Vantage Pulse is part of a larger platform, VantageCircle. With Pulse, you can run all types of employee surveys, such as eNPS and anonymous employee feedback. In fact, the tool offers 25 ready-made employee survey templates so that you could get started measuring the pulse of your teams right away.

Feedback collection methods:

• eNPS, 
• Web surveys, 
• Email, 
• Mobile app

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Pulse surveys, 
• Employee feedback, 
• Reporting and analytics, 
• Real-time insights, 
• Customizable surveys

AI Features:

• Sentiment analysis, 
• AI-powered insights

Free trial: No information

#8. Quantum Workplace

Type: Employee success software

Overview:

Quantum Workplace offers two distinct modules – Engagement and Performance. The former focuses on helping organizations better understand their employees and their experiences. This happens through engagement surveys, pulse surveys, lifecycle surveys, and more. 

On top of that, the Engagement module offers capabilities to analyze the data, benchmark it, and deliver an action plan to start improving the employee experience.

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• Mobile app, 
• Email

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Engagement surveys, 
• Pulse surveys, 
• 360° feedback, 
• Goal tracking, 
• Customizable surveys, 
• Reporting and analytics

AI Features:

• AI-driven recommendations

Free trial: 30 days

#9. TINYPulse

Type: Employee Engagement Platform

Overview:

The final Culture Amp alternative on my list is TINYpulse. It’s a product with perhaps a little misleading name, one that might easily suggest that it’s nothing but a relatively small and basic survey software. 

But nothing could be further from the truth. TINYPulse is a comprehensive employee engagement platform with a feature-set spanning tools for managers, recognition programs, and yes, employee feedback too. 

Unfortunately, the company’s website doesn’t explain survey and employee feedback collection capabilities in any greater detail. It does confirm that you can run anonymous surveys with it, and conduct feedback analysis to extract actionable insights from the data.

Feedback collection methods:

• Web surveys, 
• Email, 
• Slack

Is there an option to collect employee feedback anonymously?

• Yes

Additional features:

• Continuous feedback, 
• Pulse surveys, 
• Peer recognition (Cheers for Peers), 
• 1-on-1 coaching, 
• Customizable surveys, 
• Reporting and analytics

AI Features:

• No information

Free trial: 14 days

And there you have it…

Nine absolutely amazing Culture Amp alternatives that would help you collect better employee feedback and improve their experience.