Best Microsoft Praise competitors ranked for Teams-first companies, 2026 guide

10 Best Microsoft Praise Competitors for 2026 (Ranked & Compared)

SlackMicrosoft Teams Logo

If your company runs on Microsoft Teams, you already have a recognition feature: Praise, built into the Teams compose box and the Viva Insights app, and what most people search as ‘Microsoft Praise.’ Because it ships free with licenses you already own, Praise is the default every dedicated recognition platform has to beat, so ‘Microsoft Praise competitors’ really means the recognition-software category as seen from inside Teams. This guide maps that category: what Praise does, where its documented boundaries sit, and ten platforms that run a fuller program without anyone leaving Teams. Praise facts were verified against Microsoft's documentation in August 2026 and in our own Microsoft 365 tenant in September 2026. Matter publishes this guide; we list our own product first and have tried to describe every competitor fairly.

How we researched this list

We build Matter and use it every day, and we sent Praise in our own Microsoft 365 tenant in September 2026, so read our take on our own product with that in mind. For every other platform on this list, we reviewed the vendor's public pricing, product pages, and documentation, plus named G2 and marketplace reviews, and we drew on conversations with teams evaluating and switching between recognition platforms. Most of these products we have not used hands-on, so where a vendor offers no self-serve trial, we rely on the vendor's own published materials and named reviewer accounts. Every claim is sourced to the vendor's materials, named reviews, or Matter's published data, and facts were last verified in August 2026.

What is Microsoft Praise?

There is no product officially named ‘Microsoft Praise.’ Microsoft's admin documentation calls it the Praise app in Microsoft Teams: “The Praise app in Microsoft Teams helps users show appreciation to members of your organization or classroom” (Microsoft Learn, manage the Praise app, doc updated May 2026, verified August 2026). The same feature lives inside the Viva Insights app as Praise in Viva Insights; Viva Engage has a separate, unlinked post type also called Praise, which this guide does not cover.

A sent Microsoft Praise card in a Teams group chat with the Creative title, recipients, note, and praise history links
Source: Microsoft Teams, September 2026.

Sending Praise, as we did in our own tenant in September 2026: in a chat or standard channel you open the compose box's actions menu, choose Praise, and get four fields: To, Title, an optional Note of up to 500 characters, and Background, eight pastel colors that are the only per-praise customization (Microsoft Support, send Praise to people in Microsoft Teams, verified August 2026). The sent card shows the emoji, title, recipients, note, and a ‘From’ line, and a Praise highlight appears on the recipient's Teams and Outlook profile card unless they switch it off (Message Center notice MC500903, January 2023). The free Viva Insights app adds an ‘All praises’ view, a six-month history (Exchange Online mailbox required), recommendations, and self-scheduled reminders, verified in-product in September 2026 and documented in Microsoft Support, Praise in Viva Insights (verified August 2026).

Sending is included with Teams on any commercial Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan, including frontline F1 and F3 (Microsoft Viva service description, verified August 2026); only personal Praise Trends and share-a-copy need a Viva Insights subscription, $4 per user/month standalone (Viva Insights plan page, verified August 2026). Admin control is one allow-or-block toggle, and Microsoft publishes no usage figures. Praise's strengths are real: zero procurement, native reach into the Outlook profile card, privacy by design, and active maintenance with no retirement announced.

Why a recognition-software market exists next to Praise

In conversations with teams that evaluated Praise before choosing a platform, three moments recur: HR asks whether anyone is using it, leadership wants recognition tied to company values, and someone asks for rewards. Each is a documented boundary.

