18 Best Rewards Systems for Employees in 2025
The best employee reward programs - reviewed, rated, and compared by our HR software experts. See pros and cons, pricing info & more below.
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Best Employee Rewards Programs
If you want to motivate staff, strengthen your workplace culture, and attract new talent without exhausting your human resources with piles of extra work, an employee rewards system is a great option.
After testing over 40 options and giving and receiving hundreds of kudos over the years, we’ve experienced how easily powerful an employee rewards platform is for fostering a culture of appreciation, especially when the tool is paired with its sibling employee recognition software.
How come this combo works so well? How much should it cost? What is the best option for my team? These are some of the questions we’ll tackle in this guide.
By chatting with HR thought leaders, gathering user feedback, meeting with dozens of software providers over demos, and digging into each product's feature set, we’ve found that the best-in-class employee reward programs have to excel at flexibility and customization, reporting and analytics, and peer-to-peer engagement.
1. Flexibility and customization
The strength of many workforces lies in their diversity, which means not everyone wants the same perks and rewards. To evaluate how customizable and flexible an employee rewards platform is, we investigated the system’s rewards catalog. We examined the number of available rewards types, merchants, and covered countries and the option for custom company-branded swag.
2. Reporting and analytics
After testing essential rewards features from both the employer's and employee's perspectives, we examined the system’s analytics dashboard. Let’s be honest: One of the best things about having technology by our side is its ability to diligently track data in real time and highlight critical points and trends that deserve our attention.
We pulled standard and custom reports (if any), considering how easy (or hard) it was to get a set of data from the system and whether it’s helpful, actionable, and easy to digest for most users.
3. Peer-to-peer engagement
Employee rewards shouldn't be doled out by bosses alone; the recipients should also have some input on the process.
Recent data supports this idea: Recognition from co-workers is 35.7% more likely to positively impact financial results than recognition only from managers. For that reason, we looked at features like milestone celebrations, kudos, shoutouts, and, really importantly, how easy they were to use.
Learn more about how we research and evaluate HR tech.
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Tell us more about your company & an HR Software Advisor will help you find the right software
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Terryberry
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Terryberry offers a comprehensive rewards platform with one of the industry’s largest rewards selections, including merchandise, gift cards, travel experiences, and custom-crafted awards. The platform’s flexible workflows and pay-upon-redemption billing help manage budgets effectively, while its hybrid-friendly design ensures easy access for all employees.
PROS
- Pay-upon-redemption billing model with multi-center cost allocation for better budget control.
- Global fulfillment capabilities with extensive international reward options.
- Flexible reward programs that can be tailored to company values and engagement goals.
- Advanced analytics to measure the impact of rewards on employee engagement and sentiment.
- HRIS integrations to automate and simplify reward management.
- Mobile-friendly features for deskless and hybrid workforces.
- Personalized support from implementation to ongoing customer success.
- Customized physical goods as employee rewards
- Wide range of employee engagement features, including rewards, incentives, and a wellness tracker.
- Customer support and account management at Terryberry are quite good. Their reps stand out for being very responsive and attentive, which is evidenced by some of the client testimonials we read.
- The implementation process, while six weeks long, is quite comprehensive, and you get tons of help along the way. For instance, the last two weeks consist of internal and customer testing, as well as user training.
CONS
- The platform’s interface design could benefit from a more modern look.
- No open API yet, although this feature is on the development roadmap.
- No free trial is offered at this time.
- While Terryberry is easy to use, its design could look more modern and sleek.
- No open API, but on the roadmap for the end of 2023.
- No free trial at the moment.
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Terryberry’s rewards platform offers a robust solution for companies looking to engage employees through meaningful and customizable rewards. During our demo, we explored Terryberry’s expansive rewards catalog, which includes merchandise, gift cards, travel experiences, company swag, and custom-crafted awards. This variety ensures that companies can provide rewards that resonate with diverse employee preferences.
We found that the platform’s flexibility in configuring reward programs stood out. Organizations can design reward workflows that align with their mission, vision, and values. For example, during our conversation with the product team, they highlighted how value-tagged rewards reinforce company culture by directly linking rewards to specific achievements and behaviors.
Terryberry’s pay-upon-redemption billing model was another standout feature. This approach helps organizations manage budgets more effectively by only paying for rewards when redeemed. Multi-center cost allocation further simplifies financial management for larger organizations.
The platform’s global fulfillment capabilities support rewards delivery in over 150 countries, making it ideal for international organizations. Additionally, the hybrid-friendly design ensures that office-based and frontline employees can participate. We saw how features like QR codes and mobile options make it easy for deskless employees to access and redeem rewards.
Despite its strengths, the platform does have a few drawbacks. The interface could benefit from a more modern design to improve user experience, but this is something that might change in 2025. Additionally, the lack of an open API limits integration possibilities, although this feature is also expected in future updates.
Terryberry serves over 40,000 clients globally, including well-known organizations such as Tesco, Epsilon, General Motors, and Trilogy Health.
Terryberry offers flexible pricing models based on the specific needs of each organization. Their basic subscription plans typically start at approximately $3 per employee receiving a reward. For a detailed and customized quote, it’s best to contact their sales team directly.
Pricing factors include:
- Subscription costs based on selected features and reward types.
- One-time setup fees for implementation.
- Annual administration fees calculated based on employee headcount and reward redemptions.
Best For
Terryberry’s rewards platform is ideal for mid-market organizations looking to streamline rewards, recognition, and engagement through a single vendor. It offers flexible redemption options for both office-based and deskless workers. The platform is optimized for mid-market organizations in North America and the UK.
Terryberry was used daily for anniversaries and birthday recognition, which was the initial and primary reason for using the platform within the organization. It was also used for occasional recognition from senior leadership, who had the capability to provide rewards to their managed employees within the platform. The system could work on a fairly automated basis with the HRIS, making it largely hands-off, with occasional audits to ensure all information flowed properly to/from the system. The system would also provide reminders of upcoming celebrations so that we could share them through other communication channels within the organization. It is nice to receive reminders.
One pro of Terryberry is that aside from setup and a small annual fee, you pay as rewards are redeemed. An additional pro is that they offer physical rewards, such as plaques, if you want to utilize that option. Another pro is that they were the only service we found that offered physical products as a reward type via an online catalog model.
The organization purchased Terryberry after reviewing several services to replace a prior service. Key pain points that needed to be addressed were HRIS integration capability so the employee life cycle and celebrations would automatically flow to the platform without a file feed requirement, eliminating room for error. Additionally, the capability to work with the company chat system was essential. More expansive rewards/redemption options, including physical product offerings, were also desired. The service has been used for less than one year.
One con of Terryberry is that you have to pay for different subscription tiers, so you do not get everything accessible unless you pay for particular tiers. Not all services my organization reviewed operated like this. Another con is that the user interface gets the job done but seems a little outdated, offering limited customization.
Terryberry is different from its competitors because they have a large amount of reward offerings. You do not see this with many other platforms. Also, the capability for actual physical plaque-type rewards was unique. They are used by many well-known large corporations, as seen on their site and an even longer list provided during our company demo.
Terryberry is a pay-to-play tool. You will access reward options for your company based on how much you'd like to spend for the particular subscription tiers. This is a good option for large companies because the platform is built to accommodate them. If you are in a fast-growing company or a company planning for a lot of growth, this tool could grow easily with you.
Terryberry has been around a very long time (since 1918). They've had to evolve as technology evolved. Outside of the interface itself seeming a little lackluster, it is overall a company that proves itself with both its longevity and customer base.
A company needs to have staff that use a common platform for communication or at least check emails or have access to a computer daily. Employees who work in the field or away from a computer may not experience the full benefit of a product like Terryberry. As previously noted, this would also be a good option for a fast-growing company or a company anticipating growth.
Companies with employees that rarely access a computer or companies that do not utilize company chat systems of some kind may not find Terryberry a helpful addition.
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AdvantageClub.ai
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We picked AdvantageClub.ai because it has everything one would need for employee rewards and recognition in one place, so you can ditch the multiple apps and streamline your process with this easy-to-use platform. Plus, if you want to create a rewards program that matches your company culture, you can customize it with the thousands of redemption options this vendor offers.
PROS
- AI-powered messaging feature streamlines the process of giving and receiving recognition.
- Extensive global rewards marketplace with 10,000+ brands across 100+ countries.
- Flex-Benefits program allows employees to customize how they use perks.
- AI-driven engagement assistant (ADVA) nudges employees to stay active in recognition programs.
- Seamless integrations with HRMS, Slack, Teams, and Outlook for workflow automation.
- AI-powered messaging feature streamlines the process of giving and receiving recognition.
- Extensive global rewards marketplace with 10,000+ brands across 100+ countries.
- Flex-Benefits program allows employees to customize how they use perks.
- AI-driven engagement assistant (ADVA) nudges employees to stay active in recognition programs.
- Seamless integrations with HRMS, Slack, Teams, and Outlook for workflow automation.
CONS
- No public pricing. No self-service free trial.
- Instead of self-configuration, users may require additional support to leverage the power of analytics and dashboard features fully.
- No public pricing. No self-service free trial.
- Instead of self-configuration, users may require additional support to leverage the power of analytics and dashboard features fully.
For those who are here for an employee rewards and recognition system that allows you to customize and use AI and has thousands of global redemption options, we highly recommend AdvantageClub.ai. This platform’s global rewards marketplace boasts more than 10,000 brands in over 100 countries and counting. And just as importantly, the redemption process is easy and smooth.
We gave the redemption process a test by selecting a Walmart gift card from the U.S. marketplace. Within seconds, we received our digital gift card, ready for use. From there, we could redeem the earned points through the system’s peer recognition program for shopping, dining, experiences, and even wellness benefits.
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The Amazon Marketplace integration also came out really nice. We could convert points directly into purchases across various product categories without any issues.
If you like to give employees more control over how they use their perks, the in-app Flex-Benefits program has options for medical benefits, wellness plans, and fitness memberships— all configurable.
The flexibility is extended to the employer’s side, too. Instead of being a plug-and-play solution, AdvantageClub.ai allows companies to custom-brand their rewards program, from logos and colors to customized award categories.
Within its admin dashboard, we could set up custom award approval workflows, manage budgets, and configure different recognition programs per department or region. The system also worked well when we used bulk uploads for award distribution, which can be very handy for those looking to roll out incentives at scale.
And "ADVA," the AI-driven engagement assistant, impressed us with the gentle nudges to keep employees involved without being too pushy about it. For example, it reminded us that we hadn’t recognized a colleague in two weeks and suggested sending an appreciation message. Similarly, for wellness incentives, it notified us when we had points to use for a health check-up.
One downside of AdvantageClub.ai, however, is that this vendor isn’t upfront about their pricing. Costs can change depending on where your team is based and what features you need, so a talk with their sales is a must to get a quote for your business. Also, unlike some competitors such as Guusto and Workstar, the rewards platform doesn’t offer a free trial.
1,000+ companies, including EY, Concentrix, TARGET, Hexaware, BCG, and Turner.
AdvantageClub.ai has custom pricing.
Best For
AdvantageClub.ai is ideal for large enterprises and mid-sized organizations looking for a highly flexible employee rewards and recognition platform with AI-driven automation and a global marketplace for perks and benefits.
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Nectar
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Nectar's catalog covers an extensive range of rewards, from company swag to Amazon goods, gift cards, and charity donations. If that’s not enough, you also have the option to add custom rewards that are tailored to the relevant recipient(s).
PROS
- Transparent pricing.
- Volume discounts are available for organizations with 500+ employees.
