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

Selecting the right employee recognition platform can significantly impact your organization's culture and employee engagement levels. Businesses need solutions that make employees feel valued while aligning with their goals of fostering a high-performing, appreciative culture. Matter understands these needs and offers a platform that easily integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, featuring tools like customizable kudos and automated Feedback Friday to promote continuous recognition and engagement. By comparing Kudos vs. Matter, this guide will enable you to choose which instrument best fits your company's goals.

Kudos vs. Matter: Overview comparison

Selecting the right employee recognition platform is key to enhancing employee engagement, boosting morale, and fostering a culture of appreciation. Both Kudos and Matter offer solutions designed to meet these objectives, but they differ significantly in their features, approach, and integration capabilities.

Matter is a comprehensive employee recognition platform that integrates seamlessly with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making peer-to-peer recognition a natural part of daily communication. Matter is built around a unique weekly resetting coin system, encouraging frequent and meaningful recognition while preventing the accumulation of unused points. The platform supports various rewards, including digital gift cards, charitable donations, and custom rewards, to cater to employee preferences and enhance engagement. Matter also offers robust automation features, such as automated pulse surveys, Feedback Friday prompts, and birthday and work anniversary celebrations, helping organizations create a continuous appreciation and engagement culture.

On the other hand, Kudos focuses on creating a fun and engaging recognition experience with its user-friendly platform designed to promote recognition and reward through a point-based system. Kudos emphasizes aligning recognition with company values and culture, providing customizable recognition messages, badges, and rewards to reflect organizational values and objectives. However, its integration capabilities and automation features are more limited compared to Matter, which may reduce its effectiveness for larger organizations or those with more complex recognition needs.

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

Kudos vs. Matter: Features

When comparing the features of Kudos and Matter, it is clear that Matter offers a more 

comprehensive and versatile set of tools for employee recognition and engagement.

Matter's features

• Seamless integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Matter integrates deeply with Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing employees to give kudos, participate in surveys, and engage in peer-to-peer recognition activities within their daily workflows. This seamless integration fosters a culture of continuous appreciation and engagement without disrupting existing communication channels.
• Unique recognition system: Matter uses a weekly resetting coin system that promotes regular and meaningful recognition. This unique approach encourages frequent recognition, preventing the buildup of unused points and ensuring that employees feel appreciated consistently.
• Extensive reward catalog: Matter provides over 1,600 reward options, including digital gift cards, charitable donations, and custom-branded items, allowing organizations to align rewards with company values and cater to diverse employee preferences.
• Advanced automation: Matter offers features like Feedback Friday reminders, automated pulse surveys, and scheduled celebrations for birthdays and anniversaries. These tools help maintain a positive workplace culture and reduce manual tasks for HR teams.
• Robust analytics: Matter provides detailed analytics that gives organizations insights into recognition trends, employee engagement, and alignment with core values. This information helps businesses make wise judgments and raise awareness initiatives.

Kudos features

• Flexible recognition tools: Kudos offers a user-friendly platform that supports various recognition types, including peer-to-peer and leader-to-peer recognition. It emphasizes alignment with company values through customizable messages, badges, and rewards.
• An engaging approach to recognition: Kudos incorporates gamification elements, like badges and leaderboards, to motivate employees and encourage participation in recognition activities. This fun and engaging approach can help build camaraderie and improve morale.
• Basic integration with tools: Kudos integrates with Slack and other tools to enable recognition within existing workflows. However, its integration capabilities are more limited than Matter's deep integration with multiple platforms.
• Customizable rewards options: Kudos allows companies to create their own rewards catalog, including donations, gift cards, and company-branded rewards. While this provides flexibility, it may not offer the same breadth of options as Matter's extensive catalog.

Key takeaways on features

While both platforms offer valuable features for employee recognition, Matter stands out with its seamless integration, extensive reward options, unique recognition system, and advanced automation. These capabilities make it a more comprehensive solution for companies creating an always appreciative and involved culture. In contrast, Kudos offers a more basic set of features focusing on customization and gamification, which may suit smaller teams or organizations looking for a simpler approach.

Kudos vs. Matter: Integration options

Integration capabilities are crucial for employee recognition platforms, ensuring they fit seamlessly into an organization's existing workflows. Matter offers more comprehensive integration options than Kudos, enabling better automation, flexibility, and deeper engagement within everyday tools.