  • Fourteen fixed titles, no custom values. As of September 2026 the Title strip offers Awesome (the default), Thank you, Congratulations, Achiever, Problem solver, Courage, Team player, Kind heart, Optimism, Creative, Leadership, Inclusive, Coach, and Growth; custom badges were withdrawn in February 2022 (Message Center notice MC329432). According to The Recognition Habit, Matter's 2026 Benchmark Report, teams that create their own kudos types (e.g., company values) recognize 4.6x more per person than teams on defaults and are 3x more likely to be active at all; where custom types exist, 65% of recognition uses one.
  • No org-wide, manager, or admin reporting at any license tier. Microsoft describes Praise Trends as surfacing data privately (MC448356, November 2022), and Microsoft Q&A threads from 2022 through 2024 confirm there is no admin or HR report of praise activity, even for a Global Administrator.
  • No rewards, points, or celebrations. Microsoft's Praise documentation describes titles and notes only (verified August 2026).
  • No surveys. Those live in Viva Glint and Viva Pulse, a $6 per user/month bundle (Microsoft Viva pricing, verified August 2026), adjacent products rather than competitors.
  • Standard channels and internal senders only. Praise is not available in private channels (Microsoft Support responses in Microsoft Q&A, 2023 and 2024), guests can receive but not send it (Microsoft Q&A, 2023, community answer), and it does not exist on Slack.

None of this is a criticism of Microsoft; a free, native thank-you card is a good thing to have. The market below is what the card becomes when it needs to be a program.

How we ranked these Microsoft Praise competitors

The category answers Praise in three ways, and the list is grouped accordingly: chat-native programs that keep recognition in the channel (Matter, HeyTaco); enterprise suites selling global reward fulfillment and consultative rollouts (Workhuman, Vantage Circle, Achievers, Awardco); and mid-market points platforms built around a monthly allowance and a public feed (Nectar, Bonusly, Motivosity, Kudos). Within each group, vendors are ordered by native Teams app store rating, then volume, because the whole point is running the program inside Teams. Guusto (a Teams listing with no ratings, and gift delivery as its core job) and WorkTango (no Teams listing) were left off for that reason.

Microsoft Praise competitors at a glance

Teams app store figures are the native star widget on each listing, hand-verified in August 2026 (not the G2 panel Microsoft also displays); pricing is as published in August 2026, per user/month.

VendorNative Teams app + ratingPublished pricing / free planCustom values recognitionRewardsReporting for HR
Microsoft PraiseBuilt in; no listingIncluded with Teams; Praise Trends need Viva Insights at $4No; 14 fixed titlesNoneNone at any tier
MatterYes; 5.0 (1,476)Yes; Free plan for unlimited users, then $1 to $5, billed annuallyYes (Basic and up)10,000+ options, 200+ countries (Pro)Yes (Basic and up)
HeyTacoYes; 4.7 (316)Yes; Classic $3, Deluxe $5Taco Tags for values; the taco is fixedCustom rewards; 2,000+ gift cards on DeluxeInsights; advanced analytics on Deluxe
WorkhumanYes; 4.7 (2,979)No; quote onlyYes; titled awards with approval1M+ choices, 180+ countriesYes (Workhuman iQ)
Vantage CircleYes; 4.6 (3,631)No; all tiers custom-pricedYes; value-aligned badges10K+ options (homepage figure)Yes
AchieversYes; 4.6 (979)No; quote only, modules priced separatelyConfigurable programs and nomination awards3M+ claimed, about 190 countriesYes (40+ templated reports)
AwardcoYes; 4.5 (1,418)No; quote only, small-business packages from $3,000Admin-configured programsAmazon Business catalogYes
NectarYes; 4.4 (2,319)No; quote-based bundles since 2026Yes; values-based recognitionGlobal catalog incl. AmazonYes
BonuslyYes; 4.4 (45)Yes; free up to 8 users, Team $3, Team + Bizy $5Configurable; values mapping not verifiedGift cards, donations, swag (paid)Company-wide analytics on Organization
MotivosityYes; 4.2 (58)No; quote only, $3,000 annual minimumConfigurable; values mapping not verifiedClaimed 500M options plus a Visa cardYes (insights module)
KudosIn-client app, 4.2 (14); no AppSource listingNo; pricing page returns 404Yes; values-tied, four levelsHundreds of thousands (their claim)Yes (culture analytics)

