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Performance management · September 2026 Edition

15Five vs Small Improvements

Zero of twelve models named 15Five first on the direct prompt; zero named Small Improvements. 15Five was named by twelve of the twelve models and Small Improvements by ten and 15Five carries 47 labels and Small Improvements 11, so the shares are not directly comparable.

15Five

accepted challenger

Named in eleven categories this edition.

Small Improvements

accepted challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

First-choice share7%7%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate6%9%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#5A position in a field of 14; printed, not drawn.
Labels4711A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, 15Five reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Lattice was named alongside these two in twelve of the twelve direct answers. Lattice vs 15Five · Lattice vs Small Improvements · PerformYard vs 15Five

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the performance management page.

By framing

How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
15FiveFirst choices, of twelve modelsSmall Improvements
Direct00
Paraphrase20
Comparative00
Budget-constrained031 against Small Improvements
Scale-constrained10
Negative003 against 15Five
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.

Every model, every framing

The seventy-two answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where 15Five and Small Improvements stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
15Five Small Improvements first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, 15Five on the left and Small Improvements on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where 15Five and Small Improvements stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

9 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Lattice alternatives: 15Five, Betterworks, Culture Amp, HiBob, Leapsome, PerformYard
Gemini 3.5 FlashLattice alternatives: 15Five, Betterworks, HiBob, Leapsome
Perplexity SonarLattice alternatives: 15Five, Betterworks, HiBob, Leapsome
Grok 4.1 FastLattice alternatives: 15Five, HiBob, Leapsome, Paylocity
Mistral SmallLattice alternatives: 15Five, Culture Amp
DeepSeek V4 FlashLattice alternatives: 15Five, Betterworks, Culture Amp, Leapsome, PerformYard
Qwen 3.7 FlashLattice alternatives: 15Five, Betterworks, HiBob
Kimi K2Lattice alternatives: 15Five, Culture Amp, Leapsome, PerformYard
GLM 4.7 FlashXLattice alternatives: 15Five, Culture Amp, HiBob, Leapsome, Rippling

Neither was named

3 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
GPT-5.4 miniLattice alternatives: Mitratech Perform
Llama 4 MaverickBetterworks, HiBob, Lattice
MiniMax M2.5Lattice alternatives: Engagedly, Paylocity

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
15Five leads by two points.
15Five8%#6 of 10
Small Improvements6%#7 of 10
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
15Five7%#3 of 14
Small Improvements7%#5 of 14
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
15Five leads by two points.
15Five2%#8 of 9
Small Improvements0%#– of 9
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about 15Five

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.

“Performance-first tools with limits like Lattice or 15Five | ... you should check for pricing opacity, contract minimums” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“Leaders in this category typically include Lattice, Culture Amp, 15Five, Leapsome, and PerformYard.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · first choice

What the models said about Small Improvements

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.

“Cheapest credible option (but has seat minimums)” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · soft negative
“The best performance management software for a company with a limited budget is Small Improvements, which is the cheapest credible performance appraisal software” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
“Often cited as the best value for money, Small Improvements strikes a balance between robust features and affordability.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Often cited as the cheapest credible option at $3/user/month, making it ideal for small businesses” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.