Effective performance management plays a key role in keeping businesses running smoothly. The ways people work are changing, however, and so too must the ways we manage and support their development. That’s why you need the best software for performance management.

Best software for performance management

  1. Zensai’s Perform365
  2. BambooHR
  3. Workday Performance Management
  4. SAP SuccessFactors
  5. Engagedly
  6. Culture Amp

Between the march of technology and the changing of generations, expectations for work are starting to look quite different than they did even a decade ago. With those changing expectations comes the need to modernize performance management tools and processes.

This shouldn’t be too surprising, though. If performance management never changed, we wouldn’t need to write about it, would we?

Insights from Gallup stress the importance of adapting performance management to the times:

  • Gallup findings show that most employees expect managerial coaching.
  • Only 19% of employees strongly agree that focusing on their weaknesses motivates them to do outstanding work.
  • The most engaged employees spend 5x as long working in their strongest areas compared to their weakest.
  • On average, disengaged employees split their time equally between strong and weak areas.

Gallup stresses that it’s not about ignoring what employees do poorly, but simply enabling them to spend more time doing things at which they excel. Additionally, the greater emphasis on managerial coaching means more employees crave regular feedback.

Key features to look for in performance management software

Thankfully, there’s no shortage of performance management solutions to pick from. Less thankfully, each one is different, and not all are made equal. So if you want the best software for performance management, look for the following features:

  • 360° feedback tools: 360-degree feedback, or simply 360 feedback, uses surveys to collect performance feedback from colleagues besides an employee’s usual line manager. In theory, this offers impartiality and increased breadth of insight.
  • Automated review scheduling: Half the difficulty of performance reviews is in the planning and preparation. Automated workflows and AI support take care of the busywork ahead of time, so that employees and managers can go in fully prepared.
  • Continuous feedback mechanisms: The other issue with performance reviews is their infrequency. Putting all that pressure on one or two meetings a year isn’t practical. You need ongoing, possibly asynchronous feedback methods to bridge the gaps.
  • Goal integration: It’s hard to manage performance without metrics. One of the simplest ways is to connect goal tracking with other performance management tools. Besides being progress updates, goals and OKRs allow you to monitor things like average project turnaround time, common blockers and more.
  • Employee development plans: Most people don’t take entry-level jobs without plans to move either up or away. That’s why you need employee development systems, like talent mapping and succession planning as well as learning and development options.
  • Advanced reporting and analytics: Your chosen performance management platform should include employee performance tracking software with reporting and analytics features. The ability to go beyond basic goal tracking and understand the trends and patterns behind employee performance is essential.

Now you know what to look for in a service provider, we’ll go through some of the best software for performance management available. To get started, let’s look at our own service.

Explore Perform365

1. Zensai’s Perform365

If you couldn’t tell by its name, Perform365 is the module in our Human Success Platform designed to support performance management. Like the rest of our platform, it’s built to work through and alongside Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook and more.

Core features of this performance management tool

Altogether, Perform365 gives you everything you need to track, analyze and enable employee performance across your whole business, including:

  • Performance conversations framework with automated admin.
  • Your choice of SMART Goals and OKRs with the ability to mix and match.
  • AI-powered talent mapping and succession planning.
  • Tracking and reporting that works with our regular check-in system.

Strengths and selling points of this performance management tool

Perform365’s deep Microsoft integration offers ease-of-use through familiarity. It’s designed to support efficient goal tracking and performance management in the flow of work. As a G2 leader for performance management software, our platform has plenty to offer:

  • Best estimated ROI: 61% of Perform365 users achieve full ROI within 12 months of setup thanks to automated workflows and easy performance conversations. 9 out of 10 people agree the module is easy to set up, and over 90% say the same about usage and admin.
  • 85% user adoption: With check-ins, OKRs and SMART Goals built into daily user routines, it should be no surprise our platform has such a high degree of uptake. According to G2, Perform365 has the highest levels of user adoption among 2025 competitors.
  • Comprehensive employee development: With our talent mapping and succession planning, it’s easy to identify skills gaps and areas for advancement. In fact, with the full Human Success Platform, you can fully support employee L&D thanks to our Learn365 module.

