The Best Employee Recognition Platforms (2024)

Terryberry offers one of the most comprehensive feature sets we've seen in an employee recognition platform. The platform provides social recognition tools, feedback and communication features, a wellness app, service awards and custom jewelry, performance management, incentive programs, and a global rewards catalog.

During a recent 2023 video demo, we got an in-depth look at the platform's expansive capabilities. With so many features covered in a single call, it was difficult to get a detailed walkthrough of every workflow. For anyone interested in a Terryberry demo, we recommend identifying the specific workflows that are most critical for your needs and asking for those to be covered in greater detail.

It's also worthwhile to explore their custom awards offerings. Terryberry can manufacture everything from trophies to belt buckles tailored to your specifications, while also providing the software to identify which employees you want to recognize and reward.

Among Terryberry’s 40,000 customers are Tesco, Epsilon, General Motors, and Trilogy Health.

Terryberry offers flexible pricing. You can choose certain features of the platform to begin with and add more later as your needs grow. Their basic subscription plans start around $3 per employee receiving an award, however, to get a more precise quote it's best to reach out to their sales team directly.

In addition to the subscription costs, Terryberry charges one-time setup fees and an annual administration fee that is calculated based on the total employee headcount and number of reward redemptions processed.

Guusto’s innovative and easy-to-use platform supports recognition programs for employees at all levels, whether they work on the front lines, at the office, or at home. 

Many recognition platforms rely heavily on points-based systems that don't resonate with hourly or field employees. But Guusto allows companies to send printable rewards or gift cards that provide tangible value. We’ve given it a shot ourselves and can confirm that there's no learning curve to it: If an employee receives a $5 gift card, they get $5.

The recognition platform also makes it simple to set up peer-to-peer recognition programs, performance goal tracking, anniversary/birthday awards, and more. Managers receive budgets to send spot bonuses or non-monetary "shoutouts" to motivate their direct reports. Everything is configurable based on each company's unique needs and work culture.

Beyond its features, we admire and commend Guusto for its commitment to social impact. The company donates clean drinking water and supports a host of mental health organizations.

We took a look at Guusto's pricing structure, and honestly, we find it a bit limiting for teams that are in a growth phase. The jump from a single-user Lite plan at $40 per month to the Essential plan, which starts at 30 seats for $120 per month, feels like a big leap without enough flexibility in between. If you're a small team of, say, 5-10 people, you're either stuck paying for more seats than you need or trying to make do with a plan meant for solo users.

It would be great if there were more scalable, intermediate options to accommodate the unique needs of growing teams without forcing them to overpay for unnecessary seats.

Guusto is used by many known organizations including Staples, Compass One Healthcare, The Body Shop, Fairmont, and Rexall Pharmacies.

Guusto offers tiered pricing plans to accommodate different business needs:

• Free is free for a single user to send rewards.
• Lite costs $40 per month for one user to send and schedule bulk rewards.
• Essential costs $120 per month for 30 user seats. Additional seats are $4 per user per month.
• Premium costs $400 per month and includes 80 user seats. Additional seats are $5 per user per month.
• Available volume discounts for enterprise customers.

Note: The recognition vendor does not limit the number of recognition receipts, only the senders need user seats.

Mo’s aim is to help companies boost employee morale and retention through meaningful recognition. We like its Moments and Boosts features, which empower managers to highlight individual and team achievements big or small. Boosts can also be used to prompt team members to recognize one another for everyday wins and milestones. Employees can easily post public or private appreciative Moments and react with comments, emojis, and GIFs, spreading a spirit of gratitude.

Another thing we like about Mo is its automated Assistant, which reminds managers of upcoming celebrations so they can show employees they are valued. The Assistant even nudges managers if they haven't recognized someone in a while which is pretty neat. Mo also makes it easy to reward top performers. Managers to instantly grant credits redeemable for rewards from major stores like Amazon, Nordstrom and Tesco.

To sum up, we think Mo’s got all the features you need to make recognition a habit. With peer-to-peer recognition, automated reminders, robust rewards redemption, and more, Mo enables you to nurture a healthy culture where all employees feel appreciated for their contributions.

Mo has over 58,000 users from companies like SGN, The O2, NHS, Aspen, William Hill, and SHL.

