SaaS performance platforms make three promises: anonymous feedback, predictable pricing, and data security. Then they delete your work, surprise you with 20% renewals, and lock you into vendor dependencies. We built Blik to actually keep those promises.
After analyzing hundreds of user reviews across Lattice, Culture Amp, 15Five, and others, we found the same three failures repeated everywhere.
What they promise: Anonymous surveys where reviewers can speak honestly without fear.
What users experience: "There are concerns about the anonymity of feedback, with some users feeling that their comments can be traced back to them, leading to potential retaliatory actions." (Culture Amp users)
The Problem: Policy-based anonymity requires trusting the platform, its employees, and its security. When employees fear being traced, honest feedback disappears—even if the platform never actually looks.
What they promise: Simple per-user pricing that scales with your team.
What users experience: "If you add a single employee for a single day, they will bill you immediately. Absolutely no refund." (15Five) • "20% renewal increase after multi-year agreement. Refused relief until we involved VP of Finance." (Culture Amp) • "$11/user becomes $25/user with necessary modules." (Lattice)
The Problem: Per-user pricing creates perverse incentives. Platforms bill immediately for adds but refuse credits for reductions. Renewal prices jump 15-20%. Module costs compound. What looks like $9/user becomes $120-160/user/year.
What they promise: Enterprise-grade security for your sensitive performance data.
What users experience: "An hour of writing, hit submit, page refreshes—all work lost." (Culture Amp) • "Rippling integration creates duplicate profiles and terrible data." (Culture Amp) • "Can't map ADP fields, must create custom fields." (Lattice)
The Problem: When your data lives on vendor servers with closed-source code, you can't verify security claims. Integration failures corrupt data. Timeouts delete work. You have no control, no visibility, no recourse.
You can tell your team: "Even I can't see who wrote what." That's not a policy—it's a technical guarantee. Open source means they can verify it themselves. This eliminates fear, which is the prerequisite for honest feedback.
Psychological safety isn't about trust—it's about technical impossibility. We architected Blik so tracing reviewers is impossible.
Per-user pricing creates vendor-customer misalignment. We want you to succeed and grow—not pay more when you do. Self-hosted option means you're never locked in. No billing games, no renewal surprises.
Blik SaaS: 50 or 500 employees? €588/year. Blik Open Source: Any size? $0/forever.
| Cost Component | Blik SaaS | Blik Open Source | Typical SaaS Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software License (3 years) | €1,764 | $0 | $36,000-72,000 |
| Implementation/Setup | $0 | $0 | $50,000-200,000 |
| Integration Fees | $0 | $0 | $10,000-30,000 |
| Training Programs | $0 | $0 | $5,000-15,000 |
| Ongoing Consulting | $0 | $0 | $15,000-60,000 |
| Full-time HRIS Admin | $0 | ~$30K/year* | $240,000-360,000 |
| Total 3-Year TCO | ~€1,764 | ~$90K* | $356K-$737K |
*Open source infrastructure costs assume partial HRIS admin time for maintenance (~30% FTE). SaaS platforms often require dedicated full-time HRIS admins.
Key insight: Implementation and ongoing consulting fees often exceed software license costs by 2-3x. Blik eliminates these entirely with docker compose deployment and intuitive UX.
Regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal) can't send performance data to third-party SaaS. EU GDPR compliance is complex with external vendors. Self-hosted = your data never leaves your infrastructure.
Your servers. Your data. Your SMTP. Your compliance. Zero vendor dependency.
Real user quote: "BambooHR forced a 15% charge increase with no benefit. This will make the platform not worth the cost and I will need to look for a new HRIS." When vendors control your deployment, they control your budget.
Beyond solving the three broken promises, Blik delivers psychological insights competitors don't offer.
Automatically classify competency levels (Novice → Advanced Beginner → Competent → Proficient → Expert) based on feedback patterns. See where team members are on their skill journey—not just raw scores.
Identify when self-assessment diverges from peer feedback. Highlight imposter syndrome (underrating) and overconfidence (overrating). Actionable insights for coaching conversations.
6 question types with weighted scoring. Create custom surveys for each cycle to avoid the "engagement drop after 7 months" problem plaguing platforms with fixed question libraries.
Healthcare, finance, legal—anywhere HIPAA, SOC 2, or GDPR compliance requires data sovereignty. Self-hosted means sensitive performance data never leaves your infrastructure.
Learn About Privacy-First →30-500 employees who need professional 360° feedback but refuse to pay $6K-15K/year for features you don't need. Dreyfus mapping resonates with engineering teams.
For Developers →GDPR compliance built-in, not bolted on. Data minimization by design. No US-based SaaS vendor holding your employee data. Full transparency through open source.
For EU Companies →Experienced data loss, surprise renewals, or billing traps. Want transparent pricing, reliable software, and vendor alignment. Value simplicity over feature bloat.
For HR Teams →Blik delivers what SaaS platforms promise but don't deliver: cryptographic anonymity, transparent pricing, and data sovereignty. Plus psychological insights (Dreyfus mapping, perception gaps) that help teams actually grow.
€49/month managed • Open source AGPLv3 • No credit card required to explore