Employee recognition is a vital element in building a positive workplace culture, boosting engagement, and enhancing employee retention. At Matter, we understand the significant role that effective recognition programs play in driving organizational success. That's why we've created a platform that integrates recognition seamlessly into your daily workflow, making it easy to celebrate achievements and reinforce desired behaviors with beautiful kudos and an extensive rewards catalog. Whether your team uses Slack or Microsoft Teams, our solution is designed to fit effortlessly into your communication tools. In this guide, we’ll explore the top HeyTaco alternatives, highlighting how Matter and other platforms can elevate your employee recognition strategy.
What is HeyTaco?
HeyTaco is a user-friendly app that makes peer-to-peer recognition both fun and effective by allowing teammates to give each other "tacos" as tokens of appreciation. Integrated with Slack, HeyTaco brings an element of gamification to the workplace, helping to strengthen team bonds and boost morale, particularly in remote settings. While HeyTaco's charm lies in its simplicity, companies with more diverse or growing needs might consider exploring other platforms that offer a broader range of functionalities.
Why consider HeyTaco alternatives?
While HeyTaco's gamified approach to recognition is a hit among many teams, some organizations may find that they require more sophisticated tools as they scale. Whether it's the need for more comprehensive data analytics, better integration with multiple platforms like Microsoft Teams, or the ability to tailor recognition programs to specific company values, exploring alternatives could lead to a solution that aligns more closely with your company's objectives.
- Integration with multiple platforms: For companies using various communication tools, it's vital to have a recognition platform that offers seamless integration across Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other applications. This ensures that all team members can engage with the recognition process, regardless of the tools they use.
- Expanded feature set: While HeyTaco excels at simple recognition, some organizations may require additional features such as performance monitoring, goal tracking, or comprehensive employee feedback systems. Exploring alternatives can introduce you to platforms that combine recognition with these valuable tools.
- Tailored recognition programs: As your organization evolves, you may need recognition solutions that can adapt to your specific needs. Alternatives to HeyTaco might offer greater flexibility in customizing recognition templates, reward options, and program settings to better align with your company's culture and values.
- In-depth analytics: Data is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of recognition programs. Many HeyTaco alternatives provide robust analytics and reporting tools, enabling you to gather insights into how recognition impacts employee engagement and overall workplace culture.
10 HeyTaco alternatives: employee recognition & rewards software
1. Matter
About Matter: Matter is a complete employee appreciation tool that easily connects with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making it easy for different teams to recognize and celebrate each other's achievements. One of its flagship features, Feedback Friday, encourages regular peer-to-peer recognition and feedback, helping to build a culture of appreciation. Matter also offers customizable kudos templates, automated milestone celebrations, and a robust rewards system where employees can get and use points for different prizes.
Matter's focus on creating a positive workplace culture extends to its advanced analytics, which provides organizations with valuable insights into employee engagement and the effectiveness of their recognition programs. By tailoring recognition to align with company values, Matter helps companies foster happier teams and drive sustained employee engagement.
Matter main features:
- Feedback Friday: Encourages regular employee recognition and engagement through a scheduled weekly initiative, helping to maintain a consistent culture of appreciation.
- Customizable kudos: Offers a range of customizable recognition templates that can be aligned with your company's specific values and goals.
Integrated rewards: Allows employees to accumulate points, or users can acquire and utilize points in exchange for various rewards.
- Including unique and personalized options.
- Insightful analytics: Provides detailed analytics to track recognition trends, employee engagement levels, and the impact of recognition on overall team performance.
Matter pricing: Matter offers the following pricing plans:
- Free forever: $0/user/month
- Basic: $1/user/month, billed annually
- Pro: $3/user/month, billed annually
- Pro + Surveys: $5/user/month, billed annually
For more details, visit Matter's pricing page.
Matter G2 score: Matter has an average G2 score of 4.7/5.
Notable Matter customers: Notable customers of Matter include Sephora, Petco, Shell, Siemens, JiffyLube, Microsoft, SXSW, Bolt, True Classic, and Carrier.
What Matter's customers are saying on G2: "Being a high-performance team, Matter helps us take a moment out of our busy day to share heartfelt gratitude with kudos." - Sam Udotong, CTO & Co-founder at Fireflies.ai
2. Bonusly
About Bonusly: Bonusly is an employee recognition platform that emphasizes social recognition through a public feed where employees can celebrate each other's achievements. The platform integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, facilitating seamless communication among remote teams. Bonusly provides diverse incentive choices, including gift cards and charitable contributions, enabling companies to customize their recognition programs according to their unique requirements.
