15Five for goal tracking: pros, cons and an alternative
15Five is built on the weekly check-in between people and their managers. Clearahead tracks the company’s goals and what’s in the way, with AI writing the brief
The short answer
15Five is performance management software built around a weekly check-in from each person to their manager, with OKRs and goals, reviews, engagement surveys, compensation and manager coaching. Clearahead is goal tracking software for the company: each goal, the constraints holding it back and the moves that clear them, with AJ, its AI, turning one-sentence updates into a weekly brief for the leadership team. If you want better managers and a strong weekly habit between people and their managers, 15Five is excellent. If you want the company aligned on what’s in the way of its goals, use Clearahead.
Weighing up other options too? See Lattice alternatives compared.
What is 15Five?
15Five is performance management software built around one habit: the weekly check-in. Each week, each person answers a few questions for their manager: what they got done, how they’re feeling, what’s getting in the way and what’s coming up. Managers read, reply and pick up problems early. Around that habit, 15Five adds OKRs and goals, 1:1 agendas, performance reviews, engagement surveys, compensation reviews and tools to help managers get better at managing.
Goals in 15Five can be set at company, team and individual level and linked to each other, then updated as part of the check-in. That’s convenient: people don’t need to visit another tool, and managers see goal progress next to how someone is doing.
15Five appears regularly in AI answers about goal tracking and Lattice alternatives. It’s a well-established product with a clear point of view: better managers make better companies.
Where 15Five came from
David Hassell founded 15Five in San Francisco and launched it in 2012. The name comes from an old reporting habit credited to the entrepreneur Paul Hawken: each person spends around 15 minutes writing a weekly report that their manager can read in about five. Hassell saw a business owner who had built software to run that habit, and decided to build a company around it.
Over the following decade 15Five grew from a check-in tool into a broader performance platform, adding OKRs, reviews, engagement and compensation, and a strong emphasis on manager development. The weekly check-in is still at the centre of it.
15Five pros and cons
What 15Five does well, and where it struggles.
Where 15Five shines
- The weekly check-in is a simple, proven habit that surfaces problems early.
- Strong focus on managers: 1:1s, feedback and manager development.
- OKRs and goals sit next to check-ins, reviews and engagement.
- Engagement surveys and analytics help spot people risks.
- Well established, with over a decade of product behind it.
Where 15Five struggles
- Check-ins flow up the management line, not across the leadership team.
- Goals tend to be individual and tied to performance conversations.
- Shows whether goals are on track, not what’s holding the company back.
- The leadership team still has to piece the company picture together.
- Per-person pricing by product adds up as you grow.
15Five vs Clearahead: side by side
| 15Five | Clearahead | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Performance management built on weekly check-ins: goals, reviews, engagement and compensation | AI goal tracking software for the company: goals, constraints and the moves that clear them |
| Who it’s built for | HR teams, managers and their direct reports | Founders, leadership teams and the people who own the work |
| The weekly update | Each person writes a check-in for their manager | Owners tell AJ in a sentence when work moves; AJ writes one brief for everyone |
| Whose goals | Company, team and individual goals and OKRs | The company’s goals, one per workspace, worked on by everyone |
| The question it answers | How are people doing, and how can managers help? | What is holding each goal back, and who is clearing it? |
| People features | Check-ins, 1:1s, reviews, engagement, compensation, manager coaching | None. Owners on every move and three roles in the app |
| Cost | Per person per month, by product; see 15Five’s pricing page | Free for up to 3 people and 1 workspace; £297/month or £2,997/year for the whole company |
How 15Five differs from Clearahead in practice
15Five and Clearahead both believe in short, regular updates. The difference is who the update is for and what happens to it next.
Up the line, or across the company
A 15Five check-in goes from a person to their manager. That’s the right shape for managing people, but it means the company picture is spread across dozens of private conversations. Someone still has to gather it up for the leadership team. In Clearahead, updates attach to the work itself. When an owner tells AJ that a move has started, stalled or finished, AJ updates that move, carries the change up the model only as far as it matters, and everyone working on the goal sees the same picture.
A report to write, or a sentence to say
The 15Five idea is 15 minutes to write. Clearahead’s is one sentence, when something changes. AJ, the AI inside Clearahead, does the rest: it pulls out the facts as evidence, logs why each one matters, and writes This week from AJ, with the wins, how it’s going and up to three things that need a decision. It’s a status meeting, without the meeting. We explain why that matters in Information is cheap now. Decisions aren’t.
How people are doing, or what’s in the way
15Five asks how each person is doing and how their manager can help. Clearahead asks what’s holding the company’s goal back. Under each goal sits a short, ordered list of constraints and the moves that clear them, each with one owner. When a goal slips, you see which constraint is stuck, not just who’s behind.
What Clearahead doesn’t do
Clearahead has no person-to-manager check-ins, 1:1s, reviews, engagement surveys, compensation or manager coaching. If those are what you need, 15Five is a good choice, and Clearahead won’t replace it.
Running 15Five and Clearahead together
The two fit together naturally because they deal with different relationships. 15Five strengthens the line between each person and their manager: how they’re doing, what they need, how they’re growing. Clearahead strengthens the line between the work and the company’s goals: what’s holding each goal back, who owns the fix and what needs a decision. In practice, someone might mention in their 15Five check-in that they’re frustrated a supplier hasn’t replied, and tell AJ in one sentence that the move to sign that supplier has stalled. The first helps their manager support them. The second tells the whole leadership team that a constraint on the company’s goal is stuck, and AJ will raise it in the weekly brief if it needs a decision. Neither tool has to stretch to do the other’s job.
Should you choose 15Five or Clearahead?
Choose 15Five if
- You want a weekly check-in habit between every person and their manager.
- Your biggest gap is manager quality, feedback and engagement.
- You want performance reviews and compensation in the same place as goals.
- You have an HR or people team to run it.
Choose Clearahead if
- Your challenge is a company goal that keeps slipping, not individual performance.
- You want updates to reach the whole leadership team, not one manager at a time.
- You want one ordered list of what’s in the way that everyone agrees on.
- You want goal tracking kept apart from reviews so updates stay honest.
- You want one price for the whole company, including advisers and the board.
Our honest read
15Five is one of the best tools for building a strong habit between people and their managers, and its weekly check-in has helped a lot of companies catch problems before they grow. If your challenge is managers and engagement, it deserves a look.
It isn’t built to align a leadership team on a company goal. Weekly check-ins tell each manager how their people are doing; they don’t give the CEO, the COO and the heads of department one shared, ordered list of what’s holding the company back. That’s the gap Clearahead fills.
The two work well together. Keep 15Five for people and managers, and run the company’s goals in Clearahead, where updates are about the work rather than the person. For more options, see our Lattice alternatives roundup, or read Goal tracking vs a business operating system.
Questions about 15Five
What is 15Five?
15Five is performance management software founded in San Francisco by David Hassell, launched in 2012. It’s built around a weekly check-in and includes OKRs and goals, 1:1s, reviews, engagement surveys, compensation and manager development.
Why is it called 15Five?
The product grew from a reporting habit credited to entrepreneur Paul Hawken: each person spends about 15 minutes writing a weekly update that takes their manager about five minutes to read.
Is Clearahead an alternative to 15Five?
Only for company goals. Clearahead has no check-ins between people and managers, reviews, surveys or compensation. It replaces using 15Five’s goals to run the company’s priorities, and works alongside 15Five for everything else.
How is AJ’s weekly brief different from a 15Five check-in?
A 15Five check-in is written by each person for their manager. This week from AJ is written by AJ for everyone working on a goal, from the updates people have already given, and lists up to three things that need a decision.