- You only pay for the used rewards – unused pointed allowances won’t cost a dime.
- Regularly releases user-driven features and product updates.
- New AI-powered internal communications tool with drag-and-drop editor and templates for quick announcements.
- Regularly introduces new features and enhancements to its products.
- Volume discounts available for organizations with 500+ employees.
- You pay for the rewards that are claimed. Points and allowances that remain unused won’t cost you a dime.
CONS
- No longer offer a free plan. No free trial available.
- The rewards selection could feel limited to some teams, especially those looking for more experiences.
- Requires a minimum annual commitment of $4,000.
- The priced plans are not available to start off as a self-service process. You’d have to book a demo and pay to access some of the premium features.
- The rewards selection could feel limited to some teams, especially those looking for more experiences in offer.
- No longer offer a free plan.
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Nectar’s employee rewards platform is comprehensive, customizable, and easy to use. We were particularly impressed by its variety of employee reward options. Through a direct integration with Amazon Business, employees can choose from Amazon's vast product catalog for their rewards. For those who prefer gift cards, Nectar offers access to ones from hundreds of different brands all over the world. Employees can also opt to receive company-branded swag shipped directly to their door or donate their rewards to charity. For a more personal touch, you can add custom rewards to Nectar’s catalog like tickets to local events or lunch with the CEO. With this many options, there’s definitely something for everyone and the best part is, if we haven’t clarified this already, employees get to pick their own rewards!
Nectar also automates service awards and birthdays, eliminating the need to manually send gifts for employee milestones. We were able to quickly set up automated birthday and anniversary point awards and social feed shoutouts. Another way to see upcoming events is through Nectar’s calendar, which we’ve found quite straightforward and tells you what’s happening on a given day if you hover over it.
Beyond rewards, you can create challenges aligned with goals or values, have employees self-report completion, and approve submissions. Plus, a new feature for internal communication has been added to the platform, which lets you create an announcement within minutes right within Nectar.
All in all, if you’re looking for a platform to boost engagement and show appreciation to your employees, we think Nectar is worth considering.
Nectar is used by many known brands including Redfin, Golden State Warriors, Major League Baseball, and SHRM.
Nectar offers three plans with an annual agreement of $4,000.
- Plus plan: $5 per employee per month when billed annually.
- Premium plan: $6 per employee per month when billed annually.
- Custom plan: Quote-based pricing.
Best For
Organizations with 50-2,000 employees seeking to build a lasting culture of appreciation.
We use nectar for staff and management to reward employees exceptional work with points. Also, it is useful in terms of keeping employees connected with each other and interested in each other's work by allowing them to engage in a way similar to social media. It also was helpful for management to see areas of staff success that otherwise may go unseen, which was particularly helpful in things like formal evaluations. Since staff could comment on each other's posts, it allowed ongoing positive interaction daily to engage with teammates, learn more about each other and collaborate. It also was helpful for management to incentivize positive behaviors via tangible rewards.
I liked how it dramatically improved morale in a short time by giving tangible rewards to staff that felt stronger than just a thank you. Also, the way it connected the staff to each other and fostered collaboration and teamwork was great. I think it improved our retention too, and diminished some of the conflicts we used to see by creating a better sense of community.
We used it for 2 years. When many employees had to go remote due to covid, we were concerned about a lack of engagement and a lack of connection amongst team members. Introducing this tool improved both. It allows team members to interact and reward each other for excellent work, or for going the extra mile. It helped motivate staff to take on tasks and volunteer as they could see it was noticed and the benefits were more tangible than just a thanks. Also, it eliminated the need for staff to approach management or HR to request things like a small thank you gift and having to deal with the budgets involved. So, it has made keeping everyone connected to each other, to the company, and enthusiastic about their work much easier.
Not everyone was a fan and some staff members felt it had the potential to be a bit like a popularity contest and that the competitions it sometimes inspired were not helpful. Some managers were concerned it was too much like social media and could be a distraction. The analytics and reports could have been more in depth.
I think nectar is better than some similar tools in that its interface is really fun for staff and easy to use. I have used two such programs, and preferred nectar mainly because I saw a lot of engagement from the staff and it required very little instruction to get people up to speed on its use.
Does it make sense for the company to invest in these kinds of rewards, as it is an added cost. Also, it is important to have participation, and ideally that should be voluntary, so people should assess if this tool seems to match the culture of the company and would be well received by staff. Also, there is the possibility for some competition, which can be healthy and positive, but people should consider that and be aware and ready to discuss if staff are concerned.
The company seems to have improved its education and sharing of ideas with its users over time.
Remote companies who are concerned about employee connection, engagement and recognition will benefit. I think a young workforce in particular enjoy this kind of tool, and are used to the social media-like aspects.
I think not all older workers may enjoy it. Also, companies where a lot of the employees are very highly compensated and advanced professionals may not be as interested in these kinds of rewards and interactions.
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Motivosity
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Motivosity lets employees choose personalized, exciting rewards; automates service awards and birthdays; and leverages gamification to drive engagement in company initiatives.
PROS
- Motivosity is mobile-friendly. Users can access the platform via phones, desktops, and collaboration apps like Teams and Slack.
- The company offers free software (namely Connect) with fundamental features for employee engagement.
- The free trials are available for all paid subscriptions.
- In addition to rewards, it’s easy to give a shout-out or recognition to another colleague through the platform.
- The built-in reporting provides helpful insights around potential attrition, most recognized employees, and performance highlights.
- Employees can access this system from their phones, desktop, and apps they are in at work such as Teams/Slack
- One platform that combines rewards, recognition, employee engagement, and more
- Built in reporting with insights around potential attrition, most recognized employees, managers that need coaching, etc.
CONS
- Lack of rules to regulate the distribution of points. For example, a team member could give 100% of their monthly rewards to a friend.
- Performance management features, like 1:1s and coaching, are no longer available.
- Only has dollar (not points) based rewards. Their research shows dollars is more effective, but many companies want points.
- Some users claimed sometimes it can be a bit buggy connecting to Slack to notify people that an appreciation came through.
- It would have broadened the number of gift card options for users to choose from.
- There could have been an easier way to integrate the software with swag stores. For now, you have to transfer funds to a card and then link that card with the swag store, which slows down a bit the process to cash in funds.
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Motivosity helps companies move beyond the standardized and often underwhelming rewards. Through the platform, employees can choose rewards that actually excite them from a customizable online store, containing hundreds of digital and physical gift cards to national brands and local businesses.
We’ve given it a shot and it was easy to add custom rewards to the store. It was also easy to create and set the parameters for custom competitions (these can be a wellness program, book club, or anything you can challenge employees to do, consensually of course) as well as make badges and define awards for those who win. To ensure integrity through competitions, Motivosity lets employees upload proof like steps count and book reviews.
Finally, and like a best-in-class employee rewards software should, Motivosity automates service awards and birthday shoutouts. Recipients get a customized gift and message, and colleagues can add public comments to celebrate coworkers on their special days.
Health Catalyst, Cotopaxi, Health Equity, Instructure, Ivanti
Motivosity’s core product of Recognition and Rewards is $4 per employee per month. This includes all of their tools for internal communication, rewards, awards, milestones, social connection features, etc. For a comprehensive list of features included in each pricing option, refer to Motivosity's dedicated pricing page.
Best For
Motivosity is best for companies from 10 to 10,000 employees that can drive engagement and improve morale through the platform.
Motivosity for management and leadership development has been a major area we employ. We use this to facilitate one-on-one and small group meetings between supervisors and their teams. It's been extremely helpful in getting everyone to participate and as they can add agenda items and plan in advance.
Performance has improved as a result because staff receives guidance on problem-solving and prioritizing work from their supervisor and they receive acknowledgment afterward. Also, the leadership team can see the reports on how often these meetings are happening and get a sense of how well our supervisors are performing.
We also use the recognize feature to reward the daily achievements and allow staff to recognize coworkers. Great work that often went unacknowledged or just was easily forgotten/overlooked now gets the attention it deserves. We found that everyone responds to this feature and that these small, regular acknowledgments tied to tangible monetary and gift rewards have really increased overall employee motivation and satisfaction and made doing great work rewarding and fun for our staff. We also set it up to make sure major events like an anniversary are not missed.
We also benefit from the surveys and feedback that leadership can see as insightful and data-driven reporting. It has been critical in getting information that was mainly anecdotal, unpredictable, and sporadic in the past. We use this for departing employees' exit interviews and to track turnover. Handling and understanding employee turnover had been overly informal and a bit chaotic before this feature, but we use the exit interviews and data to get a better picture of areas we need to focus on.
It improved employee morale and performance by offering ways for them to connect better with coworkers and supervisors and allowed ongoing, regular, and routine recognition rather than just major things like salary increases and promotions.
Leadership has gained a better sense of how our management is performing and increased the effectiveness of our supervisors at every level.
It's given us valuable data about how our staff are performing, employee turnover, and management performance in reports.
We were concerned about employee engagement given the fact that a large number of employees were remote, and we have multiple worksites. Both factors created a sense of disconnect among the staff from both the company and their co-workers. It seemed to be harming employee morale and, consequently, employee productivity.
We were also very concerned about increased interpersonal conflict, declining employee retention and feedback that generally indicated dissatisfaction. We were also looking for a way to provide ongoing recognition and to attain ongoing feedback, because annual reviews and occasional surveys were not enough, and were not incorporated into the day-to-day culture.
We've used motivosity for about a year and a half. In that time, we've seen improvements in all these areas.
We were not thrilled with the customer support regarding questions about billing and technical errors.
The system seemed to have some technical issues and was sometimes really slow or even would crash.
Though it met our needs, there do appear to be products on the market that have more features for around the same cost.
Having used a few similar products, I think Motivosity does a better than average job creating personalized connections between coworkers and social media-like content for staff members and was very good at fostering a sense of empowerment by management to the employees.
It allows for employees to recognize each other, not just management recognizing employees as is typically the case. Also, the user interface is very straightforward, intuitive, easy to navigate, and easy to use.
A tool like this will very likely increase employee engagement and increase performance and retention, but people should consider the costs involved both in the product and in monetized rewards and recognition to staff.
Once you institute such rewards, taking them away may be poorly received by staff. Also, it requires leadership to support and endorse the efforts to use this product and without that, it may not be effectively deployed, especially if you do not have full participation.
From my understanding, they have refined the features to focus better on reporting and on management development.
Remote workers will especially benefit. It helps to replace some of the personal bonding and connection that usually happens through in-person interactions.
Organizations, where there is infrequent staff interaction, will also find a lot of benefits in both the sense of personal connection and regular recognition that can be lost when workers are not physically near each other often.
An organization that highly values a top-down style of relationships may find that they don't value the degree to which employees are empowered to give feedback and recognition.
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Mo
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With Mo, you can design and automate your employee rewards program with its easy-to-manage peer-to-peer appreciation, budget controls, and reporting functionalities.
PROS
- User-friendly UI with a wide range of gift card options.
- Transparent and reasonable pricing, no rewards fees.
- Available in twelve languages and growing.
- Free software onboarding and implementation support for all plan users.
- Mobile apps are available for both Android and iOS users.
- UI is easy to navigate, and users seem to appreciate the varied choice of gift cards they can offer through the platform.
- Transparent pricing starting from $2.25/user/month with no rewards fees.
- Free onboarding and implementation support for all users.
- Robust and feature-rich mobile applications.
- Available in 12 languages and growing.
CONS
- Mo no longer discloses its pricing.
- There is no free plan (but a free trial is available upon request.)
- Customer support is limited to weekdays, 9 AM - 5 PM GMT.