Bonusly main features:
- Social recognition feed: Public recognition to celebrate achievements.
- Rewards options: Includes gift cards, charitable donations, and custom rewards.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Supports seamless recognition across communication tools.
- Reporting and insights: Provides analytics on recognition trends and employee engagement.
Bonusly pricing: Bonusly offers the following pricing plans:
- Appreciate: $2/user/month, billed annually
- Connect: $5/user/month, billed annually
- Achieve: $7/user/month, billed annually
For more details, visit Bonusly's pricing page.
Bonusly G2 score: Bonusly has an average G2 score of 4.7/5.
Notable Bonusly customers: Notable customers of Bonusly include Toast, Tactile Medical, SeatGeek, Qualtrics, and Palo Alto Networks.
What Bonusly customers are saying on G2: "It's a nice concept and a positive way to incentivize people, quite easy to use, and customer support responded prompty, but without an actual solution." - Alexandru M., Digital Marketing Operations Circle Lead
3. Nectar HR
About Nectar HR: Nectar HR is a flexible platform for employee recognition and rewards meant to support companies build stronger workplace cultures. The platform supports remote teams with easy-to-use recognition tools that integrate seamlessly with Slack and Microsoft Teams. Nectar HR also offers a variety of reward options, including personalized rewards that align with company values.
Nectar HR main features:
- Employee recognition: Simple tools for recognizing peers, integrated with Slack and Microsoft Teams.
- Reward options: A variety of personalized rewards that align with company values.
- Customizable programs: Tailor recognition programs to fit specific organizational needs.
- Performance tracking: Measure the impact of recognition on employee performance and engagement.
Nectar HR pricing: Nectar HR offers the following pricing plans:
- Plus: $5.00/user/month, billed annually.
- Pro: $6.00/user/month, billed annually.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing available for larger organizations.
For more details, visit Nectar HR's pricing page.
Nectar HR G2 score: Nectar HR has an average G2 score of 4.7/5.
Notable Nectar HR customers: Notable customers of Nectar HR include Redfin, SHRM, Lasko, Heineken, and MLB.
What Nectar HR's customers are saying on G2: "I like the purpose of it - to better employee culture at my company. I don't like the UX and UI very much. I cannot view many messages at once and am not able to easily see all my messages in one place." - Verified User in Government Administration.
4. Snappy
About Snappy: Snappy is a recognition and rewards platform that focuses on providing memorable experiences for employees. It presents a different strategy since it lets staff members pick from a well-chosen gift range, making recognition both fun and meaningful. Snappy integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, supporting recognition programs that can be easily tailored to different teams and organizational needs.
Snappy main features:
- Curated Gift Selection: Employees can choose from a variety of gifts, making recognition more personal.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Seamlessly integrates with existing communication tools.
- Customizable Recognition Programs: Tailor programs to match company culture and values.
- Employee Engagement Analytics: Provides insights into the impact of recognition on engagement and morale.
Snappy pricing: Snappy offers the following pricing plans:
- Essential: $0/year
- Elevated: $999/year
- Enterprise: Custom pricing is available upon request.
For more details, visit Snappy's pricing page.
Snappy G2 score: Snappy has an average G2 score of 4.9/5.
Notable Snappy customers: Snappy customers include Luxottica, ChiliPiper, Medallia, Zapier, and T-Mobile.
What Snappy's customers are saying on G2: "As a reward you would receive from the company I would want more diversity. At times I had to get items I didn't really need. Wish there was a gift card option." - Verified User in Consumer Goods.
5. Assembly
About Assembly: Assembly is a user-friendly employee engagement platform combining peer recognition with team collaboration and performance management tools. It integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making it easy to set goals, track progress, and celebrate achievements across remote teams. Assembly also offers customizable recognition programs that can be aligned with company values.
Assembly main features:
- Peer recognition: Simple and practical tools for recognizing teammates.
- Team collaboration tools: Supports goal setting and performance tracking.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Enables seamless recognition and collaboration.
- Customizable programs: Tailor recognition initiatives to fit the company culture.
Assembly pricing: Assembly offers the following pricing plans:
- Recognition: $2 per member/month, billed annually.
- Engagement: $4 per member/month, billed annually.
- Digital HQ: $4 per member/month, billed annually.
- Custom: Pricing is available upon request.
For more details, visit Assembly's pricing page.
Assembly G2 score: Assembly has an average G2 score of 4.8/5.
