Guusto review

Guusto prices recognition by who sends rewards rather than who receives them, which suits companies where managers and HR hand out most gifts. The free tier lets you send rewards by email or SMS, print them or use QR codes, with more than 100 merchant options and no minimum rewards spend. Lite costs $150 per month for one sender seat and 250 recipient seats, and automates small milestone programs with bulk sends. Essential charges $4 per sender seat and $0.70 per recipient seat, with a $200 monthly minimum, and adds real-time social feeds, leaderboards and automated random draws so employees can send shoutouts to each other. Premium raises seats to $5 and $1 with a $500 minimum and is the tier Guusto pitches for enterprise programs that need more customization, automation and integrations. Guusto says it makes money from merchants, so gift cards cost face value. Peer recognition is a smaller part of the product than at Bonusly or Assembly, which is why it ranks lower here.

Who it is for

Companies where managers send most rewards and frontline recipients should not count as full-price seats.

Price

Free tier for sending rewards; Lite $150 per month with 1 sender seat and 250 recipient seats; Essential from $200 per month minimum.

Lite $150 /mo 1 Sender Seat and 250 Recipient Seats
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 7, 2026.

Key features

• Rewards by email, SMS, print and QR codes
• 100+ merchant options and a prepaid Mastercard
• Automated milestones and birthdays with bulk and scheduled rewards
• Social feeds, leaderboards and random draws on Essential
• HRIS integration, SSO and budget automation on higher tiers

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Recipients cost far less than senders on paid tiers
• Strength: No markup on gift cards
• Strength: Free tier with no minimum rewards spend
• Weakness: Essential and Premium carry $200 and $500 monthly minimums
• Weakness: Peer social feeds start on Essential, not Lite
• Weakness: HRIS integration sits on the Premium tier

Key facts

• Lite: $150 per month, 1 sender and 250 recipients
• Essential: $4 per sender seat, $0.70 per recipient seat, $200 minimum
• Premium: $5 per sender seat, $1 per recipient seat, $500 minimum
• Gift card markup: None, face value

Where it ranks

Guusto is No. 8 in our Best Employee Recognition Software verdict.