Lattice records performance. Ren helps people have the conversations that change it.
Lattice
Lattice is a performance management platform: OKRs and goals, 1:1 agendas, performance review cycles, engagement surveys and compensation. It gives HR and leaders a record of goals and performance across the company.
Ren
Ren is an AI app in Slack and Microsoft Teams for the conversations between people at work. It notices the conversations that aren't happening, helps you tell how serious a situation is on the Accountability Dial™, and helps you find the first sentence. For every seat, not only managers.
Short answer: Lattice and Ren solve different halves of the same problem. Lattice is where goals, reviews, engagement surveys and compensation live. Ren is an AI app in Slack and Microsoft Teams that helps people have the conversations those numbers point to: early, in their own words, before a small pattern turns into a review item. If you need a system of record, that's Lattice. If people keep putting off the conversations, that's Ren. Plenty of teams use both.
Side by side
| Lattice | Ren | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Performance management platform | AI app for the conversations between people |
| Main job | Goals, reviews, engagement surveys, compensation | Noticing the conversations that aren't happening, and helping you have them |
| When it works | Review cycles and scheduled check-ins | Day to day, in the flow of work |
| Where it lives | Its own web app | Slack, Microsoft Teams and a web app |
| Who uses it | HR, leaders, managers | Everyone: ICs, peers, managers, leaders |
| Method | Your review and goal frameworks | The Accountability Dial™: Mention, Invitation, Conversation, Boundary, Limit |
| Privacy model | A record managers and HR read | Can't read DMs; conversations with Ren stay private; team view is aggregate only |
The gap between the data and the conversation
Here is how it usually goes, even in companies with good performance tooling:
- Someone notices a pattern: deadlines slipping, a teammate going quiet, quality dropping.
- The goal shows as off-track in Lattice. A 1:1 gets "performance" on the agenda.
- The 1:1 is Thursday. The pattern has been building for three weeks, so the conversation arrives heavy and late.
- The other person hears a formal concern, not a curious question. They defend instead of owning it.
- Six weeks later it's in the review.
The data was right the whole time. What was missing was a light, early conversation, the one sentence on Monday instead of the big talk on Thursday. That's the part Ren works on.
What Ren adds
- It notices. In the Slack and Teams channels you add it to, Ren picks up the patterns: repeated slips, unanswered asks, work that deserved credit.
- It calibrates. Ren uses the Accountability Dial™ to suggest how direct to be. A first miss is a Mention, not a performance case.
- It finds the words. Ren drafts the first sentence in your voice, and asks why this one is hard for you.
- It works in every direction. Peers, direct reports raising something with their manager, and praise, not just top-down feedback.
When to choose which
- Choose Lattice if you need review cycles, OKR tracking, compensation planning or engagement surveys, and a formal record of all of it.
- Choose Ren if the hard conversations aren't happening, or happen too late, or if you're a smaller team that doesn't need a full performance suite.
- Use both if you want the formal record and the day-to-day conversations that make it worth reading.
Proof: in an independent blind study of 400+ responses, Ren scored 4.22 out of 5 on pushback and ownership, against 2.84 for ChatGPT, 2.68 for Copilot and 2.48 for Gemini. Built on a method taught to 100,000+ people leaders. SOC 2 Type II.
Related: How to tell an employee they're not meeting expectations · All comparisons · Ren vs. 15Five · Ren vs. Culture Amp
The questions buyers actually ask.
What is the difference between Ren and Lattice?
Lattice is a performance management platform: goals, review cycles, 1:1 agendas, engagement surveys and compensation. Ren is an AI app in Slack and Microsoft Teams for the conversations between people: it notices when one isn't happening, helps you judge how serious it is, and helps you open it. Lattice records what happened. Ren works on the moment before it becomes a review item. Many teams use both.
Is Ren a Lattice alternative?
Only if what you are missing is the conversations, not the system of record. If you need review cycles, OKR tracking or compensation planning, Lattice does that and Ren does not. If you already have those and people still put off the hard conversations, or you are a smaller team that doesn't need a full performance suite, Ren covers the part Lattice doesn't.
Can you use Ren and Lattice together?
Yes. They work at different points in time. Lattice holds the formal record: goals, reviews, compensation. Ren works in Slack and Teams day to day, so a pattern gets a light, early Mention instead of turning up months later in a review. When the review comes, the conversations have already happened.
Why do people still avoid hard conversations even with Lattice?
Lattice shows that something is off: the goal is behind, the engagement number dropped, the review flags a gap. It doesn't help anyone have the conversation that fixes it, and by the time a review captures a pattern it is usually weeks old. Ren is built for that gap: it raises the conversation early and helps you find words for it while it is still small.
Can you use Ren without Lattice?
Yes. Many teams using Ren have no performance management suite at all and track goals in Notion, Linear or a spreadsheet. Ren doesn't depend on any other tool. It works from the Slack and Teams channels you add it to.
How does privacy compare?
Lattice is a system of record that managers and HR read. Ren is private by design: it cannot read direct messages between people, your conversations with Ren are never shared with your manager or HR, and the team-wide view is aggregate and never traceable to a person. Ren is SOC 2 Type II.
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Or read about the methodology behind Ren.