Chronus alternative
A Chronus alternative where running the programme is included
Chronus gives HR teams software to run mentoring themselves, and sells day-to-day administration as an extra. With OneUpOneDown, a mentoring team designs, launches and runs your women’s mentoring or leadership programme with you. First matches come around day 30, for around two to four hours of your team’s time per cohort.
If this is your brief
You need a women’s programme that works, without adding a platform to run.
These are the worries we hear from Heads of L&D, inclusion leads, People Directors and association directors before they choose a mentoring partner.
Another system for your team to run
Enterprise mentoring software is powerful. Someone still has to configure it, learn it, enrol people, make matches, troubleshoot and pull the reports.
What we do
We do that work. Your part is around two to four hours per cohort: agreeing the goals, inviting your people and reading the report.
Pairs that never really start
In Chronus’s own 2026 survey of HR leaders, engagement drop-off was the top challenge, and only 8% rated their matching as strong. Sign-ups are easy; month two is where programmes fade.
What we do
Each person is proposed one match, chosen from 47+ compatibility factors, and both people approve it, so every pair starts with a yes. Rounds last three months. When a pair goes quiet, we’re the ones who notice and get in touch.
Something real to show the board
Leadership wants to see what changed for the people in the programme, in a form they’ll actually read.
What we do
At the end of every round we prepare the report with you: who took part, whether pairs met, how they rated their match and what changed for them, told through numbers and participants’ own words. Across our programmes, the success rate for mentorship quality is 93%.
Getting it right for women
A women’s programme has needs a general set-up can miss: enough mentors without overloading senior women, matches people trust, and a programme that never feels like a box ticked.
What we do
OneUpOneDown was built for women’s mentoring. We match near-peers, a few steps apart, so more women can mentor and be mentored at once, and the load doesn’t fall on a handful of senior leaders.
Who runs it
Your mentoring expertise team, from the first conversation to the last report.
With OneUpOneDown you get the platform and the people who run the programme on it. We design it with you, launch it, and run it round after round.
We onboard your participants and answer their questions. We propose every match. We keep an eye on every pair: whether they’ve met, how it’s going, and what to do when it isn’t. At the end of each round we gather the feedback and prepare the report you take to your board.
That’s a different job from an account manager checking in once a quarter, and a different job from software your team has to learn. Your team’s part comes to around two to four hours per cohort.
Mentoring is personal for us. OneUpOneDown began in 2019 with a single match, when Dzhuliana signed up as a mentee and was paired with Natalie. That match became the company.
Side by side
OneUpOneDown and Chronus, on the things you’ll be judged on.
Both give you a mentoring platform with matching and reporting. What changes is who does the work once it’s live, and what you need in place before you start.
| Compared on | OneUpOneDown | Chronus |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | OneUpOneDownWomen’s mentoring and leadership programmes, in one organisation or across many | ChronusEmployee development in large organisations: AI coaching, mentoring and communities in one platform |
| Who designs the programme | OneUpOneDownWe design it with you: who it’s for, how people are matched and how you’ll measure it | ChronusYour team, with design, pilot and launch consultation from Chronus |
| Who runs it day to day | OneUpOneDownIncluded: our team handles onboarding, matching, support for every pair and rematching | ChronusYour programme administrators, or Chronus Managed Services as an additional service |
| Software your team has to learn | OneUpOneDownNone. We run the platform for you | ChronusThe Chronus admin platform; administrator training is included |
| How matches are made | OneUpOneDownOne match proposed at a time from 47+ compatibility factors, approved by both people | ChronusCriteria set by your admins, with self, admin, bulk or hybrid matching |
| What you need before launch | OneUpOneDownNothing beyond your goals and your people. Participants sign up directly; SSO available | ChronusConnects to Workday and other HR systems, Slack, Teams and SSO |
| Board reporting | OneUpOneDownPrepared with you at the end of every round, with numbers and stories | ChronusAnalytics and reporting, with programme performance reviews |
| Pricing | OneUpOneDownQuoted for each programme | ChronusNot published; contact for a quote |
Where you’re starting from
A first programme, or one for your members.
Starting a women’s programme inside your organisation
Many of the employers we speak to don’t have a women’s mentoring or leadership programme yet. They have a goal: more women stepping into management, better retention after that first step, a women’s network that wants to do more.
