16 Best Employee Recognition Vendors (We’ve Tested Over 40)

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

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

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

However, it’s quite disappointing to find out that some good performance management features, such as 1:1s and coaching, are no longer offered. Additionally, Motivosity lacks controls over peer recognition point distribution, which can lead to favoritism or uneven allocation of points among employees.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Assembly is built for companies that want recognition to happen naturally, automatically, and at scale, whether it’s coming from a team leader or a colleague mid-conversation. Boost is one of our favorites. This feature allows users to award points directly in post replies, which makes everyday appreciation feel naturally right where collaboration is already taking place.

What takes this platform a step further is its automated celebration system. The Welcome Bot and Anniversary Bot celebrate employee moments with rotating GIFs, personalized messages, and points, all automatically triggered by profile data. We also saw the same polish in the Anniversary Bot, where we could stack milestone celebrations on top of annual ones.

From the admin side, granular control is a standout. We like the ability to embed core values into posts, hide points publicly, limit how many points can be given to a single user, and allow (or restrict) private recognition. While these may seem minor, from our experience, these settings actually help avoid abuse and promote fairness.

On the analytics front, DoraAI brings real-time insight. We typed “Show me which departments gave the most recognition this quarter,” and in seconds, Dora returned a clean bar chart ready to download or explore further. Asking for “Which managers haven’t given recognition this month?” gave us a simple list we could actually act on. That said, these powerful tools are admin-only, and expanding access to people managers could make the data more actionable.

We also tested the DoraAI Recognition Writer, which drafts recognition posts for users. While helpful for writer’s block, we encountered one odd bug: after pressing Try Again a few times to get different drafts, the recipient’s name unexpectedly changed. It’s a minor glitch, but users should always review the final copy before posting.

And if you rely on manual profile edits rather than a clean HRIS sync, watch out as manually edited fields like start dates don't resync, and this can cause automated bots to fail. That small detail can mean a big miss for a major milestone.

4,000+ companies, including Perforce, DENSOTEN, PODS, and StubHub.

Assembly’s employee recognition software starts at $2 per user per month (billed annually) for the Celebrate plan, which includes top-down recognition, automated celebrations, announcements, and a global reward catalog. For $4 per user per month, the Empower plan adds peer-to-peer recognition, point budgets, and access to DoraAI for analytics and nudges. Enterprise plans are available with custom pricing for organizations needing advanced security, integrations, and dedicated support. Additional features like engagement tools, 1:1s, and surveys are offered as add-ons or bundled at special rates.

One of the first things we noticed when testing Bucketlist was how user-friendly the platform is. Whether on desktop or mobile, navigating the system felt intuitive for both administrator and employee users.

Employees could send recognition messages (or “shoutouts”) to peers, attaching tokens that could later be redeemed for rewards. We liked that companies could choose whether the recognitions required approval or not since this offers a nice balance between spontaneity and structured oversight.

The rewards marketplace was another strong selling point. Employees can redeem points for a wide variety of rewards, including digital gift cards, charitable donations, and experiential rewards. Moreover, the system allows administrators to add additional gift cards that align with company culture and employee preferences. We found this particularly helpful, as it gives organizations more control over their incentive programs.

Having a straightforward UI is great, but having a designated expert who walks you through the process and helps customize features takes it to another level. And we loved that Bucketlist offers just that. Every plan includes a dedicated onboarding manager and a dedicated account manager, a level of service that many recognition platforms lack. Whether it’s tailoring recognition settings, configuring approval workflows, or tweaking reward options, the extra support made the user experience feel smooth and stress-free.

While Bucketlist offers many strengths, we did encounter some challenges. More specifically, searching for GIFs when sending shoutouts was a bit frustrating, as there’s no way to go back to a previous option if you scroll past one you like. This might sound minor, but in practice, it slows down the experience and makes it feel a bit clunky.

Though Bucketlist’s cash-based incentives and gift cards were plentiful, we couldn’t help but feel the experiential rewards catalog is somewhat limited. Many companies are moving toward experience-based rewards, so it would be great to see Bucketlist expand its options in this area.

Lastly, pricing could be a barrier for smaller teams due to the system’s one-time setup fee and monthly per-employee charge. While the high level of customization and customer support helps justify the cost, businesses with fewer than 200 employees looking for a low-cost option might find Connecteam and Matter better alternatives.

500+ companies, including RBC, Chick-fil-A, and Danone.

Bucketlist plans cost around $2-4 per employee per month, plus a one-time setup fee and an annual fee.

