Bonusly is an employee recognition and rewards platform that specializes in gift cards. Available in dozens of countries, their international rewards catalog is impressive.
Ratings
Ease of Use
Best For
Key Differentiator
Price
Free Trial
PROS
- 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
- Analytics and reporting features are relatively underdeveloped.
- The reward catalog lacks in-person experiences and physical goods.
- All our plans are billed annually, and the vendor no longer discloses their pricing.

Need Help? Talk to an HR Software Advisor!
Tell us more about your company & an HR Software Advisor will help you find the right software








Bonusly’s global offering makes it easy for multicultural teams to send gift cards to recognize excellence and reward their peers.
Users choose a reward, select the country from the drop-down menu, and pick gift cards from available partners. Options also include local establishments. Recipients can "cash out" and spend the money on services (housekeeping, for example) or donate their bonus.
In addition to streamlining the process for rewards, Bonusly also lets users recognize employee accomplishments by broadcasting to the entire company or with selected teams. When someone is singled out for doing good work, Bonusly will help users shout it from the rooftops (safely within the confines of the platform, of course).
Bonusly can make building rewards into the manager’s daily routine easier. Impromptu team-wide or individual rewards are easy to give, and users can set up goodies for "delivery" for recurring events like birthdays and work anniversaries. Additionally, each employee is provided with a monthly allowance for peer-to-peer recognition.
Along with all the revelry, Bonusly has also created a swag integration, namely AXOMO. Users choose the swag, connect to the AXOMO store to the Bonusly Reward catalog, and employees can directly redeem their points for company swag in addition to the usual reward choices.

One of the most effective ways to use Bonusly is by tying it directly to company values. Attaching values to recognition helps reinforce what they look like in action. The tool also gamifies recognition, allowing employees to reward each other in a fun and engaging way.
Employees could redeem their points for rewards, donate to nonprofits, or even support coworkers in times of need—for example, we once set up a special donation fund when an employee's dog required expensive veterinary care. This flexibility made Bonusly a powerful tool for fostering both engagement and community support.
- It's easy to set up and use.
- Employees loved using it, and it was the most widely adopted recognition tool I’ve seen in my career.
- It provided visibility into employees' contributions, which was especially valuable in a remote work environment.
I administered Bonusly for over two years as our primary reward and recognition tool. We used it to celebrate employees, provide positive feedback, and reinforce company values and culture. As a predominantly remote company, we relied on Bonusly to foster connection and encourage behaviors we wanted to see more often.
Full disclosure: I worked for Bonusly when we used it, but I left the company two years ago. One of the reasons we implemented it was to "dog food" the tool—using our own product to better understand its impact.
- I wished it had broader functionality, so we didn’t need separate tools for other recognition-related needs.
- The reporting capabilities were limited, missing opportunities to provide deeper insights into employee engagement.
- They introduced an engagement survey tool, but it couldn't compete with more established solutions in that space.
Bonusly was extremely easy to use and integrate into workflows, especially for companies that rely on Slack. While other HR tools include recognition features, Bonusly’s gamification made it more engaging and widely used. However, it could be a harder sell to executives since some competing platforms bundle recognition with other HR functions.
Think about your goals and how your team works. Avoid traditional mindsets that limit recognition to managers or leadership—peer-to-peer recognition can be just as impactful. Consider how a tool like Bonusly can help amplify your culture and reinforce company values in a meaningful way.
Bonusly has always excelled at core recognition but struggled to expand its functionality beyond that. Recent updates suggest they are working on additional features, and I’m curious to see how those develop. If they continue to evolve, it could become an even stronger tool, particularly for smaller companies.
Bonusly works well for companies of any size, from small teams of five to large enterprises with 15,000 employees.
If a company does not prioritize employee recognition or struggles with engagement, Bonusly may not be the right fit. Without an existing culture of appreciation, adoption and impact would likely be limited.
Bonusly is ideal for hourly, non-exempt workforce populations; these folks are engaged and thrive off the recognition. Management applauds this valuable tool and its support of teams and people across capabilities, departments and projects. Bonusly is also used as a means to donate to different charities. The reporting feature is helpful to understanding employee engagement.
Bonusly offers diverse opportunities to acknowledge and commend team contributions in a meaningful and impactful way. The UI is quite easy to navigate and integration with Slack makes it so easy to send "fun recognition" to colleagues. The ability to utilize Bonusly across the globe is also a great benefit.
I've used Bonusly with different organizations over the years. Bonusly absolutely achieves collaboration across teams/departments. It is a great way for peers to give kudos to each other via Slack (or other integrated platforms, as needed). I have multi-generational teams including Boomers to Gen Z-ers. Team members enjoy the ease of use, and the ability to recognize their teammates any time, day or night, and the ability to make it fun by adding memes, GIFs etc. to their posts.
The rewards are limited; not a lot of variety in gift cards. The need for a message and a mandatory hashtag can seem redundant and inconvenient. Automatic reminders to users to redeem points before they expire should be a standard feature. Additional choices for international employees would definitely be welcome!
Bonusly is a great platform for daily recognition. I don't feel that Bonusly can truly compete with platforms such as Snappy, which offer more impactful gifts. Organizations truly do need both as an opportunity for keeping teammates and colleagues engaged.
- Integrations are important, especially with Slack or any main workplace communication tool.
- Reporting is pivotal to determining how to best use peer recognition tools within the workplace.
- Having a functional, easy-to-use dashboard is a must-have, as is the ability to customize based on business needs.
Bonusly's possibilities for integrations and mobility is constantly evolving, as are the rewards and charitable donation options.
Bonusly is excellent for remote and global workforces, as well as hourly and entry-level employees and their managers. Bonusly is a successful tool in any sector of industry; as it is a universal tool that encourages peer recognition, appreciation, rewards and charitable giving.
I believe Bonusly to be a beneficial tool for any organization/sector of industry.
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.