- HRIS integration absent in Base plan. Possible implementation fee for Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations.
- The customer support hours are limited to weekdays, 9 AM - 5 PM GMT.
Mo makes rewarding employees incredibly simple, meaningful, and fun. We put it to the test and found the UI quite intuitive. It’s easy to grant credits to deserving employees, which they can redeem from Mo’s extensive rewards marketplace of major brands like Amazon, Nordstrom, and Tesco.
Colleagues can post public or private appreciative “Moments” and react with comments, emojis, and GIFs, nurturing a culture of appreciation from the bottom up. Managers can also use Mo’s unique “Boosts” to regularly prompt team members to recognize one another for day-to-day wins.
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We like a lot of things about Mo but if we had to choose just one, it’d definitely be their automated Assistant. The Assistant automatically reminds managers to recognize employees on their special days like birthdays, work anniversaries, and other special occasions. It also nudges managers and employees to share appreciation if someone has not been recognized in a while, which is something we’ve not seen on other platforms.
Mo has more than 100,000 users. Some top customers are SGN, The O2, NHS, Aspen, William Hill, and SHL.
Mo offers custom pricing via a monthly subscription model based on the number of employees included in the program. Contact their sales team for a quote.
Best For
Mo works exceptionally well for distributed teams who want to connect and motivate employees within established internal communications platforms like MS Teams and Slack.
We use Mo every day across my remit which is back office Operations. We have roughly 1100/1200 people on the platform and an average of 1500 moments shared on it a month. The key processes we use it for are:
- P2P points scheme - We give everyone in the departments a small financial amount at the start of each month. They can't spend it on themselves, they can only give it to colleagues when sharing moments. It encourages them to recognize each other for things like training, help with a tricky problem or account, support as a friend/colleague, advice or generally being a good egg. This is the most popular activity we use Mo for and has the biggest impact on the shift in culture and engagement.
- All leadership groups have additional ad-hoc pots that they can reward from which focus more on performance-based recognition.
- We use the platform for our quarterly awards. The award categories are sent out and everyone nominates their colleagues for different awards. Last month we had 283 nominations from a department of 400. It's then easy to shortlist and pick winners there. The winners can then be celebrated through Moments on Mo, and rewarded at the same time. It's also 1 click of a button to then send out the nominations to every nominee for each award category.
- More recently we've started using Boosts which are automated triggers set once a week, in line with our agile sprint work. They prompt people to celebrate their weekly wins in a shared setting for everyone to engage with. This also makes it much easier for senior leadership to have a presence on the platform when their time is so limited. We also use it for the start of the week's focusses and goals to keep everyone connected on our objectives.
- As the budget master I then also use the platform for any additional ad-hoc activity I run such as monthly non-performance-based incentives to further build our culture and connect people.
- I don't know if I'm allowed to share how much has been cashed in by our colleagues at the inhouse store in Mo over the last 2 years but suffice to say it's an astounding figure and all of it is people saving up what they receive from various things and spending it on exactly what they want as the store is so extensive. It gives them autonomy and choice and makes it really easy which they love. It's been particularly appreciated during the cost of living crisis to go towards supermarket shops or school shoes from Clarks, house renovations from B&Q, as well as AirBnB staycations and so, so much more.
- It saves me SO MUCH TIME!
- It's so simple to use and for other people to pick up
- Its use grows organically once people start using it
- The variety of the store gives our people huge autonomy and variety
- It makes rewarding easy and fun
- It helps drive a positive culture, a culture of recognition and appreciation
- I love just how much everyone else loves it
- The team that works there is so helpful and works with you to always deliver improvements
- It continues to deliver extra value, we're always finding new ways to get more out of it.
- It's made my life a million times easier. I could never go back.
We initially bought it to automate the plethora of manual processes that I was trying to execute manually myself beforehand. This includes managing the general reward and recognition schemes, all nomination processes, awarding, and the peer-to-peer R&R scheme we ran. All purchasing of vouchers, prizes, etc in a hybrid world which requires getting people's addresses, etc.
This range of activities took up almost all of my time and left very little to work on bigger strategic projects. It couldn't continue.
Mo automated all these processes, for example sending out the nominations sent in for our quarterly awards to each nominee. This took the best part of a day to manually send all of these emails for every nomination. Now it takes no more than 30 seconds, I click one button for each category and they all go out. This is a time saving that is replicated across multiple processes and has completely changed the scope of what my role can deliver because of the time it saves.
However, the real value has come since then. With my free time, I've been able to develop our use of Mo to be the centerpiece that everything is built around. We've learned much further on the peer-to-peer scheme and the overarching objectives of engagement are about bridging the gap and connecting people to feel part of a team where community is our culture and fun is in our DNA. Mo allows us to drive this culture shift, connecting people all over the country through positive interactions on the platform, strengthening working relationships and our sense of broader identity. We've been using it for 2 years now, and are averaging 1500 moments shared on the platform a month (each being a recognition, thank you, or award) with c1100 users. It's helped drive a 1.9 increase in our engagement score in Peakon in 1 year.
- I really can't call out things I dislike. The only feedback I get is:
- You can't edit a moment once you've sent it (but I understand why that's the case).
It wraps everything up into one easy-to-use and comprehensive platform. At the same time, it's not cluttered with useless extras. The service you get for the price is extremely good, the customer service is exceptional and the team is an absolute pleasure to work with.
It was the only platform I found that facilitated the peer-to-peer scheme I was running. I was able to completely replicate the model in Mo but have the entire thing automated. Nothing else allowed that level of autonomy for the user but control for the admin too. The store is extremely comprehensive too which makes a massive difference. Others were good but the Mo one is bang on with variety and caters to a wide range of preferences. Once or twice at the start, I had people ask if other stores could be added but I've never had it since.
The Boost functionality and how it helps support our agile ways of working has been a real leap forward and their manager assistant is a really helpful tool for our leadership population. It seems as time goes on, the more and more we can align how we work and what we do to utilize the platform to support us.
Think about what you really need, and what problem are you directly trying to solve. That's the first question. The second is what's possible. My view shifted so much once we got Mo to all these other possibilities that I hadn't considered before. Ask the what-if questions, challenge what you are doing, and think what would be the dream scenario. Also, think of it from a bigger cultural piece. What attitudes, behaviors, and cultures are you wanting to drive within your business and what's going to best support you in doing that. Also, does it automate for you? The more it automates, the more time you have to dig deeper into the bigger issues/questions.
Since we started using it 2 years ago. It introduced the Boost function and the manager's assistance. These two upgrades more specifically target the leadership population as we/they'd identified that they were the harder population to get engaged with the platform. These upgrades build in routine and simple triggers which are easy for leaders to respond to. The assistant also gives all the key information you need in one easy place (budgets, team activity, etc) but also great in-house articles to get people thinking about management approaches with a more modern and progressive approach which I know has been really well received.
I would say a more modern organization or one that wants to modernize. It's probably not good for a traditional working environment so much. It works for big businesses and small businesses too. Its functionality allows you to manage the view in a way that means you can scale as large as you like and not lose the personal touch it offers.
As explained above, a traditional working organization that doesn't really want to modernize in how it treats its employees or thinks about things like culture and engagement.
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Assembly
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Assembly makes rewarding employees effortless with seamless integrations, peer nominations, personalized incentives, and templates that turn appreciation into a habit.
PROS
- Offers a free version and free trials for their paid plans, with no need for a credit card or demo.
- Feature-rich for the price point.
- Customize rewards and set up a points system with automated incentives.
- Month-to-month plan or a long-term contract (12-month minimum agreement). A large team with a long-term contract can get a custom deal.
- Explore the platform for free, no need for a credit card or demo
- Great set of features for the price point
- Make your own rewards and even set up a points system with automated incentives
- You have the option to go with a month-to-month plan or a long-term contract. For the latter, you can reach out to their team for a custom deal if it’s a larger team. However, keep in mind that the minimum agreement is 12 months.
CONS
- Coins and points expire and do not roll over.
- SSO is not standard for all plans. In some cases, it must be purchased as an add-on.
- iOS and Android apps are available, but this information is hard to find on the site.
- Only supports English.
- Coins and points do expire, so sometimes they’ll expire by the end of the month before you can use them, although you get more the next period.
- SSO is only included with some plans. For others, it can be purchased as an add-on.
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Assembly makes rewarding and recognizing employees effortless. Its seamless integrations with Slack and Microsoft Teams mean you never have to leave your workflow to show appreciation. These social apps are also where team members can publically nominate one another for recognition and rewards. The personalized points system enables employees to redeem rewards tailored to what makes them feel valued, whether that's gift cards, donations to charity, or experiences that enrich company culture.
With Assembly, you can align rewards to core values, ensuring they resonate with what truly matters to your team. Milestones like birthdays, work anniversaries, and achievements big or small are never missed. The software proactively surfaces these moments and prompts personalized messages of appreciation.
The wide variety of reward options ensures there’s something that’ll appeal to everyone, while the variety of built-in templates and automated reminders for milestones empower managers to turn recognition into a lasting habit, driving engagement and retention.
Over 2,400 use Assembly, including Casper, Keck School of Medicine, and Perforce.
- Starter is free for businesses with up to 10 employees.
- Paying customers are charged between $2.80 and $6.00 per employee per month, depending on the features and monthly vs. yearly pricing plan.
- The premium plan requires a custom quote.
Best For
With its free version, scalable plans, and vast feature set, Assembly can serve companies both big and small.
Assembly is used on a monthly cycle. Users receive a monthly allotment of points to give to their coworkers. Recognition posts are created on the board by tagging one or more employees, assigning Assembly Applause Points, and posting for the company to view, like, and comment on.
Once enough points are earned, users can redeem them for rewards in the form of gift cards or charitable donations. Admin users have additional permissions to allocate extra points to individuals based on performance and reward metrics, creating a customizable and engaging experience.
Assembly is excellent for boosting employee engagement. It helps organizations align their core values and vision through a recognition-based culture. Its pricing is affordable for small businesses, as it is based on the number of active users.
My organization has used Assembly for over three years, and I personally used it for one year while working with the team. Leadership needed a user-friendly platform to promote engagement and rewards for their hybrid workforce.
Assembly provided customizable tools for giving kudos and gifts to individuals and teams for a job well done, all on a secure platform. It allows individuals to choose how to spend their points in a rewards storefront, which includes local businesses and big-box store gift cards.
Additionally, it offers the option to donate points or cash rewards to various fundraisers, making it a great tool for supporting corporate social responsibility initiatives.
The program should be integrated into self-service portals for easier access. It generates excessive email notifications, which can reduce productivity during the workday. Some employees may struggle to understand or fully appreciate the concept of virtual recognition.
Assembly stands out for its user-friendly interface and customizable features that enhance employee engagement. However, competitors may offer more competitive pricing or better integration with existing tools.
Assembly encourages daily use and provides a feed page that functions similarly to social media, making it intuitive for users familiar with platforms like Facebook. Ensuring proper customization can optimize user engagement and deliver a solid return on investment.
Consider your company culture and communication style when evaluating this tool. If your team relies on digital communication, Assembly can be an excellent fit for fostering engagement. Review the pricing structure to ensure it aligns with your budget, and assess whether the program's features match your organization's needs.
Assembly has continuously updated its platform to offer more integrations that meet customers’ needs. Its rewards catalog is always expanding, and users can even create custom rewards to support local charities, families, or non-profits. The platform is evolving to include new ways for teams to interact, making it more engaging and user-friendly.
Assembly is ideal for organizations with hybrid or remote employees. It’s also well-suited for companies with multiple shifts or locations, as it helps connect employees and celebrate achievements through an easy-to-navigate online platform. Its feed page allows team members to create and respond to content, much like social media, which many employees find intuitive and engaging.
