Workhuman Competitors: Top 9 Alternatives to Consider in 2026

Workhuman is an employee recognition platform known for service awards, milestone programs, and values-based recognition at large enterprises.

But for many organizations, Workhuman isn’t the right long-term fit because the platform is built around formal, enterprise-scale programs that are expensive to run, slow to adapt, and difficult to justify if recognition isn’t already a deeply embedded initiative.

And if you look at customer feedback on G2, you’ll see many of the same issues repeated:

• Limited flexibility and customization: Many customers report that while Workhuman supports recognition well at a high level, customization can be limited depending on how the platform is implemented. Functionality issues like program rules around budgets, point allocation, and who can give recognition may restrict participation, especially for employees without assigned points budgets.
• Rewards experience and redemption friction: Workhuman users frequently mention issues with the rewards platform and catalog, including items that feel overpriced when redeemed with points, inconsistent search behavior when filtering rewards, and confusion around point availability. In some cases, employees need to contact support to reactivate points they believed were available, which adds unnecessary friction to the recognition experience.
• Recognition consistency and program control: While employees frequently say the recognition feed is easy to use and visible, many users note that recognition can feel inconsistent across teams. Limitations around point distribution, team-based recognition, and cross-team or managerial visibility can make it harder to ensure recognition is applied evenly, especially in large organizations.

These limitations can be a problem for organizations that want recognition programs to actively reinforce specific behaviors, strengthen belonging, or improve retention. It makes it harder for HR teams to design programs that evolve with the workforce or clearly demonstrate impact.

In this guide, we’ll compare nine Workhuman alternatives, starting with Terryberry, to help you identify the best fit for your organization.

Book a demo today to see how Terryberry supports everyday recognition and milestone programs in one platform.

 

1. Terryberry

Terryberry is an employee engagement platform that brings together employee recognition, engagement programs, employee listening, and analytics in a single system.

It’s designed for organizations that want to run both everyday recognition and structured programs, such as service awards, incentives, and milestones, without locking themselves into rigid program designs.

With Terryberry, HR teams can build recognition programs that align with company values and business objectives without adding unnecessary complexity. Programs within Terryberry are highly configurable but easy for employees to use day to day. This flexibility helps reduce the inconsistency and uneven participation that often occur in more rigid recognition platforms.

Organizations like Ford, Unilever, Little Caesars, and Nuna Logistics use Terryberry to support both everyday recognition and milestone programs. We’ve helped more than 40,000 organizations worldwide design and manage employee recognition initiatives, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

Terryberry also includes employee listening and analytics capabilities that help organizations understand how employee engagement programs are performing.

Below, we’ll show how Terryberry can:

• Recognize employees consistently through everyday moments and major milestones
• Design engagement programs that actually motivate and retain employees
• Capture employee feedback directly within recognition and engagement initiatives
• Connect recognition and engagement efforts to measurable outcomes through analytics and insights

Employee Recognition for Everyday Moments and Major Milestones

Most recognition programs either focus too much on formal milestones that happen once or twice a year, or informal shout-outs that rely on individual managers to remember to use them.

Both approaches break down because recognition becomes either too infrequent to feel meaningful or too inconsistent to scale across teams.

With Terryberry, everyday recognition and major milestones run in the same system. HR teams can automate service awards and anniversaries while also enabling consistent peer and manager recognition tied to real work. As a result, recognition happens more regularly, reaches more employees, and reflects the contributions that actually drive performance.

For everyday moments, Terryberry enables continuous peer and manager recognition that happens as work happens.

For major milestones, Terryberry automates service awards and anniversary recognition so important career moments are never missed.

To show how Terryberry brings everyday recognition and milestone awards together in practice, here’s an example of how a growing organization implemented a unified recognition program across remote teams.

Nuna Logistics' Employee Recognition Program

As Nuna Logistics continued to grow, consistent recognition became increasingly challenging to manage. With many employees working in remote locations and without regular access to desktops, recognition often depended on individual managers remembering to act.

Like many organizations, Nuna faced two common problems at the same time:

• Everyday contributions weren’t being recognized consistently across teams
• Career milestones and service awards required manual tracking and coordination

This made it hard to ensure recognition felt fair, timely, and accessible to all employees—especially those working in the field.

The Goal:

Nuna wanted to build a recognition program that:

• Supported on-the-spot recognition for everyday contributions
• Ensured milestones and service awards were never missed
• Worked for a distributed, non-desk workforce
• Reflected Nuna’s mission, vision, and values

Nuna implemented Terryberry’s Recognition Platform to unify everyday recognition and milestone recognition in a single system.

Their program included:

• Social Recognition: Managers were given funding to recognize employees immediately, while peer-to-peer nominations allowed recognition to happen anytime, anywhere—not just during formal review cycles.

