The Top 10 Workday Alternatives You Need to Know in 2025

by Gabby Davis Oct 15,2025
PODCAST

The People Strategy Leaders Podcast

with Srikant Chellappa, CEO

Performance management and HR platforms are crucial for organizations that want to drive productivity, align goals, and build a culture of continuous improvement. Workday has long been a recognized name in this space, offering robust human capital management (HCM) and financial management solutions. However, many organizations today are looking for alternatives — whether due to cost, complexity, scalability concerns, or the need for more specialized performance management features.

This article explores the top 10 Workday alternatives in 2025, highlighting platforms that help organizations improve performance, engagement, and development while offering flexible solutions that better fit their unique needs.

Why Companies Might Seek Alternatives to Workday

While Workday provides a comprehensive suite of HCM and financial tools, it may not be the perfect fit for every organization. Some common reasons companies consider Workday alternatives include:

  • Cost: Workday is often expensive, which may not be practical for small to mid-sized organizations.
  • Complexity: The platform is robust but can be overwhelming, with a steep learning curve.
  • Scalability Needs: Some businesses need lightweight, agile platforms that can be deployed faster.
  • Specialized Features: Many alternatives offer deeper functionality in areas like continuous feedback, OKRs, or employee engagement that Workday may not emphasize.
  • Integration: Companies may prefer solutions that integrate more easily with their existing HR, payroll, or collaboration tools.

This guide reviews the top Workday alternatives with a focus on their features, user experience, and unique selling points (USPs) to help you identify the right platform for your organization.

Top 10 Excellent Alternatives to Workday You Should Consider

Here are 10 excellent alternatives to Workday in 2025:

  1. Engagedly
  2. Lattice
  3. Leapsome
  4. Culture Amp
  5. 15Five
  6. PerformYard
  7. ClearCompany
  8. BambooHR
  9. Cornerstone OnDemand
  10. Betterworks

1. Engagedly

Engagedly is an AI-powered talent management platform built to support every aspect of workforce development, helping organizations turn recurring challenges into growth opportunities. At the heart of Engagedly is Marissa, our AI SuperAgent, which empowers mid-sized companies to tackle issues like uneven performance evaluations, unclear goals, low engagement, and disconnected learning programs with precision and intelligence.

AI-Powered Capabilities

Engagedly brings performance management, employee engagement, and learning into one unified, AI-driven platform. With Marissa’s smart guidance, leaders gain proactive insights and actionable recommendations that strengthen performance and nurture a culture of continuous improvement.

Key Features with Marissa AI

  • Performance Reviews: AI-enhanced evaluations that ensure fairness, consistency, and transparency, helping improve employee trust and retention.
  • Goal Setting & Alignment: Automatically suggested goals linked to business strategy, with real-time progress tracking.
  • Employee Engagement: Sentiment analysis and AI-driven recommendations to address morale and minimize turnover.
  • Continuous Feedback: Smart nudges that encourage frequent, constructive feedback between managers and employees.
  • Learning Management: AI-curated learning paths tailored to each employee, making upskilling efficient and engaging.
  • 360-Degree Feedback: AI-powered analytics that deliver deeper insights from peer, manager, and direct report feedback.
  • OKRs (Objectives and Key Results): Predictive tracking and progress monitoring to keep teams aligned with company objectives.
  • Employee Recognition: AI identifies top performers and suggests timely recognition moments to boost motivation and reinforce positive culture.

User Experience

Engagedly offers a smooth, intuitive experience across web and mobile. With Marissa’s conversational interface, users can interact naturally—turning intentions into intelligent, guided actions without navigating complicated menus.

Unique Value Proposition

Engagedly goes beyond being another HR platform—it’s an AI-powered, agentic solution for talent transformation. By combining robust functionality with Marissa’s intelligence, organizations can:

  • Automate routine tasks so leaders can focus on strategy.
  • Gain predictive insights to resolve challenges before they escalate.
  • Build a culture centered on engagement, learning, and high performance.

For organizations looking to scale and modernize workforce development, Engagedly with Marissa delivers not just an improvement—but a sustainable competitive edge.

2. Lattice

Lattice is a performance management and employee engagement platform focused on continuous growth and development. It helps organizations set clear objectives, collect feedback, and build a transparent culture of accountability.

Key Features:

  • Structured performance reviews
  • OKR and goal management
  • Continuous feedback channels
  • Engagement surveys and analytics

User Experience:

With an intuitive design and modern interface, Lattice is easy to navigate. Its real-time dashboards provide actionable insights for both HR teams and leaders.

USP:

Lattice’s emphasis on employee growth through ongoing feedback and engagement surveys makes it a strong choice for companies prioritizing development and retention.