Assembly may not be suitable for organizations that do not use computers or tablets in their daily operations. Additionally, it requires a proper budget to maintain and fund the program long-term.
Before implementing Assembly, ensure that a rewards and recognition program aligns with your team's needs by requesting a demo and conducting employee surveys to assess its effectiveness.
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Workstars
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Workstarts gives you the choice to gift employees from its online rewards and prepaid cards or to create your own catalog of incentives and perks that meet your employees’ liking, redeemable at both a local and global scale.
PROS
- Pretty simple to launch and navigate.
- Pricing is transparent—no fees for setting up the system.
- Cost-effective when compared to similar platforms.
- Culturally aware, while based mainly in the UK and the US, the Workstars team has been known to go the extra mile to adapt to the customs, expectations, and cost of living adjustments of clients in other parts of the world.
- 30-day trial with a dedicated support agent.
- Custom rewards like service awards, top performer awards, nominations, voting, etc
- Cost-effective when compared to similar platforms.
- Culturally-aware; while based mostly in the UK and US, the Workstars team has been known to go the extra mile to adapt to the customs, expectations, and cost of living adjustments of clients in other parts of the world.
CONS
- No HRMS integrations. To upload employee data, the user must either make do with XML/CSV files or set up the API integrations.
- No free plan.
- No HRMS integrations. To upload people data, you’d have to make do with XML or CSV files, or try to have IT set up an integration with an API.
- No free plan or free trial
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Workstars can help you deliver an exceptional employee experience with its global flexibility, seamless integrations, actionable insights, and strong security. Through the platform, you can access an online catalog of rewards and prepaid cards to incentivize employees, locally or globally. In our testing, we were quite impressed by how the platform let us add and change languages, countries, currencies, and cost of living adjustments without extra fees. It’s got a level of flexibility we’ve not seen on other platforms.
We are also fans of Workstars’ analytics capabilities, giving users valuable insights into workforce engagement trends, undercover achievers, and corporate value effectiveness. It also provides the reports you need for finance, IT security audits, and more.
Workstars also integrates with popular tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Salesforce, and prioritizes security, with robust protocols around data storage, GDPR compliance, and penetration testing. To top it all off, the platform is fully responsive on mobile devices, ensuring employees can access Workstars anywhere.
TT Electronics, Trac, and AstraZeneca are some of the many companies that use Workstars.
Workstars offers three subscription plans, billed monthly: Entry, Pro, and Global. The pricing for these plans ranges from £1.50 - £4 per user depending on the number of user seats you need and whether you need to use the platform in multiple languages/currencies.
Best For
Workstars is great for scalability. Their clients have a range of 50-10,000 employees. The bigger the team, the better the price.
We use it to say happy birthdays. We use it to wish each other happy work anniversaries. We use it to create a positive environment for our employees. It has helped increase overall morale.
I really like the design of emails. I like that you can custom-make emails that are sent to employees. I like to provide employees with a fun tool.
They decided to use workstars as an additional resource for employee recognition for birthdays. They also wanted to recognize employees for anniversaries. They wanted to be able to give each other props on a regular basis.
Thought it was expensive for the platform. Wish it was more user-friendly. Wish we had one dedicated rep.
They are very similar to other platforms out there.
How often you plan to use it. How many employees you will have using it.
I haven’t noticed changes while we used it.
Hybrid organization that has employees all over the world.
It’s good for all organizations
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Cooleaf
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What’s cool about Cooleaf is that you can automate work anniversary rewards and make your own catalog from a variety of international reward offerings. Plus, the employee rewards app has an option for employees to use reward points to send a gift card to a peer or loved one.
PROS
- Very user-friendly. Easy to upload, create content, and redeem rewards.
- A complete platform for employee engagement, not just rewards and recognition.
- The Slack integration is seamless– posts and recognitions are gathered within the team’s Slack channel.
- Various rewards include a team store, donations, entertainment, travel experiences, merch, products, and restaurant coupons.
- Available on both Apple Store and Google Play.
- Full platform for all things employee engagement, not just rewards and recognition.
- The Slack integration is very seamless. Challenges, posts, and recognitions can all be gathered within dedicated channels in your team’s Slack workplace, if you want to.
- Wide variety of rewards including a team store, donations, entertainment, travel experiences, merch, products, and restaurant coupons.
CONS
- Users cannot create workplace culture-building challenges and activities.
- Support is limited to an online form.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- No free plan or free trial.
- Login and single sign-on issues were reported with app use.
- For some of the workplace culture-building features, like challenges and activities, you can’t create your own, so you rely on how often Cooleaf’s team makes them available.
- We found the support center’s documentation to be somewhat limited in comparison to similar tools. Also, it seems like support is only done through an online form, no other channels are available.
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Cooleaf offers a seamless and effective way to reward deserving employees. We’ve poked around the platform and found it easy to navigate through its different modules. It was particularly easy to set up rewards and shoutouts for defined goals and milestones. Rewards can range from digital badges to merchandise, gift cards, and swag, so there are options to fit any budget.
You can define a budget for managers to reward performance and incentivize stakeholders as they see fit. This autonomy helps managers surprise and delight their teams with experiences and gifts tailored to what would be most meaningful. From the employee POV, we really like how it’s easy for them to give shout-outs to one another. Beyond just a thank you, these thoughtful recognitions boost morale.
With Cooleaf's customized service awards, manager autonomy, frictionless peer recognition, and data-driven insights, you can successfully build a lasting culture of appreciation. For any organization looking to improve retention and performance, we believe Cooleaf is worth checking out.
Shipt, SalesLoft, Toyota, Synovus Bank, Kids2
Cooleaf offers custom pricing via a monthly subscription model based on the number of employees included in the program. Contact their Sales team for a quote.
Best For
Cooleaf is best for small and mid-sized businesses with an average workforce of 250+ people. Cooleaf is also a good choice for remote or hybrid teams looking to boost employee satisfaction.
I was never an administrator of Cooleaf. I used it as an employee. Salesloft would create different challenges to get employees involved and communicate with one another remotely. Once employees received a large amount of Cooleaf points they were able to use those points to get gift cards to many different options.
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- Cooleaf is a great tool that encourages amazing work collaboration.
- It has partnerships with multiple great companies so users can get some really great gift cards.
- Cooleaf is very easy to use, and has great customer support.
I used Cooleaf at Salesloft for about 1.5 years, as they were trying to create an extremely inclusive workplace and it was a great way to collaborate remotely globally. Cooleaf was used to make people feel special and feel like they were being rewarded at work. It has a lot of partnerships with multiple different companies.
- At times it became an extra step in employees' workflows so I think they stopped wanting to do it.
- Employees were pigeon held to the challenges the companies created so sometimes there was a lack of creativity or diversity.
- To get a large gift card/ reward payout often takes a longtime.
I have not used a tool similar to Cooleaf. I think if you are a large organization with the majority of your workforce remote, Cooleaf is a great option.
I think that the total cost of the product is definitely an investment for companies. In order to ensure usage of the product companies must come up with diverse Cooleaf challenges that target a wide range of the organization.
Cooleaf has added many different companies that they partner with for gift cards which definitely makes the product more attractive.
A company that has a majority of their workforce working remote.
Small organizations or companies that have the majority of their employees working in the office or companies that do not provide laptops for their employees.
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Guusto
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We are big fans of Guusto’s inclusive approach to rewards, with features that enforce a culture of appreciation across all employees - from the frontline to the executive suite. The platform is also easy to set up, has a straightforward redemption process and a free plan for SMBs.
PROS
- Guusto is remote-friendly and planet-conscious: All gift cards are digital, so no plastic waste and no shipping.
- The gifts are real dollar value – no confusing points.
- You can use the platform on mobile devices thanks to its Android and iOS apps.
- The subscription fee is for reward givers only. You can add unlimited recipients for free.
- Guusto partners with One Drop Foundation: the platform donates one day of clean drinking water for every gift sent.
- International rewards have grown a lot recently, with over 4,000 options available as of Spring 2023.
- They partnered with the One Drop Foundation to donate 1 day of clean drinking water for every gift sent.
- All gift cards are actually digital, meaning there’s no plastic waste. This also makes it a very remote-friendly product.
- Guusto is not a points program. All the gifts within the platform are real dollar value.
- As of early 2023, their global rewards options have grown to the thousands.
- In the process of becoming more international, gift redemptions can now be done in almost any currency within the regions they operate in.
CONS
- Accounts can only be funded with USD or CAD, although gift redemptions can be made in a variety of currencies.
- For subscriptions, there is a minimum of $40/month for the Lite tier, $80/month for the Essential tier, and $400/month for the Premium tier.
- Accounts can only be funded with USD or CAD
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Guusto makes rewards and recognition seamless for dispersed workforces with its inclusive and automated software. We appreciate a simple approach to rewards and Guusto offers just that. Rather than point systems which can be confusing to understand, Guusto uses real dollar value rewards that can be sent to any employee, even if they aren't in the system yet. To make things even better, you only need to pay for users that send recognitions; recipients can be added for free, without any limit.
Another thing we love about Guusto is its focus on frontline and deskless workers, ensuring they’re not left out of any appreciation efforts. These employees are often on the move, and many of them don’t have corporate email access. Their rewards and shoutouts can be sent to them via SMS text messages and physical cards.
The software empowers managers with custom budgets to consistently recognize achievements, reinforce values, and automate milestone rewards. Peer-to-peer shoutouts boost morale across locations, automated drawings help randomly issue rewards and incentives, and employees can redeem their recognitions for hundreds of digital gift cards from top brands worldwide, company swag, donations, and more.
Staples, Compass One Healthcare, The Body Shop, Fairmont, Rexall Pharmacies
Guusto has scalable pricing:
- Free - $0/month (single user sending rewards)
- Lite - $40/month (single user sending/scheduling bulk rewards)
- Essential - $120/month (30 seats included, additional seats cost $4/month)
- Premium - $400/month (80 seats included, additional seats cost $5/month)
Note: Only recognition senders need user seats. There are no limits on how many recognition receipts there are in the system. Guusto also offers volume discounts for enterprise customers. Contact Guusto's Sales team for more details.
Best For
Guusto is best for companies with frontline employees, particularly in the Healthcare, Retail, Financial Services, and Hospitality industries. They’ve also been actively updating their offering with features to suit the needs of companies with deskless workers.
Employee & peer rewards and recognition.
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I love using Guusto because of the peer recognition and when you receive gift cards from coworkers, the redemption process is easy from a variety of vendors. The user interface on the Guusto site & app is easy and you can find things easily on the website.
Guusto is very user-friendly for employee & peer recognition. I have been using Guusto for about 3 months now.
The website and application is very user-friendly and easy to use. I would only recommend having themes for the website and having a dark mode option.
The variety of vendors and the amount of gift selection available to use. Guusto has a variety of gift vendors and the redemption process is very simple.
Guusto listens to our feedback and is very customer-oriented.
Financial companies or any office companies. The user experience is very simple for anyone.
Possibly companies where computers are not used and where employees do not have their own email addresses.
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Connecteam
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Connecteam is an all-in-one workforce management hub for businesses, big and small with simple yet effective rewards and recognition features.
PROS
- Intuitive, mobile-friendly user interface.
- Customizable badges and recognition.
- Purchased tokens never expire and are refundable.
- A single platform for rewards and recognition, job scheduling, time management, team communication, and more.
- Free to use for teams with 10 users or fewer.
