Bonusly vs. Kudos
Let’s start with a high level comparison:
Bonusly helps your team improve engagement and adopt the behaviors that set them, and your organization, up for long-term success. We make employee recognition meaningful, habitual, and connected to what matters most—helping organizations build cultures where people want to stay and grow together.
Kudos is a complex enterprise-oriented recognition platform.
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Considering Kudos? Here’s what you’ll miss
6 features help Bonusly outshine Kudos
Exceptional participation
Engagement with the Bonusly platform is remarkably high. On average, 82% of users actively engage with Bonusly twice each week. Continual recognition fosters heightened engagement, productivity, and retention.
Performance tools
Bonusly blends recognition and rewards with meaningful, effective performance tools including feedback, 1-1s, and performance recaps to create momentum, not just moments.
Top-rated mobile apps
Wherever you are, you can always recognize great work. Whether you’re on a tablet or mobile, our top-rated mobile app makes it easy to recognize and reward.
Countless HRIS integrations
In a couple of clicks, connect Bonusly to your HRIS to automatically sync anniversaries, new hire dates, departing employee dates, birthdays, and more!
Options for non-desk workers
Bonusly has a variety of options for your on-the-go workforce including kiosk mode and our top-rated mobile app.
Scaleable solutions
Organizations of every size, from SMB to enterprise, need employees to thrive for business success. Our platform has no employee count minimums and scales as you grow or expand the departments using Bonusly.
Bonusly is fun to use, easy to navigate, and builds high performing cultures.
Where Kudos misses the mark
LIMITED INTEGRATIONS
Not many options for integrations
Integrating your recognition platform into your existing tools like Slack and MS Teams meets employees where they’re already working to increase adoption rates. For HR, integrating Bonusly with your HRIS ensures you never miss a new hire or welcoming a new employee.
One G2 reviewer at an enterprise organization using Kudos describes “One potential drawback of Kudos could be its limited integration options with other platforms or systems, which may hinder seamless adoption and data sharing across different tools used with an organization.”
USER EXPERIENCE
Users find it difficult to navigate Kudos:
Numerous users left negative comments about Kudos’ poor usability on review sites. They mentioned that it’s tough to navigate the posts, and that it’s not easy to do basic things like edit posts or search for products, people, or past recognition. Overall, users wanted the tool to be more user-friendly.
On my personal feed it’s not super clear which ones I have received and which ones that I have given.” - Marius S., Manufacturing Engineer, G2 review of Kudos
POINTS FLEXIBILITY
Limited flexibility around points and rewards:
Beyond feeling like it’s tough to claim rewards in the first place (i.e., it’s not clear to some folks where or how to do so), Kudos users have noted that a lack of flexibility around points on Kudos leaves them feeling underwhelmed. They’re particularly focused on—and frustrated by—their inability to customize the number of points they can give individuals for certain tasks.
“A person should be able to customize the amount of kudos they want to give to a person. Right now there are predetermined amounts.” - Verified Non-Profit Organization Management reviewer, G2 review of Kudos
Meanwhile, here’s what customers say about Bonusly on G2:
"Honestly, I love everything about Bonusly, starting with the stellar customer service to the attention to detail of our integration and the personalized service they offer. The customer success team is a pleasure to work with, no matter the size of your team. The integration resource package was excellent"
"Bonusly allows co-workers to recognize each other and award each other for little things (like a job well done) to big things (Birthdays, promotions, work anniversaries)."
I like how we're able to see who has received recognition and how easy it is to recognize other people on the team. It's straightforward to select the amount to send to the person, why you're giving it to them and the hashtags associated to why you're recognizing them.
Bonusly is a game-changer for employee engagement. With an intuitive interface, personalized recognition, flexible rewards, real-time analytics, and seamless integration, it fosters a positive workplace culture. It's not just a tool; it's an indispensable asset in cultivating a motivated and engaged workforce
"The most helpful feature of Bonusly is the reporting analytics. I can easily see who is using it, who needs a little recognition, and it allows us to calculate our quarterly award winners for core value representation."
"I really like that it encourages us to give kudos to people within the workplace that really make an impact. Whether its simply helping me with something, or jumping in to help a whole team, we can reward those that do a lot for our company..."
"Allows everyone to show gratitude in a genuine and meaningful way. The reward boosts are really a bonus to the kind words and appreciation from colleagues."
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"It's fun, it's a great way to be thankful and recognize your colleagues for the great work they do, and what I like about Bonusly is that amount of companies they work with to redeem gift cards or donating money. I would also thank Bonusly for the ease of use, it's very user friendly."
"Using Bonusly is super simple and quick to use. It clearly spells out how you want to make a shout out, and within seconds you are done!"
"I think it's fantastic that the point can be redeemed with SOOO many different options from gift cards to donations to charity there is something for everyone to gain by using their points each month and wanting to get points to redeem!"
Explore our customers’ success stories
If you're looking to achieve high levels of engagement, consistency across teams, and an exceptional ROI out of a total rewards platform Bonusly is a must-have.
Bonusly helped us increase cross-departmental recognition, which has had a major impact on collaboration throughout the company.
Bonusly worked wonders for team morale during the fast growth and uncertainty of acquisition and the quick move to remote work during the pandemic.
We’ve seen a 15% increase in recognition sentiment in our employee engagement survey.
Bonusly kept us together when we couldn’t be together.
Bonusly is core to our recognition program and a thoughtful way to connect the work of our employees to the value they deliver for our customers.
“Bonusly has been a GAME CHANGER. It’s quickly become an essential part of our success in working as a distributed team and creating more visibility around small wins!”
4 compelling reasons Bonusly takes the lead 🏆
Elevated team performance
Why it matters: Ever wonder why some teams hit their targets and rack up major wins time after time? Chances are they’re more connected than the teams around them. That’s often what sets high-performing teams apart.
How Bonusly delivers: Bonusly understands that teams succeed when they’re supported by a culture of connection. Our exceptionally high participation rates lead to a more motivating team environment that encourages teams to achieve more.
How the competition lags behind: Other platforms don’t achieve the same level of user engagement. That’s risky because inconsistent recognition can be demoralizing and lead to poorer performance.
Admin time-savings
Why it matters: HR leaders are frequently bogged down in administrative tasks, which means there’s less time for important business initiatives. Save time by using a recognition platform where your HR team benefits from streamlined workflows.
How Bonusly delivers: Bonusly offers a best-in-class platform that includes automated processes wherever possible. It saves you hours each week. You'll immediately work in a user-friendly platform designed for maximum efficiency.
How the competition lags behind: Poorly designed platforms saddle HR leaders and their teams with the burden of manual tasks that take hours of time. If a recognition program isn’t automated and user-friendly, it’s not worth the investment.
Thriving retention
Why it matters: Voluntary employee turnover is a common and costly challenge in many industries, preventing companies from achieving stability and growth.
How Bonusly delivers: Bonusly fosters a culture of recognition that keeps employees satisfied, reducing the likelihood they’ll go elsewhere. People are less inclined to leave a workplace where they feel valued and appreciated.
How the competition lags behind: Other platforms often miss the mark in understanding the connection between implementing a robust recognition program and lowering turnover rates.
Enhanced team collaboration
Why it matters: Seamless collaboration is a valuable asset in any organization because collaborative teams are more productive and efficient. Collaboration also leads teams to produce higher-quality work deliverables.
How Bonusly delivers: Bonusly’s focus on peer-to-peer recognition promotes a sense of belonging and inclusion, which helps break down silos. That fosters strong partnerships and allows collaboration to flourish across teams.