Awardco makes it easy to recognize anyone in your organization for living your values, achieving goals, or simply for being awesome employees. In our testing, it was easy to choose who to recognize, for what, and why.

We’ve also liked the social component, featuring all given recognition on a public feed for everyone to see. Awardco also facilitates remote employee recognition programs through integrations with communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. This boosts engagement further, bringing recognition to platforms your employees already use.

We appreciate Awardco's inclusive approach to recognition. Their newly released feature, AwardCodes, makes it possible to give recognition offline to employees without regular computer access, so they aren’t left out of any appreciation efforts.

Managers provide customized award codes, which employees later scan to receive their rewards. The codes work for any employee, anywhere, anytime, while still enabling tracking and security.

Another thing that caught our attention is Awardco’s service anniversary features. Its level of gift creativity and personalization is something we’ve not seen on other platforms. Employees can create Digital MemoryBooks, which collect teammate contributions into a cherished keepsake for coworkers celebrating milestones.

The employee recognition vendor also has curated gift packages called Bonus Boxes that staff can put together and ship right to the doors of their coworkers to make their day.

However, we would have appreciated this recognition software more if it provided a greater variety of gift card vendors other than Amazon. A few users have reported that prices on some rewards are higher or inflated compared to retail prices, and there have been occasional delays in the delivery of rewards, which is disappointing.

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

Awardco offers two main plans for small and medium businesses.

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

With its robust set of features, Cooleaf enables companies to make appreciation frequent and meaningful.

We’ve put the platform to the test and found it particularly excellent at tying recognition to core values. Managers can send real-time recognitions that highlight how an employee's actions embodied a certain value, such as collaboration or integrity.

This not only motivates the recipient but also reinforces behaviors your company cares about. Cooleaf also provides manager dashboards to track recognitions and see how well values are being integrated.

Celebrating big milestones is easy too. Features like automatic anniversary rewards ensure no career achievement goes unnoticed.

Milestones can be personalized for each level, from an employee's first year to their 10th anniversary. Rewards go beyond the typical gift card - managers can create a catalog of merchandise, experiences, donation gifts, and more that fit their culture.

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

We expected Cooleaf to include some fun gamification features like leaderboards or challenges to make recognition more engaging, but unfortunately, it doesn’t. We also really hope the vendor will expand their customer support to offer more options, such as chat and phone, instead of just ticketing. On top of that, a few users have reported login and SSO issues with the mobile app, which makes this vendor less appealing than other mobile-friendly names like Motivosity and Bucketlist.

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

Cooleaf’s pricing depends on the number of employees and the scope of your recognition efforts.

Since our last review, Cooleaf has grown from a recognition tool for mid-sized teams into a more robust solution for large, distributed organizations. Now part of ITA Group’s Employee Engagement solution line, Cooleaf is still offered as a stand-alone platform, but with expanded resources and faster feature development. Recent additions like approval-based recognition workflows, manager usage reports, and printable certificates reflect a stronger focus on scalable, structured programs. We also liked new community features such as employee follows and in-platform new hire announcements.

Connecteam’s HR & Skills hub packs impressive recognition program features that make it easy to celebrate employees' achievements and milestones, no matter where they are.

We like how recognition is fully customizable. Managers can personalize badges for any occasion, add heartfelt messages, and share the appreciation privately or with the entire team.

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

The recognition platform's analytics dashboard provides a clear overview of how tokens are being used, including who is sending tokens, who is receiving them, and how employees are spending their rewards.

Having this level of insight isn’t just good for tracking purposes but also for managers to constantly improve their rewards and recognition strategies.

However, with the platform’s numerous features comes a learning curve for new users, which can delay initial adoption. While we appreciate the scalability of Connecteam, as a small business, we aren’t a fan of how the employee recognition solution is marketed. The offering isn’t sold separately. You’d need to purchase the full HR & Skills hub to access it.

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

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

Rather than following suit to the typical “more rewards = better engagement” formula commonly seen in the employee recognition space, Workstars stands out by centering on creating a culture of recognition rooted in company values and peer connection. From the start of our demo, we could tell this platform is built for HR teams that want to shift their recognition strategy from budget management to culture building.

Where more and more platforms funnel users toward paid rewards, Workstars offers a refreshing alternative: customers can build their own catalog of non-monetary perks (e.g., job shadowing, extra time off, lunch with the CEO) or enable payroll reimbursements and gift cards without being charged fees by Workstars. This makes it more flexible and cost-efficient than recognition platforms that rely on vendor-issued rewards.