 

The 10 best Microsoft Praise competitors for 2026, ranked

1. Matter

About Matter: Matter is a Teams-first and Slack-first employee recognition, rewards, and surveys platform, and the closest thing to Praise with a program behind it: kudos are sent in the Teams channels people already read, as designed cards tied to your company values, with weekly-resetting coins, rewards, celebrations, and reporting for HR. Feedback Friday™, the team-wide weekly prompt, is patented (U.S. Patent No. 12,199,935); the 2026 Benchmark Report found that teams that build recognition around a weekly ritual give about 2.5x more recognition per member than ad hoc teams.

Matter employee recognition in Microsoft Teams with kudos cards and Give Kudos button
Matter kudos recognition in Microsoft Teams

Teams availability: Native app rated 5.0 across 1,476 ratings on the Microsoft Teams app store, the only 5.0 at meaningful volume here; it installs in about two minutes, syncs membership from Teams with no separate login, and works with Microsoft Copilot (see Matter's integrations).

Pricing (verified August 2026): Matter's Free plan is for unlimited users, with kudos, the template library, and Feedback Friday™. Basic is $1 per user/month, billed annually, adding celebrations, custom kudos tied to company values, and analytics and reporting. Pro is $3 per user/month, billed annually, adding rewards (10,000+ eGift cards and premium gifts across 200+ countries) and company swag (print-on-demand or self-fulfillment). Surveys add $2 per user/month (Pro + Surveys totals $5); Enterprise is custom and includes HRIS integration. Matter hasn't raised prices in 8 years; see Matter's pricing. Rewards can be prepaid via ACH at 0% or by card at 3.5%, or funded pay-as-you-go by card at 5% plus $0.35 per transaction.

Strengths: Give-coins reset weekly, earned coins never expire, support is 24/7, the 14-day trial needs no card, and Matter is rated 4.7 across 1,186 reviews on G2; in Matter's customer stories, McInnis & Holloway passed 80% engagement in under two months (Jeff Hagel, President).

Where it falls short: Matter is built around Teams and Slack, so teams on neither get the core experience, and some G2 reviewers find the default notification cadence chatty, though settings are adjustable.

Best for: Teams-first companies of any size that want Praise's convenience to become a measurable program.

Direct Comparison: Microsoft Praise vs. Matter, linked in full in the rollout section below.

2. HeyTaco

About HeyTaco: HeyTaco is the other product here that stays in the compose box the way Praise does: teammates send taco emoji in Slack or Teams channels, five per person per day by default, feeding leaderboards and a Taco Shop of rewards, across 3,000-plus paid workspaces.

HeyTaco peer recognition showing tacos given in a chat channel with a leaderboard
Source: HeyTaco product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: Native in Teams and Slack, rated 4.7 across 316 ratings; like Praise, it works in standard Teams channels only, per HeyTaco's docs.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Classic at $3 per user/month and Deluxe at $5 per user/month, billed monthly for active users, per HeyTaco's pricing page; gift cards and milestones require Deluxe; no free plan.

Strengths: About the lowest-friction recognition in the category, SOC 2 Type II, and 4.7 across 721 reviews on G2 as of August 2026.

Where it falls short: The daily allowance is the product and also its top G2 dislike (71 mentions); Ricardo Alan V., a senior developer, in April 2026: “It's a sad race of which person automatically gives their 5 tacos everyday.” No HRIS integrations or surveys.

Best for: Small, chat-centric teams that want a daily emoji habit one step up from Praise.

Direct Comparison: HeyTaco vs. Matter.

3. Workhuman

About Workhuman: Workhuman anchors the enterprise tier: 8 million-plus users and 1 million-plus reward choices across 180-plus countries (its own figures), with customers such as LinkedIn, Cisco, and Merck. Recognition is a nomination for a titled award, with a written justification and an approval step.