Notable Assembly customers: Notable customers of Assembly include NESCO, StubHub, Coca-Cola, Perforce, and Bambee.
What Assembly's customers are saying on G2: "I like the platform as it looks very appealing and is easy to use. The flows are pretty fun and practical, and useful. The only fallback we had using Assembly was that it did not have an app while we were using it. And given our industry and inability to access the computer all that time, this was challenging as we could not use the app at any given time quickly." - Aishwitha M., HR Manager.
6. Kudos
About Kudos: Kudos is an employee recognition platform designed to enhance teamwork and communication through social recognition and continuous feedback. The platform integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making it easy for organizations to build stronger workplace cultures. Kudos offers customizable recognition programs and advanced analytics to gauge how employee involvement changes with acknowledgment.
Kudos main features:
- Social recognition and feedback: Encourages teamwork and communication.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Supports seamless recognition and collaboration.
- Customizable recognition programs: Align recognition with company values.
- Advanced analytics: Provides insights into employee engagement and workplace culture.
Kudos pricing: Kudos does not publicly list pricing on their website. For pricing details, visit Kudos' pricing page.
Kudos G2 score: Kudos has an average G2 score of 4.8/5.
Notable Kudos customers: Notable Kudos customers include Engie, Chewy, Make-A-Wish, MTN, and WilsonHCG.
What Kudos's customers are saying on G2: "Kudos is a great platform to provide appreciation to your colleague who has helped you in your work, but as it's not been used by many employees of the company if it is used at full power by everyone, it will really improve the efficiency of individual employees." - Nikita D., Software Engineer.
7. Awardco
About Awardco: Awardco is a flexible rewards and recognition platform that integrates with Amazon, providing many reward options. It is designed to enhance employee engagement by aligning recognition with company values and offering customizable programs that can be tailored to different teams. Awardco also includes robust analytics to track the effectiveness of recognition initiatives.
Awardco main features:
- Amazon integration: Provides a wide range of reward options.
- Customizable programs: Tailor recognition to align with company values.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Supports seamless recognition and collaboration.
- Advanced analytics: Offers insights into employee engagement and recognition trends.
Awardco pricing: Pricing is not listed on the website. You'll need to schedule a demo/sales call with Awardco to learn more about pricing.
Awardco G2 score: Awardco has an average G2 score of 4.8/5.
Notable Awardco customers: Notable customers of Awardco include Visionworks, ClickUp, Ultradent, Pilot, and Texas Roadhouse.
What Awardco's customers are saying on G2: “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 have customized recongitions and Awardco seems very lackluster compared to the top tier competitions. It does appear that they are trying new things and rolling out new features but these have been disappointing and don't really help us achieve our main goal of retention and recognition.” - Verified User in Information Technology and Services
8. Achievers
About Achievers: Achievers is an employee recognition and engagement platform that focuses on driving company values through continuous recognition and rewards. The platform integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making engaging remote teams and tracking recognition efforts across the organization easy. Achievers also provides robust reporting tools to measure the impact of recognition on employee engagement.
Achievers main features:
- Continuous recognition: Aligns recognition with company values and business goals.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Supports seamless recognition across different teams.
- Rewards system: Offers a variety of reward options, including gift cards and custom rewards.
- Reporting and analytics: provide an understanding of how well recognition initiatives work.
Achievers pricing: Pricing is not listed on the website. To learn more about pricing, you'll need to schedule a demo/sales call with Achievers.
Achievers G2 score: Achievers have an average G2 score of 4.7/5.
Notable Achievers customers: Notable customers of Achievers include Discover, Samsung, General Motors, Kellanova, and Dyson.
What Achievers's customers are saying on G2: “They promise to investigate and reply the next day and after that, you hear nothing from them. It took 3 months to process my request. During this time a war has started in my country and now the certificates are useless. They can't refund them or send compensation. All I can hear is that they are sorry or ask the vendor. Also one of the certificates is not the one I ordered.” - Anton A., Onboarding Tech
9. HiThrive
About HiThrive: HiThrive is a comprehensive employee recognition platform that combines social recognition with tools for continuous feedback and performance tracking. It is designed to support different teams across the organization by providing customizable recognition programs and advanced analytics to measure the impact of recognition on employee engagement.
HiThrive main features:
- Social recognition and continuous feedback: Encourages teamwork and improves performance.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Seamlessly integrates with existing communication tools.
- Customizable recognition programs: Tailor recognition initiatives to match company culture.