Mo has three subscription plans:

• The Appreciate plan is $2.25 per user per month, billed annually.
• The Engage plan is $4.50 per user per month, billed annually.
• The Transform plan has custom pricing which is quoted on a case-by-case basis depending on needs. Companies should contact Mo directly to get a customized quote.

Motivosity takes employee recognition to the next level with its innovative peer-to-peer platform. We’ve given it a try and liked how easy it is to send shout-outs. We also liked how all shout-outs are posted on a  customizable homepage, showing appreciation in real-time across the organization.

Motivosity's ThanksMatters digital cards empower employees to redeem their received recognition for Amazon gift cards, restaurant vouchers, or anything that appeals to them. The custom company store and integration with hundreds of vendors take care of all the logistics.

You can also use Motivosity to incentivize company-wide initiatives. We’ve found it easy to create custom badges and awards. It also does not forget about service milestones and birthdays. Individual gifts and peer celebrations through comments make employees feel valued on their special days.

With its modern, peer-driven recognition and seamless administration, Motivosity offers the complete package. It empowers employees, reinforces company values, and fosters a positive culture. If you’re looking to drive engagement and show appreciation, we think Motivosity is a great bet.

A&W, Bosch, KPMG, Chick-fil-A, and Toyota are some of the companies that use Motivosity.

Motivosity offers its Recognition and Rewards package at $4 per employee per month. This plan encompasses a variety of tools for internal communication, rewards, awards, milestones, social connection features, and more. For a detailed breakdown of features available with each pricing tier, please visit Motivosity's pricing page.

Connecteam’s HR & Skills hub packs impressive rewards and recognition features that make it easy to celebrate employees' achievements and milestones, no matter where they are. We like how recognition is fully customizable. Managers can personalize badges for any occasion, add heartfelt messages, and share the appreciation privately or with the entire team.

Rewarding employees is also easy on Connecteam. Managers can brighten their employees' day by granting them digital tokens on the spot or by configuring the platform to automatically award tokens based on system usage and special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. These tokens can be redeemed for gift cards from several well-known vendors, including sportswear brands, tech giants, and restaurants.

The platform's analytics dashboard provides a clear overview of how tokens are being used, including who is sending tokens, who is receiving them, and how employees are spending their rewards. Having this level of insight isn’t just good for tracking purposes but also for managers to constantly improve their rewards and recognition strategies.

Connecteam’s customer list boasts many recognizable brands, including Foot Locker, EY, Mango, and Caremark.

Connecteam’s pricing ranges from $29 to $99 per month, depending on the features you need. Note that this range is for 30 user seats and free plans for companies with under 10 employees are available. For more details on all plans, please visit Connecteam's Pricing page.

What really won us over after testing Matter was the way this peer-to-peer recognition platform has streamlined membership management. Once you sync it with your Slack or Teams, you can automate the whole process of adding or removing team members directly through the settings of these two communication apps.

Giving kudos turned out to be very straightforward both when we were on our computers or using the Slack app on our phones. We liked that we could select one or more people to recognize at once, choose from one of the nine kudos templates to type our message of praise, or even create our own personalized card. Plus, the ability to add Slack emojis did bring an extra layer of fun to the whole experience.

Another aspect we found pretty cool was the coin system. This feature allows team members to attach coins to their kudos, which the recipient can then redeem for gift cards, charitable donations, prepaid cards, and more to treat themselves.

And Matter’s pricing—it’s highly accessible with a free plan that supports unlimited users, customizable notifications, and kudos. It's worth mentioning, though, that the free plan allows for just 5 kudos sent per channel per week and only retains 30 days of historical analytics data, so any older data won’t be recorded.

Another thing to bear in mind is that any unused coin allowance, except for Kudos coins, doesn’t carry over. Depending on how you view it, this could either be an engagement booster or a potential waste of money.

4,700+ organizations, including SIEMENS, Bolt, and JiffyLube.

Matter provides four pricing options, ranging from no cost to $5 monthly. You can also access all features the tool has to offer via its 30-day free trial period.