We start there. Together we decide who the programme is for, what success looks like and how you’ll report it. Then we build it, invite your people and make the first matches, around 30 days from the start.
Running mentoring for members across many employers
Associations, member networks and industry bodies use us to offer mentoring as a member benefit, with women matched across employers and countries.
Most don’t have a programme manager on staff, and they don’t need one. That’s the role we take on. See how we work with associations and member networks.
Why one network switched
A women’s network that moved to us from another mentoring platform.
When they came to us, their team told us three things. The platform wasn’t flexible enough for the way they wanted to run their programme. It took a lot of admin from their side. And they had to teach their own people how to use the software.
With us, everything they had before was covered, and a good deal more.
Their programme is shaped around their members rather than around a template. Matching, onboarding, follow-up with pairs and reporting sit with our team. Nobody on their side has to learn the software, or teach it to anyone else.
What switching looks like
We handle the move for you.
If you’re running mentoring on Chronus or anything else today, the work of moving sits with us.
Step 1
We plan it with you
Step 2
We bring everyone across
Step 3
Nothing for your team to relearn
Step 4
First matches around day 30
- 10k+
- Members on OneUpOneDown
- 170+
- Countries our members come from
- 93%
- Success rate for mentorship quality
Beyond mentoring
Sponsorship and coaching matching, when you need them.
Mentoring is where most programmes start. When your goals call for more, we can match for sponsorship and coaching too, run by the same team.
Mentoring
Sponsorship matching
Coaching matching
One team for all of it
FAQ
The questions we’re asked before anyone signs.
Is OneUpOneDown an alternative to Chronus?
Yes, for women’s mentoring and leadership programmes, whether they run inside one organisation or across an industry or membership. Chronus gives HR teams software to run mentoring themselves, with day-to-day administration available as an additional managed service. With OneUpOneDown, our team running the programme with you is how every programme works.
How much of my team’s time will it take?
Around two to four hours per cohort. We look after set-up, onboarding, matching, support for every pair, rematching, feedback and reporting.
We don’t have a women’s programme yet. Can you help us start one?
Yes. We help you decide who the programme is for and what success looks like, then we build and launch it. First matches come around 30 days from the start.
Do we need to integrate with our HR system?
No. Participants sign up and build their own profiles, so you can launch without an HR integration project, and it works just as well for associations with no shared HR system. People can sign in with their work accounts through SSO.
What if people sign up and then don’t engage?
Each person is proposed one match, chosen from more than 47 compatibility factors, and both people approve it before it starts. Rounds last three months, so there is a clear finish line. If a pair goes quiet we notice and get in touch, and if a match isn’t working we match both people again.
How will we show the board it’s working?
At the end of each round we gather feedback and prepare the report with you: who took part, whether pairs met, how they rated their match and what changed for them, with participants’ own stories alongside the numbers.
Can we move an existing programme across?
Yes. We bring across your participants and past pairings, so nobody has to start again, and we usually time the move for the end of a round. We run the platform, so there is no new software for your team to learn.
Do you offer sponsorship or coaching matching?
Yes. Alongside mentoring, we can run sponsorship matching and coaching matching, designed and run by the same team.
Can associations offer mentoring as a member benefit?
Yes. Associations and member networks use OneUpOneDown to give members structured mentoring across employers, in the association’s own branding, without hiring a programme manager. See mentoring for associations.
How is OneUpOneDown priced?
We quote for each programme, based on who it is for, how many people take part and what you want it to achieve. Use the pricing form on this page and we will come back to you with a quote.
Pricing
Request pricing for your programme.
We quote for each programme, because no two are quite the same. Tell us who it’s for, roughly how many people you’d like to include and what you want it to achieve.
One of us will read it and come back to you with a quote you can take to finance and procurement. If it would be easier to talk it through first, we’re happy to jump on a call.
Let’s talk about the programme you want to run.
Bring your goals and what you’ve seen on Chronus. In 30 minutes we’ll show you how we’d run it, and exactly what it would ask of your team.
A 30-minute demo with Dzhuliana, our co-founder and CTO.
Chronus is a trademark of its owner.