In today's corporate landscape, employee engagement isn't just a buzzword. Business owners know that employee engagement drives success.

Rewards and recognition are powerful tools for motivating employees, boosting morale, and creating a positive work environment. When employees feel valued and acknowledged, they are less likely to seek opportunities elsewhere.

If you’re looking for an employee recognition and rewards platform to empower and motivate your workforce, Motivosity may be right for you. 

But you’ll want the facts before you decide on a platform that meets your company’s needs and truly engages your employees. That’s what you’ll get here. 

Motivosity Overview

Motivosity was founded in 2013 by Scott Johnson and is headquartered in Utah, United States. As an employee recognition and rewards platform, it serves organizations across various industries. It focuses on building software that aims to strengthen workplace culture and engagement.

Main Features

Recognition and rewards

Motivosity emphasizes an employee-driven culture, particularly through peer-to-peer recognition, where you can give your employees the ability to send “thanks” and recognition points to one another. This appreciation builds a positive work culture and helps employees feel valued and recognized for their work. The platform also offers other ways to recognize your teams; these include swag and swag stores, service awards and birthday gifts, a ThanksMatters Visa card, and spot recognition.

Referral program

Motivosity offers a referral program, wherein, if your qualified contact completes a demo, both you and your referral will receive a $50 gift card as a thank you.

Software integration

The Motivosity platform can be integrated with HRIS systems, SSO, and tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. However, based on some G2 reviews, there are users who reported challenges with automation setup, particularly for issuing rewards and syncing with tools like Okta and Teams.

Pricing

Packages by industry

Motivosity doesn’t have a fixed fee; rather, it provides a custom quote based on your specific employee recognition needs. It also offers some solution bundles based on your company’s industry. Let’s break each one of them down.

• Motivosity Social Platform is the platform’s starter and customizable package, which includes the following features: central social feed, a company organization chart, announcements and highlights, and personality profiles. Under this package, you will also be able to integrate with HRIS, SSO, and Slack/Teams. You’ll also be assisted through virtual support and a dedicated success manager. Furthermore, you can also add the Reward Marketplace to the package if you want, as well as choose recognition programs depending on your needs.

• Small Business - If you only have 250 employees or fewer and don’t wish to customize your own package, then you can choose this option. This already includes the Motivosity platform + milestones, peer-to-peer, nomination awards, and achievements. Do note, however, that a $3,000 minimum spend applies.

• Engagement - Now, if you have remote or global teams, then this package may be suitable for you. It includes the Motivosity platform + milestones, peer-to-peer, achievements, employee spaces, and internal communications.

• Healthcare - This package, which has the Motivosity platform + milestones, peer-to-peer, achievements, service shoutouts, and spending accounts, is most suitable for companies in the healthcare industry, as per Motivosity’s quote.

• Financial Services - If you’re in the financial sector, this is the recommended package for you, which features the Motivosity platform + milestones, peer-to-peer, achievements, nomination awards, and spot bonuses.

Other fees

There are also other costs associated with using Motivosity that you need to learn about.

• Annual licensing fees apply. The actual costs aren’t available publicly, so you’ll need to get in touch with the platform’s sales team.

• There is a $3,000 minimum spend and a one-time implementation fee.

• Implementation packages start at $1,000 for 60 days of proactive support, including an implementation manager, customer success manager, and technical integrations manager.

• According to the Motivosity Help Center, additional setup fees may apply for swag programs.

• Unlike some competitors, Motivosity requires you to handle your own shipping, taxes, and duties for rewards fulfillment.

• Per some users, the platform also charges around $1 to $4 per employee per month for recognition programs

Pros and Cons

Pros

✅ Great for employee engagement: With its various programs for employees (milestones, peer-to-peer recognition, simple swag, and more), Motivosity is a good platform for recognizing your team’s hard work.

✅ Customized or pre-curated solution bundles: Motivosity offers you the flexibility to either create your own rewards programs or choose from its pre-selected solution bundles based on your company’s industry.

✅ ThanksMatters Visa Card: This specific feature allows your employees to have easy access to funds for in-store or online stores that accept Visa. Balances are tracked in real-time as well, so you won’t need to guess the remaining balance.

✅ Good security measures: The platform has strict security measures in place that ensure the privacy of your data and information.

✅ Different integrations available: Integrations such as HRIS, Slack/Teams, and SSO integrations are also offered by Motivosity.

Cons

❌ Overall lack of pricing transparency: Motivosity doesn’t provide clear and transparent pricing on its website. This can cause confusion or roadblocks if you’re simply researching a platform that fits your budget.

❌ Insufficient information on shipping and warehousing: The platform also doesn’t offer specific details regarding its global shipping costs and warehousing fees, which makes it challenging to allot budgets. Additionally, the platform doesn’t disclose the locations of its regional warehouses.

❌ Shipping-related fees aren’t handled: According to the platform’s help center, you are solely responsible for paying shipping, taxes, customs duties, import fees, and other delivery-related costs. This applies whether you’re shipping domestically or internationally.