Workstars’ behavioral tagging system ties every recognition back to specific company values. This not only reinforces culture but also feeds into the reporting dashboards, which we deemed quite powerful. More specifically, team managers see who is getting recognized, for what values, and where gaps exist. Meanwhile, executive dashboards allow HR leaders to compare departments and track progress against recognition goals. Plus, the onboarding and customer success experience are the cherry on top. Every customer, regardless of tier, receives hands-on implementation and ongoing training.

That said, we think you’ll agree that the current UI does feel a bit utilitarian. What’s more, AI-generated recognition messaging is still in development. Good news is that the upcoming 2026 redesign promises to address both, and based on the product team’s responsiveness, we’re optimistic.

Questrade, Aventum, Weetabix, Acadia

Workstars charges per user/month, tiered by company size and features:

• Entry (£1.50): 50-250 employees; includes recognition, rewards, analytics, and full support.
• Pro (£1.60-£3.00): Adds SSO, social integrations, business hierarchy, and API access.
• Global (£1.90-£4.00): Adds multi-language, multi-currency, and cost-of-living adjustments.

C.A. Short Company's employee recognition software offers a unique, high-touch experience that stands out in an industry dominated by sleek, self-service platforms. While the product itself has a somewhat dated look and lacks some modern bells and whistles, the company's deep commitment to personalized service makes it an excellent fit for organizations that prefer a more hands-on approach.

Another highlight of our experience was the peer-to-peer recognition tool. C.A. Short integrates both non-monetary and monetary recognition. It also supports eCards and social recognition in the “Rec Room” (their version of a social feed). Interestingly, unlike many recognition systems that rely entirely on digital shoutouts, this platform even allows for physical “on-the-spot” recognition cards that employees can hand out in person. We can imagine how companies seeking a system that feels more intentional rather than transactional would value this feature.

We also appreciate the vendor’s approach to customization—they take the time to code each platform to a client's specifications. This includes everything from designing personalized career milestone programs to configuring reward structures based on a company's values. It’s quite manual and, therefore, requires more back-and-forth with their support team, but it also removes much of the administrative burden from HR teams and makes the system work so well for organizations that want a guided, concierge-style implementation rather than a DIY software experience.

In terms of reporting and analytics, the platform provides good visibility into how employees interact with recognition programs over time. During testing, we were able to track how frequently employees were being recognized and compare engagement levels across departments and locations. One drawback, though, is that reporting is currently powered by Power BI and requires users to leave the platform to access these insights. C.A. Short has assured us that full integration is on their roadmap, but for now, this extra step may be a hurdle for those looking for real-time, in-app analytics.

One limitation we noticed is the lack of direct connections with major HRIS vendors like Workday and BambooHR. While C.A. Short does offer automated secure sFTP folders for data integration, which eliminates manual data imports, this approach may not be as familiar to most HR professionals as a self-service native integration option.

Although the software itself is functional, as briefly mentioned at the beginning, its interface doesn’t feel as modern or intuitive as some competitors such as Nectar or Guusto. That said, C.A. Short makes up for these shortcomings with a strong customer service team that is deeply involved in onboarding, ongoing support, and program adjustments.

C.A. Short Company's client list includes Dollar General, Penske, Sysco, Tractor Supply, Old Dominion Freight Line, and Sunbelt Rentals.

C.A. Short Company does not offer a free trial and has custom pricing.

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

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

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

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

We’ve recently noticed that Guusto has updated its pricing structure, and while we’re happy that the Free plan remains, there are some drawbacks. The Lite tier has jumped from $40 to $125 per month, while the Essential tier and Premium requires a minimum spend of $200 and $560 per month, respectively. These increases could be a real burden for budget-conscious teams, we’d imagine.

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

Guusto offers 4 plans:

• A free plan for individual reward senders using a single user account and a top-down program.
• A Lite plan that costs $125 per month for individuals sending and scheduling rewards in bulk.
• An Essential plan that costs $2.50 per seat per month for peer-to-peer rewards and $5 per seat per month for top-down rewards.
• A Premium plan that costs $3.50 per seat per month for peer-to-peer rewards and $7 per seat per month for top-down rewards.

Terryberry offers one of the most comprehensive feature sets we've seen in an employee recognition platform.

The software provides social recognition tools, employee engagement platform features, a wellness app, service awards and custom jewelry, performance management, incentive programs, and a global rewards catalog.

