This article will help you quickly compare and evaluate the best OKR software and other OKR tools that will assist your business strategies and goals.
Goal setting is hugely important. According to the 2018 People Management Survey, 58% of workers say they have a problem with managers who don’t “communicate clear expectations.” It was the number one complaint, above even “betrays trust” and “doesn’t listen.” Setting clear, concise goals is simply a must.
Are you looking to align your organizational goals as a team? Do you desire a better communication strategy and require techniques to do so? In this article, I will be comparing software designed to help you with these items.
OKR software is a great way to jumpstart your business in creating ambitious yet attainable company goals and objectives. There are many ways to manually manage your goals, but that can be burdensome and hectic to deal with as the goals and objectives begin to pile up.
To be more effective with your business tasks it is worthwhile to invest your time and efforts in finding an OKR software tool that can better assist your organizational pursuits and increase effective communication and directional success.
To save you time, we have compiled a list of our top 10 OKR software tools to better help track your key objectives. See below.
Top 10 OKR Software
- Profit.co - Best user-friendly interface and UX
- Unlock:OKR - Best for teams implementing OKR for the first time
- Betterworks - Best OKR for enterprises
- Inspire - Best OKRs software for training and support
- Hirebook - Best OKR support services
- Koan - Best free OKR and status software
- Heartpace - Best personal OKR software for individual goal-setting
- Engagedly - Best OKR cloud software available on PC, Android, and Apple devices
- Weekdone - Best OKR software and unlimited OKR coaching for SMBs
- Yaguara - Best profit OKR software for e-retailers
OKRs Software Comparison Criteria
What are we looking for when we compare software for review? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive? Does it look and work like modern software? Is item placement intuitive, even for low-tech individuals?
- Usability: Is onboarding new users easy? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Is there an online community/forum around the product?
- Features & Functionality:
- Feedback & review tools: Is it easy for team leads to talk to staff and evaluate their performance? Does it facilitate peer-to-peer communication and encouragement? Is high performance gamified or otherwise made more accessible?
- Goal Maps: Does the tool make it easy to see the higher objectives and how Key Results tie into them? Does the tool do well to align individual responsibilities with greater company goals?
- Employee Voice: Are there features for employee surveys, comments, and insights? Does the tool elevate these voices in a meaningful way?
- Reporting and Insights: Does the tool give real-time reports and insights that can be easily visualized, shared, and analyzed? Are the reports customizable? Are there ready-to-use templates available?
- Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools, such as performance management software, talent management software, or employee management systems? Any pre-built integrations? Can you import objectives and goals designed in other software?
- Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible?
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Overviews Of The Top 10 OKR Tools
Here’s a brief software comparison of each of the OKR tools that are featured on this top 10 list.
Profit.co - Best user-friendly interface and UX
Profit.co has a robust dashboard with features for tracking metrics and OKRs, as well as task progress.
Profit.co allows you to iterate faster using the Plan-Execute-Engage-Learn cycle every quarter. Users can plan OKRs at the beginning of the quarter, promote high levels of employee engagement using collaborative features, and use a highly structured reflect and reset process. Since Profit.co is easily customizable, you can get started with OKRs easily and add on other modules as you grow.
Profit.co integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Salesforce, HubSpot and several other popular business applications. On top of this, you can develop your custom integrations using the Profit Integration Engine.
Profit.co includes a free plan for up to 5 users and regular pricing is just $7 per user per month.
Pros
- Offers step by step guides and templates
- Facilitates 1 on 1 and departmental review meetings
- Includes OKR coaching and certification
Cons
- Only supports 15 languages
- Feature options may be overwhelming
- Only has 30 integrations, although they have a long list in their roadmap
Unlock:OKR - Best for teams implementing OKR for the first time
Unlock:OKR’s dashboard provides insights on OKR progress, team member progress, and more.
Unlock:OKR has a simple user interface and UX, as well as an intuitive dashboard. The tool allows users to easily create Objectives and Key results and check-in on them. Users can give and request feedback within teams and between cross-functional teams, as well conduct 1 on 1s.
Unlock:OKR offers pricing on request, and a free trial and demo are available. The tool also offers OKR coaching.
Pros
- Simple UI, easy to use
- Guaranteed OKR framework implementation
- Coaching for OKR champions available
Cons
- Email integration not built-in
- No way to clone an existing OKR
Betterworks - Best OKR for enterprises
Betterworks handles transparency and alignment well by allowing team members to track cross-functional objectives just as simply as their own. Users can also praise progress and nudge others for updates, which is a huge plus.
Integrations include Google, Microsoft, Slack, Jira, G Suite, Asana, GitHub, Salesforce, Udemy, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday, Ultimate Software, ADP, BambooHR, and Oracle.
The design, configuration options, and rollout could be overkill for some organizations. Betterworks is best suited for midsize and enterprise organizations that need to support an organization-wide deployment.