Drawbacks and limitations

To illustrate that there’s no perfect solution, we wanted to highlight a couple of Perform365’s key limitations, such as:

  • Less impressive without Microsoft tools: Our extensive Microsoft integration may be a boon for most organizations. If your company doesn’t use Microsoft tools, however, it can somewhat limit the full range of Perform365’s functions.
  • You’d miss out with just one module: Perform365 is available individually, but without the rest of the Human Success Platform, you miss out on useful tools like check-ins or L&D course management.

Best fit and pricing

As the best software for performance management in terms of ROI, Perform365 and our other modules are highly affordable. That, combined with our product’s scalability, makes it a great choice for businesses of any size. Our customers include Flight Centre, G&J Pepsi, and BDO Denmark.

We offer a free trial for Perform365 and Learn365, plus a limited free version of our L&D module, Learn365. A basic scale for our paid price packages is as follows:

  • Perform365 ($): An individual quote for our performance management module, including Success Basic support.
  • Grow Basic ($$): The cheapest price point for the full Human Success Platform, including Success Basic support.
  • Grow Plus ($$$): Our most popular price point for the full platform, which includes Success Plus support, plus advanced automation and analytics features.
  • Grow Premium ($$$$): Pull out all the stops and get access to our dedicated team of support specialists for any setup or maintenance query, no matter how niche.
best software for performance management

2. BambooHR

Next up, as a performance management platform, BambooHR strives to be like its namesake. Quick to grow, and flexible yet strong. But is this enough to crown it the best software for performance management in 2025? Let’s find out…

Core features of this performance management tool

Firstly, BambooHR’s performance management software is just one of the tools it offers. While an overly broad focus can run the risk of underdeveloped features, BambooHR still manages to provide the bulk of what you need:

  • Customizable performance evaluations set to your preferred review cycle.
  • Individual and team-level goals with easy reporting.
  • Employee-level and company-wide performance reports.
  • Employee sentiment and wellbeing analysis.

Strengths and selling points of this performance management tool

So if you’re wondering how BambooHR has achieved its stellar performance management reputation, look no further:

  • Clean and intuitive UI design: BambooHR’s performance management features are very easy to use on both the admin and end-user sides. Everything is simple, from goal reporting to review scheduling.
  • Great customer service reputation: BambooHR’s customer support team has a reputation for being friendly and knowledgeable with a quick response time. In the event you encounter issues, it won’t take long to get help.

Drawbacks and limitations

Although BambooHR’s simple design is one of its biggest strengths, it’s also the source of these drawbacks:

  • Limited customization: Reporting features and performance review templates are useful, but overly rigid. BambooHR may not be the best of performance review tools for handling bespoke requirements.
  • Not the most advanced analytics: BambooHR’s in-built analytics and reporting features are pretty basic according to some users. This lack of granularity can make it necessary to find manual workarounds.

Best fit and pricing

Generally, BambooHR performs well for small-to-medium businesses, but the limitations of its analytics and reporting features keep it from being scalable to enterprise needs.

Specifically, BambooHR offers two primary service packages plus paid add-ons:

  • Core ($): Includes basic features like reporting, onboarding, time off, benefits and employee experience, but crucially, does NOT include performance management functionality.
  • Pro ($$): Adds performance management tools and employee community features.
  • Paid add-ons ($$$):
    • Payroll (US only)
    • Benefits admin (US only)
    • Time tracking
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3. Workday Performance Management

If you need a solution geared more towards large businesses, then Workday is one of the best goal tracking and continuous feedback platforms around. For example, their platform includes tools to support performance management cycles along with a wide range of other HR, planning and finance products.

Core features of this performance management tool

Workday offers numerous tools and services. In terms of performance management, its Talent Management module includes:

  • Performance enablement software.
  • Feedback and recognition.
  • Career development and talent pipeline.
  • Skills and goal management.

Additionally, its suite of HR tools also includes software for workforce analytics and reporting supported by their AI, Workday Illuminate.

