How Much Does Employee Engagement Software Cost?

Over the last decade, employee engagement software has become more widespread as organizations seek to improve employee engagement and improve retention.

More than ever, organizations are beginning to recognize that employee experience directly impacts customer experience and employee retention. As a result, they’re shifting their focus to address the full employee experience – and they're taking action towards it by investing in employee engagement software and programs.

So how much does employee engagement software cost? That really depends on your company’s priorities and needs. Factors such as company size, functionality, and integrations with HRIS platforms all influence the cost of employee engagement solutions. In this guide, we’ll help you determine the best employee engagement software for your business.

What Drives Employee Engagement Software Costs?

As the name suggests, employee engagement software is designed to create engaged employees and improve your company culture.

Each employee engagement platform offers its own mix of features and benefits, such as employee engagement surveys, employee recognition, messaging and communication tools, employee satisfaction scoring, and more.

You’ll primarily see a mix of the following driving employee engagement software cost:

• Number of employees
• Training/Support Services
• Integrations
• Custom Branding
• Reporting capabilities
• Single Sign-On Functionality

With Cooleaf, you get a user-friendly platform and a custom strategy designed to drive ongoing adoption—from encouraging and measuring employee recognition to promoting employee wellness. Our experience platform not only lets you capture employee feedback but provides action plans and custom programming to drive engagement and improve workplace culture. Because of the level of support we offer, Cooleaf is rated “Best Relationship” on G2 for employee engagement platforms.

See if Cooleaf is the right fit for your team

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How Much Does Employee Engagement Software Cost?

1. Best for Small Businesses: Simple Recognition Tools

Small and medium-sized businesses with less than 50 employees can benefit from cheap, easy-to-use recognition tools that are light on support and functionality.

Simple, out-of-the-box employee recognition tools are a great fit for smaller companies looking for a basic way to enable social recognition for their teams. These tools are often easy to implement, but the features, functionality, and strategy support will be more limited.

SMB tools are:

• Usually simple to use and implement, but with no strategy and little support included
• Can often integrate with modern communication tools like Slack
• Offer limited or basic reporting functionality
• Often less customizable, additional integration fees may apply
• User training is not typically included; you’ll need to manage the rollout internally
• Does not typically include wellness initiatives, performance feedback, or gamification

Examples of recognition tools for SMBs are HeyTaco! and Kudos. This type of software works best for small startups and companies with less than 50 employees looking for a employee recognition solution to improve their company culture.

How much does this kind of employee engagement software cost?

These platforms are often free up to a certain number of users, then around $5 per employee per month, plus your rewards spend.

2. Best for Mid-Market Businesses: Employee Experience Software

Mid-sized businesses with more than 50 employees will see the most benefit with employee experience software that takes a partnership approach to employee engagement.

As their team grows, human resources leaders need employee experience software that their unique engagement goals. With teams larger than 50 people, HR teams and organization leaders also need to prioritize and streamline remote team connection, diversity and inclusion, and health and wellness.

An employee experience platform like Cooleaf is designed to serve as your one-stop-shop for employee engagement, bringing engagement, recognition, and engagement programming all into one place. Whether you’re struggling to keep your remote team connected or effectively communicate core values as you grow, an employee experience platform that incorporates an engagement strategy can be highly beneficial.

Mid-Market employee experience software tools are:

• Most suitable for teams that are growing quickly and want to maintain engagement as they scale
• Offer more hands-on support with scheduled check-ins
• Additional tools such as pulse surveys, employee performance incentives, and award programs for work anniversaries are often included in the package
• Engagement strategy and action plans are typically built-in
• Integrates with communication tools, like Slack and Microsoft Teams
• A deeper level of engagement metrics and dashboards is often available
• More ability to customize employee rewards, with a wider variety of options beyond gift cards

Employee experience platforms are perfect for organizations that are growing quickly, with a minimum of 50 employees. The biggest benefit of these platforms is that they offer a deeper level of engagement strategy, from onboarding and gathering real-time feedback to ongoing adoption. Every platform will have different strengths in terms of features and functionality so it’s important to choose a partner that understands your engagement goals.

How much does Mid-Market employee engagement software cost?

Expect to see engagement platforms priced on a per user basis (typically around $5-$10 per employee per month, depending on your total number of employees), plus your rewards spend.

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3. Best for Large Businesses: Enterprise Employee Management Software

Large businesses with complex needs can benefit from enterprise software, which is harder to adopt but high on features.

Enterprise HR management software is designed to meet the needs of large companies, and it typically comes with robust reporting and a heftier price tag. While this level of software often includes some engagement features like real-time recognition tools, the primary focus is often performance management, collecting employee feedback, or payroll management/employee onboarding. A custom employee engagement strategy is typically not included.

The most common characteristics of Enterprise tools are:

• Higher learning curve and longer implementation
• May include custom integrations based on their internal systems and workflows along with global capabilities
• May include detailed data on performance reviews, goal assessments, and actionable insights
• May include payroll and benefits management tools
• Employee recognition features and employee engagement tools are often less intuitive and can be buried within the platform
• Greater focus on employee benchmarking and performance metrics

The Enterprise level software is great for large companies with complex needs and numerous integrations. Pricing will likely be discussed as a per year contract, rather than a per employee contract.

How much does Enterprise Employee Management Software cost?

To get the pricing details for enterprise-grade performance management software, you usually have to contact the provider to discuss your business’ requirements and request a custom quote. Expect to see prices from $50,000 to over $100,000 per year.

What are the next steps for evaluating employee engagement software?

The benefits of employee engagement software can’t be overstated. From keeping employees connected to getting real-time insights into employee engagement and recognition, the right employee experience program can work wonders for your company culture.

Once you’ve determined the type of employee engagement software you need for your business, it’s time to start researching options. To help you find the best employee engagement software for you, we’ve created a list of questions to keep in mind when speaking to employee recognition & employee experience vendors. Download it for free by filling out the form below.

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Cooleaf is trusted by organizations around the world to better engage employees and improve company culture. We make it easy for managers and employees to interact in a fun, social way at work. Unlike other employee engagement platforms, Cooleaf is an all-in-one employee experience solution with unique programming, a user-friendly platform, and powerful integrations to bring your engagement initiatives to life. Book your demo today!