Betterworks costs from $8/user/month. They also offer a demo and free trial.
Pros
- Comprehensive company organization chart
- Helpful conversation/review prompts for managers
- Easy milestone setting within each goal
- Gamification and social tools for engagement
Cons
- No way to rank objectives for sorting purposes
- Additional benchmark data would be useful
Inspire - Best OKRs software for training and support
The platform integrates goals and OKRs with continuous performance management, full recognition and feedback capabilities, learning, and leadership development to align and focus leaders, managers, and frontline employees.
You can perform goal-driven 1:1 conversations that address real needs in real time, utilizing built-in collaboration, feedback, and recognition features so your teams plan and stay focused on what’s important and then celebrate their success all in one place.
Features include OKR development, benchmarking and tracking data, SMART goal-setting, goal-focused conversations and execution, as well as timelines and reminders, and vertical and horizontal goal alignment. They also offer a complimentary software orientation or “guided trial,” with multiple how-to videos. Longer pilots or trials are available upon request.
Inspire costs from $5-11/user/month based on number of employees and contract term.
Pros
- Exclusive partnership with global OKRs leader Paul Niven
- Integrated with continuous performance management, feedback and recognition, and more
- Combines science-backed learning and leadership development curricula
Cons
- Operates best using a Chromium browser like Google Chrome
- Geared mostly toward HR and C-suite buyers
- Not full multi-language enabled
Hirebook - Best OKR support services
Hirebook offers award-winning workshops and assessments for new companies, Hirebook’s platform supports more than just OKRs. While most platforms focus on executives, Hirebook is designed to ensure that every team member in your organization is bought-in and getting quantifiable benefits from OKRs.
Hirebook has the most integrations of any OKR system, launching their 100th integration this month. Beyond that, they integrate with any local data warehouses you want to hook up to. This allows employees across your organization to reduce the time spent updating data, giving them the chance to work on strategic issues, not data entry.
Hirebook costs $10/user/month and comes with a free trial.
Pros
- All new customers receive hands-on workshops & assessments
- Free Hirebook University courses for all users
- Integrates with team and 1-on-1 meetings
Cons
- No time tracking functionality
- Mobile-ready platform, rather than a mobile app
Koan - Best free OKR and status software
Koan is used by teams in over 100 different countries because of its universal and simple UI. It is also said to have the biggest database of free OKR resources. Koan is best for team leaders that are looking for a collaborative, lightweight approach to OKRs.
Koan integrates with all major communication and project management tools including Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google, and Jira along with a Zapier plug-in to allow working with other systems. Users most often comment on its habit-forming design and the positive impact it has on overall team communication and engagement.
Koan is free for unlimited users. They also offer a paid tier with advanced features.
Pros
- Free tier so trying it out is low-risk.
- Reflection feature (or status reports) keeps OKRs part of regular conversations
- Ideal for remote and distributed teams
Cons
- Advanced security options limited to paid plans
- Not ideal for employee performance management
Heartpace - Best personal OKR software for individual goal-setting
Comprehensive employee pages organize objectives according to unique individual goals.
Automatic reminders, various templates, and structured evaluations make it a great leader-to-team communication solution. The software elevated user communication and collaboration, scoring them very well in the Feature & Functions – Feedback & Review Tools section of the evaluation criteria.
Integration options include AD Csv Sync, Azure SSO, REST API, ADFS SSO, AD LDAP Sync, and G Suite.
Some minor cons include the inability to set soft goals in a flexible productive way and a bit of a learning curve, particularly for those not familiar with using PM software in their work day.
Heartpace starts at $5.40/user/month and has a free 20-day trial.
Pros
- Great for meeting scheduling and record-keeping
- Helpful, automatic “action needed” reminders
- Free templates for talks, surveys, and evaluations
- Many bonus features, like salary pay gap analysis
Cons
- Only two plan tiers and only one has concrete pricing data
- API, DSM, profiles, and document management are add-ons
Engagedly - Best OKR cloud software available on PC, Android, and Apple devices
Visualize OKRs, competencies, and profile health on any device.
One of the best things about Engagedly is its user interface, which is colorful, organized, modern, logically compartmentalized, and eye-catching. This scored them well in the UX section of the evaluation criteria.
Integrations include ADP, Namely, Bamboo HR, iSolved, Paylocity, Google Suite, Microsoft, OneLogin, Okta, Oracle, HR Cloud, Slack, and Compport.
One con is that smaller companies may struggle with the “anonymous feedback” system, as it seems to count on crowds of data to disguise who said what. There is no built-in tool to hide when something was said or to alter the linguistic structure of conversational tells.
Engagedly starts at $6/user/month and has a free demo.
