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PerformYard vs Small Improvements - Comparison 2025

PerformYard vs. Small Improvements

Last updated on

Reviewed by Paddy Stobbs

Stackfix Co-Founder & CEO

PS

Small Improvements emerges as the clearly superior choice for SMBs seeking an intuitive, user-friendly performance management solution. Its exceptional ease of use, superior 360-degree review capabilities, and outstanding 1:1 meeting functionality make it particularly well-suited for organizations prioritizing manager-driven performance processes and regular employee engagement. PerformYard, while offering basic performance management capabilities, falls short in user experience, customization options, and advanced features. Organizations requiring extensive HR analytics or highly customizable solutions might need to look elsewhere, but for most SMBs, Small Improvements provides a more comprehensive and user-friendly solution.

PerformYard Product Logo

Advantages of PerformYard

We don't consider PerformYard to have meaningful advantages.

Small Improvements Product Logo

Advantages of Small Improvements

Small Improvements is significantly more user-friendly than PerformYard
With remarkable ease of use compared to PerformYard's challenging interface, Small Improvements offers a much more intuitive experience. This is particularly valuable for organizations wanting to ensure high adoption rates across all employee levels without extensive training.
Small Improvements offers superior 360-degree review capabilities compared to PerformYard
While both platforms offer 360-degree reviews, Small Improvements provides an excellent, dedicated module with intuitive setup and well-presented templates. This makes it significantly easier for managers to implement comprehensive feedback cycles compared to PerformYard's more basic offering.
Small Improvements has vastly superior 1:1 meeting functionality compared to PerformYard
Small Improvements offers the best-in-class 1:1 suite with comprehensive features including insights dashboard, meeting templates, and contextual information panels. This is particularly valuable for organizations focusing on regular manager-employee engagement.
Small Improvements provides significantly better customer support than PerformYard
With easily accessible support features and an AI chatbot for immediate assistance, Small Improvements offers superior customer support compared to PerformYard's more limited support options. This is crucial for organizations needing reliable technical assistance.

PerformYard is best for

  • Businesses with basic performance management needs seeking straightforward 360 reviews and pulse surveys
  • Businesses with established HRIS systems looking to add dedicated performance management
  • Who need customizable 360-degree feedback and review processes
  • And/or who need robust employee engagement pulse surveys

Small Improvements is best for

  • Businesses with lean teams seeking an intuitive, manager-driven performance management platform
  • Businesses with managers who need to handle performance reviews without dedicated HR support
  • Who need an exceptional 1:1 meeting and feedback system
  • And/or who need streamlined 360-degree feedback capabilities

PerformYard is less good for

  • Businesses needing advanced performance management features and customization options
  • Businesses with complex OKR frameworks and compensation review needs
  • Who need deep analytics and AI-powered performance insights
  • And/or who need highly customizable reports and recurring review automation

Small Improvements is less good for

  • Businesses with complex performance tracking needs requiring detailed metrics and customization
  • Businesses with dedicated HR departments requiring advanced controls and comprehensive performance analytics
  • Who need extensive integration capabilities with their existing tech stack
  • And/or who need advanced compensation management tied to performance

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PerformYard logoPerformYard
PerformYard screenshot
Small Improvements logoSmall Improvements
Small Improvements screenshot

Pricing, features & ratings

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Stackfix Verdict
Functionality
6

Functionality

6/10

<p>PerformYard offers several of the key features one would expect from a more comprehensive performance management product. We like the very straightforward product offering and the focus on the two-way feedback process between manager and employee.</p><p>We would have liked to see more features to round out this product i.e. scheduling recurring review cycles as to not repeat work and deeper analytics insights from reviews.</p><p>The platform seems to perform better with engagement tracking opposed to 360 review and supplementary analytics. We saw this in testing with the much more detail-rich Engagement module with detailed dashboards. However, even the more polished Engagement module lacked customisability and granular control.</p>
7

Functionality

7/10

<p>Small Improvements provides engaging, intuitive performance management tools well-suited for most SMBs. While it lacks features like detailed performance metrics tracking, AI-assisted analysis, compensation reviews, granular goal-to-objective linking, and performance improvement plans, it excels in usability and functionality focused on frequent manager-driven reviews rather than broad HR initiatives. Exceptionally well designed anytime feedback, 1:1 meetings, and pulse surveys features in particular aid in use by managers instead of requiring dedicated HR resources to manage.</p>
Ease of Use
4

Ease of Use

4/10

<p>PerformYard offers reasonable usability once you've familiarized yourself with it. During our testing, navigation felt straightforward and managing surveys became manageable after an adjustment period. The standard navigation layout eases transition from similar platforms.</p><p>While basic scheduling features support review cycles, we were disappointed by the limited automation capabilities. If you need recurring cycles, accessible templates, or more streamlined processes, you'll find PerformYard's limitations frustrating.</p>
9