Matter integration options

• Deep integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Matter is designed to integrate fully with Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing employees to perform recognition activities such as giving kudos, conducting employee surveys, and participating in Feedback Friday directly within these platforms. This deep integration helps to create a culture of continuous recognition and engagement by making it a natural part of daily communication, which boosts overall employee morale and satisfaction​.
• Extensive HRIS integration: Matter integrates with various HRIS platforms, including ADP, BambooHR, Gusto, and Workday, enabling automatic synchronization of employee data. This ensures timely recognition of key milestones such as birthdays and work anniversaries and reduces the manual workload for HR teams.
• Custom API access for unique needs: Matter offers API access, allowing organizations to create custom integrations that connect the platform to other enterprise systems. Matter's adaptability enables it to adapt to different workflows and fulfill the needs of each company.

Kudos integration options

• Basic integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams: Kudos provides integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, enabling users to give recognition and rewards within these platforms. However, the integration does not directly support more advanced features like automated surveys or deep analytics within these tools, limiting its flexibility compared to Matter​.
• Limited HRIS integration: While Kudos offers some integration with HRIS platforms, it lacks the extensive range that Matter supports. It may require more manual effort to update employee data and ensure accurate recognition of milestones​.
• No dedicated API access for custom integrations: Kudos does not provide API access, which limits its ability to connect with other enterprise systems or accommodate unique organizational needs​.

Key takeaways on integration options: When comparing integration capabilities, Matter provides a more robust and flexible set of options. With its deep integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, extensive HRIS integration, and custom API access, Matter is the superior choice for organizations looking for a recognition platform that integrates seamlessly into existing workflows and supports advanced automation. With its more basic integration options, Kudos may not fulfill the requirements of larger enterprises or those seeking a more adaptable and scalable solution.

Kudos vs. Matter: Pricing and plans

Understanding the pricing structures of employee recognition platforms is essential to finding the best fit for your organization's budget and requirements. Matter offers a range of flexible pricing plans with comprehensive features, while Kudos provides more general pricing that may require a custom quote based on specific 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.

Kudos pricing and plans

Kudos does not provide explicit pricing information on its website. Generally, their pricing is customized based on the organization's size, required features, and specific needs. Organizations are encouraged to contact the Kudos sales team for accurate pricing.

Key takeaways on pricing and plans: When comparing pricing and plans, Matter offers a clear, tiered pricing structure with comprehensive features at competitive prices suitable for organizations of all sizes. The flexibility and scalability of Matter's plans make it the superior choice for organizations looking to implement a robust and cost-effective recognition program. In contrast, Kudos requires direct contact for customized pricing, which may limit transparency for organizations evaluating their options.

Kudos vs. Matter: Customer support

Customer support is crucial for effectively implementing and maintaining an employee recognition platform. Matter offers a more comprehensive support experience than Kudos, providing extensive resources and personalized assistance.

Matter customer support

• Live chat and email support: Matter offers live chat and email support, ensuring quick assistance for platform-related questions or issues. This benefits HR teams that need fast resolutions to maintain smooth recognition programs.
• Dedicated account management: Matter provides dedicated account management for higher-tier plans, offering personalized guidance and strategy development to help organizations optimize their platform use.
• Extensive help center and resources: Matter features a comprehensive help center with articles, tutorials, and FAQs, which are regularly updated to reflect new features and best practices, providing a valuable self-service option.
• Onboarding and training: Matter supports a seamless onboarding process with live training sessions and custom video tutorials, ensuring high adoption rates and effective platform use.

Kudos customer support

• Email support: Kudos offers email support for handling general inquiries and troubleshooting. While helpful, this support may lack the immediacy and depth of Matter's live chat and dedicated account management.
• Help center: Kudos provides a help center with articles on using features and customizing the platform. However, the scope and depth of these resources may not match Matter's extensive offerings.
• Limited onboarding resources: Kudos provides basic guidance on setting up and using the platform but lacks the emphasis on live training and customized onboarding services that Matter offers.

Key takeaways on customer support: When comparing customer support, Matter offers a more robust and proactive approach, including live chat, dedicated account management, and comprehensive onboarding resources. In contrast, Kudos provides basic email support and help center resources, which may not offer the same level of personalized service or depth, especially for larger organizations requiring more extensive support.

Kudos vs. Matter: Customer reviews

Customer reviews are essential to understanding how each employee recognition platform performs in real-world scenarios. Matter consistently receives praise for its ease of use, seamless integration capabilities, and positive impact on company culture. Kudos are also appreciated but show some areas for improvement.

Matter customer reviews

Matter holds an impressive G2 score of 4.7/5, reflecting high user satisfaction across various categories, including ease of use, integration, and its effectiveness in boosting employee morale. Users frequently highlight Matter's seamless integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, the user-friendly interface, and its significant positive impact on company culture and engagement. For example:

• Michael Margolese, Senior HR 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 illustrate Matter's impact on creating a high-performing culture through continuous, meaningful recognition supported by deep integration and automated features.

