Choosing the right employee recognition platform can be a game-changer for organizations aiming to boost employee engagement, improve employee satisfaction, and reinforce their company values. Both Vantage Circle and Matter offer powerful solutions designed to recognize and reward employees, but their unique features and approaches mean they cater to different organizational needs. Matter emphasizes seamless integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making recognition an easy part of daily workflows. At the same time, Vantage Circle offers a comprehensive platform that integrates recognition with wellness programs and employee benefits, making it ideal for larger organizations seeking a more diverse solution.
In this guide, we'll compare Vantage Circle vs. Matter to help you determine which platform best aligns with your company's goals for employee engagement and recognition programs.
Vantage Circle vs. Matter: Overview comparison
When comparing Vantage Circle vs. Matter, it's important to understand how each platform supports employee engagement and recognition. Both platforms offer comprehensive tools, but their approaches and core strengths vary, making each more suitable for different organizational needs.
Matter focuses on creating an intuitive, peer-to-peer recognition system embedded directly into Slack and Microsoft Teams, ensuring that recognition becomes an effortless part of daily workflows. Its unique coin-based system resets weekly and encourages frequent and genuine recognition. Matter's deep integration capabilities with popular HR systems like ADP and Workday ensure that milestones like birthdays and work anniversaries are celebrated automatically, fostering a culture of continuous recognition.
Vantage Circle, on the other hand, offers a more comprehensive platform that includes recognition and rewards, wellness programs, and employee benefits. With its global rewards catalog and features like exclusive discounts and wellness challenges, Vantage Circle is particularly suited for larger organizations looking to integrate wellness initiatives alongside recognition. Its platform also emphasizes real-time recognition and includes built-in analytics and reporting to help HR teams track recognition trends and assess the impact of their programs.
Key differences at a glance:
- Integration:
- Matter: It works perfectly with Slack and Microsoft Teams, which makes it a great choice for businesses that already use these tools to communicate. It also connects with major HRIS platforms for automatic recognition of milestones.
- Vantage Circle: Integrates with numerous HR systems and provides a wide range of recognition and rewards options, along with wellness programs, making it a more holistic solution for organizations focusing on recognition and well-being.
- Recognition system:
- Matter: Uses a weekly resetting coin system that encourages frequent, meaningful recognition, ensuring recognition efforts remain fresh and relevant.
- Vantage Circle: Offers a points-based system that allows employees to earn and accumulate points, redeemable for rewards like gift certificates and exclusive deals.
Vantage Circle vs. Matter: Features
When comparing the features of Vantage Circle vs. Matter, it becomes clear that both platforms offer strong tools for employee recognition and engagement. However, each platform has unique capabilities that cater to different organizational needs.
Matter features: Matter is designed to seamlessly integrate into the daily workflows of teams using Slack and Microsoft Teams. This peer-to-peer recognition platform is built to encourage frequent and genuine recognition, helping to create a positive work environment. Key features include:
- Kudos and coins: Employees can send customizable Kudos cards that align with company values. These Kudos are paired with Matter coins, which reset weekly, encouraging continuous participation and ensuring that recognition remains fresh and relevant. The frequent resets help boost employee motivation and keep the program dynamic.
- Automated features: Matter automates many aspects of the recognition process, such as Feedback Friday reminders, automated celebrations for birthdays and work anniversaries, and recognition for company milestones. This reduces the administrative burden for HR teams while ensuring no important recognition opportunity is missed.
- HRIS integration: Matter integrates with various HR systems, such as ADP, BambooHR, and Workday, ensuring that important milestones are recognized automatically. This feature supports the smooth functioning of the recognition program while improving overall employee satisfaction.
- Custom rewards system: Matter offers a variety of reward options, including digital gift cards, charity donations, and custom-branded rewards. This flexibility allows businesses to tailor rewards to their unique culture and core values, ensuring that recognition is meaningful for employees.
Vantage Circle features: Vantage Circle offers a more comprehensive platform that integrates recognition with wellness programs and employee benefits, catering especially to larger organizations. Key features include:
- Global rewards catalog: Vantage Circle provides employees with a wide selection of reward options, including gift certificates, exclusive discounts, and cashback deals. These rewards are available globally, making recognizing employees across multiple locations easy.
