"Moving from Matter to Pulsido: a pilot checklist"
How to decide whether Pulsido fits, run it alongside Matter without confusing anyone, and cut over, including what carries across and what doesn't.
On this page
Switching recognition tools is more about habits than data. This checklist is for teams on Matter who are considering Pulsido. It's written to help you decide either way, including deciding to stay.
First, check the fit
Answer these before you run a pilot. If any answer in the right-hand column is "yes, and it's essential", Pulsido isn't the right move today.
| Pulsido fits if… | Stay with Matter, for now, if… |
|---|---|
| Your company is on Slack, or happy to use the web and phones | Your company runs on Microsoft Teams. Pulsido doesn't support Teams yet. |
| CSV imports for birthdays and start dates are fine | You need a live HRIS sync today. Pulsido doesn't have one yet. |
| You can connect your own Tremendous account for gift cards | You want the vendor to run the gift catalog and bill you for it |
| You're happy to ship swag through your own print partner | You want the vendor to produce and ship swag |
| You want pulse surveys and confidential feedback in the same tool | Recognition is all you need, and Matter Basic covers it |
The comparison page has the detail, with sources for each price and feature.
What carries across, and what doesn't
There's no automatic importer from Matter. Be clear about this with your team before you start.
| Carries across? | How | |
|---|---|---|
| People | Yes | Invite links, or joining with Slack once it's connected |
| Values | Yes, by hand | Add each one as a kudos type, with its description |
| Birthdays and start dates | Yes | Upload a CSV of birthdays and start dates |
| Coin balances | Yes, with care | Upload a CSV of balance adjustments (email, amount, note) on the day you switch |
| Kudos history | No | Export it from Matter if you want a record; it won't appear in Pulsido's feed |
| Reward requests in progress | No | Finish them in Matter before you cut over |
| Survey history | No | Keep your Matter exports; Pulsido scores start fresh |
The kudos history is the loss people notice. Say so up front, and consider a short "best of the year" post in Slack to mark it, before you switch.
Run a four-week pilot alongside Matter
Run both tools side by side with one or two teams, so nobody loses anything if you decide not to switch.
Week 1: set up
- Sign up for Pulsido, name your company, set its time zone, and add your values as kudos types.
- Connect Slack, and point Pulsido at a different channel from Matter's, such as #kudos-pilot. Two tools posting in one channel confuses everyone.
- Invite the pilot teams: 10 to 30 people across two teams is enough.
- Leave coins off at first, or give a small allowance, so nobody worries about two balances.
Weeks 2–3: use it for real
- Ask pilot teams to give kudos in Pulsido instead of Matter for these two weeks, not in both.
- If listening is part of the reason you're looking, turn on the pulse for the pilot teams. Note that results only show for groups of three or more.
- Collect friction as it happens: a shared doc or a thread works.
Week 4: decide
Meet with the program owner, a leader, and two people from the pilot teams. Ask:
- Did people give kudos as often as they did in Matter, or more?
- Was anything missing that people actually used?
- If you tried the pulse, did people answer, and did managers reply to comments?
- Is the cost difference worth the switch? Use your real headcount.
Write down the decision either way. If it's no, close the pilot company under Manage → Billing → Company data; nothing else needs undoing.
Cutover checklist
When you decide to move:
- Agree a cutover date, ideally the start of a coin period so allowances line up.
- Finish or cancel reward requests in progress in Matter.
- Export what you want to keep from Matter: kudos history, balances, survey results.
- Set Pulsido's allowance, reset period, and redemption minimum to match what people are used to, or announce the change.
- Upload birthdays and start dates as a CSV.
- Upload earned coin balances as a CSV of adjustments, with a note like "Carried over from Matter".
- Invite everyone, or let them join with Slack.
- Move Pulsido to your main kudos channel, and remove Matter from it.
- Post a short message: what's changed, what carried over, what didn't, and who to ask.
- Cancel Matter after the first full Pulsido coin period, once balances are confirmed.
Sources and limits
Matter's features and prices come from its public pages, checked on 7 November 2026, as cited on the comparison page. Pulsido has no importer for Matter data; the CSV imports above are Pulsido's general ones. If Matter's export options change, so will what you can bring across.