Awardco vs. Matter Comparison: Pricing & Reviews [2025 Guide]

Choosing the right employee recognition platform is crucial for promoting a healthy work environment and increasing employee engagement. Organizations seek tools that provide meaningful appreciation while aligning with their goals of creating a high-performing culture. Matter understands these needs, offering a platform that easily integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, featuring innovative tools like kudos, Feedback Friday, rewards, and much more to keep engagement fresh and continuous. By comparing Awardco vs. Matter, this guide can assist you in selecting which platform is most suitable for your company's goals.

Awardco vs. Matter: Overview comparison

Choosing the correct employee recognition tool is critical for creating a great workplace culture, increasing employee engagement, and improving retention. Both Awardco and Matter offer robust solutions to help organizations achieve these goals, but they differ significantly in their approach, features, and overall value.

Matter is a versatile employee recognition platform that integrates seamlessly with tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing employees to receive recognition directly within their daily communication channels. Matter's unique weekly resetting coin system encourages frequent and meaningful recognition, ensuring that appreciation remains fresh and relevant. This system is designed to align with company values and create a culture of continuous engagement and motivation. Matter also offers a wide variety of reward options, including digital gift cards, charitable donations, and custom rewards, providing flexibility to meet the diverse needs of employees.

In contrast, Awardco focuses on providing an employee recognition platform that offers various reward options, including access to the extensive Amazon Business catalog, where employees can choose from various products and services. Awardco integrates with other platforms but may lack the depth of integration with daily communication tools that Matter provides. Awardco emphasizes creating a positive workplace culture through flexible reward options and recognition programs, but it may not offer the same level of engagement and ease of use as Matter.

By comparing these two platforms, organizations can determine which tool best aligns with their employee recognition, engagement, and retention goals.

Awardco vs. Matter: Features

When comparing the features of Awardco and Matter, it's clear that both platforms offer robust tools for employee recognition, but they cater to different organizational needs and priorities.

Matter's features

• Seamless integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Matter integrates deeply with Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing employees to engage in recognition activities such as giving kudos, conducting pulse surveys, and automating feedback within their daily communication tools. This deep integration helps foster a culture of continuous recognition and engagement without disrupting existing workflows.
• Unique recognition system: Matter's unique weekly resetting coin system encourages frequent and meaningful recognition. By preventing the accumulation of unused points, Matter ensures that recognition remains timely and impactful, aligning with company values and enhancing employee motivation.
• Extensive reward catalog: Matter offers over 1,600 reward options, including digital gift cards, charitable donations, prepaid Visa/Mastercards, and custom-branded rewards. This diverse selection allows organizations to cater to employee preferences and goals.
• Advanced automation: Matter automates key recognition tasks, including Feedback Friday reminders, birthday and anniversary celebrations, and reward distribution, reducing the administrative workload on HR teams and ensuring consistent engagement.
• Comprehensive analytics: Matter provides detailed analytics that gives organizations insights into recognition trends, employee engagement, and alignment with core values, enabling data-driven decisions to improve recognition programs.

Awardco's features

• Vast global reward network: Awardco boasts one of the largest reward networks in the world, partnering with Amazon Business to offer millions of global reward options. This includes items from Amazon, gift cards, experiences, hotel stays, and more, giving employees a wide range of choices for redeeming their recognition points.
• Customizable recognition programs: Awardco offers flexible and customizable recognition programs that can be tailored to fit a company's culture and drive specific behaviors. Organizations can create custom catalogs, recognition messages, and reward options to suit their unique needs.
• Automation for milestone celebrations: Awardco automates the celebration of service awards, birthdays, work anniversaries, and other milestones, reducing manual effort and ensuring that important moments are recognized promptly.
• Integration with popular platforms: Awardco connects with popular HRIS and communication platforms, including ADP, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, making adoption simple while avoiding disruptions to existing operations. It also supports API and SFTP methods for more advanced integrations.
• Robust reporting and data visibility: Awardco provides comprehensive reporting features, including scheduled reports and real-time data visibility, which help organizations track key metrics, budgets, and performance across all recognition programs.