Workhuman Social Recognition platform showing award nominations and the recognition feed
Source: Workhuman product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: A Microsoft 365 certified Teams app rated 4.7 across 2,979 ratings, plus Slack and Outlook; the program lives on Workhuman's platform.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Not published; the one number Workhuman offers is a recommended program spend of 1% of payroll. No free plan or self-serve trial.

Strengths: Global fulfillment nobody else here matches, Workhuman iQ analytics, deep service-milestone programs, and 4.7 on G2 across roughly 2,400 reviews as of August 2026.

Where it falls short: The award-and-approval model turns recognition into an occasional ceremony rather than a habit (G2 counts 230 mentions of slow approvals and complex criteria); Balazs L., a senior software developer, in November 2023: “frequency of use is low, only big projects are rewarded.”

Best for: Global enterprises of 10,000-plus employees with a structured HR function.

Direct Comparison: Workhuman vs. Matter.

4. Vantage Circle

About Vantage Circle: Vantage Circle is the suite player of the enterprise tier: Vantage Recognition (formerly Vantage Rewards), Perks discounts, Pulse surveys, and Fit wellness from one vendor. India-founded with a US office in Plano, Texas, it claims 3.2 million-plus users across 100-plus countries, with SOLI-adjusted points that hold comparable value across countries.

Vantage Circle recognition and rewards platform showing the recognition feed and reward catalog
Source: Vantage Circle product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: A native embedded Teams app with awards, nominations, and a leaderboard, rated 4.6 across 3,631 ratings, the largest count on this list, plus a Slack app.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Three tiers, Grow, Transform, and Scale, all custom-priced behind a demo on Vantage Circle's pricing page; Pulse surveys are an add-on below Scale.

Strengths: Multi-country mechanics (SOLI parity, multi-wallet, 16-plus languages), a Wipro case study across 234,000 employees, and 4.7 across 10,896 reviews on G2 as of August 2026.

Where it falls short: Catalog and redemption dominate the complaints: G2's five biggest dislike themes, about 690 mentions, are all about regional gaps, voucher availability, and fixed denominations, and Vantage Circle's help center states that points are forfeited when an employee leaves the organization.

Best for: Multinational enterprises, particularly those with a large India-based workforce, that want recognition, perks, wellness, and surveys from a single vendor.

Direct Comparison: Vantage Circle vs. Matter.

5. Achievers

About Achievers: Achievers, a Blackhawk Network company since 2015, pairs points-based peer recognition with manager-approved nomination awards, surveys, and milestones, and reaches deskless workers through kiosks, QR codes, and physical recognition cards; it claims 3 million-plus rewards in about 190 countries.

Achievers employee recognition platform showing the recognition feed and rewards marketplace
Source: Achievers product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: A Microsoft 365 certified Teams app rated 4.6 across 979 ratings, plus a Slack app; the feed itself is Achievers' own.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Custom quote only, combining a platform subscription, a separately funded recognition budget, and individually priced modules; a typical implementation takes a quarter.

Strengths: More G2 reviews than anyone in the category (4.6 across 9,595 on G2, August 2026), Blackhawk's gift-card supply chain, 40-plus templated reports, and a top-tier Workday partnership.

Where it falls short: Reviewers push back on reward value and fixed denominations: Azusa T., in December 2025, described redemptions limited to “set amounts... 10, 50, 100,” and G2's top dislike theme is limited gift and reward options (596 mentions).

Best for: Large retail, healthcare, and manufacturing employers with big deskless populations.

Direct Comparison: Achievers vs. Matter.

6. Awardco

About Awardco: Awardco competes on reward logistics: its Amazon Business partnership lets employees redeem points at retail with no markup, its homepage claims 300 million options across 135 countries, and recognition programs (spot, nominations, service awards, birthdays) sit on top for customers such as Texas Roadhouse and Hertz.