 

• Milestone & Service Awards: Employees were automatically recognized at key career milestones and presented with a curated selection of awards to choose from, removing the need for manual tracking.
• Performance & Incentive Awards: Nuna integrated recognition into safety initiatives, reinforcing behaviors that supported a safer working environment.

All recognition programs were made accessible through Terryberry’s mobile app, ensuring employees in remote and field-based roles could participate fully.

With Terryberry's support for both everyday recognition and structured milestone awards, Nuna was able to scale recognition without increasing administrative burden.

Key outcomes included:

• 68% increase in employee recognition activity over a two-year period
• 91% manager engagement, indicating consistent participation across leadership
• Positive employee feedback around the personalized nature of recognition
• Improved connection between Nuna’s remote workforce and the organization

A representative from Nuna Logistics shared why recognition is central to their approach:

Engagement Programs Designed to Evolve with Your Workforce

Most engagement platforms are built around a single, company-wide program with fixed rules and formats. But this isn’t the best approach because engagement challenges don’t look the same across an organization.

For example, a frontline team with high turnover is usually dealing with very different issues than a remote workforce that feels disconnected or unengaged. That’s why one-size-fits-all engagement programs don't deliver the results most organizations need.

Terryberry allows HR teams to design engagement and recognition programs by team, role, or employee group, and adjust them over time as workforce needs change without rebuilding the entire program.

Instead of forcing organizations into one program format, it supports multiple engagement and recognition models that can be tailored by team, department, location, or employee group.

That makes it easier to design programs around specific goals, such as:

• Reinforcing values and behaviors your company wants more of
• Increasing retention in roles where churn is high
• Improving manager-led recognition in teams where feedback is inconsistent
• Strengthening belonging for remote employees or distributed locations
• Creating structured incentives for sales, operations, or performance-based teams

Just as important, these programs aren’t “set it and forget it.” As workforce needs change, HR teams can refine program structure, eligibility, reward levels, and how recognition is delivered. And the system won't force you to rebuild the entire program just because you made a few changes.

This makes it easier for HR teams to keep programs active over time, maintain consistent participation across teams, and avoid the drop-off that often happens when engagement platforms become time-consuming to manage.

 

Turning Recognition Data and Employee Feedback Into Actionable Insights

Most recognition platforms provide HR teams with activity data, such as how often recognition occurs, who’s sending it, and whether managers are involved. That information is useful, but it rarely answers the harder question: is recognition actually improving anything?

This is where many engagement programs fall short. HR teams can see participation rising, but they can’t confidently explain whether recognition is influencing retention, morale, leadership effectiveness, or burnout. Without that context, recognition becomes difficult to defend as a strategic investment rather than a feel-good initiative.

Terryberry approaches this differently by connecting recognition activity with employee listening and engagement insights inside the same platform.

In addition to tracking recognition participation and patterns, Terryberry allows organizations to collect structured employee feedback through built-in listening tools, including eNPS and engagement surveys. These surveys measure how employees experience their work across six core factors: belonging, leadership, equity, purpose, empowerment, and well-being.

Those six factors provide the context HR teams need to understand why recognition is or isn’t working. For example, recognition activity may be high, but if scores around belonging or leadership are declining, that signals a deeper issue recognition alone isn’t addressing.

Because recognition analytics and employee listening data are connected, teams can answer more practical questions, such as:

• Do employees who receive consistent recognition report a stronger sense of belonging?
• Are managers who actively recognize their teams perceived as more effective leaders?
• Are high-performing or highly recognized employees showing early signs of burnout?
• Is recognition evenly distributed, or concentrated within certain groups?

Terryberry helps organizations move beyond surface-level reporting by bringing employee engagement analytics and continuous employee listening together. This makes it easier for HR teams to gain clearer insight into how recognition influences engagement, retention risk, and overall employee experience.

 

Get Started with Terryberry

Choosing the right recognition platform is about building something that employees actually participate in, managers can sustain, and leadership can measure over time.

Terryberry centralizes everything, including everyday recognition, milestone programs, employee listening, and analytics in one system. This approach makes it easier for HR teams to design recognition programs that adapt as the workforce changes and understand how those programs influence engagement, retention, and the overall employee experience.

With a pay-for-what-you-use rewards model and flexible program design, organizations can focus their budget on meaningful recognition rather than unused points or complex program structures.

Schedule a personalized demo to learn more about the Terryberry platform.

 

2. Bonusly

Bonusly is an employee recognition tool and rewards software built around frequent, peer-to-peer recognition. The platform allows employees to award one another small point amounts for contributions or behaviors they want to encourage.

All recognition is typically shared publicly inside collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams. Teams that want recognition to happen as part of daily work, rather than through formal programs or scheduled awards, commonly use Bonusly.

Key features

• Peer-to-peer recognition with points
• Public recognition feeds in messaging apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams
• Rewards redeemed through gift cards and other options
• Reporting on recognition activity and participation
• Simple tools for managing recognition budgets

Bonusly offers free pricing plans, while paid plans typically start around $3 per seat per month.

