Employee engagement remains one of the biggest challenges for HR professionals today. From balancing hybrid work dynamics to maintaining consistent communication and recognition across teams, keeping employees motivated can feel like an uphill task. On top of this, many small organizations also struggle with limited budgets, making it difficult to invest in high-end engagement platforms.
Free employee engagement software helps bridge this gap by offering accessible tools to boost morale and streamline feedback without financial strain. These platforms also empower HR teams to recognize achievements, collect insights, and build stronger connections within teams.
In this article, we’ll explore seven of the best free employee engagement software that can help businesses strengthen culture, retain talent, and improve overall productivity.
Company | Best for | Main Features | Pricing (Paid Plans) |
Matter | Peer Recognition And Continuous Feedback |
| Starts at $2/user/month |
Teamflect | Integrating With Teams And Outlook |
| Starts at $9/user/month |
BuddiesHR | Slack Users |
| Starts at $1/employee/month |
Guusto | Recognizing and Rewarding Frontline Employees |
| Starts at $150/month |
Connecteam | Deskless Teams |
| Starts at $35/user/month |
Tally | Ease Of Use |
| Starts at $29/month |
Jotforms | Creating Different Forms |
| Starts at $69/month |
Matter is a free employee recognition and engagement platform built directly into Slack and Microsoft Teams. It enables teams to celebrate wins, share kudos, and reinforce company values seamlessly within their daily workflow. Designed with accessibility in mind, Matter helps organizations build stronger cultures through recognition, rewards, and ongoing feedback, all without leaving their communication channels.
Standout Features
- Peer Recognition: Utilizes ‘kudos’, which are customizable templates that allow employees to recognize each other’s accomplishments
- Feedback Reminders: Automates weekly recognition reminders called ‘Feedback Friday’ to encourage consistent peer feedback
- Security: Provides solid security measures such as Single Sign-On (SSO), and adheres to security standards such as SOC 2 Type II Compliance and GDPR
Pricing
The vendor offers the following pricing plans along with a 14-day free trial:
- Free - $0
- Basic - $2/user/month
- Pro - $4/user/month
- Enterprise - Customized pricing
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Matter Pros And Cons
Pros
- Integrates easily with Slack or Microsoft Teams to enable peer recognition across teams
- The organizations of channels and direct messages keep the UI clean
- Encourages team collaboration and boosts morale through kudos, rewards, and visible recognition features
Cons
- Pulse Surveys are not anonymous
- Limited reward-redemption options in some regions
Teamflect is a performance and engagement platform built natively for the Microsoft Teams and Outlook environment. It supports HR professionals by turning goals, feedback, recognition, and surveys into ongoing practices—without forcing employees to adopt disconnected systems.
Standout Features
- 360° And Ad-Hoc Feedback: Allows teams to give, receive, and ask for feedback directly within Microsoft Teams
- Rewards: Provides a rewards section where users can exchange their accumulated points for any available rewards
- Goals And OKRs: Facilitates a goal-setting framework where companies can align individual and group objectives with company goals
Pricing
Teamflect offers three pricing plans along with a 30-day free trial:
- Starter - $0 (for 10 users)
- Essential - $9/user/month
- Professional - $14/user/month
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Teamflect Pros And Cons
Pros
- Convenient performance management and feedback processes through the Teams environment
- Simplifies performance reviews and feedback exchanges
- Provides a smooth experience for employees and managers alike
Cons
- Customization options and reporting feel limited, according to some users
- Goal setup options may be confusing for new users
BuddiesHR is a suite of modular Slack apps designed to strengthen company culture and engagement without requiring separate logins or platforms. Each app focuses on a different area of team interaction—from recognition and surveys to birthdays and coffee chats—making it ideal for HR teams that want a lightweight solution that’s fully integrated into Slack. It’s also useful for remote teams since it keeps morale high and builds trust.
Standout Features
- Virtual Coffee Chats: Connects teammates for virtual coffee chats to encourage bonding
- Birthday Notifications: Automates birthday and anniversary celebrations with customizable messages
- Polls And Surveys: Collects real-time employee feedback and engagement data with the help of polls and surveys
Pricing
BuddiesHR offers three pricing plans and a 30-day free trial:
- Free - $0 (for under 10 users)
- One App - $1/employee/month
- All 7 Apps - $7/employee/month
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
BuddiesHR Pros And Cons
Pros
- Simple and quick to set up within Slack, making it ideal for remote teams
- Helps strengthen team connections through random coffee chats and social interactions
- Excellent customer support with fast, helpful responses
Cons
- Lacks an option to manually pair specific team members for chats
- Doesn’t provide any leaderboards
Guusto is an employee recognition and reward platform built to help HR and operations leaders create meaningful engagement across both office and frontline teams. It has a user-friendly digital gift card system that makes it easy to send recognition instantly, automate rewards programs, and empower managers to build peer-to-peer appreciation programs.
