12 Best People Analytics Software for Performance & HR Insights

In this article:

• 4 Factors to Look For in Your People Analytics Software
• The 12 Best People Analytics Software for HR Analytics
• FAQs on People Analytics 

What to Look for in a People Analytics Software

People analytics software makes it easy to collect and analyze people data, and provides key insights to help you make better decisions for your people and business.

But with so many options available, choosing the right one can be overwhelming.

To help, we asked our People Science team about what exactly makes the "best" people analytics software.

‍Gaurav Chaubey, our People Science Leader, recommends looking for software that offers:

1. Out-of-the-box and custom analytics reports with performance and engagement insights.
2. AI recommendations to make insights actionable for managers and employees.
3. Continuous, anonymous, and real-time feedback mechanisms beyond traditional surveys to ensure all voices are heard

In this article, we’ll discuss how Mesh (our people analytics software) excels in the above areas. Then, we’ll also give 11 alternative tools and discuss their pros, cons, and customer reviews to help you make a more informed decision.

💡 Looking for people analytics dashboards? Check out our guide on 5 Powerful People Analytics Dashboard Examples.

The 12 Best people analytics software - Summary

In a nutshell, here are the 12 best people analytics software tools we'll review today:

The first tool on the list, Mesh, is our own performance enablement and analytics software. 

While we may be a bit biased in our assessment, we have seen firsthand how effective the Mesh platform has been for our clients and we want to share that with you.

1. Mesh AI- Best people analytics software for boosting employee performance

Mesh is a people analytics and performance enablement tool that gives everyone in your organization the insights they need to tangibly improve performance.

Our platform has proven to improve high-performer density by 15%. 

Here’s how Mesh enables everyone in the organization to work towards higher individual and organizational performance:

✅ People teams can improve their people strategy by evaluating the engagement and performance data of individuals, teams, managers, and the organization as a whole. 

✅ Managers can better support team performance by analyzing goal completion and the development of core capabilities for each team member.

✅ Employees can see how they’re progressing on business critical goals to help them stay on track and get insights through continuous feedback that points them in the right developmental direction.

✅ Business leaders can see what people initiatives are working and worth investing in as well as identify top teams and performers who should be rewarded.

This is all possible through a comprehensive suite of analytics and performance enabling features like:

• Goals and OKRs Alignment and Dashboards: Aligns teams with strategic objectives and core competencies. People analytics teams can track goal progress in real-time and see which departments or individuals are achieving their goals or falling behind.

• Performance Dashboards: Provides insights into employee performance trends and potential, so People analytics teams can make better decisions on hiring, promotions, and more. 

• Continuous Feedback: Mesh makes it easy for both managers and employees to send and receive feedback in real-time, enhancing performance and collaboration.

• 1:1 Setups and Insights: Managers can easily set up 1:1s on Mesh with anyone they’d like within the organization. 

People analytics teams can use our 1:1 insights dashboards to closely track manager-employee interactions and employee sentiment to ensure effective communication and support. 

• Competency Reports: Assesses People skills based on competencies and past feedback to identify and address skill gaps for future roles.

To really showcase how Mesh boosts employee performance through people analytics, I’ll walk you through the four factors we outlined earlier.

→ Factor 1: How Mesh offers analytics reports with performance and engagement insights.

Mesh's AI-powered analytics engine processes the data collected from surveys, performance reviews, and other sources to create intuitive dashboards that provide real-time insights into employee trends.

The platform offers four key out-of-the-box analytics and reports, but we are also able to set up custom reports for your specific needs. 

Our goal is not to dictate your culture, but to digitize it. 

Take a look at our analytics insights and reports below: 

Goals

This helps People Analytics teams understand whether employees are setting goals regularly, staying engaged with their progress, and achieving them over time. 

Equipped with these insights, they can effectively support and drive employee performance.

Performance

This report helps People Analytics teams understand the performance and potential of each employee, so they can make the right decisions on promotions, transfers, and training. 

You can also see key performance drivers, which you can dig deeper into by conducting root cause analysis.

Competencies

With this report, People analytics teams can quickly assess whether employees are fulfilling core organizational competencies based on the feedback they’ve received. This makes it easy to:

• Evaluate each employee’s potential for future roles
• Identify skill gaps
• Track development progress
• Ensure that feedback mechanisms are effectively supporting employee growth.