3. Leapsome

Leapsome is an all-in-one performance management and learning platform that unifies reviews, OKRs, and employee development into one seamless experience.

Key Features:

  • Customizable performance reviews
  • Goal setting and OKR tracking
  • Continuous feedback and peer recognition
  • Integrated learning management system

User Experience:

Leapsome’s workflows are highly customizable, making it adaptable for businesses of different sizes and industries.

USP:

Its integration of learning with performance management sets Leapsome apart, creating a holistic solution for organizations focused on skill-building alongside evaluation.

4. Culture Amp

Culture Amp is best known for its employee engagement and culture analytics. It combines surveys, feedback, and performance reviews with actionable insights to help organizations improve workplace culture.

Key Features:

  • Engagement and pulse surveys
  • Performance reviews and feedback
  • Goal alignment tools
  • Data-driven culture analytics

User Experience:

Culture Amp delivers clean dashboards with benchmarked data, making it easy to compare results across industries.

USP:

Its deep focus on engagement analytics and culture transformation makes it ideal for organizations prioritizing employee experience.

5. 15Five

15Five is a performance management platform designed around continuous improvement and employee check-ins.

Key Features:

  • Weekly check-ins and 1:1 meeting tools
  • OKRs and goal tracking
  • Performance reviews
  • Engagement surveys

User Experience:

15Five’s straightforward design makes it easy to roll out and adopt quickly across teams.

USP:

Its weekly check-in structure makes it ideal for companies that want regular touchpoints without overwhelming complexity.

6. PerformYard

PerformYard is a performance management tool built for flexibility and customization, making it a good fit for companies with unique review processes.

Key Features:

  • Customizable performance reviews
  • Goal management
  • Continuous feedback
  • 360-degree feedback

User Experience:

PerformYard is designed for HR teams that need adaptability without compromising ease of use.

USP:

Its customization-first approach is the key differentiator, allowing organizations to tailor the platform to their specific processes.

7. ClearCompany

ClearCompany is a talent management platform offering solutions for recruiting, onboarding, performance management, and engagement.

Key Features:

  • Performance reviews and goal alignment
  • Recruiting and applicant tracking system (ATS)
  • Employee engagement surveys
  • Workforce planning tools

User Experience:

ClearCompany offers a unified experience across recruiting and performance, which appeals to organizations that want an end-to-end HR solution.

USP:

Its integration of talent acquisition with performance management makes it unique among HR platforms.

8. BambooHR

BambooHR

BambooHR is an all-in-one HR platform designed for small and mid-sized businesses.

Key Features:

  • HRIS with employee data management
  • Performance reviews and goal tracking
  • Time-off tracking
  • Applicant tracking

User Experience:

BambooHR is known for its simplicity and ease of setup, making it a great choice for companies without large HR teams.

USP:

Its all-in-one HR suite with people-focused design makes it especially valuable for smaller organizations.

9. Cornerstone OnDemand

Cornerstone OnDemand is an enterprise-grade platform specializing in learning and talent management.

Key Features:

  • Performance and succession planning
  • Comprehensive learning management
  • Recruiting and onboarding
  • Analytics and workforce planning

User Experience:

While robust, Cornerstone is more complex and suited to large enterprises with advanced needs.

USP:

Its enterprise-scale learning and succession planning tools make it a leader for large organizations investing heavily in workforce development.

10. Betterworks

Betterworks

Betterworks emphasizes goal alignment and continuous performance management.

Key Features:

  • OKR and goal setting
  • Performance evaluations
  • Continuous feedback tools
  • Analytics and dashboards

User Experience:

The platform integrates seamlessly with collaboration tools, ensuring smooth workflows.

USP:

Betterworks’ laser focus on goal alignment makes it a strong contender for organizations driven by strategic objectives.

Conclusion

Workday is a powerful solution, but it’s not always the best fit for every business. Organizations seeking alternatives may prioritize cost-effectiveness, ease of use, or specialized features like continuous feedback, OKR alignment, or employee engagement analytics.

From Engagedly’s comprehensive all-in-one approach to Lattice’s feedback focus, Leapsome’s integration of learning, and ClearCompany’s end-to-end talent management, each of these alternatives offers unique strengths.

By carefully evaluating these platforms against your organization’s needs, you can select a solution that not only manages performance but also enhances engagement, fosters growth, and drives long-term success.

Gabby Davis

Gabby Davis is the Lead Trainer for the US Division of the Customer Experience Team. She develops and implements processes and collaterals related to the client onboarding experience and guides clients across all tiers through the initial implementation of Engagedly as well as Mentoring Complete. She is passionate about delivering stellar client experiences and ensuring high adoption rates of the Engagedly product through engaging and impactful training and onboarding.

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