What does an employee rewards program cost?
A budget worksheet for recognition with rewards, covering software, the rewards themselves, provider fees, swag, and the admin time nobody puts in the proposal.
On this page
The software is usually the smallest line in a rewards budget. What people redeem, the fees on gift cards, and the hours someone spends approving requests and shipping swag add up to more. This worksheet puts all five lines in one place, so the number you take to finance is the one you'll spend.
The five lines
| Line | How to estimate it | Who you pay |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Software | People who joined × price per person × 12 | The recognition tool |
| 2. Rewards redeemed | People × monthly allowance × share given × coin value × 12 | Whoever supplies the rewards |
| 3. Provider fees | Rewards redeemed through gift cards × the provider's fee, if any | Your gift card provider |
| 4. Swag and shipping | Items × (unit cost + shipping) | Your print partner and courier |
| 5. Admin time | Hours a month × an hourly cost × 12 | Nobody invoices it, but it's real |
Copy those five rows into a spreadsheet, put your own numbers in, and you have a budget.
Line by line
1. Software
In Pulsido, you pay for people who have joined, not everyone in your Slack workspace. Coins and the rewards store are on Pro, at $2 per person per month billed yearly, or $3 monthly. The pulse and surveys are on Business, at $4 yearly or $5 monthly. See pricing for what each plan includes.
2. Rewards redeemed
This is the line that grows with participation. You control it with three settings:
- The allowance: how many coins each person can give per period. Pulsido's default is 100 coins a month.
- The coin value: in Pulsido, 10 coins = 1 unit of your store currency, so 100 coins is $10 with US dollars.
- The share given: people rarely give their full allowance. Pulsido's coin settings show the most you could spend if everyone did, and note that most teams give 30–60% of it. Budget for the top of your range in the first quarter, then adjust to what you see.
Earned coins don't expire in Pulsido, so redemptions can lag giving by months. Budget for what's given, not only what's redeemed this quarter.
Company store rewards, like a day off or lunch with a leader, cost nothing through the tool, but they aren't free. Count the day off.
3. Provider fees
Gift cards, prepaid cards, and donations in Pulsido go through your own Tremendous account. You fund the balance, and Pulsido only places an order after a request is approved. Any fees for the rewards themselves are between you and Tremendous, so check your own agreement and put the rate in this line. Other tools bundle the catalog and bill you for the face value. Compare like for like.
4. Swag and shipping
If swag is part of the program, get a quote from a print partner for your likely items, and add shipping per address. Pulsido collects addresses and tracks shipping; the partner produces and ships. Keep swag out of year one if the budget is tight; it's the line with the most hidden work.
5. Admin time
Someone approves requests, answers "where's my gift card?", handles leavers' balances, and reconciles orders for finance. Settings reduce it: auto-approving small requests (100 coins or less by default) clears most of the queue. Estimate an hour or two a week at launch, falling once the rules settle, and put a cost against it. A program that takes a day a week of someone's time tends to get cut at the next budget review.
A worked example: 100 people, US dollars
Assumptions, all of which you should replace with your own:
- 100 people joined, on Pulsido Pro billed yearly.
- The default allowance of 100 coins a month ($10 per person), and 45% of it given.
- 60% of redemptions are gift cards through Tremendous; the rest are company store rewards. Fees are left at zero here, so add your own rate.
- No swag in year one.
- Two hours a week of admin at $40 an hour.
| Line | Calculation | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Software | 100 × $2 × 12 | $2,400 |
| Rewards redeemed | 100 × $10 × 45% × 12 | $5,400 |
| Provider fees | $5,400 × 60% × your fee rate | Your rate |
| Swag and shipping | None in year one | $0 |
| Admin time | 2 h × 52 × $40 | $4,160 |
| Total | $11,960 plus provider fees |
That's roughly $10 per person per month, and the software is a fifth of it. Change the allowance and the participation share first; they move the total most.
To compare tools on the software line alone, use the calculator on the comparison pages.
Settle these before anyone earns a coin
- Who approves, and how fast? A request that waits two weeks undoes the thank-you that earned it.
- What's the minimum to redeem? Pulsido's default is 50 earned coins. Too high, and nobody redeems in the first quarter. Too low, and you process a lot of small orders.
- What happens to balances when someone leaves? Freeze them (the default) or forfeit them, and say which in your rules.
- Who funds the gift card balance, and who watches it? Pulsido alerts the people with the rewards permission once a day when the balance runs low.
Reward-program rules employees can understand turns these decisions into a page you can publish.
Sources and limits
Pulsido prices come from pricing and the coin defaults from Pulsido's settings, checked on 7 November 2026. The 30–60% giving range is what Pulsido shows in its coin settings as typical, not a published study. The example is an illustration, not a quote: your participation, reward mix, and fees will differ.