 

3. Achievers

Achievers is an enterprise employee recognition and engagement platform with a focus on driving frequent, values-based recognition at scale.

The platform is used by large organizations that want to reinforce company values through peer-to-peer and manager recognition. It also offers engagement analytics and employee feedback tools.

Key features

• Peer-to-peer and manager-led recognition tied to company values
• Points-based rewards with a global catalog
• Engagement analytics and dashboards
• Pulse surveys and employee feedback tools
• Integrations with HRIS and collaboration platforms

Achievers offers only custom pricing, with plans varying by company size and feature requirements.

 

4. O.C. Tanner

O.C. Tanner is an employee recognition provider known for its service awards and milestone-based recognition programs.

While the platform is useful for large enterprises that want highly branded, values-driven recognition experiences, it's generally designed for formal, long-term programs rather than flexible, day-to-day recognition.

Key features

• Service anniversary and tenure milestone programs
• Peer-to-peer and manager recognition tools
• Company value–based recognition frameworks
• Global reward fulfillment and logistics
• Custom branding and program design

O.C. Tanner does not disclose pricing publicly, and customers often report that costs are higher and typically out of range for many small and mid-sized businesses.

 

5. Awardco

Awardco is an employee recognition platform that specializes in rewards. They offer an integration with Amazon Business, which gives employees access to a large catalog of physical products and gift cards.

Awardco is a rewards-first recognition solution, with program flexibility centered around how points are earned, managed, and redeemed through Amazon’s marketplace. This comes with limited personalization for employee rewards and a lack of advanced analytics or deeper engagement insights compared to other platforms.

Key features

• Peer-to-peer and manager-led recognition programs
• Amazon Business integration for reward fulfillment
• Budget controls and spend tracking
• Customizable recognition and incentive programs
• HRIS, SSO, and workplace tool integrations

Awardco uses custom pricing based on organization size and program needs.

 

6. Guusto

Guusto is an employee recognition platform that makes reward delivery accessible to employees who may not regularly log in to workplace systems.

Managers or peers can send recognition, and rewards can be redeemed directly via email or SMS without requiring accounts or mobile apps. Because of this, Guusto is more often used by frontline or deskless workers, where traditional points systems or app-based recognition could limit participation.

Key features

• Rewards delivered without points accumulation
• Email and SMS-based redemption
• Support for frontline and deskless employees
• Reward options focused primarily on North America

Free plans with limited features are available. Paid plans start at $125/mo for 1 full seat and 250 member seats.

 

7. Nectar

Nectar is a peer-to-peer employee recognition platform that primarily focuses on social recognition and points-based rewards.

Recognition activity typically takes place inside tools employees already use, with public callouts and point awards shared through Slack or Microsoft Teams. It integrates with these tools so organizations can easily introduce it into the daily workflow and manage it effectively.

Key features

• Peer-to-peer recognition with points
• Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations
• Employee perks and discount offerings
• Reporting on recognition and rewards usage
• Centralized rewards catalog

Nectar HR pricing is not publicly available. Custom plans are available via a personalized quote.

 

8. Motivosity

Motivosity is an employee recognition software platform that focuses on social recognition and visibility across teams. In addition to recognition, the platform offers optional modules for feedback, goal alignment, and basic performance management tools, though recognition remains the core use case.

The platform is often used by mid-sized organizations that want recognition to feel real-time and participatory, with an emphasis on peer interaction rather than formal award programs.

Key features

• Peer-to-peer and manager recognition with a social feed
• Points-based rewards system and configurable budgets
• Optional feedback and goal-alignment tools
• Integrations with common workplace tools
• Add-on modules for broader people initiatives

Motivosity offers various subscription plans with a custom pricing model.

 

9. Kudos

Kudos is a recognition platform organizations use to support broader conversations about company culture and employee performance, rather than relying solely on incentives.

For instance, when employees recognize peers, they select the value being demonstrated, helping organizations connect recognition activity to culture and expectations. While it includes reporting on recognition activity and participation, it is less focused on rewards programs and more aligned with culture-building and feedback workflows.

Key features

• Values-based peer recognition
• Public recognition walls and feeds
• Reporting on recognition participation and trends
• Employee feedback and sentiment tools
• Integrations with HR and communication systems

Kudos provides free 30-minute demos for interested users. All pricing is custom.

 

Choose Terryberry for Measurable Employee Recognition and Engagement

Terryberry is built for organizations that want recognition to be more than a one-time initiative or a year-end program. It brings together everyday recognition, milestone awards, employee listening, and analytics into a centralized platform.

The platform helps teams understand how recognition influences job satisfaction, engagement, and leadership effectiveness. Programs can also be launched company-wide or tailored for specific teams, roles, or goals, then adjusted as workforce needs change.

Book a demo to see how Terryberry helps organizations drive meaningful outcomes and support long-term employee engagement.