Best employee kudos apps for Slack

Looking to boost team morale and foster a culture of appreciation in your workplace? Integrating kudos apps with Slack makes it easy for teams to recognize each other's hard work, celebrate wins, and promote positive interactions.

Best employee kudos apps for Slack
Photo by Annie Spratt / Unsplash

In this article, we’ll explore the best employee kudos apps for Slack that can help you build a more engaged, motivated, and happy team.
We will feature the best kudos apps for Slack in this article, be ready! We'll cover what benefits each option has and which alternative is the best overall.

Why install a peer-to-peer kudos app in your Slack?

Having a peer-to-peer kudos channel in your Slack is a must have to build a culture of recognition in the company.
Usually it starts with a simple #Kudos channel, then after a while this channel looses popularity and activity.

Having a Kudos app is basically a #Kudos channel with superpowers. It makes sure people are reminded to send Kudos, it makes it fun with GIFs, points, leaderboards, rewards etc. It gives incentives to people receiving and sending recognitions.

It's really a great way to engage your employees.

Benefits of installing a peer-to-peer kudos app in Slack includes:

  • Increase employee engagement
  • Build a culture of recognition
  • Spot best performers
  • Spot people that are not being recognized or included by others
  • Communicate the company values
  • Gather data points for performance reviews
  • Bring fun in the workplace
  • Connect colleagues

How a Kudos app can boost employee engagement?

Recognizing good work is great for employee engagement

A Kudos app for Slack can boost employee engagement in many ways. It gives a way for employees to be recognized for the work they produce. Receiving Kudos is one of the best way to make people proud and happy about their work.

Building strong bonds amond employees

More than making employees happy to receive recognition for their work, it builds strong bonds among employees who exchange recognition messages and therefore engages tremendously the employees towards the company.

Gamification enhances motivation and performance

When the Kudos app has some gamification included it can also encourage employees to perform better in order to achieve a better ranking or unlock a specific reward.

Why sending Kudos is a must when working remotely?

Working remotely has a lot of advantages. One of the main challenge that needs to be addressed is how people communicate. Installing a Kudos app when working remotely is a must have to compensate the fact that people don't publicly thank each other in the open space anymore. Late night hussles and early mornings are not noticed by anyone except the close colleagues you work with. The only chance for this to be recognized publicly is to have such recognition or kudos apps.

What are the best employee kudos apps for Slack?

Here is a list of the 3 best kudos apps for Slack:

  1. Clappy Kudos
  2. HeyTaco
  3. MatterApp

1. Clappy Kudos

Clappy is the best choice if you're looking for a Kudos app for Slack.

  • ✅ It has the best options
    • Peer-to-peer recognition
    • Company values
    • Rewards
    • Leaderboards
    • Levels (gamification)
    • Appreciation Day
  • ✅ It's the most affordable (even though it has the best options!)
  • ✅ It's used by thousands of companies worldwide (rated 4.9/5 on G2)

Example of Clappy's settings and post

Pricing Options

Clappy Kudos App is free for teams having less than 30 users.

Clappy costs $1 per user per month.

Relevant Categories

Clappy Kudos Recognition App fits into different categories relevant to workplace management and culture:

  • HR & Team Culture
  • Office Management
  • Remote workspaces
  • Social & Fun
  • Working from Home

It suits teams working remotely, hybrid, as well as distributed teams.

2. HeyTaco

HeyTaco is a fun recognition tool that integrates with platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams, letting users send "tacos" (virtual kudos) to colleagues to show appreciation. It helps boost morale and foster a positive work culture through quick, daily recognition.

Is HeyTaco a good option for a Kudos app for Slack?

While HeyTaco has many good features, reviews spot that they lack retention features to make sure the initiative doesn't just die-down. Where HeyTaco is better than the other options is the "fun" part with the Tacos 🌮. But it's up to you to decide if it's worth the price of $3 per user where Clappy costs $1.

We can also read on their G2 page that

"The UX on the redemption page is clunky."

or this from Ben A.:

"the cost. difficulty redeeming "rewards" and confusion around how to use "super tacos""

How much does HeyTaco cost?

HeyTaco costs $3 per user per month.

3. Matter app

Matter is a peer-to-peer feedback and recognition tool designed to help teams give constructive feedback and praise. It integrates with platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing team members to send feedback, celebrate achievements, and promote personal growth. Matter focuses on skill development, encouraging continuous improvement in areas like communication, leadership, and teamwork.

Is Matter a good option for a Kudos app for Slack?

Matter is a good alternative to HeyTaco and Clappy Kudos. Few things differentiate it, the main one being that it includes a bunch of features you may never need. The second one is that its price is the highest by far among the options listed here.

How much does Matterapp cost?

Matter costs $4 per user per month.

Install Clappy Kudos - The best employee Kudos app for Slack

As you've seen in this article, Clappy Kudos is not only the app having the best features but also the cheapest by far. It makes it the obvious best choice for a Kudos app for Slack.

Install Clappy Kudos now