- One of the only fully-mobile HR tech tools for deskless workers
- Very adequately-priced for all it entails, SMB-friendly
- Quite open to feedback, having implemented user suggestions as features in the past.
CONS
- Fewer reward options than specialized rewards and recognition brands.
- Limited peer-to-peer features.
- Third-party integrations limited to 4 payroll software providers.
- API access is for Enterprise plan only.
- No phone support.
- In the communication hub, the app offers no confirmation that messages were sent and/or seen.
- Certain features that some teams consider essential, such as GPS-tracking, are only available in the higher-tier pricing plans.
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Instead of taking the spotlight, Connecteam's rewards and recognition are designed to complement other features this workforce management software offers. And we must say, they totally nailed it.
Unlike Assembly, the tokens you buy from Connecteam never expire, and you can get a refund if you need to. There are fewer gift card options than with competitors like Bonusly or Motivosity, but popular brands like Amazon, Apple, and Best Buy are available.
Unsurprisingly, transaction fees are applied—10% for any purchased gift card in the U.S. and 15% for other countries. What we do appreciate here, though, is that the vendor has always been upfront about its prices. It always informs users about the cost of purchasing tokens and the price of the gift cards so they know the difference before buying.
Connecteam gives you different ways to show appreciation for your employees. You can send recognition messages to individuals, select multiple users to send to everyone, or filter recipients based on specific criteria. Plus, you can create your own customized recognition badges to add a personal touch.
However, Connecteam doesn’t seem to give peer-to-peer recognition the attention it deserves. At the time of writing, there’s no way for employees to gift tokens to others. To give a colleague a shout-out, they either have to rely on the comment section on the admin’s recognition posts or use the chat feature.
Integration is another area this vendor falls short. It can connect natively with just 4 payroll solutions, while its API access is only available on the Enterprise plan.
36,000+ companies, including Siteline, EnviroCon, and Copernicus.
- Small Business Plan: Free for up to 10 users.
- Basic Plan: $29 per month for the first 30 users, $0.5 per additional user.
- Advanced Plan: $49 per month for the first 30 users, $1.5 per additional user.
- Expert Plan: $99 per month for the first 30 users, $3 per additional user.
- Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing with features like personal account managers, SSO, 2FA, biometric lock, and API access.
Best For
Non-desk or distributed teams to celebrate achievements and show employee appreciation.
We use Connecteam for task management. Employees are assigned daily/weekly tasks based on their roles. With Connecteam, all employees are working toward the bigger goal, one person at a time. The app is also a great communication platform for celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and accomplishments.
Three major pros Connecteam offers are task management, community, and timekeeping. Connecteam’s task management tools empower each employee to give their best. The communication tools are a great asset to the company’s culture. Connecteam’s timekeeping functions make scheduling less time-consuming.
Before moving the organization to Connecteam, basic employee functions were on different systems. Timekeeping and workload checklists were all in paper form, taking up valuable space. Connecteam helped create operational excellence. Now, supervisors can delegate workloads to employees without physical paperwork to confirm completion. Employees are now eager to post photos of their completed tasks. Timekeeping has also become much easier. We have used Connecteam for over a year.
The biggest con could be app usage for employees who are not comfortable with technology or mobile apps. This is no fault of Connecteam, but inactive users can slow down operational progress. Using a mobile device can also be a distraction for some employees. From an HR perspective, auto-scheduling is generally helpful, but in some cases, employees' schedules can change weekly or biweekly, which requires extra time to ensure schedules are correct.
Compared to other systems I have used at different companies, Connecteam offers much more ease for users. It also has fewer problems with maintenance and malfunctions.
When buying this tool, I think people should consider operational excellence. Companies should also think about the diversity of their team and whether employees will be open to using the app. In addition to gaining employee buy-in for using this software, buyers should also review the price point to ensure they are comfortable using it within their business. Lastly, potential buyers should ensure that a person or team is in place to explore all the functions to get full use of the app.
The access to the helpdesk and training videos for using the app has greatly met the needs of both the users and employees.
This tool is great for businesses that focus on operational excellence or operational standards. Operational size doesn’t matter because the app is multifunctional. Larger organizations may need to use more of the app’s functions.
Organizations where physical paperwork is required, or where phone service or usage is limited.
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Matter
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It's rare to find a vendor that can so effectively integrate rewards and recognition within tools we're already using daily. So seeing Matter automate global reward delivery, birthdays, work anniversaries, and employee surveys, all inside Slack or Teams—and it does so beautifully—is truly impressive.
PROS
- One app for rewards, recognition, and surveys working right inside your Slack or Teams.
- Gift cards, donations, and prepaid card rewards in 100+ countries.
- Visually appealing and user-friendly software design.
- Transparent, affordable plans with discounts for non-profits and educational institutions.
- Free plan offers unlimited users, customizable notifications, and kudos.
- 200+ HRIS integrations available.
- Option to reward survey completions with redeemable Matter coins.
- Pulse Survey delivered and responded to right in Slack or MS Teams.
- Pulse Surveys use real-time data from a library of 100 questions to provide insights on cultural categories.
- Survey recipients won't see the same question twice within 90 days.
- Real-time anonymous feedback with custom notifications.
- Affordable and transparent plans with discounts for non-profits and schools.
CONS
- You have to use either Slack or Microsoft Teams to be able to use Matter.
- Coin allowance resets weekly if not fully used. (Kudos coins don't expire though.)
- Free plan only support 30 days of analytics history.
- To use Matter, you must have either Slack or Teams installed.
- At this time, the vendor doesn't allow the Pulse Survey questions to be editable.
- Pulse surveys are only available on the highest-priced plan.
We love the fact that Matter automates the delivery of global rewards, celebrates birthdays and work anniversaries, and even conducts employee surveys—all within the familiar interfaces of communication platforms Slack and MS Teams. As a remote team that uses Slack daily, it felt natural and incredibly efficient to incorporate the tool into our workflow.
Navigating the software, it became apparent to us that the vendor has paid close attention to their product’s user experience. Matter’s app not only possesses an elegant design but also a straightforward set of functionalities. It only took a few minutes to set everything up: we selected the rewards categories we wanted, used the built-in Rewards Calculator to figure out how many coins to allocate to each team member given our budget, and tweaked the default coin allocation accordingly. Then, all that was left was to approve or reject incoming rewards requests, either in bulk or one by one.
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The pricing structure is another aspect we found quite reasonable. At $3 per month, it didn't feel like a significant investment, and the fact that there's a free trial and a free plan available made it an even easier decision for small teams like us to give Metter a go.
However, the requirement to use Slack or Microsoft Teams means it wouldn't be suitable for every organization. While we’re aware that Matter does have some very large teams in its customer base, its offerings seem to be most valued by small-to-medium-sized companies with less than a thousand employees.
A bit of a letdown for those looking to start with Matter’s free plan: there’s a 30-day limit on analytics history. Yet, considering the other benefits, it’s something we trust most budget-minded teams would be willing to work around.
4,700+ companies, including Petco, Shell, and JiffyLube.
Matter offers four pricing plans, ranging from free to $5 per month. All features are accessible during a 30-day free trial.
Best For
SMBs that are using communication platforms Teams or Slack and are open to incorporating their rewards programs within these apps.
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Bucketlist
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With its vast rewards catalog, easy fulfillment, collaborative team challenges, and more, Bucketlist boosts employee satisfaction and retention. They also offer dedicated support to help you optimize your incentive programs.
PROS
- Numerous rewards are available. Some users have even mentioned that it’s hard to pick one.
- Known for adding customer suggestions to its product roadmap and delivering on them.
- Web and mobile versions are easy to use.
- A pilot program is available.
- Available in English, Spanish, and French.
- Vast number of rewards available, some users have even mentioned that it’s hard to pick one
- The Bucketlist team has been known for adding customer suggestions to their product roadmap and delivering on them
- When it comes to pricing, they offer to match another offer if you find a better price elsewhere
CONS
- Rewards in the form of experiences are quite limited compared to cash rewards.
- Some users found shoutouts, tokens, and goal setup features challenging to use.
- Only available in English
- Little information is available as to the particularities of their concierge service for experience rewards.
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Bucketlist’s rewards and incentives platform has all the features you need to boost employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention. For starters, it features a comprehensive catalog of over 2,500 rewards employees can choose from, ranging from gift cards to merchandise to unique experiences. Reward fulfillment is fairly simple, with no markup on rewards.
The UI was easy to navigate in our testing. It was also simple to create different competitions which can be tied to sales goals, community service hours, or any important metric. The progress team members make can be tracked on a leaderboard, and winning members or teams receive the incentives you’ve previously defined. There are also detailed analytics and reports that give you plenty of insight into which incentives or awards resonate most with your employees.
On top of its robust features, Bucketlist also offers dedicated support to optimize your setup and training for all users. The implementation process is quick and easy with seamless integrations with platforms your team already uses like G-Suite and Office 365. Overall, we think Bucketlist is a fantastic platform to streamline and enhance your rewards initiatives while checking all the boxes: easy setup, impactful features, and excellent service.
The platform has over 470,000 users from 100+ countries. Some of them are First Bank, RBC, Interac, Chick-fil-A, 1-800-GOT-JUNK, Stamford Health, Danone, Majesco, and Applebee’s.
Bucketlist plans are priced on a tiered pricing model based on company size. Typically, the range is $2 - $4 dollars per employee per month.
Best For
Bucketlist works best for medium to enterprise-size businesses (200 to 5,000+ employees).
Our experience has been fantastic. We have a direct account manager who we speak with regularly and we work together to make any changes necessary. If we need help, I know I can reach out to them and will get a response very quickly. it is easy to create and have your account approved.
I appreciate several features of Bucketlist. The activity feed allows me to easily track the recognition others receive. The platform’s user-friendliness is impressive, and the customizable marketplace caters to our specific requirements. I also enjoy exploring the leaderboard and celebrating people’s achievements. Bucketlist’s customizability enables the platform’s look to mirror our brand and image. The web-based interface resembles a typical internet or intranet page.
Among various platforms, none matched the level of customization that Bucketlist provides for our company's Culture, Values, and Reward structure. Additionally, their service, which includes building our system and a hands-on approach during the launch, was unparalleled compared to others. Comparable features at a more budget-friendly price.
I have used the tool for three years and found the system working efficiently. Being able to share positive stories about colleagues’ good deeds in a way that doesn’t embarrass them but is accessible to all members of the company—especially those who wouldn’t typically hear about individual daily acts of kindness—is invaluable. In my experience, this recognition, whether through points or not, fosters a sense of appreciation and well-being.
Bucketlist could enhance its platform by introducing a few key features. Firstly, allowing users to save their location preferences would eliminate the need to repeatedly filter redemption options by location.
Secondly, a comprehensive recognition history page would be valuable, displaying all recognitions received by an individual.
Lastly, when a customer service query is raised, providing a reference number or saving a copy of the query would facilitate efficient follow-up, especially if customer support response times were not as prompt.
Although my suggestion may seem less enthusiastic, I still want to discuss it. When I search for 'Bucketlist' on Google, I encounter numerous unrelated results, with very few relevant to the features that Bucketlist provides. In my opinion, improving the SEO would help Bucketlist stand out in Google search results, making it more accessible.
I appreciate the user-friendly experience. The entire process, from sending recognition to redeeming points, is straightforward to navigate. I also enjoy the playful details like GIFs and emojis, which add a touch of whimsy and meaning to the words and points awarded.
It is easy to customize and use for all businesses and personal use. It is cheap and has no effects of overwhelming. We all want to give recognition and encouragement to our fellow teammates, and this makes it so easy while putting them in a running feed so that everyone can share in the positivity and motivation.