Awardco recognition and rewards platform showing the Amazon-integrated reward catalog
Source: Awardco product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: A Microsoft 365 certified Teams app (‘Recognition by Awardco’) rated 4.5 across 1,418 ratings, plus Slack and Workday.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Tier names are public on Awardco's pricing page but prices are not; businesses with 100 employees or fewer are told packages start at $3,000. No free plan or trial.

Strengths: No recognition vendor rates higher on G2 (4.9 across 6,325 reviews, August 2026), fast reward delivery is a top like theme, and the zero-markup claim holds for Amazon items.

Where it falls short: Employers can set points to expire, and expired points are permanently gone per Awardco's help center; value thins outside Amazon, as Alison L., an account manager, wrote in March 2026: “Rewards feel overpriced compared to their real value so the points may not stretch very far.”

Best for: Mid-market and enterprise teams for whom catalog breadth is the deciding factor.

Direct Comparison: Awardco vs. Matter.

7. Nectar

About Nectar: Nectar leads the mid-market points tier: peer recognition tied to company values, a monthly points allowance, and a global reward catalog, now sold as Recognize, Comms, and Engage (its 2026 survey product), with kiosk mode and SMS delivery for frontline staff.

Nectar employee recognition platform showing the social recognition feed and rewards
Source: Nectar product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: A Teams app rated 4.4 across 2,319 ratings, plus Slack and Google Chat; recognition lives in Nectar's own feed.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Quote-based since 2026; Nectar's pricing page shows bundles without per-user prices, there is no free plan, and rewards funded by credit card incur a 3.5% plus $0.40 processing fee per its billing FAQ (ACH, check, and wire avoid it).

Strengths: Ease of use is its most-mentioned positive, and Nectar is rated 4.7 across 8,579 reviews on G2 as of August 2026.

Where it falls short: Give-points reset monthly and unused ones expire; the top five dislike themes on Nectar's G2 profile, roughly 1,600 reviews, all concern the points system. Sandra R., in May 2026: “I wish the points didn't disappear at the end of the month.”

Best for: US mid-market companies with large frontline populations and an appetite for an Amazon-scale catalog.

Direct Comparison: Nectar vs. Matter.

8. Bonusly

About Bonusly: Bonusly runs one of the category's largest points feeds, a monthly allowance given peer to peer in a public stream, and in August 2026 repositioned around Bizy, an AI ‘recognition sidekick.’ It claims 3,400-plus organizations, including HelloFresh and DoorDash.

Bonusly recognition feed showing peer bonuses with points and hashtags
Source: Bonusly product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: Microsoft 365 certified, but its Teams listing rates 4.4 across only 45 ratings, a thin base for its size.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Per Bonusly's pricing page, free up to 8 users (recognition only), Team at $3 per user/month, billed annually, Team + Bizy at $5 per user/month, billed annually, and Organization by quote. Per its help center, funding rewards by card costs 5% to 8% unless the company deposits $2,500 up front.

Strengths: Transparent pricing, adoption that needs no training, 30-plus HRIS integrations, and 4.7 with 7,000-plus reviews on G2.

Where it falls short: By Bonusly's own rewards-calculator figure, 60% of monthly allowances are given away, so roughly 40% expire unused; Vasanth J., a media analyst, in April 2026: “The monthly points limit feels a bit restrictive, especially during busy months.”

Best for: SMB and mid-market teams that want a points feed with published pricing and are comfortable with a monthly budget.

Direct Comparison: Bonusly vs. Matter.

9. Motivosity

About Motivosity: Motivosity has a twist the rest of the tier lacks: recognition is dollar-denominated (one Motivosity Buck equals one US dollar) and earned bucks spend instantly on the ThanksMatters Visa card. It cites 1,200-plus companies, including Toyota and Puma.