Thanks to the product demos in December 2023, December 2024, and May 2025, we gained an in-depth look at the platform's expansive capabilities.

With so many features covered in a single call, it was difficult to get a detailed walkthrough of every workflow. For anyone interested in a Terryberry demo, we recommend identifying the specific workflows that are most critical for your needs and asking for those to be covered in greater detail.

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

We don't necessarily dislike Terryberry’s UI, although we can't say that it's our favorite. It gives off a dated look, which may impact user experience for teams accustomed to contemporary interfaces. Although it has been a while since the recognition platform announced it would consider launching API integration access, it has still not been released.

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

Terryberry offers flexible pricing. You can select specific features of the platform to start with and add more later as your needs evolve. Their basic subscription plans start around $3 per employee receiving an award.

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

Terryberry has evolved significantly in the past year, adding several new features to enhance employee engagement:

• Advanced analytics: The platform now measures the impact of recognition on employee sentiment, helping organizations refine their engagement strategies.
• AI-powered recognition: New AI tools assist managers in crafting recognition messages that align with company values.
• Integrated wellness and feedback: The "Be Well" wellness program and "Be Heard" survey tools provide a holistic approach to employee engagement.
• Enhanced mobile experience: Improved mobile app functionality supports on-the-go recognition for deskless employees.
• Expanded global reach: Multi-language support and fulfillment in over 150 countries make Terryberry a strong choice for international organizations.
• They recently added Amazon Business as part of their rewards catalogue, although only in the US for now.

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

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

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

However, keep in mind that the Core plan caps usage at just 50 users, which could restrict scalability as your team grows. Additionally, the analytics and reporting features left us disappointed, with pretty limited customization capabilities.

If your team prefers experiential rewards, you may not be a huge fan of what Bonusly currently has to offer, as from our assessments, this vendor’s available reward options focus mainly on gift cards, cash, and donations.

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

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

Bonusly has 3 subscription plans for users to choose from:

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

What really won us over after testing Matter was the way this peer-to-peer recognition software has streamlined membership management.

Once you sync it with your Slack or Teams, you can automate the whole process of adding or removing team members directly through the settings of these two communication apps.

Giving kudos turned out to be very straightforward both when we were on our computers or using the Slack app on our phones.

We liked that we could select one or more people to recognize at once, choose from one of the nine kudos templates to type our message of praise, or even create our own personalized card. Plus, the ability to add Slack emojis did bring an extra layer of fun to the whole experience.

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

And Matter’s pricing—it’s highly accessible with a free plan that supports unlimited users, customizable notifications, and kudos. 

It's worth mentioning, though, that the free plan allows for just 5 kudos sent per channel per week and only retains 30 days of historical analytics data, so any older data won’t be recorded.

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

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

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

WorkTango’s employee recognition software is easy to use, amplifies core values, and reinforces positive actions.

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

Another thing we like about WorkTango is its focus on community building. Features like social news feeds and the ability to react to and comment on recognitions foster connections company-wide.

Employees gain visibility into recognitions across departments, roles, and locations. Adding customizable emojis, GIFs, and images further humanizes peer appreciation and makes it personal.

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

However, WorkTango’s pricing structure is noticeably stricter compared to other players in the market: the billing can only be done annually, and all plans require a minimum commitment of 12 months.

For any organization looking to strengthen employee experience and retention through a culture of recognition, we believe WorkTango is a worthy investment. Its thoughtful features, flexible tools, and user-friendly design enable impactful recognition that helps bring teams together, but companies should weigh its annual-only billing and lack of a trial period before deciding.

Over 1,000 companies use WorkTango, including Kia Motors, HUB International, Rexall, and Accruent.

WorkTango's pricing is tailored to each customer's unique needs.

Mo aims to help companies boost employee morale and retention through meaningful recognition.

We like its Moments and Boosts features, which empower managers to highlight individual and team achievements, big or small. Boosts can also be used to prompt team members to recognize one another for everyday wins and milestones. Employees can easily post public or private appreciative Moments and react with comments, emojis, and GIFs, spreading a spirit of gratitude.

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

We bet you’ve got to also love the straightforward pricing that’s both flexible and budget-friendly for most companies with this recognition platform. Plus, Mo doesn’t raise the prices at all, which is a nice gesture that compensates for the missing free plan.

It’s equally nice to see that Mo has worked on the integration limitations we mentioned in our previous review of the tool. Now the HRIS integrations are offered across all its plans, and Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations no longer come with an extra cost.