Pros
- Ability to nominate users to give feedback
- Customizable check-ins and progress indicators
- Great social module for engagement/incentives
- Tools to automate repeated goal settingr
Cons
- No way to generate reports on discontinued/blocked users
- Old posts/reviews aren’t as searchable as they could be
Weekdone - Best OKR software and unlimited OKR coaching for SMBs
Monitor progress on team objectives, linked objectives, and more.
Weekdone’s dashboards make it easy to see at a glance if OKRs are off track, at risk, or progressing well. Any Weekdone user can set up weekly progress reports to see how OKRs are progressing and what plans team members will do and have done to move OKRs forward. Additionally, a TV Dashboard is available so OKRs are always visible at the office.
Weekdone is built around OKR best practices, keeping your team engaged with their Team OKRs and company objectives. Teams can align their Team OKRs to company objectives to see how their work contributes to the company goals.
Employees can use Weekdone’s Weekly Check-ins feature to stay on top of their plans for the week. Here they can communicate to everyone in the company what plans they are doing to drive OKRs forward, the progress they have made, and any problems or roadblocks they encounter. The news feed allows everyone to comment on activity, creating company-wide transparency.
Weekdone’s unlimited OKR coaching services allow companies to train their leaders and employees on how to use OKRs that will ensure successful implementation. This includes 1:1 training, onboarding meetings, team training, quarterly OKR reviews, and any other training that a company needs to successfully create the right OKR mindset.
Due to Weekdone’s unlimited coaching offer, it has a great value for money for SMBs compared to other OKR software.
Weekdone integrates with Slack, Jira, and Asana, among others.
Packages start at $108 a month for up to 10 users. They also offer a free version with all software features for teams of 3 or less. Coaching is not included in the free version.
Pros
- Best for small to medium-sized companies and teams
- Unlimited OKR coaching included in paid plans
- Newsfeed provides transparency across the company
- Clear navigation and interactive design
Cons
- Not ideal for enterprise companies
- Customization options can increase set up time
- No performance management features such as 360 reviews
Yaguara - Best profit OKR software for e-retailers
Attach OKRs to e-commerce and profit-centric goals.
One thing Yaguara does really well is unify communication and data so that teams can better converse about goals, set-backs, and progress in a satisfying way. Collaboration is easy and fulfilling.
Integrations include Shopify, Facebook Ads, Klaviyo, Instagram, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Zendesk, Stripe, Mailchimp, Asana, WooCommerce, Quickbooks, Yotpo, Wrike, and Youtube.
Yaguara is one of the more cost-prohibitive tools on this list. It doesn’t help that it is a pay-upfront yearly fee, either; this lost them some marks in the Value for Cost segment of the evaluation schema.
Yaguara starts at $500/month and has both a free trial and a free demo.
Pros
- Great for agile ecommerce teams
- Excellent communication tools
- Pleasant, user-friendly design
Cons
- Live dashboards & reports limited to higher plans
- Custom integrations for Enterprise plan only
Best OKR Software Summary
Other Goal Setting Software
- Kazoo – Best OKR tracking software for peer-to-peer feedback
- Timely – Best OKR software tools for time tracking
- Simple OKR – Best for work culture research
- PeopleGoal – Best OKR management software for HR departments
- Perdoo – Best free OKR software
- Atiim – Best enterprise OKR software
- Culture Amp – Best OKR for turnover prediction
- 15five – Best for daily and yearly self-reviews
- Ally – Best for teams who would benefit from OKR coaching
- Lattice – Best for third-party integrations
- 7Geese – Best for agile performance reviews
- Leapsone – Best for a customizable review builder
- Small Improvements – Best OKR tool for pulse surveys and weekly check-ins
- Gtmhub – Best OKR for software engineers
- OKR API – Best open source SaaS OKR software
- Workteam – Best OKR CFR software
OKR Software FAQ
What are OKRs?
OKR stands for “Objectives and Key Results”, which are goals and objectives for business planning. The OKR framework helps companies define their objectives, track their progress, and analyze the results. There is typically one Objective, which is a lofty, qualitative goal on which a group or team is to focus. Then there are KRs, usually three of them, which are quantitative initiatives that point towards the designated Objective.
What is OKR Software?
OKR software (Objective & Key Results software) is a tool used for developing strategy and process objectives that connect both the team and the organization. Results software can be used to build out this strategy and track the objectives involved. You can think of OKR software as an online goal tracker.
What is the difference between OKRs and KPIs?
OKRs vs KPIs—what are they? KPIs are a series of quantitative goals that compartmentalize progress in bite-sized chunks of measurable data (for example, social media impressions or sales conversion). The OKR methodology, on the other hand, is more advanced and ambitious and requires more of a push to achieve the results, though they should still be attainable.
What Do You Think About These OKR Tracking Tools?
Have you tried out any goal tracking software listed above? What goal setting tools do you use on a daily basis for project management and company objectives? What do you look for in goal management tools? Are there any objective tracking tools or goal software that you would add to this list?
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