1:1s

This report helps People Analytics teams monitor and improve the effectiveness of manager-employee 1:1 meetings. 

You can track how often managers hold 1:1s, evaluate the key themes and sentiments discussed, and identify gaps where managers need to increase their engagement. 

You can also find key themes discussed in 1:1s and sentiment around them. 

But dashboards aren’t just for HR or leadership. They’re also available for managers and employees who want to get insights into team and individual performance. 

By having access to this information they can take steps to improve in real-time.

For example, an employee who can see their feedback analytics can get useful insights into where they need to improve:

Or a manager can see who on their team may need a little extra support that quarter:

→ Factor 2: How Mesh AI provides recommendations for managers and employees.

Mesh's AI-powered platform takes people analytics a step further by not only providing insights but also offering personalized "nudges" for both managers and employees. 

These nudges are based on the concept of nudge theory, which suggests that positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions can influence behavior and decision-making.

For managers, these nudges might include reminders to schedule 1:1 meetings with team members, provide timely feedback, or check in on goal progress. 

By offering these gentle prompts, Mesh helps managers build better habits and more effectively support their team's performance and development.

Similarly, for employees, Mesh's AI might suggest tasks such as updating their OKRs, seeking feedback from peers, or engaging in learning opportunities aligned with their career goals. 

These nudges keep employees on track and foster a culture of continuous growth and improvement.

→ Factor 3: How Mesh facilitates continuous and anonymous feedback beyond traditional surveys

Mesh recognizes that employees need a safe space to provide continuous feedback, beyond the constraints of traditional surveys launched by HR. 

By offering an anonymous feedback feature, “Murmurs”, Mesh empowers employees to share their thoughts, concerns, and experiences in real-time, without fear of repercussions.

Beyond that, there’s continuous feedback functionality on the platform that can be given at any time and which is documented in its own analytics dashboard. 

Continuous feedback provides qualitative data employees, managers, and HR can use to understand performance at any given time. 

For example, if a manager wants to understand how a team member is performing they can look at the feedback their colleagues have been giving them. 

In Mesh, this is encouraged and enhanced with AI suggestions from Mesh Maven which improves the quality and frequency of feedback.

Pros, cons, and user reviews

We spoke to some of our customers and read reviews they’ve posted on G2 to understand how Mesh helps them enable performance through analytics and what they might struggle with.

Here’s what we found.

Pros:

• Surfaces and consolidates data automatically, reducing admin time and making it easy to read 
• Provides recommendations and insights based on the data
• Equips HR and managers with insights they can use to improve performance

Cons:

• Requires a shift from traditional performance management to performance enablement that some organizations might struggle with
• Volume of data, insights, and notifications could become overwhelming
• Unable to download documents and data from the platform

User Reviews:

Want to see more? Head to our G2 profile.

Mesh AI costs

Our pricing is designed to meet and scale to your organization’s people analytics needs. 

That’s why there’s more than one package to choose from: Base, Premium, and Enterprise.

• Foundations: $4 per user, per month
• Growth: $8 per user, per month
• Excellence: $12 per user, per month

You can see what features are included in each:

→ Want a tool where people analytics are easy to access and actually helpful when informing strategy? Get in touch with us for a demo of the product. ←

2. Visier - Best People Analytics Software for Optimizing Hybrid Work

Visier is a people analytics software that has honed in on an organizations need to make hybrid work work. 

People teams can pull data that shows if remote calls are effective or if their people are feeling happy and productive. 

By analyzing this data on employee productivity, engagement, and collaboration across remote and office-based teams, Visier enables HR leaders to make data-driven decisions to optimize hybrid work policies. 

We love this focus because many modern HR teams are trying to communicate the impact of remote and hybrid policies to their leadership teams. This data gives them what they need to make those arguments. 

The platform also has other people analytics dashboards that can help build strategies for:

• Employee retention - engagement survey to show what’s working and where are we at risk of losing talent?
• Diversity and inclusion - data that shows how well you’re achieving DE&I goals
• Internal mobility - data to show if employees have been moving to new roles within the company
• Talent acquisition - data that can be used to improve the hiring process and find top talent

Pricing: Unfortunately, Visier doesn’t list their pricing model publicly. They do offer a 30-day free trial and presumably will provide pricing details for your organization if you request a demo.