Strengths and selling points of this performance management tool

With their sheer range of products, Workday manages to knock a few out of the park with these major selling points:

  • HR and performance management at scale: Workday is a centralized hub of HR and managerial tools including workforce planning, AI-powered performance management recommendations and HR analytics.
  • In-depth talent mapping and development planning: Workday emphasizes talent-based management using learning management tools and AI assisted talent mobility.

Drawbacks and limitations

Despite being an effective enterprise solution, Workday unfortunately falls down in these areas:

  • Overwhelmingly complex: The volume and granularity of Workday’s various features can be quite a lot to get to grips with. Training with this software is probably a necessity.
  • Suboptimal UI: Complex features can be fine if they’re supported by a great UI. Unfortunately, with a lot of redundant navigation options and awkward feature placement, Workday’s could use some improvement. 

Best fit and pricing

Although Workday largely positions itself as an enterprise solution, it does offer setups for SMBs. Of course, smaller organizations especially will need to factor in the platform’s complexity.

Additionally, Workday is very opaque with their pricing, with vague information on their website only available for their Adaptive Planning module. As with many SaaS providers, their price quotes vary based on business specifications.

 Continuous feedback platforms

4. SAP SuccessFactors

Like Workday, SAP offers solutions to suit a wide range of needs, from supply chain management to CRM. SuccessFactors is their platform for Human Capital Management (HCM). Let’s see if their integrated solution for performance and talent management can earn them the title of best software for performance management.

Core features of this performance management tool

As a HCM platform, SAP SuccessFactors offers the following core features:

  • Performance and goals software with over 500 ready-to-use goals and OKRs.
  • Sales performance management with automated processes.
  • Analytics and workforce planning to drive HR decision-making.
  • Employee experience management to monitor engagement.

Strengths and selling points of this performance management tool

SAP SuccessFactors lives up to the “success” part of its name thanks to these major selling points:

  • Advanced reporting capabilities: SAP’s workforce trend analytics leverage employee performance and experience data to provide rich insight into how your people are doing.
  • Connects performance management with core HR: SAP acts as a centralized platform where HR can handle talent management, workforce planning, payroll and more.

Drawbacks and limitations

While SAP does a lot right, SuccessFactors falls down in a couple of key areas:

  • Customization limitations: Being a cloud-based solution limits how much you can customize elements of the platform. Users complain that options are limited, and what customization you can do is quite complicated.
  • Unintuitive design: Finding the right features in SuccessFactors can be time-consuming, with slow processes and an unpolished UI.

Best fit and pricing

By comparison, SAP SuccessFactors is largely an enterprise-grade solution, as many of its customers employ over 10,000 people. Their platform’s overall complexity makes it harder to recommend for small businesses.

Further, SAP doesn’t publish pricing information online, although they do offer product trials and a free tier. Online discourse suggests they’re one of the more expensive options on the market.

5. Engagedly

As their name suggests, Engagedly positions themselves as an employee engagement platform. Don’t let that fool you, however, as they’re all about performance management too. In fact, Engagedly’s founder and CEO, Srikant Chellappa, penned a Forbes article highlighting the changing nature of performance management and how businesses must adapt.

Core features of this performance management tool

Overall, Engagedly is one of the sleeker platforms on this list, with the following performance management features:

  • Performance reviews supported by real-time feedback.
  • AI-powered OKRs and Goals for an outcome-based performance culture.
  • 360-degree feedback software based on psychometric science.
  • Advanced talent analytics and organizational strategy powered by AI.

Strengths and selling points of this performance management tool

Engagedly may be more focused than platforms like Workday and SAP. Regardless, it still has plenty to offer:

  • Blends performance management and engagement: Much like our Human Success Platform, Engagedly combines performance management features like performance feedback and goal setting with engagement-boosting tools like recognition and development options.
  • Emphasizes workplace culture: Rather than offer solutions in a vacuum, Engagedly aims to give you the tools to reshape workplace culture to emphasize feedback, support and transparency.

Drawbacks and limitations

Although it brings a lot to the table, Engagedly continues the trend of performance review tools that fall down in some familiar areas:

  • Awkward layout despite sleek design: Users report that Engagedly is difficult to navigate, with limited search functionality.
  • Needs quality-of-life improvements: Various small improvements could make Engagedly easier to use, like spell checking, a dark mode, and easier goal replication.