- Advanced analytics: Provides insights into employee engagement and recognition effectiveness.
HiThrive pricing: HiThrive offers the following pricing plans:
- Core: $1.50 per user/month, billed monthly.
- Celebrate: $2.50 per user/month, billed monthly.
- Pro: $4.00 per user/month, billed monthly.
For more details, visit HiThrive's pricing page.
HiThrive G2 score: HiThrive has an average G2 score of 5/5 based on one rating.
Notable HiThrive customers: Notable HiThrive customers include CloudBees, SauceLabs, UCSF, Quantum Metric, and Igorand.
What HiThrive's customers are saying on G2: "A simple way to thank colleagues and managers. Too much notifications, and can't save points from passed months." - Oren S., Full Stack Engineer.
10. Evergreen
About Evergreen: Evergreen is an employee recognition platform that focuses on sustainability and social responsibility. It integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing teams to recognize and celebrate achievements while promoting eco-friendly values. Evergreen offers customizable rewards and recognition programs that align with company values, helping to build a culture of appreciation and environmental stewardship.
Evergreen main features:
- Sustainability-focused recognition: Aligns recognition with eco-friendly values.
- Integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Supports seamless recognition and collaboration.
- Customizable programs: Tailor recognition to match company culture and values.
- Advanced analytics: Provides insights into the impact of recognition on engagement and sustainability goals.
Evergreen pricing: Evergreen offers the following pricing plans:
- Standard: $3.99 per active user per month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing is available upon request.
For more details, visit Evergreen's pricing page.
Evergreen G2 score: Evergreen has an average G2 score of 4.7/5.
Notable Evergreen customers: Notable Evergreen customers include Coverwallet, Octopus Energy, Earnest Ice Cream, NITRO, and Harvard University Employees Credit Union.
What Evergreen's customers are saying on G2: "The one thing that I believe could be better is the post-planting experience. It would be awesome to have some sort of feedback and insight into where the seed was planted, etc." - Verified User in Computer Software.
Which is the best HeyTaco alternative?
Selecting the best HeyTaco alternative hinges on your organization's specific needs. When assessing your options, consider the following:
- Integration capabilities: Ensure the platform you choose integrates well with your teams' communication tools, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. This integration helps embed recognition into your teams' daily routines seamlessly.
- Customization and flexibility: Search for platforms that enable the development of customized recognition programs. Offering flexibility to adapt to your evolving company culture and objectives.
- Advanced features and tools: Platforms offering beyond-basic recognition features, such as employee engagement tracking, performance management, and in-depth analytics, provide more comprehensive support for team engagement and productivity.
- User-friendly interface: Select a user-friendly platform that enables consistent use throughout your organization, ensuring simple adoption. This will ensure that the tool becomes integral to your company's operations.
- Cost and return on investment: Consider the pricing models of various platforms to ensure you're getting the best value for the features offered. Some platforms might offer more advanced features at a comparable price, providing a better return on investment.
Considering these factors, you may determine the most suitable HeyTaco solution for your organization's recognition needs and long-term objectives.
Why companies choose Matter over HeyTaco alternatives
Matter distinguishes itself from other HeyTaco alternatives through several key advantages:
- Comprehensive integration: Matter's seamless integration with both Slack and Microsoft Teams ensures that employee recognition is consistently accessible, no matter what communication tools your teams use.
- Customizable recognition programs: With Matter, organizations can easily tailor recognition programs and rewards to align with their specific company values, fostering a stronger and more cohesive workplace culture.
- Powerful analytics: Matter's advanced analytics provide valuable insights into engagement levels and the effectiveness of recognition programs, enabling companies to make informed decisions that drive productivity and morale.
- Focus on positive culture: Matter's emphasis on continuous feedback and recognition contributes to a positive work environment, which is reflected in high user satisfaction and positive testimonials.
These features and Matter's dedication to enhancing employee experience make it a top choice for organizations looking to elevate their recognition programs and overall workplace culture.
Final advice on HeyTaco alternatives
Choosing the right employee recognition platform is crucial for aligning your recognition programs with your company's goals and enhancing workplace culture. While HeyTaco is a strong contender, exploring alternatives like Matter, Bonusly, and others can help you find a solution that best meets your organization's unique needs. Whether you prioritize seamless integration, customizable rewards, or advanced analytics, there's a platform out there that can help you drive employee engagement and achieve your business objectives.
Consider trying Matter today if you're ready to take your employee recognition program to the next level. Get started with Matter for free and see how it can transform your workplace culture.
