There’s no shortage of employee reward and recognition software platforms to choose from – and while Reward Gateway is one of the biggest names in the market, different platforms suit different organisations.
We’ve compared six leading Reward Gateway alternatives, looking at their strengths, features and pricing to help you understand what sets them apart and decide which approach is right for your organisation.
In this blog
- Why employee rewards matter
- Reward Gateway alternatives: side-by-side comparison
- Incentivesmart
- Perkbox
- Boostworks
- Terryberry
- Bonusly
- Kudos
- Ready to reward employees in ways they’ll actually value?
- Reward Gateway alternatives FAQs
Why employee rewards matter
Rewarding employees should be about much more than simply rewarding tenure or celebrating career milestones. The right employee reward and recognition programme becomes a powerful tool for encouraging and reinforcing positive behaviours, building culture and promoting learning. It promotes positive role modelling that others will follow, because people do what they see being done.
Recognising and rewarding employees for the way they act and what they do makes people feel valued and appreciated. And when they can choose the reward they receive, the experience becomes much more meaningful and memorable.
When your reward and recognition programme is backed with a solid and consistent engagement strategy, it creates a positive business culture that supports and drives growth.
Why organisations are looking beyond Reward Gateway
Reward Gateway is a popular and well-known employee engagement platform. However, it’s not necessarily the ideal choice for every business. Some might be looking for a platform that’s easier to implement and manage. Others may want more flexibility around rewards and recognition, and growing businesses often want stronger strategic support alongside the software.
If you’re looking for a sharper focus on behavioural change (rather than simply delivering rewards and benefits), it’s certainly worth talking to our team at Incentivesmart. We’re here to help you for the long term.
What is the best Reward Gateway alternative?
The best Reward Gateway alternative depends on your organisation’s goals. If you’re looking for a platform that combines employee rewards, recognition and behavioural engagement, Incentivesmart is a strong choice. Businesses focused primarily on employee perks may prefer Perkbox, while Bonusly and Kudos specialise in peer-to-peer social recognition. Terryberry excels in long-service recognition, and Boostworks is suited to wide-ranging enterprise engagement programmes.
Reward Gateway alternatives: side-by-side comparison
| Solution | Best for | Key strengths | Pricing |
| Incentivesmart | Recognising and rewarding performance, influencing positive behaviours, and building culture to drive growth | Employee rewards, values-based recognition, flexible platform and strategic support | From £4 PEPM |
| Perkbox | Employee perks and benefits | Perks, discounts and wellbeing | Custom quote |
| Boostworks | Bringing together employee benefits, reward programmes, recognition and wellbeing | Holistic wellbeing, mobile app, and broad-ranging employee engagement | Custom quote |
| Terryberry | Combining traditional physical service milestone awards with employee recognition and wellness | Unique awards and long-service recognition, combined with an engagement platform | Custom quote |
| Bonusly | Peer-to-peer recognition | Simple, real-time social recognition | Free for up to 8 users, or from $5 PEPM |
| Kudos | Building a values-led culture | Recognition-first culture platform | Custom quote |
PEPM = per employee, per month; setup fees may also apply. Sourced August 2026.
All these Reward Gateway competitors offer employee recognition and rewards, but they differ significantly in their platform design, reward catalogue, engagement tools and the level of programme and strategic support they provide.
If you’re specifically comparing Reward Gateway and Perkbox, read our detailed Perkbox vs Reward Gateway vs Incentivesmart comparison for a side-by-side analysis of their features, pricing and suitability for UK organisations.
Incentivesmart
Incentivesmart (that’s us!) partners with you to provide behaviour-led employee engagement programmes that combine recognition, rewards, incentives, milestone celebrations, communication, gamification, perks and more. We’ll help you identify, influence and reinforce the behaviours associated with your company values – such as collaboration – through a reward and recognition programme that builds positive role modelling in your workplace and drives business growth. This way you actively reinforce the culture you want to create.
The Incentivesmart employee recognition platform is modular, scalable and customisable, as well as fully branded to your corporate or programme identity. It puts enterprise-level features within reach of businesses of most sizes, and we offer a vast choice of points-based rewards that employees genuinely aspire to and value.