Best fit and pricing

Although Engagedly can be used by enterprises, many of its clients are SMBs. However, unlike many of its competitors, Engagedly has a fairly transparent pricing structure:

  • Individual modules ($):
    • Manage performance
    • Learn & Grow
    • Recognize & Reward
    • Engage & Listen
    • Mentoring Suite
    • Manage Compensation
    • Deskless employee communication
  • Full platform bundle ($$): A bundle to save money on… you guessed it, the full platform. Ideal for SMBs.
  • Enterprise pricing ($$$): Custom quotes and implementation to suit the needs of large organizations.
Gartner Cool Vendor

6. Culture Amp

Last on our list of competitors is Culture Amp. Sporting high name recognition, it may be the last entry on our list, but it could well be the best software for performance management.

Core features of this performance management tool

Like other entries on this list, Culture Amp has tools for performance, engagement and development. Its most relevant performance management features include:

  • Performance reviews and calibrations.
  • Continuous real-time 360 feedback to drive accountability.
  • Better employee goal tracking with OKRs.
  • People analytics, including data health, data-driven storyboards and scenario planning.

Strengths and selling points of this performance management tool

As you’d expect for such a well-known provider, Culture Amp has some very strong selling points:

  • Backed by people science and industry benchmarks: Culture Amp offers some measure of objectivity with feedback tools based on engagement-centric people science and workplace data from other relevant businesses.
  • Easy to use: While many entries on this list have difficult UIs, Culture Amp’s customers rave about how easy it is to use and how robust its features are.

Drawbacks and limitations

Overall, Culture Amp is a great platform. That said, our major nitpicks include:

  • Notifications can be awkward: Culture Amp emphasizes its shoutouts feature. In practice, however, the volume of notifications can be overwhelming, while it’s also difficult to find old notifications after the fact.
  • Lacks a full mobile app: By all accounts, Culture Amp’s mobile web functionality is decent, but it does lack a dedicated mobile app. Changing this would make it more consistently accessible to deskless workers.

Best fit and pricing

Culture Amp is a great fit for both SMBs and enterprise-level businesses. Specifically, their pricing is as follows:

  • Individual modules ($):
    • Engage
    • Perform
    • Develop
    • People Analytics
  • Full platform bundle ($$): Every Culture Amp module, with dedicated support plans for SMBs and enterprises.
  • Custom enterprise price quote ($$$): If the standard bundle doesn’t suit your business needs, you can go whole hog with a custom quote.
Performance review tools

How to choose the right performance management tool

When pitching new performance management software, you need to stay grounded. That means no getting worked up over a flashy sales pitch. With that in mind, here are the key criteria for choosing the best software for performance management.

  • Organization size: Business size is one of the main deciding factors for choosing software vendors. Typically, it’s a matter of affordability and simplicity for SMBs, versus complexity and scaling for enterprises.
  • Feedback methods: Unless you’re trying to completely upend your performance management processes, you need a platform that caters to your preferred goal tracking and feedback styles. For instance, companies with a lot of inter-departmental collaboration will need OKRs for performance management.
  • Customization: No two businesses have identical needs. That’s why the best software for performance management lets you adjust parameters, refine feedback questions and tweak goal setting to your heart’s content.
  • Scalability: As your organization grows, HR will need features to compensate. Automated workflows, AI assistance and proactive scheduling tools are essential for supporting increasing numbers of workers.
  • Integration capabilities: While some platforms aim to do it all, you’ll probably need software which integrates with your existing HRIS and HCM systems.
  • Onboarding and support: Performance management starts from recruitment. Your chosen platform should help you smoothly integrate new hires and support their development from onboarding to offboarding.

Don’t rush your research

There are so many performance management software providers on the market, it can be hard to know where to start. However, be sure to keep your head on straight and take your time. Most software vendors offer some form of demo, whether it’s a pre-made video demo or a hands-on guided demo with a member of their sales team.

So, try before you buy to make sure you don’t regret your choice. In fact, you should check out our demos and trial options for Perform365 and the rest of the Human Success Platform today!

Book a demo Perform365