3. OneModel - Best People Analytics Software for Identifying ‘At Risk’ Employees

OneModel is a people analytics software for enterprise businesses who want to leverage their people data to make informed business decisions.

One of the key features of OneModel we really love is its "At Risk" dashboard, which provides HR teams with a prioritized list of employees who may need additional support or intervention. 

This allows organizations to take proactive steps to address potential issues before they escalate, improving employee retention and overall workforce stability.

This works especially well in larger orgs where it can be easier for employees to slip through the cracks.

Here are some of it’s best features:

• "At Risk" dashboard prioritizes employees needing additional support
• Customizable algorithms adapt to unique organizational needs
• Provides insights and recommendations to support at-risk employees

Pricing: OneModel offers three pricing tiers you can choose from depending on how you want to use the platform. Unfortunately, they don’t tell you what those tiers cost unless you get in touch with them directly.

4. Deel  - Best People Analytics Software for Businesses Hiring Abroad

Deel is a people analytics software that specializes in supporting businesses that hire employees and contractors globally. 

Since more and more businesses are working with a global model of hiring, this tool can prove incredibly useful. 

One of the standout features of Deel is its ability to handle the complexities of international hiring, including compliance with local labor laws, tax regulations, and benefits administration. 

The platform provides insights and guidance to ensure that companies remain compliant and competitive when hiring abroad.

Deel also offers a range of people analytics features to help businesses optimize their international workforce. 

This includes dashboards and reports on: 

• employee performance
• Engagement
• and retention across different countries and regions.

You’ll even get tools for managing global payroll, contracts, and onboarding, streamlining the administrative tasks associated with international hiring.

Pricing: Deel HR is a free (but limited) offering while Deel Engage is available at $20 per employee/per month.

5. intelliHR by Humanforce  - Best People Analytics Software for Tracking Compliance 

intelliHR by Humanforce is a people analytics software that helps organizations manage their workforce while ensuring compliance with various regulations and standards. 

With a focus on streamlining HR processes and mitigating risks, intelliHR is particularly well-suited for businesses operating in heavily regulated industries such as healthcare.

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Here are some of it’s best features:

• Centralized platform for tracking and managing compliance requirements
• Automates key HR processes to save time and support compliance efforts
• Detailed analytics and reporting to monitor compliance and identify issues

‍Pricing: intelliHR offers a subscription-based pricing model, with plans starting at $3.60 per employee per month.

6. Agentnoon - Best People Analytics Software for Predicting Impact of Certain Initiatives

Agentnoon is a people analytics software that helps organizations predict the impact of various initiatives on their workforce. 

By leveraging advanced data analytics and machine learning, Agentnoon enables HR teams to make data-driven decisions and optimize their strategies for maximum impact.

Here are some of its best features:

• Predictive modeling to simulate potential outcomes of different initiatives
• Scenario planning to identify the most effective strategies
• Initiative tracking to monitor progress and measure success

The downside to Agentnoon compared to tools like Mesh is that it’s very expensive.

It also focuses too much on analytics and not enough on helping your team improve FROM those analytics the way a performance enablement tool would. 

Pricing: Pricing starts at $899 per month per user. 

7. Epoch  - Best People Analytics Software for Measuring Employee Satisfaction after Events

Epoch is a people analytics software that specializes in measuring employee satisfaction and engagement after company events and initiatives. 

By gathering and analyzing feedback data, Epoch helps organizations understand the impact of their efforts on employee morale and identify areas for improvement.

Here are some of its best features:

• Event-specific surveys to gauge employee satisfaction and engagement
• Real-time analytics and reporting to measure the impact of events
• Actionable insights to optimize future events and initiatives

While Epoch excels at measuring employee satisfaction after events, we do worry it's not enough for an organization to drive engagement up. So much of an employee’s experience is what happens day to day rather than on special events. 

Pricing: We couldn’t find any public information on Epoch’s pricing model.

8. Confirm - Best People Analytics Software for Promoting the Right People

Confirm is a people analytics software that helps organizations make data-driven decisions when it comes to promoting employees. 

Confirm enables HR teams to identify top performers and create targeted development plans to prepare them for future leadership roles. They do this by analyzing performance data, skills, and potential.