One of the key factors behind the success of our programmes is our partnership approach. It’s about much more than technology: the combination of our expertise and operational and strategic support helps our clients to drive activity, maximise engagement and derive measurable ROI.
<H3> Incentivesmart key features
- Fully branded, customisable platform
- Peer-to-peer and manager recognition with social feed
- Points-based employee rewards
- 3,000+ reward catalogue digital and physical items
- Behavioural rewards tied to company values
- Communications, news and announcements
- Employee ideas and referrals
- Surveys and eNPS
- Leaderboards, quizzes, badges and gamification
- Real-time reporting and reward insights
- SSO and integrations with Microsoft, Google and HRIS
- Dedicated customer success support to drive engagement
Incentivesmart pricing
Incentivesmart’s flexible offering is based on three programme tiers.
Essentials: From £4 per employee per month
Premium: From £6.50 per employee per month
Enterprise: Custom quotation
Rewards are billed on redemption.
Perkbox
Perkbox specialises in offering employee perks, discounts and wellbeing content, and also offers reward and recognition capabilities. It’s worth considering for organisations looking for out-of-the-box capability.
Looking specifically at Perkbox? Read our guide to the best Perkbox alternatives and competitors for a broader comparison of leading employee rewards platforms.
Perkbox key features
- Employee discounts and perks
- Benefits marketplace
- Wellbeing hub
- Employee pulse surveys and feedback
- Simple, app-based recognition and rewards
- Company communication
- HRIS and SSO integrations
Perkbox pricing
Perkbox provides custom quotations on request. Points are billed on allocation.
Boostworks
Boostworks combines employee benefits, reward and recognition, wellbeing, communications and surveys. It’s a good option to consider for mid-market and enterprise organisations looking for an overall employee engagement solution, particularly if you have a hybrid or distributed workforce.
Boostworks key features
- Employee recognition and rewards
- Custom milestone and achievement awards
- Employee wellbeing, benefits and discounts
- Employee surveys
- Reporting and analytics
- HR integrations
- Mobile app
Boostworks pricing
Boostworks provides custom quotations on request. Points are usually billed on allocation.
Terryberry
Terryberry combines digital recognition with long service and symbolic employee rewards. They also offer employee discounts, benefits and wellbeing features. It’s a good option for large organisations with many frontline and deskless employees and offers various apps for different aspects of employee engagement.
Terryberry key features
- Peer-to-peer recognition
- Long service awards
- Symbolic and bespoke awards
- Reward catalogue
- Interactive health and wellness tools
- Employee surveys
- Employee savings and benefits
- Recognition, benefits and wellness apps
- HR integrations
Terryberry pricing
Terryberry provides custom quotations on request. Rewards are billed on redemption.
Bonusly
Bonusly’s recognition-first platform is built around real-time peer-to-peer appreciation. It’s easy to use and adopt and is a good option to consider for remote teams. It is a US-based global provider, so UK organisations wanting GBP pricing and in-country support may prefer a UK-based programme.
Bonusly key features
- Global peer-to-peer recognition with a social feed
- Points-based rewards (physical and digital)
- Social feed
- Automated milestone celebrations
- Slack, Microsoft Teams and HR integrations
- Reporting and analytics
Bonusly pricing
Bonusly is available in three packages, priced in dollars:
Free: Up to 8 users (limited functionality)
Team: $5 per PEPM
Organisation: POA
Rewards are billed on redemption.
Kudos
Kudos is an employee recognition and rewards platform focused on reinforcing company values through peer-to-peer recognition and a wide choice of employee rewards. It’s especially worth considering for global enterprises focusing on culture building.
Kudos key features
- Peer-to-peer, values-based recognition
- Social recognition feed
- Global recognition catalogue
- Milestones and eCards
- Awards and nominations
- Reporting and analytics
- Slack, Microsoft Teams and HRIS integrations
Kudos pricing
Kudos provides custom quotations on request. Rewards are billed on redemption.
Ready to reward employees in ways they’ll actually value?
Reward Gateway provides a broad employee engagement platform combining wellbeing, benefits, employee discounts, recognition, rewards, communications and surveys.
Incentivesmart’s partnership approach to employee engagement focuses on motivation and behavioural change. We help organisations to inspire, recognise and reward great work, build culture and community, and deliver measurable business impact.
