Is Levels.fyi a replacement for traditional surveys?

No. Levels.fyi is designed to complement traditional surveys by adding a real-time market intelligence layer.

How should customers use Levels.fyi with surveys?

Use surveys for governance and consistency, and use Levels.fyi to validate market movement, exceptions, and peer-level signals.

What makes Levels.fyi unique?

Granularity and real-time signal: company-level, role-level, and location-level cuts that update continuously.

Levels.fyi vs Radford

Name: Levels.fyi Compensation Benchmarking
Brand: Levels.fyi

A real-time, verified data layer that complements established survey governance.

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How they compare

See how the two platforms stack up across key capabilities for compensation benchmarking.

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Levels.fyi ENTERPRISE

Radford ENTERPRISE

Data freshness How often compensation data is updated

Daily updates

Annual cycles

Data granularity Level of detail available in benchmarks

Company + Level + Location

Peer group aggregates

Real-time market signal Live visibility into current market conditions

Equity insights RSU vesting, refreshes, and grant patterns

Custom peer groups Build your own comparison sets instantly

Unlimited

Standard only

Time to insight How quickly you can access data

Instant access

Survey participation

Tech industry depth Coverage of tech companies and roles

5,000+ companies

Limited tech focus

Governance ready Established methodology for policy alignment

Market intelligence

Historical consistency Multi-year trend data availability

15 months (up to 5+ years)

Note: Capabilities vary by provider and plan. This summary reflects common patterns.

Radford remains a strong foundation for compensation governance

Use Radford for consistent survey governance, then pressure-test decisions with real-time, granular market data from Levels.fyi.

Levels.fyi complements Radford with verified, real-time market signals and deeper peer-level granularity.

Our Customers

Balanced view: where each excels

Radford anchors governance; Levels.fyi adds real-time precision when the market moves.

Where Radford excels

Range-setting governance and year-over-year consistency
Structured job families and leveling frameworks for policy alignment
Broad participation that supports stable, auditable benchmarks
Established methodologies that reduce internal variance

Where Levels.fyi is uniquely strong

Real-time market signal, not last-year snapshots
Granular cuts by company, level, role, location, and seniority
Layered verification via corporate email, proof docs, and high-touch review
Normalized leveling that maps cleanly to survey frameworks
Competitive intelligence on pay practices from on-the-ground coaching

See it in action

How customers use Levels.fyi

Use Levels.fyi to validate survey decisions without replacing existing governance.

Add a live market input when deciding whether to adjust ranges

Validate recruiter and candidate signals with current peer context

Pressure-test survey data with peer company granularity

Bring clearer, current evidence into leadership discussions

"The days of lagging survey data are moving behind us and Levels.fyi offers a solution for companies who need in-the-moment data based on true and relevant talent peers."

Michelle Nelson VP, Global Total Rewards • Twilio

Levels.fyi vs. others

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