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Buyer’s guide · 360 feedback

The best 360 feedback tools, compared

Nine tools buyers shortlist for 360 feedback, compared on rater rules, anonymity, competency-linked questions and what happens after the report — with an honest fit check and a checklist.

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Continuous feedback and check-in view in CLEAR Talent

A 360 feedback tool is easy to buy and hard to get value from. Collecting ratings from a manager, peers and direct reports is the simple part. Whether raters trust the anonymity, whether the questions measure the behaviours the role actually needs, and whether anything happens after the report is delivered are what separate a 360 that changes how someone works from a report nobody opens twice.

This guide compares nine tools buyers shortlist for 360 feedback: CLEAR Talent, Culture Amp, Lattice, Leapsome, 15Five, Qualtrics, Spidergap, PerformYard and Betterworks. Some run 360s inside a performance or employee-experience platform; Spidergap is a dedicated 360 tool. We build CLEAR Talent, so we describe it precisely and describe the others only as they describe themselves. Where we cannot speak for another vendor, the table says “Confirm” and the vendor notes give you the question to ask — never a claimed gap.

What to look for

What separates a 360 people trust from one they rush through.

Every tool on this list can send a questionnaire to several raters. These are the questions that decide whether the answers are candid, comparable and acted on.

  1. 01

    Anonymity people believe

    Raters are candid when they trust that they cannot be identified. Ask how raters are grouped, what the minimum number of raters per group is, and exactly what a manager can and cannot see.

  2. 02

    Questions tied to the role

    Open-text surveys produce quotes; structured questions produce something comparable. Check whether questions come from your own competency model and whether a rating can carry written evidence.

  3. 03

    Rater selection with a check

    Who nominates raters, and who approves the list, decides whether a 360 is balanced. Look for configurable rater groups across managers, peers, direct reports and other stakeholders.

  4. 04

    A cadence that fits

    Some organisations run 360s with the annual review; others after a project or before a promotion. Confirm the tool can run a 360 on its own schedule, not only inside a review cycle.

  5. 05

    Something happens next

    A 360 earns its cost when it changes what someone works on. Ask what the report leads to — a development plan, a coaching conversation, or nothing — and who owns that step.

  6. 06

    Effort for raters

    A rater asked for five 360s in a fortnight will rush the last three. Look at how long a 360 takes to complete, whether it works on a phone and in the rater’s language, and how reminders are handled.

Capability comparison

9 tools, compared on the same criteria.

Listed in no ranked order. The CLEAR Talent column says what the product does; the others say where a vendor presents a capability itself, and where you should confirm it with them.

We can describe CLEAR Talent precisely, because we build it. We cannot describe other vendors’ current packaging with the same authority, and pretending otherwise would make this table useless to you. So the CLEAR Talent column states what the platform does today. The other columns say “Strong” only where that vendor presents the capability in its own public positioning, and “Confirm” everywhere else — which means ask them, never that the capability is missing.

360° feedback as part of the product

The baseline: multi-rater input collected and reported in the tool.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

Reports cover strengths, blind spots and development priorities, as a PDF or a shareable link.

Culture Amp
Strong / native
Lattice
Strong / native
Leapsome
Strong / native
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Strong / native
Spidergap
Strong / native
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

Rater groups across managers, peers, reports and stakeholders

A balanced 360 hears from every direction the person works in.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

Configurable rater groups; employees nominate their raters and managers approve the list.

Culture Amp
Confirm
Lattice
Confirm
Leapsome
Confirm
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Confirm
Spidergap
Confirm
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

Anonymity within groups and minimum-rater thresholds

In small teams, anonymity breaks easily unless thresholds are enforced.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

Raters are anonymised within their group and thresholds are enforced; managers see aggregated group data only.

Culture Amp
Confirm
Lattice
Confirm
Leapsome
Confirm
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Confirm
Spidergap
Confirm
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

Questions structured against your competency model

Feedback maps to the behaviours the role actually needs.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

Each rater scores the competencies in the role profile, on a scale you control, with optional written evidence.

Culture Amp
Confirm
Lattice
Confirm
Leapsome
Confirm
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Confirm
Spidergap
Confirm
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

360s on their own cadence

Run after a project or before a promotion, not only at year end.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

Any cadence — quarterly, after a project, on promotion — independently of the annual review.