Key takeaways on features: While both platforms offer valuable tools for employee recognition, Matter stands out for its deep integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, its unique weekly resetting coin system, and its extensive range of rewards and automation features. In contrast, Awardco excels with its vast global reward network, flexibility in program customization, and robust reporting capabilities. Organizations looking for a platform that integrates recognition deeply into daily workflows and provides diverse reward options may find Matter the superior choice. In contrast, those seeking extensive customization and a broad rewards marketplace may prefer Awardco.

Awardco vs. Matter: Integration options

Integration capabilities are critical when choosing an employee recognition platform, as they determine how well the platform fits into your organization's existing workflows and systems. Both Awardco and Matter offer integration options, but they differ in terms of flexibility and depth.

Matter integration options

• Deep integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Matter is designed to integrate seamlessly with Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing recognition activities such as giving kudos, conducting surveys, and automating feedback directly within these communication tools. This deep integration supports continuous engagement by embedding recognition into daily workflows, reducing the need for additional tools or platforms.
• Extensive HRIS integration: Matter integrates with over 250 HRIS platforms, including ADP, BambooHR, Gusto, and Workday. This allows for automatic synchronization of employee data, ensuring accurate and timely recognition of key milestones such as birthdays and anniversaries while minimizing manual tasks for HR teams.
• Custom API access for tailored needs: Matter provides API access, enabling organizations to create custom integrations that connect the platform with other enterprise systems. This flexibility ensures that Matter can adapt to unique organizational workflows and meet specific recognition needs.

Awardco integration options

• Integration with popular communication tools: Awardco offers integration with both Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing employees to recognize peers directly within these platforms. The integration enables recognition posts to appear in the platform's feed, promoting visibility and engagement within existing communication channels. Awardco also integrates with Microsoft Outlook, providing additional flexibility for recognition activities within email communication tools.
• HRIS and other system integrations: Awardco supports integrations with a variety of HRIS platforms, including BambooHR, Workday, and ADP, allowing for seamless synchronization of employee data and automated management of user lists. Additionally, Awardco offers an open API for custom integrations, which makes it adaptable to a wide range of systems, enhancing its usability for organizations with specific integration requirements.
• Flexible API and SFTP options: Awardco provides API and SFTP methods for data transfer and integration, allowing organizations to connect with virtually any system they use. This makes it a versatile solution for companies looking to maintain their existing infrastructure while adding a robust recognition program.

Key takeaways on integration options: While both platforms offer robust integration capabilities, Matter excels with its deep integration into Slack and Microsoft Teams and extensive support for over 250 HRIS platforms. These features make it an ideal choice for organizations looking for a recognition platform that seamlessly fits into existing workflows and supports advanced automation. Awardco, with its open API, SFTP options, and integrations with popular communication and HRIS platforms, provides flexibility and adaptability, making it suitable for organizations that require a broad range of integration options.

Awardco vs. Matter: Pricing and plans

Understanding the pricing structures of employee recognition platforms is critical for finding a solution that aligns with your organization's budget and requirements. Matter offers transparent and flexible pricing plans, while Awardco provides a tiered pricing structure tailored to different organizational needs.

Matter pricing and plans

Matter offers a range of pricing plans designed to accommodate various organizational needs, from small teams to large enterprises:

Free Forever:

• Cost: $0 per user per month.
• Ideal for: Small teams and startups.
• Features:
  • Unlimited users.
  • Access to Feedback Friday and kudos with a limit of 5 kudos per channel per week.
  • Nine default kudos templates with options to create custom kudos aligned with company values.
  • Thirty days of analytics history.
  • Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams.
  • Security features, including single sign-on (SSO) support.

