The North
North is a management tool designed for data-driven businesses looking to impact their Operations outcomes. The application focuses on the ...
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What is The North?
North is a single app for Strategy, OKRs, and Initiatives designed to help data-driven companies execute their strategy and goals by shifting from output to outcome. The platform helps teams align to business goals, set target metrics to measure progress, and plan metric-moving initiatives that deliver business outcomes. Instead of endless to-do lists, North focuses on prioritizing projects with the highest impact on key metrics.
Key features include org and team goals, goal initiatives, goal check-ins for tracking progress (on track, behind, or at risk), activity views for daily progress monitoring, comments and emoji reactions for contextual conversations, awards to celebrate milestones, and the ability to close goals with outcomes at the end of each cycle. The platform also supports company vision setting, public and private teams, custom fields, Google SSO, and integrations with other tools.
North is built for data-driven companies of all sizes that want to make an impact. It serves founders and CEOs who need a platform to manage company goals and create alignment with teams, as well as managers and teams who want to see how their work connects to organizational goals and the overall mission. The platform is based on the OKR framework used by companies like Google.
The tool fills the gap between PowerPoint and Jira by putting goals front and center, ensuring teams know the final goal even when executing. It creates a culture of measuring progress and focusing on outcomes, making it especially valuable for remote teams that need alignment across teams.
The North pricing
Pricing model: Free
Free $0: 5 users, 10 MB storage, 5 org+team goals, 50 initiatives, 1 custom field, public teams only, Google SSO, integrations, all features. Basic $5 per user/month (billed annually) or $7 monthly: unlimited users, 5 GB storage, unlimited org+team goals, unlimited initiatives, 5 custom fields, public teams only, Google SSO, integrations, all features, priority support. Business $10 per user/month (billed annually) or $14 monthly: unlimited users, 50 GB storage, unlimited org+team goals, unlimited initiatives, unlimited custom fields, public + private teams, Google SSO + SAML (soon), guest users, multiple workspaces, custom emails, audit log (soon), personalized onboarding, priority support. North offers 80% discount for nonprofits and academic institutions (annual billing), and 80% discount for early-stage startups up to 1 year (fewer than 2 years old, less than $1m ARR, 10 employees or fewer). Annual billing includes discounted pricing and no set-up/onboarding fees.
The North pros
- Single app combining Strategy, OKRs, and Initiatives
- Lightweight yet has carefully-nested depth for growth
- Fast to onboard teams
- Cost-effective compared to other OKR platforms
- Creates alignment within and across teams
- Excellent for remote teams
- Brings tremendous clarity to teams
- Provides visibility to annual business targets
- Keeps important milestones front and center
- Supports both bottom-up and top-down goal planning
- Goal check-ins help everyone stay updated on progress
- Activity view shows daily progress on goals and initiatives
- Comments and reactions enable contextual discussions
- Awards feature celebrates small wins with teams
- Supports stretch and committed OKRs
- Offers aligning vs cascading OKRs options
- Includes Google SSO and integrations
- Custom fields for customization
- API available for developers
- Provides OKR templates for various teams
The North cons
- Free plan limited to 5 users
- Free plan has only 10 MB storage
- Free plan limits to 5 org+team goals
- Free plan only supports public teams
- Project Management feature still coming soon
- Google SAML support coming soon (not available)
- Audit log feature coming soon (not available)
- No truly free forever plan guaranteed
- Monthly billing is more expensive than annual
- Early-stage startup program limited to 1 year
Frequently asked questions about The North
How are the goal and initiative limits in the free plan calculated?
You can create 5 goals and up to 50 initiatives across all teams in the free plan. These do not include archived goals or initiatives.
How is the pricing per user calculated?
When you add a member to your Organisation, you're charged for that member based on your plan. If you add a member in the middle of your billing cycle, you're charged a prorated amount for the number of days left until your plan renews. They check for this at the end of every month and your card is charged at that time. If you remove a member, their seat becomes available to the next member you invite.
What forms of payment do you accept?
North accepts all major credit cards. For annual subscriptions, they can issue an invoice payable by bank transfer. Monthly purchases must be paid for by credit card.
Does North offer a discount for nonprofits?
Yes, North offers an 80% discount on all plans when billed annually for eligible nonprofits and academic institutions. You need to write to [email protected] with official documentation such as your 501(c)(3) (or equivalent in your country) to support your nonprofit status.
Does North have an Early-stage startup program?
Yes, North offers an 80% discount for up to 1 year of their best plan for startups. To qualify, startups must be fewer than two years old, have less than $1m in ARR, and have 10 employees or fewer. Apply at [email protected].
Does North offer training on how to use the product?
For all business plan users with annual commitment, North offers a personalised demo and onboarding assistance for free to get the most out of your OKR plan. For users on free or starter plans, they partner with coaches to offer OKR training for a fee. Reach out to [email protected] for more details.
Does North offer OKR training?
Yes, North partners with some of the best industry experts and coaches to offer OKR training. Reach out to [email protected] for more details.
Do you have a truly free forever plan?
North's intention behind their free plan is to introduce the concept of outcome-based thinking to as many people as possible before they commit to this way of working. As an early-stage startup, they may learn lessons along the way and may update their pricing from time to time, so it's not guaranteed to be free forever.
What Plan should we start with?
For most users, North suggests starting with their free plan. That way you can explore if North is for you before committing to this way of working. If you're unsure about the features, reach out to [email protected] and they'll help you out.
What billing cycle is right for me?
Monthly Plan: Choose this if you want to give North a try and need more than what the free plan offers. You're billed monthly for each user account, can add or remove user accounts at any time, pay only for accounts you have during a month, and can cancel without penalty. Annual/Fixed-Term Plan: You commit to purchasing for one or multiple years, get discounted pricing without set-up/onboarding fees, price depends on user licenses purchased, can purchase more licenses if team grows, can reduce licenses only when renewing at contract end, and if you cancel before renewal you're charged for the remaining balance with no refunds. They recommend this for organizations committed to OKRs wanting to give it the best shot.