WorkTango’s employee recognition software is easy to use, amplifies core values, and reinforces positive actions. What stood out the most for us was how flexible the platform is: Employees can give public or private recognition to their colleagues anytime, anywhere through the desktop or mobile app. This peer-to-peer, bottom-up, and top-down recognition helps enhance the employee experience by making appreciation visible across the organization.

Another thing we like about WorkTango is its focus on community building. Features like social news feeds and the ability to react to and comment on recognitions foster connections company-wide. Employees gain visibility into recognitions across departments, roles, and locations. Adding customizable emojis, GIFs, and images further humanizes peer appreciation and makes them personal.

Integrations with communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams eliminate barriers by enabling recognition directly within employees' daily workflows. WorkTango also integrates with most HRISs to sync employee data seamlessly and without errors.

For any organization seeking to improve employee experience and retention through a culture of recognition, we think WorkTango is a worthy investment. Its thoughtful features, flexible tools, and user-friendly design enable impactful recognition while bringing teams together.

Over 1000 companies use WorkTango including Kia Motors, HUB International, Rexall, and Accruent.

WorkTango's pricing is tailored to each customer's unique needs. Request a demo to learn more.

Nectar offers a robust yet easy-to-use solution for peer-to-peer recognition that is aligned with company values. We like how its points-based system empowers all employees, not just managers, to reward coworkers' accomplishments and behaviors.

Peer-to-peer shoutouts are shared for everyone to see via a centralized feed. As for rewards, we’ve found Nectar’s catalog to be quite comprehensive, covering several options like Amazon purchases, gift cards, charitable donations, and company swag. Employees can quickly redeem their recognition points for rewards they value. Alongside peer bonuses, Nectar supports performance-based rewards and spot bonuses from managers.

The employee recognition platform company also offers wellness features and impactful new capabilities like network analysis, which provide HR teams with visibility into cross-team recognition patterns. As a distributed team ourselves, we found the newly added internal communication tool absolutely a delight to foster transparency and help everyone stay informed.

When looking at pricing models, however, we found Nectar’s $4,000 minimum annual commitment to be higher than some competitors like Awardco’s $2,500. Compared to our last review update, it no longer discloses its pricing. And unlike Guusto or Connecteam, Nectar doesn’t provide a free trial, which makes it even harder for smaller organizations to give them a go.

Nectar is used by many recognizable brands, including Redfin, Golden State Warriors, Major League Baseball, and SHRM.

Nectar offers three pricing plans with an annual commitment of $4,000. While the recognition program vendor continues to provide three options—Plus, Premium, and Custom—it no longer publicly shares its pricing information. However, based on our research, the starting price may range from $5 to $6 per monthly employee when billed annually.

Bonusly's 360-degree recognition capabilities make it easy to boost employee morale. We’ve tested their five-step recognition process and can confirm that it is as simple as it sounds: Each employee receives a monthly allotment of points (typically 100-200, valued at $10-$20) to recognize fellow team members. The process then is as simple as naming the recipient, choosing the points amount, sharing the reason, and adding hashtags or GIFs if desired.

We liked Bonusly’s public feed, showcasing all the recognitions given around, which motivates more action from coworkers. Managers also benefit from visibility into the recognitions occurring within their teams. They can amplify the recognition by praising both the giver and receiver.

In addition to recognizing achievements, managers, and teammates can send timely messages for birthdays, work anniversaries, and other special occasions thanks to Bonusly's automated reminders. The system neatly integrates with most HRIS platforms to automatically sync employee data, eliminating manual date entry.

Overall, Bonusly provides the essential features to boost employee engagement and build a more positive culture. It empowers employees at all levels to celebrate both major accomplishments and small wins, fostering a workplace where people feel recognized, connected, and invested in the company's success.

Over 3,250 companies use Bonusly, including Workday, Baxter, Headspace, and Qualtrics.

Bonusly has 3 subscription plans for users to choose from:

• The Core plan is $2.70 per user per month (billed annually) for up to 50 users.
• The Pro plan is $4.50  per user per month (billed annually) and has more flexibility in reporting, permissions, and integrations for growing teams.
• The Custom plan has customized pricing for larger businesses that need premium support and implementation.