Basic:

• Cost: $1 per user per month, billed annually, with monthly billing option.
• Features: All features included in Free Forever, plus:
  • Unlimited kudos recognition.
  • Advanced analytics with unlimited history.
  • Customizable Feedback Friday.
  • Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams.
  • Email and live chat support.

Pro:

• Cost: $3 per user per month, billed annually, with monthly billing option.
• Features: All features included in Basic, plus:
  • Advanced HRIS integrations allow seamless synchronization with platforms like ADP, BambooHR, and Workday.
  • Access to peer-to-peer feedback tools.
  • Gift card rewards are available in over 100 countries.
  • Custom company-branded rewards.
  • Automated birthday and work anniversary celebrations with rewards.

Pro + Surveys:

• Cost: $5 per user per month, billed annually, with monthly billing option.
• Features: All features included in Pro, plus:
  • Automated pulse surveys and eNPS capabilities.
  • Rewards for survey completions.
  • Custom surveys with advanced delivery options and analytics.

Enterprise:

• Special Pricing: Available for large organizations with tailored solutions.
• Features:
  • All features from Pro + Surveys, with additional enterprise-level customization and support.
  • Advanced integration capabilities and priority support.

Awardco pricing and plans

Awardco offers a tiered pricing model designed to accommodate businesses of all sizes and types:

• Core plan:
  • Ideal for: Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
  • Features: Basic recognition features such as service anniversaries, onboarding, birthdays, automation, and a dedicated customer success manager (CSM).
• Plus plan:
  • Ideal for: Larger organizations requiring more advanced capabilities.
  • Features: All features of the Core plan plus spot recognition, nominations and incentives, bulk recognition, custom metadata, and smart award networks.
• Pro plan:
  • Ideal for: Enterprises needing full-service recognition solutions.
  • Features: All features of the Plus plan plus total rewards, custom programs, franchise engagement, custom catalogs, and custom integrations.

Awardco's pricing is designed to offer scalability and flexibility, and organizations can request a custom quote to better understand the costs associated with their specific needs​.

Key takeaways on pricing and plans: While both platforms offer tiered pricing options to meet various organizational needs, Matter provides a clearer and more detailed pricing structure that covers a range of features at low pricing, making it suited for companies of any size. Awardco offers flexibility with its tiered plans, which cater to small and large businesses but require direct consultation for specific pricing information.

Awardco vs. Matter: Customer support

Effective customer support is vital for successfully implementing and maintaining an employee recognition platform. Both Awardco and Matter provide a range of support options but differ in accessibility, resources, and personalization.

Matter customer support

• Live chat and email support: Matter offers live chat and email support to ensure quick assistance for any platform-related questions or issues, which is particularly helpful for HR teams needing immediate resolutions.
• Dedicated account management: Matter provides dedicated account management for higher-tier plans, offering personalized guidance and strategy development to help organizations optimize their recognition programs.
• Extensive help center and resources: Matter features a comprehensive help center with articles, tutorials, and FAQs, providing valuable self-service options for users who prefer to find answers independently.
• Onboarding and training: Matter supports a smooth onboarding process with live training sessions and custom video tutorials, ensuring high adoption rates and effective platform use across the organization.

Awardco customer support

• Award-winning support: Awardco offers high customer support from implementation onward, ensuring organizations have the resources to maximize the platform's benefits. Customers praise the support team for being proactive, making recommendations on improving recognition programs, and providing ongoing assistance.
• Dedicated customer success managers: Awardco assigns a manager to assist organizations throughout their platform use, from initial setup to ongoing management. This level of support ensures that companies can fully leverage Awardco's features to meet their specific needs​.
• Comprehensive resources: Awardco provides various resources, including product updates, a knowledge base, and guides to assist users in successfully navigating and utilizing the platform. These resources are designed to help organizations implement their recognition programs smoothly and efficiently.