Culture Amp
Confirm
Lattice
Confirm
Leapsome
Confirm
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Confirm
Spidergap
Strong / native
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

From report to development plan

The 360 changes what someone works on next.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

A suggested IDP from the lowest-scoring, highest-importance competencies. IDPs are included from the Pro plan.

Culture Amp
Confirm
Lattice
Confirm
Leapsome
Confirm
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Confirm
Spidergap
Confirm
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

AI summaries a person approves

Faster synthesis of rater input, without output nobody has checked.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

Ava summarises multi-rater input into themes; output is labelled, editable and approved by a person. AI scope varies by plan.

Culture Amp
Confirm
Lattice
Confirm
Leapsome
Confirm
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Confirm
Spidergap
Confirm
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

Mobile and multilingual raters

Raters away from a desk, or not working in English, still respond.

CLEAR TalentStrong / native

16 languages; native iOS and Android apps with offline support are included from the Pro plan.

Culture Amp
Confirm
Lattice
Confirm
Leapsome
Confirm
15Five
Confirm
Qualtrics
Confirm
Spidergap
Confirm
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

Employee engagement surveys

Only matters if surveys are part of this purchase — then it matters a lot.

CLEAR TalentNot core

Not a CLEAR Talent capability. If surveys are required, you would need a second tool.

Culture Amp
Strong / native
Lattice
Strong / native
Leapsome
Strong / native
15Five
Strong / native
Qualtrics
Strong / native
Spidergap
Confirm
PerformYard
Confirm
Betterworks
Confirm

Status legend

Strong / nativeA clearly positioned core or native capability.
Not coreNot currently positioned as a core capability.
ConfirmScope, module, localization, or availability should be confirmed with the vendor.

The shortlist, tool by tool

How each describes itself, and when it belongs on your list.

Positioning is summarised from each vendor’s own public materials. The question beside it is the one most likely to settle the decision in a demo.

  • CLEAR Talent

    A performance and development platform whose 360° feedback runs against your competency framework, with configurable rater groups, anonymity within each group, minimum-rater thresholds and a suggested development plan from the results.

    Worth a look when

    You want 360 input structured against the competencies in each role profile, and you want the report to lead into a development plan rather than a filed PDF.

    See the platform

  • Culture Amp

    An employee experience platform best known for engagement surveys and people analytics, with performance and development products alongside, including 360 feedback.

    Worth a look when

    Engagement surveys matter at least as much as 360s, and you want both, with people analytics, from one supplier.

    Ask them

    Whether 360 feedback is priced with the performance product or separately, and what its anonymity rules are.

    CLEAR Talent vs Culture AmpCulture Amp website

  • Lattice

    A people platform covering performance reviews with multi-rater input, goals and OKRs, 1:1s, engagement surveys, career and development tracks and analytics.

    Worth a look when

    You want 360 input inside review cycles on a broader people platform, with engagement surveys from the same supplier.

    Ask them

    How rater groups are configured, what the minimum-rater rules are, and whether input is structured against a competency model.

    CLEAR Talent vs LatticeLattice website

  • Leapsome

    A people enablement platform covering performance reviews, 360° feedback, goals and OKRs, engagement surveys, 1:1 meetings, and learning and onboarding.

    Worth a look when

    You want 360 feedback inside a broader people platform that also covers engagement surveys, learning and onboarding.

    Ask them

    How rater anonymity and thresholds are configured, and whether questions can be built from your competency framework.

    CLEAR Talent vs LeapsomeLeapsome website

  • 15Five

    Continuous performance and manager enablement: weekly check-ins, 1-on-1s, OKRs, performance reviews, engagement surveys, and manager coaching and training content.

    Worth a look when

    Manager capability and a weekly check-in habit are the main goal, and multi-rater input is one part of that.

    Ask them

    How multi-rater feedback is configured, and whether it can run outside a review cycle.

    CLEAR Talent vs 15Five15Five website

  • Qualtrics

    An experience management company whose employee experience products include engagement and lifecycle surveys and 360 feedback, with survey analytics across them.

    Worth a look when

    You already run employee surveys on Qualtrics, or want research-grade survey design and analytics behind a 360 programme.

    Ask them

    Which products the 360 requires, and how its results reach the system that runs your reviews and development plans.

