Employee Recognition Software Pricing in 2026: What 6 Platforms Charge

The short answer: only two of the six platforms we compared publish their prices. Give River starts free, with Core at $5 per user per month and Growth at up to $9. Bonusly is free for up to 8 users, with its Team plan at $3–5 per user per month. Motivosity and Awardco start around $3,000 a year: Motivosity as an annual minimum, and Awardco as its small-business package. Nectar sells custom per-employee quotes in bundles. Workhuman charges transaction fees instead of a subscription. On all six, your rewards budget is paid separately from the software.

Every competitor price below comes from that vendor's own website, help center, or published terms, checked on October 4, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with each vendor before you budget. We make Give River; its prices are from our pricing page.

Recognition software prices at a glance

What one price covers

The starting price only tells you part of the story. Here's what Give River's $5-per-user Core plan includes, and where the other vendors list the same thing as an add-on, a higher plan, or a separate tool:

The four pricing models, explained

1. Published per-user pricing (Give River, Bonusly)

You pay a listed price per user per month, and you can start on a free plan. Give River's free plan includes peer recognition, custom company values, the River Rankings leaderboard, your first gamified Season, and Slack. Core adds the mobile apps, rewards, River Runs micro-learning, surveys and eNPS, HRIS sync, and single sign-on. Bonusly's free plan covers up to 8 users. Its Team plan is $5 per user per month with the Bizy AI assistant, or $3 without. Both have a custom-priced top plan: Give River Growth goes up to $9 per user per month, and Bonusly's Organization plan is quote-only.

2. Platform fee plus modules (Motivosity)

Motivosity sells custom quotes, billed annually, with a $3,000 minimum annual spend. Its pricing page describes a platform fee of about $0–2 per employee per month, with additional modules typically starting around $1 per employee per month and volume discounts. Surveys, Spaces, and Wellness are add-ons.

3. Bundles or program tiers (Nectar, Awardco)

Nectar prices per employee per month and sells bundles: Recognize alone, Recognize plus Engage, Comms, or Flows, or Nectar One with everything. Awardco prices annual subscriptions by how many program types you run: Standard (two), Scale (four), or Enterprise (all). Companies with 100 or fewer employees can ask about packages from $3,000.

4. Transaction fees (Workhuman)

Workhuman doesn't publish prices. It describes a "shared success" model built on transaction fees rather than a subscription, and suggests budgeting about 1% of payroll for recognition. Select new customers can get their first-year transaction fees refunded if promised engagement or retention results aren't met.

Costs beyond the software

Rewards. On every platform here, the gift cards, merchandise, and donations employees redeem are paid for separately, by you. How you fund them can add fees:

• Bonusly: rewards are billed at face value, plus a convenience fee when you pay by card. Prepaying by bank transfer has no fee.
• Nectar: reward payments by card carry a 3.5% + $0.40 fee.
• Awardco: rewards are prefunded at one point per dollar. Bank (ACH) funding is free; card funding carries a 3–5% fee.
• Give River: your rewards budget is separate and set by you, with no hidden fees added.

Add-ons and higher plans. Several features cost more than the starting price:

• Motivosity: surveys, Spaces, and wellness are add-ons.
• Awardco: Awardco Engage (eNPS surveys) is sold separately, and some integrations cost $1,200 a year each.
• Bonusly: leaderboards, Flash Points campaigns, and SAML single sign-on are on the custom-priced Organization plan.
• Give River: performance coaching, volunteer management, and a dedicated River Guide are on Growth.

Renewals. Nectar's standard terms renew subscriptions automatically for one-year periods, with a 6% increase at each renewal. Give River bills monthly with no long-term contract and no built-in increases.

Example: software cost for a 50-person team

List prices only, before rewards, add-ons, or discounts:

Bonusly's free plan stops at 8 users, so a 50-person team would be on Team.

Questions to ask any vendor before you sign

1. Who counts as a user? Ask whether you pay for every employee or only active users.
2. Is there a minimum? Ask about an annual spend minimum or a minimum number of seats.
3. What's in the quoted plan? Leaderboards, single sign-on, surveys, and HRIS sync are often on higher tiers or sold as add-ons.
4. How do rewards get funded? Ask whether card funding carries a fee and whether a bank transfer avoids it.
5. What happens at renewal? Ask about the contract length, auto-renewal, and any built-in price increase.
6. How long is implementation, and is it included? Ask how long setup takes and whether any setup fee applies.

Comparing specific tools? See Bonusly alternatives, Bonusly vs Motivosity, Nectar vs Bonusly, Workhuman vs Awardco, or Give River's side-by-side comparisons.

Frequently asked questions

How much does employee recognition software cost?

Published prices run from free to about $9 per user per month. Give River is free to start, with Core at $5 per user per month and Growth at up to $9. Bonusly is free for up to 8 users, with its Team plan at $3–5. Quote-based platforms such as Motivosity and Awardco start around $3,000 a year. Rewards are paid for separately on every platform.

Which employee recognition platforms publish their pricing?

Of the six we compared, Give River and Bonusly publish their prices. Motivosity, Nectar, Awardco, and Workhuman sell custom quotes. Motivosity states a $3,000 annual minimum, and Awardco states small-business packages from $3,000.

Is there free employee recognition software?

Yes. Give River has a free plan that includes peer recognition, custom company values, a leaderboard, your first gamified Season, and Slack. Bonusly has a free plan for up to 8 users.

How much does Workhuman cost?

Workhuman doesn't publish prices. It sells custom quotes on a transaction-fee model rather than a subscription, and suggests budgeting about 1% of payroll for recognition.

How much does Motivosity cost?

Motivosity sells custom annual quotes with a $3,000 minimum. Its pricing page describes a platform fee of about $0–2 per employee per month, plus modules typically from about $1 per employee per month.

Are rewards included in the software price?

No. On all six platforms, the rewards employees redeem are funded separately by the employer. Some vendors charge a fee when you fund rewards by card: 3.5% + $0.40 on Nectar and 3–5% on Awardco. Bonusly adds a convenience fee for card payments.

Sources

Competitor prices checked on October 4, 2026, from each vendor's own website, help center, and published terms.

• Give River: pricing and facts
• Bonusly: pricing, plans, Organization plan, paying for rewards
• Motivosity: pricing and FAQ
• Nectar: pricing bundles, subscription agreement, billing FAQs
• Awardco: plans, plan schedule, funding your account, Awardco Engage
• Workhuman: pricing advantage and ROI calculator and guarantee