Bucketlist
Empuls
How It Works
Bucketlist
Recognition can be peer-to-peer or manager-to-peer and monetary or non-monetary. Users get a number of points to give away every week, month, quarter, or year. Earned points can be exchanged for gift cards, charity donations, and local experiences.
Empuls
Create pre-defined pieces of recognition that users can distribute, each with its own specific givers, recipients, approvers, point value, and budget. Points from awards can be used to purchase gift cards.
The Good
Bucketlist
- 14-day free trial (requires initial meeting)
- Easy to use
- Hands-on guidance through implementation and launch
Empuls
- 30-day free trial
- Configuration options give complete control over your recognition program
- Very good international rewards options
The Bad
Bucketlist
- Limited configuration options
- Help center lacks breadth and depth
- Very limited reporting
Empuls
- Has a learning curve that makes it easy to misconfigure something
- Limited support options
- Gift cards are the only reward option
Pricing
Bucketlist
Custom quotes and no public pricing, but we’ve seen quotes in the range of $1-$4 per user per month.
Empuls
$2-$4 per user per month, depending on the the plan and if paying monthly or annually.
Setup & Onboarding
Bucketlist
Requesting a demo or the free trial both require setting up an initial sales meeting. Regardless of choice, they remain hands-on up through launch to ensure rollout goes smoothly.
Empuls
Free trial makes it easy to get started, but the complexity of budgets and awards makes going through their sales and onboarding process more appealing.
UI & UX
Bucketlist
Standard, somewhat bland look, but quite easy to navigate.
Empuls
Modern, if unremarkable look. Navigation is mostly easy and users have personalized homepages.
Reward Catalog
Bucketlist
Gift cards, charity donations, and local experiences like helicopter tours.
Empuls
Hundreds of gift cards with plenty of international options.
Integrations
HRIS
Bucketlist
Workday, BambooHR, ADP, UKG, custom HRIS integrations via SFTP
Empuls
Gusto, Zoho People, Freshteam, Keka, custom HRIS integrations via SFTP
SSO
Bucketlist
Okta, Azure, custom SSO integrations
Empuls
OneLogin, Okta, Azure, custom SSO integrations
Common Tool Integrations
Bucketlist
Slack, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, Outlook
Empuls
Microsoft Teams, Slack, Facebook Workplace
Additional Integrations
Bucketlist
Beekeeper
Empuls
N/A
Analytics & Reports
Bucketlist
Other than some minimal default reports, doesn't provide much data to dig into.
Empuls
Good data visualizations with filters and pivot points to adjust the data, but overall very basic.
Support
Bucketlist
Email and phone support during standard business hours with a basic help center.
Empuls
Primary support channel is email. Help center covers entire platform, but lacks depth.
Extra Features
Bucketlist
Has mobile apps for Apple and Android. Can display the recognition feed externally via an iframe.
Empuls
Any user can send feedback survey requests. Admins can send company-wide surveys. Mobile apps for Android and Apple.
The Bottom Line
Bucketlist
Solid fundamentals with hands-on support through setup and launch, but lacks the feature set to support more demanding use cases.
Empuls
Tons of control over how your recognition program is setup, but excessive for those who need something simple.
Bucketlist