Some of their best features include:

• Uses AI to identify high-potential employees based on performance data
• Provides personalized development plans to prepare employees for promotions
• Offers succession planning tools to ensure a strong leadership pipeline

Pricing: Confirm’s pricing is based on employee headcount but starts at $800 a month for its Starter package.

9. Knoetic - Best People Analytics Software for Identifying Data Issues

Knoetic is a people analytics software that helps organizations identify and address data issues that can impact the accuracy and reliability of their insights.

This prevents you from setting strategies or thinking strategies are working based on inaccurate information. 

Here are some of Knoetic’s best features:

• Automated data validation and cleansing to ensure data accuracy
• Data standardization tools to ensure consistency across systems
• Identifies potential data issues and provides recommendations for resolution

On top of all that, Knoetic also surfaces information about what your headcount currently costs, attrition rates, and demographics.

Pricing: They do not list the price of their People Analytics package.

10. PeopleInsight - Best People Analytics Software for Empowering Diversity

PeopleInsight is a people analytics software that helps organizations promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. 

By providing insights into workforce demographics, representation, and equity metrics, PeopleInsight enables HR teams to identify areas for improvement and take action to create a more inclusive culture.

Here are some of their best features:

• Provides insights into workforce diversity and representation metrics
• Identifies pay equity gaps and provides recommendations for remediation
• Offers benchmarking tools to compare DEI performance against industry peers

Pricing: They have three tiers on offer but they don’t provide pricing information for any of them.

11. EngageRocket - Best People Analytics Software for Building Connection

EngageRocket is a people analytics software that helps organizations foster stronger connections among employees and teams. 

They rely on pulse surveys to reveal areas of improvement and to spot how better connections can be built between the org and employees. 

The end goal is to reduce attrition and improve employee satisfaction and connection for better performance. 

It’s standout features include:

• Pulse surveys and feedback tools to measure employee engagement
• Insights into communication and collaboration patterns
• Recommendations for improving team dynamics and connection

Pricing: EngageRocket doesn’t list its pricing model on the website.

12. Persenio - Best People Analytics Software for Protecting Confidential Information

Persenio is a people analytics software that prioritizes the security and confidentiality of sensitive employee data. You’re able to customize what stakeholders see different data points in the platform, ensuring data is seen only by those who need to see it. 

It also provides comprehensive insights into employee recruitment, training, performance, engagement, and offboarding.

It’s standout features include:

• Robust data encryption and secure storage solutions
• Granular access controls and user permissions
• Applicant tracking and sourcing to improve the hiring and onboarding experience

Persenio is more of a traditional HR software than any of the others on this list.

That may prove useful to some companies but others may find they want a people analytics software that measures performance data linked to goals, reviews, and development.

Pricing: Persenio does not list its pricing but does outline the features of two plans: Core and Core Pro.

People Analytics Software - FAQs

Below I’ve answered some of the most common people analytics software FAQs we see at Mesh. 

What is people analytics?

People analytics is the practice of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting workforce data to gain insights and make data-driven decisions about human resource management, including: 

• talent acquisition
• employee engagement
• performance management
• organizational design 

It involves using statistical methods and technologies to uncover patterns and trends in employee data.

Is people analytics the same as HR analytics?

Yes, people analytics and HR analytics are essentially the same thing. Both terms refer to the process of using data-driven insights to optimize human resource management practices. 

Some organizations may use the term "people analytics" to emphasize a more people-centric approach, while others use "HR analytics" to highlight the HR department's role.

How does a people analytics software work? 

People analytics software collects and integrates data from various HR systems, such as HRIS, ATS, and performance management or enablement tools. 

It then applies statistical algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyze the data, identifying patterns, trends, and correlations. 

The software presents the insights through interactive dashboards, reports, and visualizations, enabling HR professionals to make informed decisions.

How can people analytics improve our HR processes?

People analytics can improve HR processes by providing data-driven insights into workforce trends, identifying areas for improvement, and enabling evidence-based decision-making. 

For example, it can help optimize talent acquisition by identifying the most effective recruitment channels, improve employee engagement by identifying drivers of satisfaction and turnover, and enhance performance management by identifying high-potential employees and skill gaps.