Achievers vs. Awardco: 2025 comparison Guide for HR professionals

The best-run companies know one truth: people who feel seen, heard, and appreciated deliver results. Employee recognition is no longer about perks or points — it’s about shaping culture and driving change. In this comparison, we look at two leading platforms, Achievers and Awardco.

Awardco makes recognition simple through Amazon-driven rewards and automation. Achievers makes it transformative, combining recognition, global rewards, and employee voice tools to turn values into behaviors into results.

Here’s how the two stack up and why your choice can shape your workforce in 2025 and beyond.

At a glance: Achievers vs. Awardco

Before we dive deeper, here’s a high-level comparison across core categories:

Achievers vs. Awardco overview

Achievers is an enterprise-grade platform designed for organizations that want more than just rewards delivery. By combining recognition, rewards, and employee voice tools, Achievers enables leaders to align culture with values, listen to employees in real time, and take measurable action. With proven global excellence and integration into the flow of work, Achievers helps HR leaders drive retention, engagement, and organizational transformation.

Awardco, by contrast, is known for its Amazon Business catalog integration, milestone automation, and ease of setup. It is often favored by mid-sized organizations looking for a straightforward way to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and recognition moments without heavy customization.

Key differences between Achievers vs. Awardco

Here’s how the platforms vary in their approaches:

Recognition depth & reward choice

Achievers delivers recognition across multiple channels through best-in-class integrations — embedded into Teams, Slack, and Outlook — and pairs it with a global marketplace of 3M+ reward options, including gift cards, swag, experiences, and donations. Awardco offers an impressive catalog through Amazon Business, but it is largely transactional and lacks the same breadth of non-monetary and experiential rewards.

Employee listening & actioning

Recognition is most powerful when paired with feedback. Achievers includes pulse surveys, polls, and manager alerts, enabling organizations to capture employee sentiment and take immediate action. Awardco’s focus remains on recognition and milestone reminders, with only a basic survey tool.

Flow-of-work integrations

Achievers is a certified Workday partner and holds the highest level of integration available. It connects seamlessly with Teams, Slack, Outlook, and major HRIS systems like SAP SuccessFactors, UKG, ADP, and Oracle. Awardco integrates with Slack, Teams, Outlook, and some HRIS platforms but does not offer the same depth of certification or enterprise-grade support.

Manager enablement

Achievers equips managers with tools to coach, recognize, and engage their teams, supported by manager effectiveness features. Awardco focuses on milestone reminders and automation but lacks the same enablement depth.

Global scalability

Achievers supports multi-currency rewards, regional compliance, and 200+ languages for support. Awardco’s global delivery is tied to Amazon Business, which works well in some markets but can limit flexibility in regions where Amazon has less reach.

User adoption & enterprise fit

Achievers highlights strong adoption metrics — with 2x the industry average frequency of recognition. Its breadth of features makes it ideal for enterprises scaling globally. Awardco is praised for its ease of setup, making it a fit for smaller organizations prioritizing speed over depth.

Recognition & rewards

Achievers

• Manager-led and peer-to-peer recognition embedded directly into Teams, Slack, and Outlook
• Flexible recognition tools like points, badges, nominations, and campaigns
• Global rewards marketplace with more than 3 million options, including gift cards, merchandise, swag, donations, and experiences
• Automation for birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones
• Configurable budgets, approvals, and tax-compliant fulfillment
• Non-monetary recognition reinforced by rewards

Awardco

• Peer-to-peer recognition aligned to company values
• Amazon Business integration with no markups
• Automation for birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones
• Catalog breadth limited to a subset of Amazon listings (only top options are available for redemption, not the full Amazon catalog)

Employee surveys & pulses

Achievers

• Employee voice tools like surveys, polls, pulses, forms
• Manager dashboards for visibility into team sentiment
• Alerts and nudges for leaders to take real-time action
• Integration with Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI) insights to benchmark engagement

Awardco

• Primarily focused on recognition
• Basic survey tool

Integrations & flow-of-work

Achievers

• Highest-level certified Workday partner
• HRIS connectors for ADP, Ceridian, Oracle, SAP SuccessFactors, and UKG Pro
• Recognition embedded into Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Outlook
• Full SSO and API support for enterprise IT

Awardco

• Integrations with Slack, Teams, Outlook
• HRIS options, including BambooHR, ADP

Analytics & governance

Achievers

• Recognition usage analytics across teams, regions, and programs
• Engagement insights tied to survey data
• Advanced admin controls, roles, permissions, and audit trails for compliance
• ROI calculations and reporting supported by Achievers Workforce Institute benchmarks

Awardco

• Ease of reporting and analytics

Pricing

Achievers

• Custom, sales-led pricing
• Flexible based on headcount, modules, and regions
• Global pricing models that scale with organizations
• Contact Achievers for details

Awardco

• Custom pricing, typically per-user licenses and reward volume
• Contact Awardco for details

Pros & cons of Achievers vs. Awardco

Achievers

Pros

• Flow-of-work recognition across Teams, Slack, Outlook
• Certified Workday integration
• Global rewards catalog with multi-currency support
• Manager enablement and coaching tools
• Award-winning customer support and dedicated 24/7 support

Cons

• Slightly lower analytics rating on G2 compared to Awardco — though Achievers offsets this with more comprehensive insights and enterprise governance

Awardco

Pros

• Amazon Business rewards integration
• Simple setup and onboarding
• Customization for recognition programs

Cons

• Basic survey
• No employee voice tools
• Heavy reliance on Amazon for catalog options

Who should choose which?

Choose Achievers if…

• You use Workday or another major HRIS and rely on Teams/Slack/Outlook
• You need broad, multi-country rewards and currencies
• You want recognition tied closely to engagement and surveys
• You’re an enterprise scaling globally

Choose Awardco if…

• You prioritize quick setup
• Amazon-based catalog suffices for your workforce
• You need streamlined recognition and milestone automation
• You’re mid-sized and looking for transactional recognition

Shaping your workforce: The clear choice

Both Achievers and Awardco deliver recognition and rewards, but they’re built for different needs. Awardco emphasizes speed and simplicity, making it a strong fit for mid-sized companies that want transactional recognition powered by Amazon’s catalog.

Achievers, on the other hand, is the platform for organizations that want recognition to be more than a perk. With global rewards, voice-of-employee tools, deep integrations, and manager enablement, Achievers helps HR leaders shape their workforce and deliver lasting cultural impact.

Want employee recognition tools catered to your company’s unique needs?

Explore Achievers Recognize™

Don’t just compare — experience the difference

Get a demo