❌ Catalog options aren’t readily available: While Motivosity advertises having a rewards marketplace, its actual catalog isn’t readily accessible. This makes it harder to determine if the platform’s options suit your needs without first requesting a demo.

❌ Limited local reward options: Some users mentioned that the platform offers limited choices for swag and gifts and lacks local options for gift cards, which are especially crucial for global teams.

❌ Not suitable for client appreciation and marketing events: Since the platform doesn’t have any CRM integrations and features for event swag management, it may not be the best option for client appreciation or marketing campaigns.

❌ Technical and navigation issues: Some users have commented that they encountered issues with integrating tools like Okta and Microsoft Teams, automating the issuance of rewards, and receiving timely notifications. There are also reviews about how it can be difficult to navigate the platform’s website, with some features hidden or hard to find.

❌ Reporting capabilities are weak: Some users also cited that the platform offers inadequate engagement and redemption insights, making it difficult for them to determine which rewards have been claimed.

Motivosity is best for…

… companies that want to recognize their hardworking employees 👍

Motivosity is first and foremost an employee engagement rewards platform, which makes it a good option if you want to promote recognition and appreciation within your organization. For instance, the platform’s peer-to-peer recognition, milestones, achievements, and service shoutouts can make it easy for you to acknowledge employee contributions on a regular basis, creating a culture of positivity.

… big enterprises that have flexible or big budgets for employee rewards 👍

Because Motivosity has a $3,000 minimum spend and charges additional licensing and setup fees, it’s best suited for you if you have more flexible budgets. Having more financial resources will also enable you to invest in a more structured employee recognition program in the long run.

… organizations looking to cultivate their employee-driven culture 👍

If your company values culture-building and wants to empower employees to connect directly with each other, then Motivosity’s approach may be a great fit. Its recognition feed, personality profiles, and social engagement tools can give your employees the opportunity to celebrate one another’s efforts, strengthening a people-driven culture, especially across remote or hybrid workplaces.

Motivosity may not be a good fit for…

… businesses needing a comprehensive swag + client gifting + event solution 👎

Motivosity is focused on internal employee engagement, not external gifting. As such, it doesn’t offer CRM integrations, marketing tools, or dedicated features for event swag management; these make it less suitable if you need a single solution for both employee programs and client-focused swag initiatives.

… companies seeking to send swag and gifts to their global teams 👎

Since Motivosity doesn’t provide any public information about its international shipping capabilities, it can be hard for you to determine if it’s suitable for your global gifting needs without having to first request a demo. If you’re in a rush to find a suitable swag platform, this can take additional time and effort on your part. And even if the platform is capable of shipping internationally or has regional warehouses, you will have to shoulder the handling and payment of customs duties, taxes, and other local compliance, giving you additional workload.

… teams that require clear and transparent pricing 👎

With no public information on pricing tiers, annual subscription fees, and other costs, it may be hard for you to identify if Motivosity is worth its price. Without upfront costs, you’ll also find it difficult to budget accordingly or compare its pricing with other competitors.

Motivosity is an employee recognition and engagement platform with a wide set of tools for internal culture-building. It enables peer-to-peer recognition, milestones, and achievements that help improve morale and strengthen workplace culture. However, the platform lacks transparency on pricing and catalog availability, requires you to manage your own shipping and duties, and doesn’t directly address global swag fulfillment or client gifting needs. In addition, there are also some reports of issues when navigating or using the platform, making it less seamless compared to other alternatives. As such, Motivosity may not fit everyone’s gifting needs.

Looking for global employee and client swag solutions? Explore the best Motivosity alternatives

If your company’s needs go beyond employee recognition and extend into global swag management, client gifting, or event support, Motivosity may fall short. That’s where Motivosity alternatives come in. There are many other platforms built to handle not only employee engagement but also swag fulfillment, client appreciation campaigns, and event gifting in one streamlined solution. If that’s what you need, then be sure to check out our list of Motivosity alternatives.

Motivosity vs PerkUp, the all-in-one solution for gifting, events, and global teams

Comparing Motivosity to PerkUp? The difference lies in their scope, transparency, and global execution. Motivosity primarily focuses on peer-to-peer recognition and internal engagement, making it helpful in celebrating employee wins and improving workplace culture. While it advertises itself as a platform with global reach, it doesn’t provide clear details on international shipping, warehouse locations, or its cross-border fulfillment processes. 

PerkUp, on the other hand, goes beyond employee recognition by combining swag, client gifting, and event support with clear and transparent details on its global capacity. Through its global/local warehouse network in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Europe, India, China, and Australia, PerkUp reduces shipping costs and shortens delivery times. On top of that, PerkUp offers automated milestone gifting and international DDP shipping whenever possible, so you won’t be left handling hidden duties or customs fees.

Be sure to check out our Motivosity vs PerkUp side by side analysis to better understand why companies like PUBG and Hiro prefer PerkUp for their employee and global gifting needs.