Awardco makes it easy to recognize anyone in your organization for living your values, achieving goals, or simply for being awesome employees. In our testing, it was easy to choose who to recognize, for what, and why. We’ve also liked the social component to it, featuring all given recognition on a public feed for everyone to see. Awardco also facilitates remote employee recognition through integrations with communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. This boosts engagement further, bringing recognition to platforms your employees already use.

We appreciate Awardco's inclusive approach to recognition. Their newly released feature, AwardCodes,  makes it possible to give recognition offline to employees without regular computer access so they aren’t left out of any appreciation efforts. Managers provide customized award codes, which employees later scan to receive their rewards. The codes work for any employee, anywhere, anytime while still enabling tracking and security.

Another thing that caught our attention is Awardco’s service anniversary features. Its level of gift creativity and personalization is something we’ve not seen on other platforms. Employees can create Digital MemoryBooks which collect teammate contributions into a cherished keepsake for coworkers celebrating milestones. It also has curated gift packages called Bonus Boxes that employees can put together and ship right to the doors of their coworkers to make their day.

Awardco has over 3 million users including staff at companies like Percepta, Paramount, Hertz, Pacific Life, and Aptive.

Awardco offers two main plans for small and medium businesses.

• The Lite plan provides basic automation for things like service awards, birthdays, and reporting. It establishes a foundation for employee recognition and costs $2,500 per year.
• The Go plan includes everything in Lite plus additional features like peer-to-peer recognition, manager recognition, value-driven rewards, and budget oversight. It is more robust for employee appreciation and costs $4,000 annually.

For larger companies, Awardco offers customized pricing depending on the specific features required. The enterprise plans are more tailored to the company's needs and size. Since enterprises have more complex requirements, pricing is on a case-by-case basis. Interested companies should contact the Awardco Sales team to discuss enterprise pricing and put together a plan that fits their organization's goals and budget.

With its robust set of features, Cooleaf enables companies to make appreciation frequent and meaningful. We’ve put the platform to the test and found it particularly excellent at tying recognition to core values. Managers can send real-time recognitions that highlight how an employee's actions embodied a certain value, such as collaboration or integrity. This not only motivates the recipient but also reinforces behaviors your company cares about. Cooleaf also provides manager dashboards to track recognitions and see how well values are being integrated.

Celebrating big milestones is easy too. Features like automatic anniversary rewards ensure no career achievement goes unnoticed. Milestones can be personalized for each level, from an employee's first year to their 10th anniversary. Rewards go beyond the typical gift card - managers can create a catalog of merchandise, experiences, donation gifts, and more that fit their culture.

Whether it's recognizing day-to-day wins or momentous occasions, we love how Cooleaf empowers managers to show appreciation in personalized ways. Its user-friendly interface, customization options, and focus on values make Cooleaf a great choice for companies looking to delight their teams while aligning them to important principles and goals.

Mountain Seed, Shipt, Orangetheory Fitness, SalesLoft, and Toyota are some of the companies that use Cooleaf.

Cooleaf’s pricing depends on the number of employees and the scope of your recognition efforts. Contact their team for an exact quote.

Kudos offers a robust employee recognition platform that can help you build a positive, engaged workforce. We like its peer-to-peer recognition abilities which empower employees to recognize one another for key wins and achievements. Employees can also give kudos for actions or behaviors tied to company values like collaboration or innovation. Not only does this reinforce those values but giving specific recognition provides valuable people analytics for managers to track what behaviors are being role-modeled.

All of this peer recognition activity is collected and displayed on the Kudos Wall. This broadcast of appreciation helps employees feel valued and reminds them that they are part of something bigger. It also cultivates an inspiring sense of community.

Rewards can also be given through the system. It’s all gamified, which we’re big fans of. Employees can collect points from giving and receiving kudos, which they can then redeem from an online catalog. The platform also integrates seamlessly with existing HR systems to pull employee data like birthdays, work anniversaries and more so you won’t have to remember or input any of this info manually.

Kudos is used by thousands of growing businesses and enterprises including MTN, Russel, ATCO, Bulgari, and DHL.

Kudos’ pricing starts at $3.25 per user per month for organizations that have at least 500 employees. Its actual pricing is flexible, based on the number of user seats you need and the length of the contract.