Kudos customer reviews

Kudos has a respectable G2 score of 4.8/5. Users appreciate the platform's user-friendly design and focus on creating a fun, engaging recognition experience through gamification elements like badges and leaderboards. However, some reviews point out limitations, particularly regarding its integration capabilities and the depth of features offered:

• Sharon H.- "It was nice to hear praise from co-workers. It quickly became a popularity contest so certain people could earn rewards, one group of employees left almost meaningless comments to boost their scores and thus get prizes. Also the level of points to earn a prize made it difficult to 'cash in'."
• Nikita D., Software Engineer- "Kudos is a great platform to provide appreciation to your colleague who has helped you in your work, but as its been not used by many employees of the company but if its used at full power by everyone it will really improve the efficiency of individual employee."

These reviews indicate that while Kudos effectively builds camaraderie and engagement through its fun approach, it may lack the comprehensive features and flexibility that larger organizations need for strategic employee recognition programs.

Key takeaways from customer reviews: Both Matter and Kudos receive positive feedback, but Matter stands out for its comprehensive features, seamless integration, and significant positive impact on workplace culture. Matter's robust analytics, automation tools, and diverse rewards catalog make it a more versatile and strategic solution for organizations aiming to foster continuous recognition and engagement. While Kudos is valued for its simplicity and engaging approach, it may not provide the same flexibility or effectiveness for organizations with more complex recognition needs.

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

Choosing the best employee recognition platform for your organization depends on your goals for employee engagement, culture-building, and overall organizational values. While both Kudos and Matter offer valuable tools for employee recognition, Matter emerges as the superior choice for several compelling reasons.

Why Matter might be the perfect fit for your organization

1. Seamless integration with existing tools: Matter is built to work effortlessly within Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing employees to engage in recognition activities directly within these platforms. This deep integration simplifies the recognition process by embedding it into everyday workflows, promoting consistent engagement, and boosting employee morale without disrupting communication channels.
2. Comprehensive and flexible features: Matter provides many features, including a unique weekly resetting coin system that encourages regular, meaningful recognition. It offers an extensive rewards catalog with over 1,600 options, such as digital gift cards, donations, and custom rewards, allowing organizations to tailor recognition to different employee preferences and values.
3. Advanced automation and robust analytics: Matter automates key recognition tasks, from Feedback Friday reminders to reward delivery and birthday celebrations, reducing the manual workload for HR teams. Additionally, Matter provides robust analytics to monitor engagement levels, track recognition trends, and ensure alignment with company values, empowering organizations to make data-driven decisions to enhance employee satisfaction and retention.
4. High customer satisfaction and strong support: With a G2 score of 4.7 out of 5, Matter receives high praise for its ease of use, seamless integration with communication tools, and positive impact on workplace culture. The platform offers 24/7 support, dedicated account management, and comprehensive onboarding resources to help organizations maximize the benefits of their recognition programs.

How to determine the right tool for your organization

To decide between Kudos and Matter, consider the following factors:

• 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 provide more substantial benefits. Kudos may suit those seeking a simpler, fun-focused approach.
• 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 offer a significant advantage.
• Support and scalability: If you need a platform with great support and can expand with your company, 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 improve employee morale and satisfaction. With its simpler approach, Kudos may appeal to smaller teams looking for a fun and engaging way to recognize employees.

Final summary: Why Matter is the clear choice

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

1. Seamless integration with existing tools: Matter provides deep integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, embedding recognition activities directly into employees' daily tools. This seamless integration makes recognition a natural part of daily workflows, promoting consistent engagement and improving employee experience.
2. Comprehensive features for diverse needs: Matter offers many 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 allows organizations to fit different employee preferences and values in their recognition schemes.
3. Advanced automation and powerful analytics: Matter automates essential tasks, such as Feedback Friday prompts, birthday and anniversary celebrations, and reward delivery, reducing the administrative burden on HR teams. Additionally, Matter's robust analytics tools help organizations monitor engagement levels, recognition trends, and alignment with company values, allowing for data-driven decisions that enhance employee satisfaction and retention.
4. High customer satisfaction and superior support: Matter consistently receives high praise for its ease of use, seamless integration, and positive impact on workplace culture, with a G2 score of 4.7 out of 5. The platform offers 24/7 customer support, dedicated account management, and comprehensive onboarding resources to ensure organizations maximize the value 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 landscape, fostering a culture of continuous recognition is vital to improving employee morale, engagement, and retention. Matter excels in all these areas with its robust features, seamless integration with communication tools, advanced automation, and strong support.

Matter offers an unparalleled solution for organizations looking to create a meaningful and engaging recognition experience that aligns with their core values and unique needs. Ready to transform your workplace culture? Get started with Matter for free today and see how it can help your team feel more appreciated, motivated, and connected.