    Qualtrics website

  • Spidergap

    A dedicated 360 feedback tool focused on running 360 reviews and producing feedback reports, rather than a full performance management suite.

    Worth a look when

    You want 360s and nothing else — run as a standalone exercise, perhaps beside a leadership programme — and reviews and goals live elsewhere.

    Ask them

    How the questionnaire can be adapted to your competency framework, and how results move into your development process.

    Spidergap website

  • PerformYard

    Performance management software for HR teams, built around flexible review processes — annual, quarterly or continuous — with goals and feedback alongside.

    Worth a look when

    You want a configurable review process run by HR, with multi-rater input as one part of it.

    Ask them

    How 360 rater groups and anonymity are set up, and whether input maps to a competency model.

    PerformYard website

  • Betterworks

    Enterprise goal and OKR management, with conversations, continuous feedback, performance reviews and calibration alongside, typically deployed in large organisations next to an existing HCM.

    Worth a look when

    Multi-rater input is one part of an enterprise goal and review programme in a large organisation, rather than the main purchase.

    Ask them

    How multi-rater feedback is configured and what the anonymity rules are.

    CLEAR Talent vs BetterworksBetterworks website

The honest fit check

When CLEAR Talent is the right fit — and when it is not.

We would rather you shortlist the right tool than the one that wrote this page.

CLEAR Talent fits when

  • You want 360 input to measure the behaviours each role needs. Raters score the competencies in the role profile, on a scale you control, with optional written evidence.
  • Anonymity has to hold in small teams. Raters are anonymised within their group, minimum-rater thresholds are enforced, and managers see only aggregated, anonymised group data.
  • The 360 should lead somewhere. Each one generates a suggested development plan from the lowest-scoring, highest-importance competencies, on the same record as reviews, goals and calibration.
  • Your raters work across languages or away from desks: 16 languages, and native iOS and Android apps from the Pro plan.
  • You want a price to plan against before the first sales call: the Basic plan is USD 39 a month, with published per-user rates up to 100 staff users, and a free 1-month trial.

Look elsewhere when

  • Engagement or pulse surveys are part of this purchase. CLEAR Talent has no survey product, and several tools on this list combine the two.
  • You want a one-off 360 for a leadership programme and nothing else. A dedicated 360 tool may be simpler than adopting a performance platform.
  • You want a validated psychometric instrument. CLEAR Talent structures 360 input against the competency framework you define; it is not sold as a validated assessment.
  • You need results to sync live with your HRIS. There is no prebuilt connector today: people and structure come in by CSV or Excel import or API access, and results go out as CSV, Excel or PDF.
  • You are past 100 staff users and want a list price rather than a quote. Above that headcount CLEAR Talent is priced on the Enterprise plan.

Price at your headcount

Compare quotes at the same headcount, not headline prices.

A plan fee with per-user add-ons and a per-seat rate only become comparable once both are converted to a monthly cost for your own team.

CLEAR Talent published list price

CLEAR Talent monthly list price by plan and staff headcount
Staff usersBasic planPro plan
50$159 / month$295 / month
100$309 / month$545 / month
101+Enterprise plan, quoted to your scope

CLEAR Talent publishes a list price rather than quoting from scratch: the Basic plan is USD 39 per month and covers 1 admin user and 10 staff users, with each additional staff user at USD 3 per month and each additional admin user at USD 9, up to the maximums stated on the plan. The Pro plan is USD 295 per month and covers 3 admin users and 50 staff users. Past those limits the Enterprise plan is quoted. The pricing page lists performance review cycles and continuous feedback on every plan, and individual development plans — where a 360° becomes a suggested development plan — from Pro. At 50 staff users that is USD 159 a month on Basic or USD 295 on Pro; at 100 staff users, USD 309 on Basic or USD 545 on Pro. Annual billing takes 15% off the plan price, and there is a free 1-month trial. Past 100 staff users the Enterprise plan is quoted to your scope.

See what each plan includes

Everyone else: ask, in writing

We do not quote other vendors’ prices here. Published pricing changes, some vendors quote rather than publish, and a figure repeated on this page would be out of date before you read it. Read each vendor’s current pricing page, then get a written quote at the same headcount, term and module list as every other vendor on the shortlist.