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.
Nectar
Nectar

Awardco

Awardco

Motivosity

Motivosity

C.A. Short Company

C.A. Short Company

Bonusly

Bonusly
- Those looking for a wide variety of reward types, including in-person experiences or physical goods, should look elsewhere.
- A team with slumping morale, high attrition, bad reviews, or other widespread company culture problems should not use Bonusly. No single tool can "fix" a team with deep systemic issues.
The software has over 3,100 companies from 100+ countries. Some of them are ZipRecruiter, TOAST, SurveyMonkey, and Chobani.
- Peer-to-peer recognition: Employees can easily acknowledge each others’ contributions.
- Automated milestones: Automation of gifts for important dates (birthdays, work anniversaries).
- Incentive programs: Foster a positive culture with incentives.
- Rewards options: Employees can choose from gift cards, charitable donations, cash, or company swag.
- Integrations: Built-in integrations with numerous collaboration tools.
- Social media style interface: Add gifs, images, links, and emojis to recognition.
- Accessibility: Open API, web-based, and iOS/Android friendly.
- Recognition Analytics: Identify trends, monitor changes, and monitor the employee recognition program’s efficiency.
- Chat & Collaboration Software: MS Teams, Google Chat, and Slack integrations.
- Human Resource Information System (HRIS): BambooHR, Workday, Namely, Zenefits, Paycom, ADP, Gusto, and more.
- Custom Tools: Open API & Widget.
Bonusly offers three annual plans: Appreciate, Connect, and Achieve. Pricing for these plans is not publicly disclosed. A free trial is available for the Appreciate plan.
Small and large teams (50 to 5,000), and those who want to shape company culture with employee recognition. Also an excellent choice for peer-to-peer recognition in remote and hybrid work modes.
Bonusly is cloud-based, so companies can sign up and use it almost immediately. However, as the employee recognition program gets more complex, it can help with a launch strategy, manager resources, and training, resulting in streamlining the implementation process.
- Help Center.
- System status site.
- Typical response under 24 hours.
- Contact support is done through an online form.
- Customer support teams are based in Seattle, Boulder (HQ), and New York.
Headquartered in Colorado with teams in Seattle and NYC, Bonusly has been around since 2012, which, along with their client list and track record, makes them one of the first names in the employee rewards and recognition software space.
Current CEO Raphael Crawford-Marks founded the company in. Speaking to Crunchbase, Crawford-Marks said that his previous work experience at several startups made him realize that employee experience would become integral to business success. The software was likely the way to measure and improve the said experience.
Interestingly, Crawford-Marks was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras and an instructor for Year Up. He dropped out of High School to work as a software engineer in the mid-nineties. He eventually returned to school, getting a BA in Cognitive Science at Hampshire College.
Bonusly was named one of the most successful companies in America by Inc. Magazine and one of the top 50 places to work in the US by Outside Magazine in 2019.
Company HQ
Boulder, Colorado
Number of Employees
11-50
Year Founded
2012
Amount Raised
12.5M
FAQ
Does Bonusly have a free trial?
Yes, it gives access to all the features and their customer success team and doesn’t require users to provide any payment information to start.
Who uses Bonusly?
While most Bonusly customers are midsize and large corporates, such as Hulu, ZipRecruiter, and SurveyMonkey, their pricing plans make them very accessible to small teams.
About SSR

We spend hundreds of hours researching the best HR and recruiting software so you don’t have to. We never take money from vendors during our research phase and rely heavily on practitioners and experts to help us recommend the right software. However we may earn a small fee if you click on vendor links on this page.