Key takeaways on customer support: Both platforms offer strong customer support, but Matter provides a more personalized approach with its dedicated account management, live training sessions, and extensive self-service resources. Awardco also offers high support, including a dedicated customer success manager and comprehensive resources, making it a reliable option for organizations looking for ongoing guidance. However, the proactive nature of Matter's support and its hands-on onboarding process may provide a more tailored experience for organizations needing in-depth assistance.

Awardco vs. Matter: Customer reviews

Customer reviews are crucial for understanding how well each employee recognition platform performs in real-world settings. Matter consistently receives high praise for its ease of use, comprehensive features, and positive impact on company culture, while Awardco also garners strong reviews but shows some areas for improvement.

Matter customer reviews

Matter holds a high G2 score of 4.7/5, reflecting strong user satisfaction across categories such as ease of use, integration capabilities, and its effectiveness in boosting employee morale. Users frequently highlight Matter's seamless integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, user-friendly interface, and significant positive impact on company culture and engagement:

• Michael Margolese, Senior Human Resources Manager at Trend Hunter: "I love how easy it is for employees to recognize each other with kudos. Matter has boosted morale, increased employee engagement, and it's now a strong presence in our company culture."
• Jeff Hagel, President at McInnis & Holloway: "Our company's culture & morale changed overnight! In under 2 months, we've had over 2,000 kudos sent and 80%+ engagement across all employees. Matter has motivated people to participate like no other software we have ever used."

These reviews demonstrate Matter's impact on fostering a high-performing culture through frequent and meaningful recognition, supported by deep integration and automation features.

Awardco customer reviews

Awardco has a strong G2 score of 4.8/5, with users praising its extensive reward options and flexible recognition programs. The integration with Amazon Business is often highlighted, providing a vast selection of rewards, from everyday items to unique experiences:

• Verified User in Facilities Services- "My company just switched to Awardco. It sounds good in theory. But it's not used to reward hard work or going above and beyond like they pitch it. Most of the managers don't know how to give extra points. Yes, there's a lot of options for redeeming points, but it's near impossible to get points outside of a predetermined points schedule."
• Verified User in Information Technology and Services- "As the company admin on the account, I am usually troubleshooting issues for our employees myself, and when communicating from our CSM we hardly ever hear back. There is simply not enough support from the employer's side of things. The features are also very limited. Many competitors have a social platform and customized recognitions, and Awardco seems very lackluster compared to the top-tier competition. It does appear that they are trying new things and rolling out new features, but these have been disappointing and haven't really helped us achieve our main goal of retention and recognition."

However, some users have mentioned that while Awardco provides excellent flexibility and customization, it may require more setup time than straightforward platforms like Matter.

Key takeaways from customer reviews: Both Matter and Awardco receive high praise from users, each excelling in different areas. Matter is valued for its ease of use, seamless integration, and significant positive impact on workplace culture. At the same time, Awardco is recognized for its extensive reward options and flexibility in customizing recognition programs. Matter may be the superior choice for organizations seeking a platform that integrates directly into daily communication tools and provides diverse reward options. Awardco is well-suited for those looking for flexibility and a broad rewards marketplace.

Awardco vs. Matter: Which is the right tool for you?

Selecting the right employee recognition platform enhances employee engagement, fosters a positive workplace culture, and aligns with company values. Both Awardco and Matter offer valuable tools for these purposes, but Matter stands out as the superior choice for several reasons.

Why Matter might be the perfect fit for your organization

1. Seamless integration with existing tools: Matter is built to integrate deeply with Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing recognition activities like giving kudos and conducting surveys to be embedded directly within employees' daily communication platforms. This seamless integration reduces the need for additional tools, promotes consistent engagement, and helps create a culture of continuous recognition.
2. Comprehensive features for diverse needs: Matter offers a wide range of features, including a unique weekly resetting coin system that encourages frequent and meaningful recognition. With over 1,600 reward options, such as digital gift cards, charitable donations, and custom rewards, Matter gives companies the ability to personalize their recognition programs to different employee preferences and company values.
3. Advanced automation and robust analytics: Matter automates key recognition tasks, from Feedback Friday reminders to reward delivery, reducing administrative workload for HR teams. Additionally, Matter provides robust analytics to monitor engagement levels, track recognition trends, and ensure alignment with company values, enabling data-driven decisions that improve employee satisfaction and retention.
4. High customer satisfaction and personalized support: With a G2 score of 4.7 out of 5, Matter is praised for its ease of use, seamless integration, and positive impact on workplace culture. The platform offers 24/7 support, dedicated account management, and comprehensive onboarding resources to ensure that organizations can fully leverage their capabilities.