- Wellness programs: Vantage Circle's platform includes Vantage Fit, a wellness module encouraging employees to participate in fitness challenges and other health-related initiatives. The program uses game-like rewards to encourage workers to do wellness activities. This helps to make the workplace a good place to be that supports health and well-being.
- Detailed analytics: Vantage Circle gives HR teams the advanced analytics and data they need to keep an eye on trends in recognition and see how well their recognition programs are working.This feature allows organizations to fine-tune their strategies and ensure they meet employee engagement goals.
While both Matter and Vantage Circle offer comprehensive tools to reward employees and enhance employee satisfaction, their features cater to different company needs. Matter's focus on integration with communication tools and automated recognition is ideal for organizations looking for a streamlined, day-to-day recognition process. Vantage Circle, on the other hand, focuses on combining wellness and employee benefits with recognition. This makes it a good choice for bigger companies that want to take a more comprehensive approach to engaging their employees.
Vantage Circle vs. Matter: Integration options
When comparing the integration capabilities of Vantage Circle vs. Matter, it's essential to understand how each platform fits into your organization's existing workflow and HR infrastructure. Both platforms offer integrations that streamline employee recognition programs, but their approaches differ in terms of depth and flexibility.
Matter integration options: Matter is built as a Slack-first and Teams-first platform, meaning it is deeply embedded within these communication tools. This allows employees to send and receive recognition directly within their daily communication channels, making the recognition process seamless. Key integration features include:
- Slack and Microsoft Teams: Matter's employee recognition platform is fully integrated with these tools, enabling employees to send Kudos, participate in Feedback Friday, and celebrate milestones without leaving the platform. This seamless integration makes recognition a natural part of the daily workflow, enhancing employee engagement.
- HRIS integration: Matter supports integration with various HRIS platforms, including ADP, BambooHR, Gusto, and Workday. This ensures that employee data is automatically synchronized, enabling timely and accurate recognition of important events like birthdays and work anniversaries. Additionally, HRIS integration streamlines onboarding and ensures that recognition efforts are always aligned with up-to-date employee information.
Vantage Circle integration options: Vantage Circle offers various integration capabilities, making it adaptable to various HR systems and workflows. It integrates with popular HRIS platforms and communication tools to enhance employee engagement. Key integration features include:
- HRIS and SSO integrations: Vantage Circle integrates with major HRIS platforms such as ADP, Workday, and SAP SuccessFactors, allowing for seamless data management across large organizations. The platform also offers single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, simplifying the login process for employees and improving the user experience.
- Communication tool integrations: While Vantage Circle does not offer the same Slack-first or Teams-first design as Matter, it supports integration with Microsoft Teams and other communication tools, allowing for flexible recognition across different channels. This is especially helpful for businesses with workers in different places.
Why Matter excels in integration
When evaluating Vantage Circle vs. Matter based on integration options, Matter stands out due to its deep, native integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making it a seamless part of everyday communication. This tight integration ensures that recognition is not an afterthought but embedded in daily interactions, fostering employee motivation and engagement without requiring additional steps from employees.
While Vantage Circle offers more extensive HRIS and SSO integrations, its communication tool integration is not as deeply embedded as Matter's. For organizations prioritizing continuous recognition through Slack or Teams, Matter is the superior choice, especially for enhancing employee engagement through regular, spontaneous recognition in real time.
Vantage Circle vs. Matter: Pricing and plans
When evaluating Vantage Circle vs. Matter based on their pricing and plans, it's important to consider how each platform's pricing structure aligns with your organization's needs and budget. Both platforms offer flexible options that cater to businesses of various sizes, but they differ in terms of the features included at each pricing tier.
Matter pricing and plans: Matter provides a range of pricing tiers designed to accommodate organizations from small teams to large enterprises:
- Pricing Options:
- Free Forever: $0/user/month
- Basic: $1/user/month, billed annually
- Pro: $3/user/month, billed annually
- Pro + Surveys: $5/user/month, billed annually
Vantage Circle pricing and plans: For bigger businesses, Vantage Circle has a range of pricing options that are designed to meet their needs. Though pricing specifics are not always publicly available, Vantage Circle typically provides custom pricing based on organization size and specific feature requirements:
- Pricing Options: Request a demo for pricing. One-time setup costs are applicable on all plans.