Get started with Incentivesmart
If you’re looking for a flexible employee reward and recognition platform, Incentivesmart employee engagement combines technology, behavioural expertise, social recognition, aspirational rewards and dedicated strategic support to help you build a positive company culture and strong community of work that’s centred around your core values.
We’ll partner with you to understand the employee behaviours that reflect those values and that drive your commercial goals, create a programme designed to encourage them and continually optimise performance to keep employees engaged, motivated and recognised for their efforts.
Book a personalised demo to see how Incentivesmart can help you create an employee engagement programme that delivers measurable growth.
Reward Gateway alternatives FAQs
What’s the difference between an employee rewards platform and an employee engagement platform?
An employee rewards platform focuses on recognising and rewarding employees for their achievements, actions and contributions through meaningful rewards and incentives. An employee engagement platform is designed to build culture and influence behaviour, typically combining rewards with additional tools such as communications, surveys, wellbeing, benefits and employee feedback.
Many modern platforms, including Reward Gateway and Incentivesmart, combine elements of both. The right choice depends on whether you’re looking for a broad engagement platform or a solution that places greater emphasis on motivating behaviour through recognition and rewards.
Does Reward Gateway offer employee rewards and recognition?
Yes, Reward Gateway offers employee rewards and recognition, as well as discounts and benefits. If your priority is recognising great work, building culture and rewarding positive behaviours (rather than benefits, for example), it’s worth comparing Reward Gateway with platforms with a strong focus on employee rewards, such as Incentivesmart, to find the best fit for your organisation.
Is there a more transparent or cost-effective alternative to Reward Gateway?
Yes, there are more cost-effective alternatives to Reward Gateway – some with transparent pricing – depending on your priorities. When comparing platforms, it’s important to look beyond the headline subscription price and consider implementation costs, reward costs, ongoing support and how pricing scales as your organisation grows.
Some providers, including Incentivesmart, offer transparent per-employee pricing and only charge for rewards when employees redeem them, helping organisations maximise the value of their investment.
Which Reward Gateway competitor is best for UK businesses?
The best alternative to Reward Gateway will depend on your organisation’s size, objectives and budget. Larger organisations may benefit from broad employee engagement suites like Reward Gateway, while growing SMEs and many enterprises often prefer platforms that are easier to implement, simpler to manage and provide transparent pricing.
Incentivesmart is designed specifically for growing organisations looking to improve employee recognition, rewards and engagement without unnecessary complexity.
How easily can you switch from Reward Gateway to another platform?
Switching employee engagement platforms can be straightforward, as long as your provider offers the right implementation support. Most will help migrate employee data, configure the platform, integrate with your existing HR systems and support communications before launch.
Choosing a provider like Incentivesmart, which offers dedicated onboarding and customer success support, can help ensure a smooth transition and encourage employee adoption from day one.
What should you look for in a Reward Gateway alternative?
Look for a platform like Incentivesmart, which is built on behavioural science and engagement expertise – this is key to the success of your employee programme. Great design and communication make a platform easier to use and embed into your organisation, which is essential for driving high rates of adoption, activity and ongoing engagement.
A strong Reward Gateway alternative will be flexible, and should align with your organisation’s goals, culture and budget. Look for rich recognition features, excellent reward choice, reporting, integrations, implementation support, pricing transparency and long-term scalability.
Do Reward Gateway alternatives integrate with Slack and Microsoft Teams?
Many employee reward and recognition platforms integrate with workplace collaboration tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, making it easier for employees to recognise colleagues without leaving their daily workflow. If integrations are important to your organisation, check that your shortlisted providers support the tools your teams already use.
Does Incentivesmart offer the same employee reward and recognition features as Reward Gateway?
Both platforms provide employee reward and recognition, but they take different approaches. Reward Gateway offers a broad employee engagement platform that combines benefits and wellbeing with recognition and rewards. Incentivesmart focuses on helping organisations drive measurable business outcomes by recognising great work, rewarding positive behaviours, and boosting culture and connection.
The best choice depends on whether you’re looking for a broad engagement suite or a platform with a stronger focus on influencing behaviour and recognising performance.