Motivosity recognition platform showing peer appreciation posts and the ThanksMatters card
Source: Motivosity product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: A certified ‘Motivosity Team Connector’ rated 4.2 across 58 ratings, plus a Slack app; the program lives in Motivosity's own apps.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Custom, modular pricing; the only public number on Motivosity's pricing page is a $3,000 minimum annual investment, there is no free plan or trial, and reward budgets must be funded from a US bank account or card.

Strengths: The spendable card, dollar clarity, and 4.7 across 3,615 reviews on G2 as of August 2026.

Where it falls short: Giving balances are a monthly use-it-or-lose-it allowance with no rollover, per its own FAQ, and the allowance can feel small; a verified user in hospital and health care wrote in June 2026: “I wish I had more than $5 a month because I have lots of people.”

Best for: Mid-market teams that want cash-like rewards on a card and can budget for a $3,000-minimum contract.

Direct Comparison: Motivosity vs. Matter.

10. Kudos

About Kudos: Kudos (Kudos Inc., Calgary; not the unrelated consumer apps of the same name) is the enterprise-leaning member of the points tier: recognition tied to company values at four levels, Thank You, Good Job, Impressive, and Exceptional, with culture analytics, for customers such as DHL Express and ENGIE.

Kudos employee recognition platform showing the recognition wall and rewards
Source: Kudos product page, August 2026.

Teams availability: An in-client Teams app rated 4.2 across 14 reviews, with no public AppSource listing; recognition lives in Kudos's own app.

Pricing (verified August 2026): Fully quote-gated (kudos.com/pricing returns a 404); a third-party estimate of about $3.25 per user/month with a 500-employee minimum is an estimate, not a Kudos figure.

Strengths: SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, 11-plus languages, HRIS depth (Workday, UKG, SAP SuccessFactors, ADP), and 4.8 across 2,828 reviews on G2 as of August 2026.

Where it falls short: The top four G2 dislikes are all monthly point caps and redemption limits; Santino E., in May 2026: “100 points only allows me to recognize 11 people with 5 points.” Its iOS app rated 3.2 and was last updated in July 2024.

Best for: Enterprise HR teams with 500-plus employees and an appetite for a demo-led purchase.

Direct Comparison: Kudos vs. Matter.

How to choose among Microsoft Praise competitors

Praise sets the baseline: free, native, zero admin. Judge any competitor on what it adds.

  • Native or integrated? Ask whether recognition happens in the Teams channel or in a separate app, and whether the app adds a login, a password to reset, or a provisioning project; Matter's page for IT admins shows how a Teams-native app avoids all three, a fair test for every vendor above.
  • Custom values and reporting, at which tier. Praise's 14 titles are the ceiling and it has no reporting; check whether custom recognition types and team-level participation reports arrive at an entry tier or only in enterprise contracts.
  • Rewards reach and funding terms. Compare catalog size and country coverage, then the fine print: markups, card fees, deposits, and point expiry. Matter's research found employees favor cash, paid time off, and gift cards, in that order.
Matter rewards store showing eGift cards, prepaid Visa and PayPal options, company swag, premium gifts, and charitable donations
Matter rewards: eGift cards, prepaid options, company swag, premium gifts, and donations
  • Cadence. Monthly allowances (Nectar, Bonusly, Motivosity, Kudos) push recognition toward month end, a daily allowance (HeyTaco) can become a chore, and nomination models (Workhuman, Achievers awards) make it rare; Matter's weekly reset is a deliberate middle path.
  • Published pricing. Only Matter, HeyTaco, and Bonusly publish full prices in this set. If a vendor quotes, get the platform fee, add-ons, minimums, and reward-funding fees in writing.
  • Time to first kudos, at your size. Praise took us about a minute; a quarter-long implementation is a different commitment. Recognition intensity tends to fall as organizations grow, which is why the enterprise tier sells consultative rollouts and Matter's guide to recognition programs at scale leans on automated rituals.