- Grow
- Transform
- Enterprise
Which pricing structure is right for your organization?
Both Vantage Circle and Matter offer flexible pricing options to meet the needs of different-sized organizations, but their focuses differ. Matter's tiered pricing, including its free forever plan, is ideal for smaller organizations or those wanting a more budget-friendly employee recognition approach with seamless integration into daily workflows. Vantage Circle, however, tends to cater to larger companies with its comprehensive kudos platform, offering employee benefits, wellness programs, and a global rewards catalog.
If your organization wants real-time recognition embedded within communication tools like Slack and Teams, Matter's lower-priced plans might offer more value. On the other hand, if you require a broader employee engagement platform with employee benefits and wellness initiatives, Vantage Circle's custom pricing may provide the holistic solution your organization needs.
Vantage Circle vs. Matter: Customer support
Customer support is critical in selecting the right employee recognition platform, as reliable support ensures the effective implementation and management of your organization's recognition programs. Both Vantage Circle and Matter offer various support options but differ in depth and accessibility.
Matter customer support: Matter provides a robust support system with different tiers of assistance based on your chosen plan. Matter's support is focused on helping HR professionals and administrators implement recognition programs effectively while ensuring employees have a smooth experience using the platform. Key support features include:
- Live chat and email support: Matter offers live chat and email support across all plans, ensuring quick and responsive assistance. This is especially beneficial for HR teams that need timely help to resolve any issues that may arise.
- Dedicated account management: For organizations on higher-tier plans, such as Pro and Enterprise, Matter provides dedicated account management. This offers personalized guidance and proactive support to optimize the use of the platform for employee engagement needs.
- Onboarding and training: Matter also includes live team training sessions and custom onboarding to ensure organizations can quickly and effectively roll out their recognition programs. This is critical for organizations that want to ensure seamless integration and full adoption across teams.
- Help center: Matter offers a comprehensive help center filled with articles, guides, and FAQs. This allows users to resolve common issues independently, enhancing the overall experience for both HR professionals and employees.
Vantage Circle customer support: Vantage Circle offers a range of customer support services designed to ensure that organizations can effectively manage their employee engagement and recognition platforms.
Key features include:
- Email and live chat support: Like Matter, Vantage Circle provides email and live chat support to assist users with any platform-related inquiries. This ensures that HR teams can receive assistance in real time whenever necessary.
- Help center: Vantage Circle has an extensive help center with FAQs, how-to articles, and video tutorials. The user can quickly find answers to common problems with this helpful self-service troubleshooting guide.
- Customer success team: Vantage Circle also has a customer success team that works directly with clients to make sure their recognition and award programs are set up correctly. This team offers personalized support, which may be more tailored to larger organizations looking for long-term support.
Which platform offers better support?
Both Vantage Circle and Matter give a wide range of support options. However, the level of support depends on the organization's size and needs. Matter stands out for its dedicated account management and custom onboarding, making it an excellent choice for organizations that need hands-on guidance to implement their employee recognition software.
Vantage Circle, on the other hand, offers solid customer support and a customer success team, which may be more beneficial for larger organizations that require a dedicated team for long-term support and strategy building. You can get help through live chat and email on both sites. Still, Matter's more personalized approach at higher tiers makes it a standout option for companies that need ongoing assistance and a more tailored approach to their recognition programs.
Vantage Circle vs. Matter: Customer reviews
Customer reviews are essential when assessing the effectiveness and user satisfaction of recognition platforms like Vantage Circle and Matter. Below is a comparison of what users say about these two platforms based on verified reviews and ratings from G2.