Ease of Use

9/10

<p>Small Improvements delivers exceptional day-to-day usability. During testing, we found the platform particularly easy and enjoyable for both employees and managers, with an interface that effectively guides users to appropriate tasks and provides clear direction when setting up new workflows.</p><p>For example, creating a new 360 review involves a simple vertical scrolling interface with distinct card sections for selecting templates, review audiences, scheduling, and other options.</p><p>The admin view proved highly intuitive—something most team managers could likely configure and manage independently when needed.</p>
Look and feel
4

Look and feel

4/10

<p>PerformYard's interface looks noticeably dated compared to competitors, with a corporate and sparse aesthetic. While you can make minor improvements through branding and customization options, the overall platform feels older and lacks visual appeal. Though it maintains a standard navigation layout (top bar for sub-modules, sidebar for page navigation), we found the rest of the UI dated and slow to load during our testing. If you prioritize a modern, responsive interface, you'll likely be disappointed by PerformYard's visual experience.</p>
10

Look and feel

10/10

<p>Small Improvements features excellent design with an intuitive user experience. Its attractive interface uses consistent card layouts throughout all pages, creating a polished look. The system maintains this consistency even in complex areas like surveys and reviews by using a guided approach.</p><p>The warm color palette and friendly illustrations make the platform approachable, though some larger companies might prefer a more traditional business appearance. Our only minor issue was with occasional dense text on some cards, which can be slightly harder to read.</p>
Customisability
4

Customisability

4/10

<p>PerformYard offers basic customization options throughout its platform, including limited capabilities for forms, analytics, reporting, and goal planning. The main portal allows for some branding adjustments, but these are also restricted.</p><p>During our initial demo, we learned that working with your assigned customer success manager is necessary for more extensive customization needs.</p><p>For organizations seeking both an immediate ready-to-use solution and the ability to extensively customize features without assistance later on, alternative platforms would be more suitable.</p>
4

Customisability

4/10

<p>Small Improvements offers limited customization, with minimal options for changing branding, appearance, data visualizations, and page layouts.</p><p>While the cohesive user experience typically comes at the expense of customizability, we expected more flexibility within the platform's feature set.</p>
Ease of Setup
4

Ease of Setup

4/10

<p>We found PerformYard to be slightly below average in ease of setup. Though our initial platform walkthrough with their sales rep was straightforward, it didn't instill confidence in our ability to immediately start using key features. During testing, we struggled to acclimatize to the platform's navigation, with important functions buried deep within settings and setup pages.</p><p>When we consulted their team about challenges, they revealed that many processes (like creating custom forms) must be handled through backend settings, adding unnecessary friction when trying to quickly launch surveys. Their solution was to schedule additional training calls and rely on customer success support. In our estimation, an HR executive would need a full day just to import data, plus another day to successfully launch their first review cycle.</p>
10

Ease of Setup

10/10

<p>Small Improvements provides exceptional setup and onboarding. Our testing began with a generous 30-day free trial before even booking a demo. This offered immediate access to a populated sandbox with multiple employee viewpoint toggles.</p><p>After just 45 minutes exploring the sandbox, we could confidently navigate the platform, load information, and set up initial reviews within the first few hours. User onboarding is straightforward, with most organizations able to implement their first reviews and recurring surveys within a day. Becoming proficient with the platform takes only an additional day or two.</p>
Customer Support
5

Customer Support

5/10

<p>In our testing, customer support responded within 1-2 hours of outreach, which is reasonably prompt. However, we were frustrated that accessing help is unnecessarily difficult—the help section is tucked away within the main portal and requires searching to find. When you do locate and click into the help section, it inconveniently opens an external help page where the support chat is finally visible in the typical bottom right corner. This multi-step process to access support diminishes an otherwise decent response time.</p>
7

Customer Support

7/10

<p>We liked the clean and easy to access customer service tab on the platform, offering a chat bubble in the bottom right corner that pulled up several options.</p><p>When we opted to chat, we found a much appreciated label of when support would next be online. When prompted with a question on implementing a feature we weren't sure was available, an AI chatbot responded with some relevant resources. From there, users have the option to then connect to a human.</p><p>In testing, we got a response within an hour of opting to connect to a human.</p>
Integratability
4

Integratability

4/10

<p>PerformYard's integration capabilities are somewhat limited compared to industry standards. They connect with only the most basic and widely-used products. While they do offer an API for custom connections, which is positive, nearly all integrations beyond a handful of common tools across 2-3 categories would require custom connector development by PerformYard's technical team rather than being available as ready-to-use options.</p>
5

Integratability

5/10

<p>Small Improvements offers a limited set of native integrations, connecting primarily with common HRIS platforms and Slack for communication. While they provide a Single-Page Application based on a REST API that allows developer teams to connect data with your HRIS, organizations seeking extensive yet ready-to-use connectivity may find integration capabilities challenging.</p>
Ease of Migration
5

Ease of Migration

5/10

<p>PerformYard supports standard data export options - CSV and PDF formats. Additional data can be transferred through its existing native integrations or through custom connections built using their API.</p>
5

Ease of Migration

5/10

<p>Small Improvements offers standard data export options, including CSV and PDF formats, along with basic sharing capabilities via link, email, and Slack. There are no exceptional or standout features in its exportability functions.</p>
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