Standout Features
- Recognition Programs: Provides recognition programs such as milestone awards, peer-to-peer shoutouts, wellness programs, and more
- Offline Recognition: Supports offline recognition, where companies can print shout-outs and deliver rewards in person with the help of QR codes
- Gift Cards: Rewards include gift cards which can be redeemed in-store or online at over 60,000+ global merchant locations
Pricing
Guusto offers four pricing plans, billed monthly:
- Free - $0/month
- Lite - $150/month (Single user account with unlimited recipients)
- Essential - $3/seat/month (Peer-to-Peer Program)
- Premium - $4.20/seat/month (Peer-to-Peer Program)
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Guusto Pros And Cons
Pros
- Employees can choose their preferred gift cards, ensuring rewards are always meaningful
- Instant digital delivery allows for quick and easy recognition
- The platform is simple to use, with helpful team management tools
Cons
- Currency conversion between USD and CAD can be inconvenient for cross-border teams
- Limited gift card options in some regions reduce flexibility for recipients
Connecteam is an all-in-one employee management platform built for deskless and frontline workforces. It centralizes scheduling, communication, training, HR, and operations into one mobile-first app. In addition to this, it also directly supports employee engagement by focusing on communication and recognition, especially for deskless and frontline teams who are often the hardest to reach.
Standout Features
- Personalized Celebrations: Managers can use heartwarming messages to make every celebration for employees feel personal, reinforcing motivation and appreciation
- Redeemable Tokens: Provides employees with tokens that they can redeem for gift cards from their favorite vendors
- Forms: Employers can compose custom forms and surveys, which allow employees to share opinions and feel heard
Pricing
Connecteam offers five pricing plans for its various hubs, along with a 14-day free trial. These pricing plans are:
- Small Business - $0 (for up to 10 users)
- Basic - $35/month
- Advanced - $59/month
- Expert - $119/month
- Enterprise - custom pricing
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Connecteam Pros And Cons
Pros
- Responsive and reliable customer support
- Centralizes all the information everyone needs in one place
- Accessible from multiple devices
Cons
- Some notifications don’t always display on time
- Requires frequent uninstalling or updating for problems that are not easily solved by support
Tally is a no-code form builder designed to make survey creation fast, intuitive, and completely free. With unlimited forms and submissions, it’s ideal for HR professionals looking to build employee engagement, feedback, or pulse surveys without budget constraints. In addition, its document-style editor and advanced customization make it a flexible alternative to other paid tools.
Standout Features
- Unlimited Free Forms And Responses: Users can create and collect unlimited forms and responses under fair use guidelines
- Dynamic Forms: With the help of conditional logic, users can also create dynamic forms based on prior input or external data
- Custom Design: Utilizes input blocks, pre-made themes and layouts to help users make any kind of form they want
Pricing
Tally offers three pricing plans:
- Free - $0 (unlimited forms and submissions)
- Pro - $29/month
- Business - $89/month
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Tally Pros And Cons
Pros
- Effortless to use, even for newcomers
- Provides complex logic and advanced customization
- Supports other languages such as Arabic
Cons
- Lack of regional pricing
- Relies on a mouse for data input instead of a keyboard
Jotform is another no-code form builder trusted by over 35 million users worldwide. Like Tally, it allows HR teams to create professional, customizable surveys and feedback forms to measure engagement and collect insights. What sets Jotform apart is its flexibility—it allows users to create all sorts of forms such as employment forms, appointment forms, etc. With this, employers can track employee engagement with any form that they can come up with.
Standout Features
- Drag-And-Drop Form Builder: Utilizes a drag-and-drop functionality to create forms
- Templates: Provides 10,000+ free form templates for multiple uses
- Wide Range Of Integrations: Connects with third-party software such as Slack, Google Sheets, Salesforce, Canva, etc.
Pricing
Jotform provides the following pricing plans, billed monthly:
- Starter - Free
- Bronze - $69/month
- Silver - $79/month
- Gold - $199/month
- Enterprise - Custom pricing
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Jotforms Pros And Cons
Pros
- Easy to set up powerful forms without coding
- Can quickly make adjustments to forms with ease
- Allows users to collect information and payments all in one place
Cons
- Lacks a reporting dashboard
- Some users report slowdowns when using the app
Like with many things in life, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each software has its own quirks and is designed for different purposes. As such, the ‘correct’ software is contingent on you—what your needs are, what your budget is, etc. Only by being clear on what you need will you be able to pick the right tool for the job.
Still exploring your options? Visit our category page for more insights to help you make the right choice for your team.