Matter customer reviews: Matter holds an impressive G2 score of 4.7/5. Matter is praised by users for being easy to use, integrating well with Slack and Microsoft Teams, and having a positive effect on business culture and employee engagement. Here are some reviews that stand out:
- “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.” - Jeff Hagel, President at McInnis & Holloway
- "Matter helps us encourage behaviors that align with our company values and can allow us to recognize and reward those who exemplify our values." - Autumn Amescua, Chief Culture & People Officer at SXSW
- "I was astonished at the start because I was used to feedback tools being very unemotional and static. That’s why I love Matter, because it provides necessary structure for an organization while allowing feedback to be enjoyable and personable.” - Dominik Bernhart, Chief Happiness Officer at COBE
- “The setup was extremely easy. It had good UX and interface – people knew how to intuitively use it. The channel got popular in the first two weeks.” - Mathis Bogen, Head of Internal Communications at Bolt
These reviews highlight Matter's ability to boost morale and create a high-performing culture by facilitating frequent and meaningful recognition. This, in turn, drives increased employee engagement and retention.
For more insights into Matter's customer reviews, you can visit their G2 page.
Vantage Circle customer reviews: Vantage Circle boasts a high G2 score of 4.7/5. Users appreciate the platform's global rewards catalog, extensive employee benefits, and integration of wellness programs. However, some users note areas where improvements could be made.
Here are a few representative reviews:
- “The support. I redeemed my points, and it has been two days .. but i'm still yet to recieve those points in my account. After reaching out to "need help" section, there was no help provided.” - Akshat G., Sr. Software Engineer (Customer G2 Review)
- “Easy to use with useful option to recognize my colleagues. However, not integrated within my daily working apps.” - Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management
- “I like the fact we can personalize our comments with the use of stickers, gifs, and emojis. I hate having to have such a long password!!! I actually hate passwords....having to have a log in process with yet another password is a barrier for me recognize my peers.” - Katie R. Manager
These reviews emphasize Vantage Circle's strengths in rewards flexibility and global capabilities, though some users highlight the need for better reporting features and a more user-friendly interface.
For more detailed customer feedback on Vantage Circle, you can visit their G2 page.
Which platform is better reviewed?
Both Vantage Circle and Matter receive high praise from users. Matter is particularly appreciated for its ease of use, seamless integration with communication tools, and ability to foster a positive workplace culture. Vantage Circle is recognized for its global rewards catalog, wellness programs, and exclusive employee benefits. Users still say it could be better in some ways, like the user experience and the ability to make reports.
When deciding between the two, consider whether your organization prioritizes seamless integration and frequent recognition through Slack or Teams (Matter) or if you need a comprehensive rewards platform with wellness initiatives and global rewards (Vantage Circle). Both platforms are excellent options depending on your organization's employee engagement and recognition needs.
Vantage Circle vs. Matter: Which is the right tool for you?
Selecting the right employee recognition platform is a crucial decision that can impact your organization's employee engagement and overall workplace culture. When deciding between Vantage Circle and Matter, it's important to consider each platform's strengths and how they align with your company's unique needs and goals. Let's explore how to determine the best fit for your organization and why Matter might be the optimal choice.
Why Matter could be the perfect fit for your organization
Matter is designed with a deep understanding of the modern workplace, making it especially suited for organizations that rely heavily on Slack and Microsoft Teams. Here's why Matter stands out:
- Seamless integration with Slack and Teams: Matter's Slack-first and Teams-first approach ensures that recognition becomes a natural part of daily workflows. This deep integration allows employees to send Kudos and participate in Feedback Friday directly within these platforms, driving higher participation and fostering a more connected workplace.
- Encouraging frequent, genuine recognition: Matter's weekly resetting coin system encourages ongoing and authentic recognition. This structure ensures that recognition stays fresh and relevant, which is key to maintaining a high-performing culture. Unlike other systems where points accumulate over time, Matter's system encourages frequent participation, helping employees feel valued consistently rather than intermittently.
- Comprehensive automation: Matter's automation tools—such as birthday and work anniversary celebrations, Feedback Friday reminders, and automated surveys—reduce manual oversight, ensuring recognition continues seamlessly without additional administrative burden. This automated approach helps maintain momentum in your recognition program and creates a positive workplace culture.