How to determine the right tool for your organization

To decide between Awardco and Matter, consider the following:

• Integration needs: If your organization relies heavily on Slack and Microsoft Teams, Matter's deep integration with these platforms will likely enhance adoption and engagement by making recognition a natural part of daily workflows.
• Recognition strategy: For organizations prioritizing frequent and meaningful recognition, Matter's weekly resetting coin system and comprehensive rewards catalog offer substantial benefits. Awardco may suit those seeking more flexibility in customizing recognition programs and a broader range of reward options.
• Automation and analytics: If your organization wants to reduce manual tasks and gain detailed insights into employee engagement, Matter's advanced automation features and robust analytics provide a significant advantage.
• Support and scalability: If you require a platform that can scale as the company grows and provides robust support, Matter's range of pricing options, comprehensive features, and customer service make it the better choice.

Key takeaways: While both platforms offer valuable tools for employee recognition, Matter is the choice for organizations focused on fostering a continuous recognition and engagement culture. With its comprehensive features, seamless integration, advanced automation, and extensive support options, Matter provides a robust solution for organizations looking to boost employee morale and satisfaction. Awardco, with its customizable programs and vast rewards marketplace, may appeal to organizations looking for flexibility and diversity in reward options.

Final summary: Why Matter is the clear choice

Choosing the right employee recognition platform is crucial for fostering a positive workplace culture, boosting morale, and enhancing employee engagement. While both Awardco and Matter offer valuable solutions to support these goals, Matter stands out as the clear choice for several reasons:

1. Seamless integration with existing tools: Matter integrates deeply with Slack and Microsoft Teams, embedding recognition activities directly into employees' daily communication tools. This seamless integration makes recognition a natural part of daily workflows, promoting consistent engagement and improving employee experience.
2. Comprehensive features to meet diverse needs: Matter provides a wide range of features, including a unique weekly resetting coin system that encourages frequent and meaningful recognition. With over 1,600 reward options, including digital gift cards, charitable donations, and custom-branded rewards, Matter offers organizations the flexibility to tailor their employee recognition programs to diverse employee preferences and align with company values.
3. Advanced automation and powerful analytics: Matter automates key recognition tasks, such as Feedback Friday reminders, birthday and anniversary celebrations, and reward delivery, reducing the administrative burden on HR teams. Additionally, Matter provides robust analytics to track engagement levels, monitor recognition trends, and ensure alignment with core values. This allows for organizations to make data-driven decisions that enhance employee satisfaction and retention.
4. High customer satisfaction and superior support: Matter consistently receives high praise for its user-friendly platform, seamless integration, and positive impact on workplace culture, boasting a G2 score of 4.7/5. The platform offers 24/7 customer support, dedicated account management, and comprehensive onboarding resources, ensuring that organizations receive the guidance and assistance they need to maximize the benefits of their recognition programs.
5. Flexible pricing and scalability: Matter offers a range of pricing plans to accommodate organizations of all sizes, from small teams to large enterprises. This flexibility, combined with its comprehensive features and strong support, makes Matter an excellent choice for organizations looking to scale their recognition programs as they grow.

Why Matter is the best choice for your organization

In today's competitive business environment, fostering a culture of continuous recognition is essential for improving employee morale, engagement, and retention. Get started with Matter for free today in order to excel in all these areas with its robust features, seamless integration with communication tools, advanced automation, and strong support.