  • Which modules are inside the quoted price, and which are licensed separately?
  • Is the price per employee, per active user, or per licence — and how are leavers treated mid-term?
  • What is the minimum seat count, and what happens to it if headcount falls?
  • What is the implementation fee, what does it cover, and what is billed hourly afterwards?
  • What is the contract term, and what is the uplift at renewal?

Buyer checklist

Run the evaluation the same way for every vendor.

A repeatable process for a 360 evaluation — and the one that stops the best-looking sample report from winning by default.

Before the demos

  • Decide what the 360 is for — development only, or input to ratings — and tell raters before the first one runs.
  • Write down your rater rules: which groups, how many raters per group, who nominates and who approves.
  • Pick the competencies the 360 will measure for two or three real roles, and ask every vendor to build those questionnaires live.
  • Ask for every quote at today’s headcount and your expected headcount in three years.

In the demo

  • Ask to see exactly what a manager sees when a rater group falls below the minimum.
  • Complete a 360 as a rater on a phone, in front of the vendor.
  • Ask what happens after the report: who sees it, and what it turns into.
  • Ask what the AI summarises, whether its output is labelled, and whether it can be switched off.

Before you sign

  • Get the module list, how a user or seat is counted, any minimum seat count, the implementation fee and the renewal terms in writing.
  • Confirm how 360 results come out — formats, and what happens at the end of the contract.
  • Pilot with one team, and ask the raters afterwards whether they trusted the anonymity.

Buyer questions

Questions buyers ask about 360 feedback tools.

The answers a 360 shortlist usually turns on.

What is the best 360 feedback tool?
It depends on what the 360 is for. If you want 360s as a standalone exercise, a dedicated tool such as Spidergap is positioned around exactly that. If engagement surveys matter as much as feedback, Culture Amp, Lattice, Leapsome, 15Five and Qualtrics all present both. If you want 360 input structured against role competencies and turned into a development plan on the same record as reviews and goals, CLEAR Talent is built for that. Whichever you shortlist, judge it on anonymity rules, question structure and what happens after the report rather than on the number of question templates.
How many raters should a 360 have?
Enough in each group that no individual can be identified, which is why a minimum per group matters more than a target total. Most 360s draw on the manager, several peers, direct reports where the person manages people, and sometimes cross-functional stakeholders. In CLEAR Talent rater groups are configurable, employees nominate and managers approve, and minimum-rater thresholds per group prevent identification.
Should 360 feedback be anonymous?
For peers and direct reports, usually yes: upward feedback in particular is rarely candid when the person being rated can see who said what. In CLEAR Talent raters are anonymised within their group, managers see only aggregated, anonymised group data, and raw rater identities are never displayed.
Is a 360 the same as a performance review?
No. A performance review records a judgement about performance over a period, usually by the manager; a 360 gathers perspectives from the people around someone. Many organisations keep 360s for development so that raters feel free to be candid. CLEAR Talent supports both: a 360 can run on its own cadence — quarterly, after a project, on promotion — or feed a review cycle, where 360 input sits beside goal scores and competency ratings.
How much do 360 feedback tools cost?
Pricing models differ — a plan fee with per-user add-ons, a per-seat rate, a 360 sold as a separate product — so headline figures mislead. CLEAR Talent publishes its plans: at 50 staff users that comes to USD 159 a month on the Basic plan or USD 295 on Pro, where individual development plans start, with 15% off the plan price for annual billing, and past 100 staff users the Enterprise plan is quoted. For other vendors, read their current pricing page and get a written quote at the same headcount, term and module list before comparing.

Keep reading

Bring your own rater rules to the demo.

Show us the competencies a 360 should measure, who should rate whom and what the minimum group size is, and judge CLEAR Talent on how it handles them — with the same scenarios you give every other vendor.

Book a Requirements-Led DemoCompare Six Platforms

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Comparison note: this page is written and published by CLEAR Talent. Statements about CLEAR Talent describe the product and its published pricing as they stand today. Statements about other vendors summarise their own public positioning at the date below, are limited to capabilities they present themselves, and are not an assessment of anything they do not cover. The table ranks no one. Packaging, capabilities and pricing change — verify every shortlist requirement directly with each vendor.

Last reviewed: . Sources: CLEAR Talent 360 degree feedback software, CLEAR Talent pricing, Culture Amp, Lattice, Leapsome, 15Five, Qualtrics, Spidergap, PerformYard, Betterworks.