- Customizable rewards: Matter's reward system includes various options, from digital gift cards and charity donations to custom-branded rewards. This flexibility allows organizations to tailor recognition to their unique needs and culture, providing meaningful rewards that employees truly value.
When Vantage Circle might be the right choice
While Matter offers many benefits, Vantage Circle may be the better fit for organizations seeking a more comprehensive platform that combines recognition with wellness programs and employee benefits:
- Global rewards catalog: Vantage Circle offers a wide selection of reward options, including gift certificates, exclusive discounts, and cashback deals, which are available globally. This makes it perfect for businesses that want to give a wide range of incentives or have employees who work in different places.
- Wellness integration: The Vantage Fit wellness module from Vantage Circle invites workers to take part in health and fitness challenges. This platform promotes employee well-being and integrates recognition into the wellness experience by offering rewards for completing health-related goals.
- Tailored for large organizations: Vantage Circle is made to meet the needs of big businesses with teams working all over the world. Its comprehensive solution provides detailed analytics and reporting, allowing HR teams to track the success of their employee engagement programs and optimize recognition efforts.
Why Matter is the ideal choice for most companies
Both Vantage Circle and Matter offer robust solutions for employee recognition and engagement. Still, Matter is better for organizations seeking seamless integration, frequent recognition, and automated processes. Matter's focus on embedding recognition within Slack and Teams makes it an excellent choice for companies prioritizing real-time, peer-to-peer recognition and wanting to foster a connected workplace without adding extra administrative tasks.
On the other hand, Vantage Circle is better suited for larger companies looking for a more holistic approach that combines recognition with wellness, benefits, and a global rewards catalog. Vantage Circle provides a broader solution for businesses with global teams or those focused on offering wellness programs alongside recognition.
In summary, Matter excels in real-time, automated recognition, while Vantage Circle offers a more comprehensive platform designed for large, globally distributed organizations.
Final summary: Why Matter is the clear choice
Choosing the right tool for employee recognition is important for creating a positive work environment and getting employees more involved. While both Vantage Circle and Matter offer strong solutions, Matter stands out due to its seamless integration, frequent recognition, and automation. Here's why Matter is the ideal choice for most organizations:
How to determine the right tool for your organization
To decide between Vantage Circle and Matter, consider the following factors:
- Assess your current tools: If your organization heavily relies on Slack or Microsoft Teams, Matter's integration with these communication platforms will ensure that recognition is a natural part of daily workflows, driving higher participation and improving employee satisfaction.
- Evaluate your recognition goals: If frequent, real-time recognition is important to your company culture, Matter's coin-based system encourages continuous recognition by resetting weekly. Vantage Circle, on the other hand, might be a better choice if you want a more traditional way to thank your employees. Points can be earned over time and redeemed for a wide range of global rewards.
- Consider automation needs: If reducing administrative burden and ensuring automated recognition for birthdays and work anniversaries is a priority, Matter's automation tools are unmatched. Vantage Circle also offers comprehensive tools, but Matter's seamless automation is particularly advantageous for organizations seeking a hands-off approach.
- Review reward preferences: While Vantage Circle offers a broad global rewards catalog, including wellness programs and corporate perks, Matter provides more customizable rewards, including digital gift cards, charity donations, and custom-branded rewards. One platform may offer more tailored rewards depending on your company's recognition program goals.
Why Matter is the best choice for most companies
Choosing the right platform means aligning it with your organization's culture and goals. Matter is the clear choice for companies looking to embed peer recognition into daily workflows, emphasizing seamless integration and automated features. Matter provides an easy-to-use solution that ensures frequent recognition without needing a lot of manual input. This helps to motivate employees and make the workplace a good place to be.
In today's competitive landscape, where retaining top talent and improving employee engagement are key priorities, selecting a platform like Matter can make a significant difference. Matter's unique coin system and automated feedback tools ensure that employees feel valued consistently, leading to higher engagement and stronger connections to company values.
Whether your goal is to boost morale, reduce voluntary turnover, or enhance employee satisfaction, Matter is designed to meet and exceed your organization's needs. Ready to see how Matter can transform your workplace? Try Matter for free today and build a more engaged, motivated, and productive team.