How to move from Praise to a recognition program without leaving Teams

Nothing migrates, because Praise stores no points, balances, or program data, and nobody changes apps; what you are doing is rolling a program out inside the Teams you already run. The sequence is the same for every vendor above: install from the Teams app store (or book the implementation, for demo-led platforms), pick the channels where recognition will appear, create recognition types for your company values, switch on the weekly cadence and celebrations, and have a leader announce it. Praise can stay on for casual thanks or be blocked by your Teams admin; either works. The step-by-step version is in the graduation section of the Microsoft Praise vs. Matter comparison. If part of your company lives on Slack, pick a platform that runs natively there too.

Matter employee recognition in Slack with designed kudos cards and coins
Matter kudos recognition in Slack

Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Praise competitors

What is the closest competitor to Microsoft Praise?

A recognition app that lives in the Teams compose box the way Praise does, rather than in a separate portal. Matter (rated 5.0 across 1,476 ratings on the Teams app store) and HeyTaco (4.7 across 316) both send recognition directly in Teams channels; Matter adds custom values, rewards, celebrations, surveys, and HR reporting, while HeyTaco keeps it to a daily taco allowance.

Does Microsoft Praise have rewards or points?

No. Praise carries no value, balance, or budget; Microsoft's Praise documentation describes titles and notes only (verified August 2026). Teams that want gift cards, swag, or donations attached to recognition need a dedicated platform such as Matter, Awardco, or Nectar, each of which runs inside Teams.

Which Microsoft Praise competitors have a native Microsoft Teams app?

All ten work inside Teams. Native Teams app store ratings as of August 2026: Matter 5.0 (1,476), Workhuman 4.7 (2,979), HeyTaco 4.7 (316), Vantage Circle 4.6 (3,631), Achievers 4.6 (979), Awardco 4.5 (1,418), Nectar 4.4 (2,319), Bonusly 4.4 (45), and Motivosity 4.2 (58); Kudos has an in-client app rated 4.2 across 14 reviews but no public AppSource listing.

Is Viva Insights a competitor to Microsoft Praise?

No. Viva Insights is where Praise lives: the free app hosts the praise feed, history, and reminders, and a Viva Insights subscription at $4 per user/month unlocks personal Praise Trends and share-a-copy (Microsoft Support and the Viva Insights plan page, verified August 2026). Viva Glint and Viva Pulse are Microsoft's survey products; none of these adds rewards, custom values, or organization-wide recognition reporting.

How much does a Microsoft Praise competitor cost?

It can cost nothing. Matter's Free plan is for unlimited users and installs from the Teams app store in about two minutes; Bonusly is free up to 8 users. Published paid tiers start at $1 per user/month, billed annually (Matter Basic) and run to $5 (Matter Pro + Surveys, Bonusly Team + Bizy, HeyTaco Deluxe). Quote-based vendors such as Awardco and Motivosity start around $3,000 per year before reward budgets.

Microsoft Praise competitors: the bottom line

Praise is the free default, and for a small team that only wants the occasional thank-you in a chat, it is enough. The recognition-software market exists for the moment that stops being true: when you need values, rewards, birthdays, and a report. The enterprise tier brings global fulfillment at quote-only prices, the points tier brings feeds with monthly budgets, and HeyTaco brings a daily emoji habit. Matter feels like Praise on day one and like a program by week two, inside Teams, with a Free plan for unlimited users. Keep Teams. Graduate from Praise when your team is ready.

Related reading: Microsoft Praise alternatives for the switcher's view, the Microsoft Praise vs. Matter comparison linked above, Assembly vs. Matter, Guusto vs. Matter, WorkTango vs. Matter, and the full Matter alternatives and comparisons hub.

Sam Lepak
Written by
Sam Lepak
Head of Growth

Sam Lepak is Head of Growth at Matter, where he spends most of his time talking with the HR leaders, people managers, and founders Matter serves. He writes about recognition, rewards, and employee feedback through that lens — less theory, more what actually works in the teams he talks to each week.

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