Workstars

workstars.com
HR & Payroll
Weekend Project

Social Employee Recognition and Reward Programs

How to Replace Workstars

Overview

Workstars is an employee recognition platform that enables peer-to-peer recognition, manager spotlights, and team celebrations through a social feed. It combines recognition with flexible rewards options and provides analytics to measure engagement and cultural impact across organizations of any size, supporting global teams across multiple languages, currencies, and time zones.

Features

51 features across 14 categories

AI(1)

Smart Recognition Engine

Smart recognition engine that ensures HR teams can configure their perfect employee recognition program quickly

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Administration(4)

Budget Management

Advanced budget tools with employee-awarded micro-bonuses and hierarchy-based approvals

Business Hierarchy ReplicationPremium

Replicate and manage business hierarchy structures within the platform

Hierarchy UploadPremium

Automated hierarchy upload to manage reporting, reward sign off and communications

Self-Managed Administration

Self-managed administration platform allowing companies to configure their own settings

Also in: Notion, Airtable, Smartsheet

Analytics(6)

Director Analytics

Director and leadership level analytics and reporting on engagement metrics

Employee Analytics

Analytics dashboard showing employee engagement and participation data

Engagement Insights

Insights into engagement trends, undercover achievers, and corporate value effectiveness

HR Analytics

Comprehensive HR analytics showing recognition patterns, culture champions, and value alignment

Manager Dashboards

Manager-level dashboards for viewing team recognition and engagement

Real-Time Cost Centre TrackingPremium

Real-time tracking of costs and expenses by cost center

Also in: Hugging Face, Notion, Smartsheet

Automation(1)

Automated Onboarding

Automated recognitions for new employees starting from a week into their tenure

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Customization(2)

Customizable Branding

Customize values, images, theme, branding and communications to match company culture

Value Alignment

Configure recognition to align with company values and celebrate milestones

Also in: monday.com, Obsidian, Smartsheet

Global(3)

Cost of Living AdjustmentsPremium

Automatic cost of living adjustments for rewards in different regions

Multi-Currency SupportPremium

Multi-currency support for global teams operating in different regions

Multi-Language SupportPremium

Multi-language support to serve global teams across different languages

Integration(3)

HRIS Integration

HRIS integrations that automate employee data syncing including new joiners, leavers and role changes

Open APIPremium

Full API suite for data automation and workflow integrations

Social IntegrationsPremium

Integration with social platforms and workplace tools

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Platform(2)

Mobile Optimized

Fully responsive mobile-optimized platform that works seamlessly across all devices

Responsive UI/UX

Beautiful and intuitive user interface and user experience designed for employee engagement

Also in: KnowBe4, Jira, Asana

Recognition(9)

360-Degree Recognition

Complete suite of recognition formats across social, peer-to-peer, manager, team and central

Birthday Recognition

Celebrate employee birthdays with automated recognition

Company Awards

Create and administer company-wide award programs

Manager Spotlight

Managers can spotlight and recognize great performance from their teams

Partner Appreciation

External recognition program for partner appreciation

Peer-to-Peer Recognition

Empower employees to appreciate and recognize positive contributions from colleagues in real-time

Service Awards

Automated service awards with badges and certificates to celebrate tenure milestones

Team Recognition

Teams can collectively celebrate wins and milestones together

Work Anniversaries

Automated recognition of employee work anniversaries

Reporting(1)

Automated Reports

Automated reporting including tax reports for finance and data exceptions for IT

Rewards(8)

Configurable Vouchers and Codes

Configurable voucher, code and card catalogues for reward flexibility

Custom Reward Catalog

Create and manage your own catalog of incentives and perks

Digital Gift Cards

Global digital gift card rewards that employees can choose from

Expense RecognitionPremium

Track and manage expenses for rewards with full flexibility and consolidation of spend

Local Perks

Region-specific reward options and local perks for global teams

Manager Perks

Gift internal rewards, activities and time off through manager permissions

Micro-Bonuses

Employee-awarded micro-bonuses as part of flexible reward options

Pre-Paid Cards

Pre-Paid Digital MasterCard/Visa cards for flexible employee rewards

Security(5)

Cloud-Based Hosting

Secure cloud-based hosting meeting all security, penetration testing and accessibility expectations

GDPR Compliance

GDPR compliant data storage and processing

Penetration Testing

Third-party penetration testing and security validation

Single Sign On (SSO)Premium

Streamlined employee experience with Single Sign On SAML authentication

Two Factor Authentication

Two factor administrator access authentication for primary and secondary administrators

Social(3)

Leading Social Functionality

Social features including congratulations, recognize again, promote, and user profiles

Recognition Transparency

Make recognition visible across the organization through a transparent social interface

Social Feed

Live social feed where recognition posts are shared, visible, and interactive with likes and comments

Support(3)

Client Services Support

Full client services support team for account management and ongoing optimization

Dedicated Onboarding

Dedicated onboarding specialist partner with HR and communications teams during setup and launch

Reward Services Team

Fully ticketed employee support team providing reward and recognition assistance

Pricing

Entry

$2.00/user/month (50-250 employees)
  • 360-degree recognition
  • Mobile optimized
  • Employee, manager, leader and central analytics
  • Effortless & flexible rewards
  • Service and onboarding and company awards
  • Full client services support
  • Complete suite of recognition formats
  • Leading social functionality
  • Customized values, images, theme, branding
  • Four levels of reporting
  • Two factor authentication
  • Self-managed administration
  • Cloud based hosting
  • Manager Perks
  • Automated service awards
  • Automated onboarding
  • Reward services team
  • External recognition with Partner Appreciation
  • Configurable vouchers and codes

Pro

$4.00/user/month (50-250 employees)
  • All Entry level features
  • Business hierarchy replication
  • Social integrations
  • Single sign on with SAML
  • Open API
  • Enhanced recognition configurations
  • Expense recognition
  • Streamlined employee experience with SSO
  • Full API suite
  • Real time cost centre tracking
  • Integration suite including Yammer, Chatter and Slack

Global

$5.50/user/month (50-250 employees)
  • All Pro level features
  • Multi-language
  • Multi-currency
  • Cost of living adjustments
  • Pre-Paid Digital MasterCard/Visa

Cost Calculator

Keep Paying Workstars

Monthly$2/mo
Yearly$24/yr
5-Year Total$120

Build It Yourself

Est. Build Time~4 hrs
Hosting$20/mo
DifficultyVery Easy

Total Cost Comparison

1 Year
SaaS
$24
DIY
$240
3 Years
SaaS
$72
DIY
$720
5 Years
SaaS
$120
DIY
$1.2k

DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 51 features at very easy complexity.

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Workstars alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 51 features.

Buy Workstars

Better Value
Monthly cost$20/mo
3-year total$720
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$24,000
Maintenance$360/mo
3-year total$36,960
Dev time~2 months

Buying Workstars saves ~$36,240 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 51 features and a BuildScore of 5/5. Actual costs vary.

Integrations

7 known integrations

HRIS SystemsMicrosoft TeamsOpen APISalesforce ChatterSlackWorkplace by FacebookYammer