The admin page has been customized in many colors and this has changed many things.
Software companies
Software engineers
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Kudos
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Kudos’ employee rewards storefront is highly configurable, allowing you to tailor rewards that speak to your brand and employees’ needs. Extra support is also provided during and after the tool’s launching phase.
PROS
- Kudos possesses a set of unique, company culture-oriented features that are present all across the platform.
- Users love how easy Kudos is to navigate.
- It has all the bells and whistles out-of-the-box, both on the web and mobile versions.
- Available in 11 languages.
- Unique, company culture-oriented features are present all across the platform, such as in the way they approach analytics, or on the actual Culture Accelerator module.
- Excellent relation of mobile / desktop functionality. You basically get all the bells and whistles on both versions.
CONS
- An insider's help is needed to get a good idea of the Kudos app from the website, so a demo is necessary.
- The UX/UI could be improved: some users reported issues with attaching images, .gifs, and emojis.
- No free version and no trial version.
- Unless you get a demo and start exploring the tool with the help of an insider, we’d say it’s somewhat hard to get a good idea of what features are like, how they work, and even what they do, just from their website alone.
- From our research, we could gather that the points system and how this works can get a bit confusing for some users.
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Kudos offers an engaging employee rewards platform that amplifies recognition and supports stronger company culture. One of the features that stood out for us is its customizable online storefront where employees can redeem their points. We’ve gone through the catalog, which includes popular rewards like gift cards, merchandise, charitable donations, travel experiences, and company swag. It’s also easy to add custom rewards to the storefront and tailor it to what your employees like.
As an employee using the system, it’s easy to rack up points through peer-to-peer shoutouts, manager recognitions, completing learning modules, hitting key milestones, and more. From the employee interface, it’s also easy to track points balance and redeem them for rewards.
Kudos also provides dedicated program management support to ensure seamless execution. Their team helps handle reward sourcing, point tracking, reporting, and communication to drive program success. With their help, you are guaranteed to run effective employee recognition and rewards programs your people will love to be part of.
ATCO, Bulgari, Arch Insurance, KidsPeace
Kudos offers a starting price of $3.25 per user per month, catering to organizations with a minimum of 500 employees. The actual pricing is flexible and determined by factors such as the number of users and the duration of the contract.
Best For
Kudos is best for businesses with over 500 employees looking for a rewards-focused program that supports multiple languages and diverse forms of recognition, from shout-outs to gift cards, experiences, and charity.
I used Kudos to shout out my coworkers on my team and other teams. I used it to keep track of my successes and achievements. With the graphs, I could see what prominent words were used the most to describe me as a colleague, so that was neat to see in what ways I was adding value to the team. During performance reviews, I could review all the projects I completed and the recognition I received since it keeps track of all the kudos I have received from my colleagues and managers. I also used it to see how others viewed me as a teammate and to identify areas where I might need improvement.
I liked that it was fun to give shoutouts to each other. I appreciated seeing how my coworkers viewed me. It was easy to use as it’s an intuitive tool that takes hardly any learning curve to get started.
We used Kudos to give praise to each other. It was a way for us to recognize each other's work within our team and while collaborating with other teams. It was also a good way to keep track of our successes and achievements. When it came time for performance reviews, I could look back on all my shoutouts and accomplishments. I used this tool for six months.
I disliked the limited ways the data could be split; there weren't enough tables and graphs. I felt the incentive program led to giving kudos just to earn points for redemption; there weren’t many options for gift cards. The pulse surveys didn't explore company culture deeply enough.
N/A - I haven't used another tool similar to Kudos before, so I don't have enough data for comparison. If I had to say, I feel Kudos is a good tool to at least check out to see if it’s something to implement in one’s organization.
People should consider how they would use this tool to encourage company culture and what type of culture they want to build on their teams. They should also consider if this tool is necessary or if there is another way to build company culture without using a tool.
I'm unsure. I didn't use this tool long enough to see it evolve.
Kudos would be useful for a small startup or a company trying to build up its culture. It would be best for organizations that work cross-functionally since it would help build trust among the various teams that work together, such as recruiting working alongside sales, HR, and hiring teams.
I can't think of any organization that couldn't find Kudos useful. However, if the organization is starting out with less than 100 employees, then I could see this tool being too premature for an organization of that size.
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Bonusly
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Bonusly’s specialty lies in its reward catalog: it packs an impressive number of gift cards that work in dozens of countries. Teams with 50-5000 employees, remote or in-office, can make great use of the tool. Bonusly’s discounts also make it a sound option for nonprofits.
PROS
- Bonusly has an intuitive user interface where both admin and employee users find it easy to navigate through.
- The platform is available in German, English, French, and Spanish.
- There are Android and iOS apps for on-the-go access.
- Nonprofits and educational organizations get discounted pricing from Bonusly.
- There is a 14-day, full-featured free trial that anyone can sign up for.
- Intuitive user interface.
- Available in German, English, French, and Spanish.
- Supports Android and iOS.
- Discounts for nonprofit and education organizations.
- 14-day, full-featured free trial.
CONS
- The Core plan which is marketed for small businesses is capped at 50 users.
- The analytics and reporting capabilities are relatively limited in functionality and customization.
- The reward options are centered around gift cards, cash, and donations rather than experiences.
- Features like requiring hashtags or showing top receivers were unnecessary according to a few users.
- Unused bonus money does not carry over; you use it or lose it.
- The starter plan is for small businesses that cap out at 50 users.
- Analytics and reporting features are relatively underdeveloped.
- The reward catalog lacks in-person experience and physical goods, and options and focuses on gift cards, cash, or donations.
- Unused bonus funds don’t roll over: users use it or lose it.
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Bonusly’s full-featured and flexible employee rewards platform prioritizes choice, meaning, and connection. We’ve gone through their rewards catalog and liked what we saw: 1,200+ gift cards from popular vendors, redeemable in over 200 countries. Employees have abundant options to choose from across apparel, F&B, travel and more.
We find Bonusly’s approach to giving branded company swag quite unique. Through an integration with AXOMO, employees can browse and order company-branded items themselves. We also like how Bonusly gives employees the option to take their rewards in cash, with points redeemable for PayPal transfers, Visa gift cards, and prepaid Mastercards.
Customizable reward options are yet another advantage to Bonusly. You can get creative with experiential rewards like lunch with the CEO, local sports tickets, paid time off, and more. The platform is also connected to over 50 charitable causes, allowing employees to accept rewards in the form of donations to causes that matter to them.
Besides tangible rewards, Bonusly helps you set up automated awards for milestones like work anniversaries and birthdays to foster a culture of continuous appreciation. These public messages encourage social connections, praise, and gratitude between coworkers. You can also tie awards to business goals, driving performance and morale simultaneously.
Bonusly is used by over 3,250 companies, including Cerebral, Baxter, Headspace, and InVision.
Bonusly has 3 plans. When billed annually, they cost as follows:
- Core: Designed for small businesses, this plan costs $2.70 per user per month for up to 50 users.
- Pro: For $4.50 per user per month, this plan can be used by teams looking for more flexibility with reporting, permissions, and integrations.
- Custom: This plan has custom pricing and is made for larger businesses needing premium SLA and implementation support.
Best For
Bonusly works well for companies ranging from 50 to 5,000 employees looking to build a culture of appreciation.
We use Bonusly through the desktop and mobile version, and the team uses it on average about once a week. The team can use Bonusly to recognize their teammates for great work, or for their alignment with our core values. We also use it to give larger quarterly recognitions for client compliments or large wins.
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It has an easy to use interface. It is easy to set up team members on it. It can be customized to align with our core values.
We were looking to integrate recognition into our workflows. We wanted it to be distributed across the organization, so it wasn't leadership only but everyone participated. We also wanted to align recognition with our core values. We've been using Bonusly for just over a year, and it has helped our team pause each month and recognize people for their efforts.
While Bonusly offers several beneficial features, there are areas that could be improved to enhance user experience and functionality. One of the drawbacks is the clunky and challenging nature of the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) process, particularly when using it on mobile devices. Simplifying and streamlining the 2FA procedure would make it more user-friendly and accessible. Another area of concern is the Signals feature, which falls short when it comes to conducting employee surveys. The limited scale options of 1-5 restrict the ability to capture nuanced feedback, as some questions may require a more extensive rating scale. Providing customizable scales would allow for greater flexibility in survey design. Moreover, the lack of customization options for survey questions itself is a drawback. Enabling users to personalize and tailor questions to their specific needs and objectives would enhance the effectiveness of data collection. Lastly, improving the process of extracting and integrating survey results into analysis systems would facilitate data analysis and reporting. By addressing these cons and implementing the suggested improvements, Bonusly could offer a more seamless and customizable experience, enhancing its usability and value as an employee engagement tool.
One of Bonusly’s key strengths is the ability to customize company awards and rewards, allowing organizations to tailor recognition programs to their specific needs and culture. This flexibility ensures that employees feel appreciated in meaningful and personalized ways. Additionally, Bonusly has a user-friendly mobile interface, enabling seamless access and participation on the go. This makes recognition accessible anytime, anywhere. Another standout feature is its integration with Google Chat, which streamlines use within our team’s workflow. When searching for an employee engagement software, these qualities—customization, mobile interface, and integration—should be top considerations, and Bonusly excels in all these areas, making it an ideal choice for fostering a culture of recognition and appreciation.
It has worked great for our small company
People who are not tech savvy, and I can see it getting expensive for larger companies.
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Reward Gateway
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We love Reward Gateway's multiple offerings in a single platform. Keeping rewards, recognition and surveys within each other's reach is just plain smart.
PROS
- Excellent customer support thanks to their 24/7 help desk team and multiple communication channels
- Varied rewards, including products from Amazon, customizable ecards, and experiences.
- Employees will receive the reward budget's total value without processing or admin fees, as all rewards are provided at market pricing.
- A vast number of employee engagement modules can be purchased separately.
- Branded mobile apps are available for both Android and IOS users.
- Remarkably good customer support due to their 24/7 help desk team and multiple communication channels
- Varied rewards including products from Amazon, customizable ecards, and experiences
- You can purchase modules separately if you prefer it
CONS
- No free plan at this time.
- The reporting side of the platform could be enhanced to provide deeper insights.
- With mobile being so prevalent now, the lack of a mobile app to access Reward Gateway is a drawback. Having to log in separately on mobile is not ideal.
- At times, it can take a while for cashback earnings to be credited after a purchase.
- No free trial
- The “Reward Gateway for Small Business” version is only available for companies in the UK and Australia
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Reward Gateway is an excellent tool for organizations that determine to have their rewards program centered around retailer gift cards.
As we look into user feedback, the software provides on-the-spot tools for managers to give in-person or digital rewards, tracking benchmarks and making it possible to reward employees once they achieve the set goals.
Reward Gateway is used by over 4000 companies, including McDonald’s, Comcast, and Pepsi.
- Reward Gateway employee reward and recognition solutions can be purchased separately and have custom pricing.
- The pricing of Reward Gateway’s “for Small Business” version starts at £6 per employee per month with no minimum price commitment.
Best For
Reward Gateway’s rewards program works for in-office, hybrid, and remote teams. Yet mid-size companies (51-500 employees) are the ones that typically make the most out of the software.
I use Reward Gateway on a weekly basis as part of our regular workflow for employee recognition and rewards. One of the primary ways we use the platform is through its peer-to-peer recognition feature, allowing staff to publicly acknowledge the hard work and achievements of their colleagues.
I also manage and distribute reward points that employees can redeem in place of other benefits to further engage them. Additionally, the analytics and reporting tools help us gauge employee engagement and assess the effectiveness of our recognition programs.