Unfortunately, the customer support hours haven’t changed since our last review update. You can only reach Mo’s support on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm GMT. For distributed teams working across different time zones like ourselves, this honestly isn’t ideal.

To date, Mo has over 100,000 users from companies like SGN, The O2, NHS, Aspen, William Hill, and SHL.

Mo's pricing is a monthly subscription based on the number of employees. Contact sales for a quote.

Kudos stands out in a crowded recognition market by giving employers deeper control over how recognition happens, not just how it looks. In our most recent demo, we saw how admins could define rules that determine who can recognize whom, what types of messages are available, and how often employees are nudged to participate. This kind of rule-based architecture makes the system feel purposeful and aligned with company culture rather than superficial or performative.

The recognition interface itself is clean and user-friendly. Employees see personalized prompts encouraging them to send recognition if they haven’t done so recently, and manager dashboards highlight team members who may be overlooked. This adds a layer of accountability to what is often a passive feature in other tools. The option to send e-cards or bundle recognition with announcements also helps integrate praise into the company’s daily rhythm.

One thoughtful feature we appreciated was Kudos’ built-in message refinement. When writing recognition, users are prompted with AI-powered suggestions to improve tone or clarity. This lowers the barrier to writing more impactful notes and reduces the risk of vague or generic messages, especially in peer-to-peer shoutouts.

Despite these strengths, there are a few limitations worth noting. Kudos doesn’t offer a free trial or sandbox, so you’ll need to book a demo and go through onboarding to experience the platform. The setup process itself can be configuration-heavy, particularly for teams wanting to segment permissions or align recognition types with internal values. The mobile experience is serviceable but dated, with the apps rated at 3.2 out of 5, and updates absent since mid-2024.

It’s also worth understanding that Kudos leans toward recognition that is tied to a points-based reward system. While symbolic appreciation is certainly supported, many of the platform’s workflows are optimized around assigning value and tracking redemption. For companies focused on purely intrinsic or non-monetary recognition, this could feel like a mismatch without customization.

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

Kudos’ pricing starts at $3.25 per user per month for organizations with at least 500 employees. However, its actual pricing is flexible, based on the number of user seats needed and the length of the contract.

We picked AdvantageClub.ai as one of the best employee recognition solutions because the platform impressed us with how much it helps employees show appreciation to their peers. During our testing, we discovered many appealing features, including Milestone Awards, Peer-to-Peer Recognition, Spot Awards, and Long Service Awards.

AdvantageClub.ai makes it incredibly easy to recognize achievements: Users can send kudos or awards through the built-in recognition feed, and thanks to AI-generated message assistance, employees who struggle with wording can send appreciation messages with just a few clicks. We tested this feature by selecting a peer (Ben), writing a message, and using the AI assistant ADVA to refine our words, which resulted in a warm and professional recognition post.

The platform also excels with its Buzz Feed feature, which allows employees to publicly celebrate achievements, anniversaries, and birthdays in a social media-like interface. The kudos we gave Ben earlier were visible to colleagues in the feed, who could not only view them but also react with customizable emojis and comments—just like they would on platforms like LinkedIn.

We also love the ability to share recognition on external communication apps like Slack and Teams. Being a remote team that relies on these tools daily for team syncs, this sharing feature adds a layer of convenience, making it easier for employees to give and receive peer recognition.

Another major strength of AdvantageClub.ai is its global rewards marketplace. With over 10,000 brands in 100+ countries, it’s an easy choice for multinational organizations looking for a recognition platform with diverse reward options.

If you’re looking for a tool that actively drives engagement in your recognition program, ADVA, the AI-driven assistant, is worth checking out. This feature encourages participation with gentle nudges—for example, without feeling intrusive, it reminded us that we hadn’t given a kudo to a colleague in a while or that we hadn’t redeemed our wellness points for a health check-up.

That said, AdvantageClub.ai has some drawbacks. One major downside is its lack of pricing transparency—costs vary based on your team's location and the features you need, so you’ll have to speak with sales to get an accurate quote. Also, unlike some competitors like Guusto and Workstars, the platform doesn’t offer a free trial, which makes it even harder for extra cautious companies who like to try before buying.

And for those particularly interested in the platform’s analytics and dashboard, bear in mind that fully leveraging these tools often requires some extra support from the vendor side.

1,000+ companies, including TARGET, EY, Concentrix, and BCG.

AdvantageClub.ai has custom pricing only, and no free trial is offered.