15Five vs Absorb LMS
performance & learning head-to-head for ERP teams: evidenced capabilities, published pricing, and which ERPs each actually integrates with.
| Starting price | From $4/user/mo (published) | Quote-based |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Company size | Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Stated ERP integrations | Workday | NetSuite, Workday |
| Vendor | 15Five | Absorb Software Inc. |
Our take
Where 15Five leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 26 of the 40 capabilities where they differ (led by structured review cycles and 360-degree / multi-rater feedback).
- Published pricing where the alternative quotes.
Where Absorb LMS leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 14 of the 40 capabilities where they differ (led by ai-driven skills inference & gap analysis and mobile app with offline access).
- Stated NetSuite integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where they differ
The 40 capabilities (of 55 in the performance & learning taxonomy) where the evidence separates them, biggest gaps first. “Not evidenced” means our research found no public documentation of this capability — the vendor may still offer it. Confirm on a demo.
| Capability | ||
|---|---|---|
| Structured review cyclesPerformance Reviews & Feedback | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| 360-degree / multi-rater feedbackPerformance Reviews & Feedback | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| Continuous feedback & check-insPerformance Reviews & Feedback | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| 1:1 meeting managementPerformance Reviews & Feedback | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| Performance improvement plans (PIPs)Performance Reviews & Feedback | Core strength Exportable PIP documentation with milestone tracking | Not evidenced |
| AI-assisted review writingPerformance Reviews & Feedback | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| OKR creation and progress trackingGoals & OKRs | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| AI-driven skills inference & gap analysisSuccession & Talent Intelligence | Not evidenced | Core strength 12,000+ mapped skills; AI-driven skill-gap identification |
| Pay benchmarking against market dataCompensation Management | Core strength Real-time benchmarking against 5,000+ companies | Not evidenced |
| Pulse surveys & eNPSEmployee Engagement & Surveys | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| Lifecycle surveysEmployee Engagement & Surveys | Core strength Onboarding, exit and pulse survey workflows | Not evidenced |
| Manager action-planning toolsEmployee Engagement & Surveys | Core strength | Not evidenced |
| Mobile app with offline accessLearning & Course Delivery | Not evidenced | Core strength Mobile-accessible interface with offline access in low-connectivity environments |
| Certification & compliance trackingLearning & Course Delivery | Not evidenced | Core strength Certification/credential/badge tracking, 21 CFR Part 11 e-signature |
| AI-generated course contentAI Content & Coaching | Not evidenced | Core strength Absorb Create generates courses from PowerPoints/existing content |
| Built-in e-commerce for course salesExtended Enterprise & Monetization | Not evidenced | Core strength 70+ payment gateways, PCI-compliant, multi-currency |
| Completion & compliance reportingReporting & Analytics | Not evidenced | Core strength |
| ROI / business-impact reportingReporting & Analytics | Not evidenced | Core strength |
| Calibration workflowsPerformance Reviews & Feedback | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Configurable review templatesPerformance Reviews & Feedback | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Goal cascading & alignmentGoals & OKRs | Supported | Not evidenced |
| 9-box performance/potential gridSuccession & Talent Intelligence | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Succession planning & readiness trackingSuccession & Talent Intelligence | Supported Succession nominations with readiness tracking | Not evidenced |
| Individual development plans (IDPs)Succession & Talent Intelligence | Supported IDPs tracked against reviews; career paths and growth mapping | Not evidenced |
| Compensation band building & sharingCompensation Management | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Compensation review cycle managementCompensation Management | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Pay equity & fairness analyticsCompensation Management | Supported Compensation insights highlighting pay gaps and flight risk | Not evidenced |
| Performance-to-pay linkageCompensation Management | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Pre-built survey template libraryEmployee Engagement & Surveys | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Third-party content marketplaceLearning & Course Delivery | Partial Manager training microlearning content, not a full course library | Core strength Absorb Amplify, Traliant, Go1, MedTrainer, Skillsoft |
| GamificationLearning & Course Delivery | Not evidenced | Supported Leaderboards via Absorb Engage |
| AI-assisted manager coachingAI Content & Coaching | Core strength Kona AI meeting assistant and coaching nudges; live/on-demand coaching | Partial Dedicated mentoring module; not AI-driven coaching specifically |
| Customer & partner trainingExtended Enterprise & Monetization | Not evidenced | Supported Real-time compliance tracking across employees, partners, customers and contractors |
| Cross-cycle / peer benchmarkingReporting & Analytics | Supported Compensation benchmarking data set | Not evidenced |
| Single sign-onPlatform & Integrations | Not evidenced | Supported SAML 2.0, LDAPS, OpenID Connect, OAuth |
| Public API & webhooksPlatform & Integrations | Not evidenced | Supported RESTful API and webhooks |
| Collaboration app integrationPlatform & Integrations | Supported Kona AI coaching nudges delivered in Slack | Not evidenced |
| Conversational AI copilotAI Content & Coaching | Core strength AMAYA natural-language AI assistant | Supported AI-assisted content search; Absorb Aura AI agents |
| Multiple branded portalsExtended Enterprise & Monetization | Not evidenced | Partial Custom-branded interfaces; distinct multi-portal setup not documented |
| Custom reporting dashboardsReporting & Analytics | Supported | Core strength Absorb Analyze data visualization dashboards |
Both grade identically on the other 15 capabilities — see each product's full profile: 15Five, Absorb LMS.
15Five vs Absorb LMS — FAQs
Is 15Five or Absorb LMS better for ERP integration?
Both state integrations with Workday. Absorb LMS additionally lists NetSuite. Always verify the connector against your ERP version with a reference customer.
Which is cheaper, 15Five or Absorb LMS?
15Five publishes a starting rate ($4/user/mo); Absorb LMS prices by quote, so a like-for-like number requires asking both.
Get pricing for both
Tell us your ERP, seat count and must-haves and we'll come back with an independent view of what 15Five and Absorb LMS should each cost you — and whether a third option belongs on your shortlist.