Overall, Reward Gateway has proven to be an essential tool in building a culture of appreciation within the organization.
Reward Gateway has an extremely user-friendly interface, making it easy for employees to navigate and access recognition tools. It offers a wide variety of custom rewards and discounts, which can be tailored to fit our team's preferences. The platform's robust analytics provide valuable insights into employee engagement, helping us continually improve our recognition programs.
Our organization implemented Reward Gateway to address significant challenges related to employee engagement and recognition. Before using this tool, we struggled with inconsistency in employee recognition and a lack of centralized resources for rewards, which negatively affected morale and motivation.
We sought a solution that would foster a culture of appreciation and make it easier for employees to recognize each other's contributions. Reward Gateway offers key benefits such as an easy-to-use peer-to-peer recognition platform, customizable reward options, and exclusive employee discounts.
I have been using Reward Gateway for over a year, and it has significantly enhanced our ability to celebrate achievements and maintain a positive workplace culture.
The search functionality for rewards is somewhat limited, making it difficult to quickly find specific items. The mobile application is less intuitive than the desktop version, which can hinder on-the-go recognition. While the reporting features are useful, they could benefit from more customization options for deeper analysis of engagement metrics.
Reward Gateway stands out because it offers a comprehensive employee engagement solution that combines recognition, rewards, and communication in one platform. While many tools focus solely on recognition or discounts, Reward Gateway integrates additional features such as employee surveys and company news, supporting a more holistic approach to engagement.
Compared to competitors like Bonusly and TINYpulse, Reward Gateway offers broader incentives through customizable rewards and a large-scale discount program. I appreciate how it nurtures a culture of appreciation while also keeping everyone informed of company news, which helps boost morale.
When choosing an employee engagement tool like Reward Gateway, consider functionality—ensure the platform has the features you need for recognition, rewards, and communication.
A user-friendly interface is important to ensure high adoption across the organization. The platform’s ability to be customized to reflect your company's culture and values is also crucial.
Additionally, check if the tool integrates smoothly with your existing HR systems to improve efficiency. Lastly, assess the vendor’s level of support to ensure you receive the necessary assistance during implementation and ongoing use.
Reward Gateway has evolved significantly, expanding its features to better meet user needs. Originally a simple recognition and rewards platform, it has grown to include engagement tools such as employee communication and surveys. The user interface has become more intuitive and accessible, driven by user feedback.
The platform now offers more customizable reward options and a broader range of discounts, catering to diverse employee preferences. Additionally, Reward Gateway has enhanced its analytics features, enabling organizations to track engagement metrics more thoroughly.
Reward Gateway is well-suited for mid-sized to large organizations where employee engagement and recognition are key components of corporate culture. It is ideal for companies looking to boost morale and retention through comprehensive rewards and recognition programs.
The platform is particularly beneficial for organizations with diverse workforces, as it offers customizable rewards and discounts to cater to different employee preferences. Companies seeking a tool that combines engagement features with communication capabilities will find Reward Gateway’s all-in-one approach valuable for creating a positive workplace environment.
Reward Gateway may not be the best fit for very small organizations with limited budgets or those that do not require an extensive recognition and reward program. Companies with highly specialized engagement needs may find the platform’s broader approach less suitable.
Additionally, organizations seeking a simple, low-cost tool focused solely on recognition, without integrated communication or analytics features, may prefer a more basic solution.
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Awardco
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Awardco helps you give thoughtful and personal rewards to employees. Besides Amazon rewards, it features Bonus Boxes, digital MemoryBooks, and extensive redemption options, letting you appreciate people in creative ways.
PROS
- The platform is easy to use and navigate.
- It’s available in 16 languages.
- Awardco’s integration with Amazon gives employees a wide range of reward options redeemable in many countries.
- It can integrate easily with many popular tools including Slack, Teams, and Hubspot.
- Amazon Business integration, huge reward catalog for a multitude of countries.
- The platform is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Simplified Chinese.
CONS
- No free trial.
- Some users said that the prices for certain rewards are higher than retail prices.
- There have been complaints that reward delivery at times takes longer than expected.
- Actual pricing is not publicly available, so getting started won’t be a quick and self-service process like with other companies in the space.
- With Awardco, digital and physical gift cards are ineligible for refunds.
- Only Amazon-delivered products are available from Awardco. Goods sold by third-party vendors on Amazon are not available.
- The Awardco mobile app is only available as a Progressive Web Application, not from the App Store or Google Play, which might be less intuitive for some users.
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Awardco helps you appreciate your people in unique ways. We’ve not seen other platforms offer the same degree of gift customization and personalization as Awardco. For starters, you can create and give out Bonus Boxes, which are creative care packages filled with fun branded items suited to the recipient. Digital MemoryBooks are another way to honor employees' work anniversaries. These interactive books compile messages and photos from colleagues into a cherished keepsake.
The way Awardco automates the rewards process is a major time-saver. It sends automatic reminders about service anniversaries, birthdays, and other occasions, prompting participation from the team. The software also seamlessly integrates with communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, making it easy to give timely shoutouts.
Robust incentive programs are another thing we liked about Awardco. Employees can earn points for achieving goals, then redeem them from an extensive catalog including top brands like Apple and YETI. For sales teams, Awardco partners with Amazon Business to provide the ultimate flexibility - earners can choose their own rewards without any friction.
Overall, we think Awardco succeeds at modernizing traditional employee rewards through creativity, flexibility, integration, and automation. The focus on curating unique experiences sets it apart from generic reward platforms. For any organization seeking to boost engagement, appreciation, and motivation, Awardco is worth strong consideration.
Awardco has over 3 million users including known companies like Percepta, Paramount, Hertz, Pacific Life, and Aptive
Awardco has two plans for SMBs, Lite and Go.
- Lite provides automation for service awards, birthdays, tracking, reporting, and manager notifications to establish a solid foundation for $2,500/year.
- Go builds on Lite by adding automated onboarding, peer-to-peer recognition, manager-to-employee recognition, value-driven recognition, and budget management for $4,000/year.
As for enterprises, Awardco offers plans that are more custom. The pricing for the enterprise plans depends on the features needed. Contact Awardco’s Sales team for more information.
Best For
Awardco is an excellent choice for growing teams and multinational businesses looking for a powerful and flexible solution to appreciate their employees.
We use Awardco for recognizing our employees for anniversaries with the company, birthdays. And personal anniversaries. We also allow supervisors to go in a recognize high performers.
- It keeps track of and sends gift cards for employee birthdays.
- It lets us supervisors highlight high performers.
- It makes employees feel recognized and us to gift them a small gift of appreciation.
Our office subscribed to Awardco to help with our retention issue. Although we had a good culture, talent is still hard to retain in this market and we wanted our employees to feel appreciated and want to continue working here.
There really is not much we dislike. This is the only service we have seen that’s been able to boost morale the way it has.
I am not sure of any competitors in this market
If you’re looking to boost employee moral this is a great tool and we have seen a big trend upward in our retention. We were hesitant at first to spend money on an award system but we are glad we did.
I’m not sure of any changes since we have started using it.
This is great for any company that has more than 30 or 40 employees and would like to recognize employees
Small business that you could easily track what Awardco tracks, or a company not wanting to spend money on employee recognition.
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WorkTango
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Employees can enjoy the freedom of choosing merchandise, gift cards, donations, and other custom rewards from WorkTango’s massive rewards catalog. The platform also ensures that offered rewards align with your business’ culture and core values.
PROS
- The majority of users find WorkTango to be intuitive and easy to use.
- Points can be redeemed for a wide variety of gift cards, prizes, and other reward options.
- Coworkers can publicly or privately recognize one another in any direction, with or without reward points. Public recognition is viewable company-wide in a social media-like activity feed.
- The platform’s automated recognition ensures timely shoutouts for employee birthdays, work anniversaries, and other milestones.
- WorkTango is available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, German, and French, making it accessible to diverse users.
- Create custom incentives to reinforce your company’s objectives, programs, core values, or any positive actions that help your employees and your business succeed.
- The reporting and analytics dashboard gives you near real-time insights on how your efforts are faring.
- Unlimited surveys available in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Korean.
- You can add modules as you go and these will be charged on a prorated basis.
CONS
- Billing can only be done annually.
- All plans require a minimum commitment of 12 months.
- Free trials aren't available at this time.
- Billing is only done annually and all plans require a minimum agreement for a 24-month subscription (see our FAQs for more and their pricing page for full details).
- Several users have complained about the rewards redeeming process being not very intuitive.
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WorkTango’s all-in-one employee rewards platform makes appreciating and incentivizing employees easy and meaningful. We’ve peeked through their rewards catalog and it is massive, packing over a million rewards from popular retail gift cards to charity donations.
We like how the rewards catalog covers different price ranges, meaning you can incentivize all behaviors and achievements no matter how big or small. Another thing we like is its built-in search and filtering capabilities. Despite how big the catalog is, employees can still search and accurately find rewards that fit their interests best. WorkTango also gives personalized suggestions based on each employee’s past activity and has wishlists, reward points trackers, and an option for group reward redemption to build camaraderie.
Aside from rewards, WorkTango helps you give timely shoutouts for employee birthdays, work anniversaries and more through its automated recognition feature. It also lets you create incentives, gamifying and making it more fun for employees to reach performance goals, demonstrate certain values or positive actions. It’s a win for everyone.
Kia Motors, HUB International, Rexall, Accruent
WorkTango has custom pricing. Request a demo to learn more.
Best For
WorkTango is great for distributed teams and SMBs, particularly in tech, FSI, healthcare, and business services.
We use WorkTango daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. I find it most effective on a quarterly and yearly basis for performance tracking and rewarding. This tool is also beneficial during project integration, helping to focus and reward employees on specific tasks. For daily and monthly use, it can be applied for more immediate recognition and rewards.
This program's key attribute is its ability to recognize not only employees but also peer-to-peer recognition and reward.
These types of programs are especially useful for remote workers, as those in the office still get to be rewarded with special days, days off, etc. This is a way to reward those who are not able to participate in those times with the other employees who may not be remote.
Lastly, I think the automation aspect of this reward program is a great attribute. I say this because in the world of business, sometimes an employee's time of service can become 2nd sting to other things happening in the company.
However the need to look at why your business is running smoothly is due to the employees keeping your business afloat. So to be able to reward them on a yearly basis when their time of service comes about can be key in keeping those employees engaged and looking forward to the year ahead.
Our organization purchased WorkTango to monitor employee performance, recognize hard work, survey employees, and implement their feedback. It allows us to survey employees about ideas and workplace issues, then integrate their input into our company’s operations. Recognizing employees who excel and ensuring they are aware of their contributions was a key factor in choosing this product. Additionally, tracking employee performance and rewarding it through this tool has been invaluable. I have been using this tool for several months.
There are few cons to this program overall. The analytics could be improved, though this is a common issue with many programs. This tool is primarily a recognition tool rather than an analytics tool.
WorkTango offers more peer-to-peer recognition options than most competitors, which is valuable for building company and employee rapport.
If you need a peer-to-peer recognition program, this is an excellent choice. It’s also suitable for measuring employee performance. However, if you need extensive analytical features, you may need to look elsewhere.
WorkTango has improved its analytics features, though there is still room for enhancement in this area.
WorkTango is ideal for established companies looking to encourage employee progress and development.
Start up companies and those looking for a quick tool to reward their employees may not benefit as much from WorkTango.
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Vantage Circle
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Vantage Circle offers a wide range of peer and manager rewards to boost engagement, with the flexibility to support global teams through localized redemption options in over 100 countries and in 16 languages.
PROS
- Vantage Circle features an excellent user interface that’s modern, clean, simple, and easy to navigate.
- There’s a wide selection of gift cards and shopping discounts to redeem points.
- The process for redeeming points for gift cards and vouchers is quick and straightforward.
- Users praise Vantage Circle’s support team for being quick to respond and resolve issues.
CONS
- There’s a learning curve due to the platform’s feature breadth. The clean and easy-to-navigate interface does make up for it though.
- The conversion rate of points to monetary rewards is low according to users.
- The mobile app can sometimes be slow or buggy. Reports include occasional technical issues with logging in or displaying points accurately.
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Vantage Circle offers a comprehensive and user-friendly employee rewards platform that makes it easy to appreciate and engage your workforce.
The platform stands out for its massive rewards catalog, containing gift cards, merchandise, and curated experiences accessible in over 100 countries. What’s also great about it is that it takes the Standard of Living Index (SOLI) into account, adjusting reward points for international teams to redeem in a fair manner.
There’s a host of features around peer-to-peer recognition. Employees are empowered to recognize one another's accomplishments via custom awards and badges. There’s also a social feed that showcases all the recognition passed around and a leaderboard that not only tracks but gamifies everyone’s efforts.
Milestones like birthdays and work anniversaries are never forgotten with Vantage Circle’s automated messages. The platform also helps you create a digital yearbook and service catalog for long service awards.
With its comprehensive feature set, focus on user experience and powerful administrative capabilities, Vantage Circle ticks all the boxes for an effective employee rewards solution. Companies looking to delight their global workforce should consider this well-thought-out platform.
Vantage Circle is used by over 700 companies including Bosch, Tata, and DHL.
Vantage Circle’s pricing depends on the number of employees you have. SMBs with up to 1000 employees can access the Grow plan at a starting price of $200 per month. The other two plans, i.e. Transform and Enterprise have custom pricing. Contact Vantage Circle’s Sales team for an estimate based on the size and needs of your company.
Best For
Companies of all sizes can benefit from Vantage Circle’s employee rewards and recognition offering. Generally though, the more employees you have, the more value you derive out of platforms of its kind.
I use Vantage Circle daily to participate in workflows that enhance our workplace culture and employee experience. Each day, I use the platform to reward and praise my colleagues for their contributions through peer-to-peer recognition or manager-driven awards. This fosters an appreciative culture and motivates our teammates.
I also participate in the wellness programs offered by Vantage Circle, which include various challenges and activities promoting healthy habits for both body and mind. Integrating these wellness initiatives into my routine has significantly improved my engagement, productivity, and job satisfaction.
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- Vantage Circle offers a variety of rewards for employees to choose from, making it easy for them to find what truly inspires them.
- The platform includes wellness activities to promote healthy behaviors and overall well-being among employees.
- With its user-friendly design, Vantage Circle is intuitive and accessible for users at all levels.
When we bought Vantage Circle, we aimed to address three major gaps in how we engage, recognize, and support our employees. First, we needed one system to handle all the different forms of rewards, recognition, and wellness, making it easier to run the programs and boosting their effects. Second, we wanted to lift spirits, retain more staff, and create a healthier workplace. Finally, we sought an easy-to-use rewards and recognition solution that employees would truly appreciate.
Vantage Circle attracted us because it offers a wide array of perks and rewards to choose from. The wellness plans enable us to take care of the human being in the employee. The lightweight system integrates easily with other standard HR tools, making it simple to set up. The powerful analytics and reporting tools shed light on employee engagement and help management assess the success of our recognition programs.
I have used Vantage Circle for the past couple of years and have enjoyed watching staff satisfaction spike. The system opens up lines of communication and allows everyone to participate in the recognition process, fostering a culture that embraces everyone in the workplace.
- There are fewer customization options available for those looking to tailor the platform to their needs and culture.
- It can be expensive for smaller organizations.
- Setting up and integrating with existing systems can be time-consuming and may require strong technical support initially.
Vantage Circle offers an integrated platform for meaningful rewards, recognition, and wellness programs. While other tools focus mainly on employee recognition, Vantage Circle's wellness features promote a healthier workforce. Additionally, its global reward options meet the needs of multinational companies, making it a flexible solution for diverse workforces.
Ensure the tool has a range of features, including rewards, recognition, and wellness programs, to meet various employee needs. Verify that it integrates well with existing HR systems and is user-friendly. Consider the level of customization available and whether it fits your organization's specific requirements.
Vantage Circle has improved its user interface, making it easier to use, and provided more integrations. They have also enhanced their offerings, focusing on employee well-being.
Global corporations with large employee bases will appreciate Vantage Circle's broad reward options and ability to cater to diverse cultural tastes. Organizations that prioritize employee health will benefit from its integrated wellness programs.
Small organizations operating on a tight budget may find Vantage Circle pricing too high. Companies that require extensive customization for their recognition and reward systems might find the available options insufficient. Organizations with low technology adoption may find using Vantage Circle unnecessary.
Benefits of Employee Rewards Systems
An effective employee reward program strengthens workplace engagement, boosts morale and HR efficiency, and reinforces company core values, all while cultivating a positive culture.
Improved Employee Engagement and Retention
With 77% of employees performing their best when engaged and appreciated, rewarding worker contributions have a tangible impact. That does not just stop at better staff performance; it also helps turnover rates. Gallup found organizations that prioritize rewards at work see a 56% decrease in the likelihood of employees seeking new job opportunities
You would also want to consider a program fostering peer-to-peer recognition, as recent data suggests that employees who feel recognized by their peers are five times more likely to feel valued and to invest in their work.
Increased Productivity and Innovation
Employee recognition statistics demonstrate that employees perform better and feel more motivated when their contributions are recognized. According to Gartner, a well-designed recognition program can lead to an 11.1% increase in average employee performance.
Also, when employees receive regular recognition, they are more likely to offer creative solutions and strive for higher performance. For instance, those recognized monthly are 36% more likely to report feeling productive and engaged compared to those recognized quarterly.
Higher HR Efficiency
Too often, HR professionals wear many hats and have multiple aspects they need to attend to, so any opportunity to streamline the processes should be seized. The best solutions have all manner of automation options to ensure that rewards programs are implemented consistently and fairly. These tools can automate everything from milestone celebrations, work anniversaries, and birthdays to onboarding—all in one user-friendly interface.
Strengthened Company Culture and Employer Brand
Implementing a well-planned rewards strategy with the help of employee rewards software is a surefire way to build positivity around your company brand.
Rewards don’t have to be financial, either: Plenty of well-known companies have received positive press coverage for the non-monetary incentives they offer to reward staff.
Employee Reward Software Pricing
Employee reward platforms are typically priced per employee per month or follow a marketplace pricing model.
Per Employee Per Month Pricing Model
A flat per-employee-per-month model is best suited to companies that regularly use the employee rewards platform—typically larger companies for whom paying by usage would be prohibitively expensive.
A typical per-employee-per-month pricing model for an employee reward system might look like this:
Marketplace Model
With the marketplace model, customers pay a variable amount based on their use of the tool rather than a flat rate.
If you don't make extensive use of the rewards software during any given period, your costs stay low. This model works best for smaller companies who may not use the platforms enough to justify the flat monthly fee.
Here’s an illustrative example of a marketplace model fee structure for employee reward programs:
Types of Employee Rewards (with Examples)
There are several ways for rewarding employees in the workplace, but generally, they all fall into two types:
- Monetary rewards are directly linked to an employee's performance, achievements, or contribution to the organization. Examples of monetary rewards for employees include bonuses that comprise a percentage of their salary, a commission on a sale, and a bonus allocated to reaching a specific metric target.
- Non-monetary rewards don’t involve direct financial compensation but aim to motivate and recognize individuals by gifting a specific item or experience. Some ideas for non-monetary rewards include an employee award title, peer nominations, an employee wellbeing program, paid days off to rest after hard work to celebrate a big achievement, and company-sponsored training opportunities an employee wants to pursue.
You can use either one or both. The center point here is to ensure that the rewards initiatives (as well as the employee recognition programs) are: 1) meaningful to the recipients (your employees) and 2) aligned with your company values.
How to Set Up a Staff Reward System
Best practices for implementing a successful employee reward system include ensuring smooth integration with your HRIS, monitoring outcomes closely, encouraging feedback from employees, and securing management and employee buy-in at all stages.
- Integration: Accessing employee data already stored in an HRIS, for example, makes tracking progress toward goals much smoother, while a team-up with team collaboration tools like Slack is a hugely effective way to encourage engagement.
- Monitoring: Rather than set-and-forget systems, reward programs require regular monitoring and optimization to ensure that rewards for staff are distributed as intended. The work does take time and effort, but the return will be worth it.
- Encourage feedback: The more engaged the employees are in your reward program, the more on-target it is likely to be. So, involve your people in sharing their thoughts about the tech. They’ll be able to tell you exactly which rewards motivate them (aka what to focus on) and which ones they don’t care for (aka what to cut).
- Management buy-in: The more that management knows about the upsides (actual and potential) of the software that they have signed off on, the easier it will be to obtain approval for scaling it up or improving it in other ways.
FAQs
What is an employee rewards program?
An employee reward program is a structured method for companies to offer rewards, such as cash, gifts, or non-monetary incentives, to employees for their service and positive behaviors. When effectively implemented, these programs can motivate, attract, and retain top talent, and enhance employee performance.
How do I know if my team needs an employee rewards program?
A staff rewards system should be in place if you experience one of these circumstances with your team:
- Team members' productivity decreases significantly.
- Complaints become more frequent among workers.
- High employee turnover rates.
- Most engagement surveys and performance review answers suggest a need for better employee experience and retention.
You may also want to check out our experts' advice on what to consider before buying an employee rewards system to ensure success when exploring recognition solutions.
What companies have the best employee rewards programs?
Depending on each business’s needs and priorities, but according to our experts’ testing and evaluations, Nectar’s rewards feature set has always enriched every time we re-visited their site, Guusto’s employee recognition platform works so well for frontline employees, Vantage Circle is ideal for global teams, while Workstars is best for U.K.-based businesses.
What are the main benefits of employee rewards software?
Key benefits of employee rewards software include improved employee engagement and productivity, reduced employee turnover, better teamwork, plus the ability to build your work culture and automate various tasks to save time.
How much does an employee rewards program cost?
Many employee rewards platforms offer free trials. A basic rewards program for small businesses can start at as little as $1 per employee per month, while more comprehensive options can cost thousands of dollars or more, often with annual subscriptions required.
What are some examples of employee rewards?
Amazon gift cards, e-cards, and charitable donations are a few examples of employee rewards. However, rewards don’t have to be financial. Plenty of well-known companies have received positive press coverage for the non-monetary incentives they offer to reward employees.
How do companies motivate and reward employees?
Rewarding employees can come in different shapes and forms, but effective programs all have three things in common:
- They recognize employee contributions both publicly and privately.
- They balance out tangible and intangible rewards, and perhaps, most importantly,
- They are tailored to individual preferences.
Learn more: Ultimate guide and actionable tips for effective employee reward systems
Final Advice on the Best Employee Rewards Programs
Last but not least, don’t forget to integrate your employee rewards and recognition tools with the rest of your HR tech stack (i.e. HRIS/HCM, employee engagement platforms, and performance management systems). Let that happen and you will gain a more comprehensive grasp of your employee experience, which you can use to supercharge your organization's employee appreciation levels.
About Us
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- Our goal at SSR is to help HR and recruiting teams to find and buy the right software for their needs.
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