Softwr

Employee Engagement · head to head

Caroo vs Perkbox

Caroo logo

Caroo

Employee Engagement

Curated employee gifting with published per gift prices and flat rate global shipping

From
$25/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Perkbox logo

Perkbox

Employee Engagement

Employee perks, discounts, recognition and a wellbeing hub in one benefits platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Caroo this is a physical goods business, so the real failure modes are stock availability, customs delays and gifts arriving after the anniversary they were meant to mark, none of which the platform can fully control.; Perkbox perkbox no longer publishes any pricing, plan names or minimum headcount, so buyers must run a full sales process before they can compare it against Reward Gateway or Vantage Circle on price.
  • They diverge on capability: Caroo covers Curated gift boxes, Perkbox covers Perks and discounts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Caroo and Perkbox actually diverge.

Attributes where Caroo and Perkbox differ
AttributeCarooPerkbox
Starting price$25/one-timeOn request
Pricing modelPer gift plus flat rate shippingquote
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Employee Engagement).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Caroo

  • Curated gift boxes
  • Recipient choice
  • Flat rate global shipping
  • Caroo+ premium
  • Address collection
  • Anniversary programmes
  • Branded experience
  • Delivery tracking

Only in Perkbox

  • Perks and discounts
  • Perkbox Recognition
  • Wellbeing hub
  • Celebrations
  • Flexi points
  • Multi country delivery
  • Admin reporting
  • Mobile app

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Caroo

  • A remote first company sending onboarding gifts to new starters whose home addresses HR does not hold and does not want to ask for by emailnot Perkbox
  • An HR team running work anniversary gifting on a tiered schedule without maintaining a spreadsheet and a courier accountnot Perkbox
  • A manager wanting to send a recognition gift where the recipient chooses, avoiding the problem of gifting food to someone with dietary restrictionsnot Perkbox
  • A company budgeting gifting per head for the year and needing published prices to build the budget before procurementnot Perkbox

Perkbox

  • A United Kingdom employer wanting a benefits perk that employees can see the value of immediately, where the discount catalogue is deepestnot Caroo
  • An organisation replacing several separate suppliers for discounts, recognition and wellbeing with one platform and one loginnot Caroo
  • A company with high volume frontline staff where a few pounds a month of real redeemable saving matters more than an abstract wellbeing programmenot Caroo
  • An HR team that wants automated celebration prompts so managers stop missing work anniversariesnot Caroo

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Caroo

  • This is a physical goods business, so the real failure modes are stock availability, customs delays and gifts arriving after the anniversary they were meant to mark, none of which the platform can fully control.
  • Flat rate 6.99 US dollar global shipping applies to shipping, not to duties and taxes, so international recipients can face unexpected import charges that undermine the gesture entirely.
  • Caroo+ at 1,398 US dollars a year only pays back at meaningful volume, and a company sending a few dozen gifts a year is better off paying shipping per gift, which the pricing page does not make obvious.
  • International catalogue depth is far below the United States catalogue, so a distributed team gets a noticeably worse selection outside North America while the intent was to treat everyone the same.
  • Gifting has no measurable retention or engagement outcome, so a people team asked to justify the spend against a wellbeing or recognition platform with reporting will struggle, because Caroo produces delivery data rather than engagement data.

Perkbox

  • Perkbox no longer publishes any pricing, plan names or minimum headcount, so buyers must run a full sales process before they can compare it against Reward Gateway or Vantage Circle on price.
  • The value depends entirely on redemption, and a catalogue weighted toward metropolitan retail and hospitality delivers much less to a distributed workforce in smaller towns, which is exactly the workforce most likely to have been sold on the saving.
  • Recognition points are funded by the employer on top of the platform fee, and that reward budget is usually the larger of the two numbers, so a quote that looks cheap can hide the real annual cost.
  • Catalogue depth outside the United Kingdom is thinner, so a multinational rolling out one platform gives materially different value to employees in different countries while paying a similar rate for each.
  • Perks platforms have low switching costs and high substitutability, which means renewal negotiations are competitive but also that Perkbox has limited ability to differentiate beyond catalogue and price.

Pricing, plan by plan

Caroo

$25/one-time
  • Pay per gift$25/one-time
    • Gifts priced from about 25 to 62 US dollars each
    • Flat 6.99 US dollar global shipping per gift
    • No subscription, contract or platform fee
  • Caroo+$1398/year
    • Free standard shipping on eligible gifts
    • Tiered work anniversary programmes
    • Branded gifting experience and recipient messaging

Perkbox

On request
  • Perkbox$undefined/year
    • Quote only, with no plan names, rates or minimum headcount published
    • Recognition points funding is an employer cost separate from the platform fee
    • Rate varies by headcount, country mix and which modules are included

Which should you pick?

Choose Caroo if

  • You need curated gift boxes.
  • You also want recipient choice.
Caroo review

Choose Perkbox if

  • You need perks and discounts.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want perkbox recognition.
Perkbox review

Questions people ask

Is Caroo or Perkbox better?
Neither clearly leads. Caroo starts at $25/one-time and Perkbox at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Caroo or Perkbox?
Caroo starts at $25/one-time and Perkbox at On request.
Does Caroo or Perkbox run on more platforms?
Caroo runs on Web. Perkbox runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Caroo best used for?
Caroo is most often used for a remote first company sending onboarding gifts to new starters whose home addresses hr does not hold and does not want to ask for by email, an hr team running work anniversary gifting on a tiered schedule without maintaining a spreadsheet and a courier account, a manager wanting to send a recognition gift where the recipient chooses, avoiding the problem of gifting food to someone with dietary restrictions, a company budgeting gifting per head for the year and needing published prices to build the budget before procurement. Of those, a remote first company sending onboarding gifts to new starters whose home addresses hr does not hold and does not want to ask for by email and an hr team running work anniversary gifting on a tiered schedule without maintaining a spreadsheet and a courier account are not what Perkbox is typically brought in for.
What can Caroo do that Perkbox cannot?
Caroo covers Curated gift boxes, Recipient choice, Flat rate global shipping, Caroo+ premium. Perkbox covers Perks and discounts, Perkbox Recognition, Wellbeing hub, Celebrations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Caroo: Does Caroo publish prices?

Yes, unusually for this category. Gifts run from about 25 to 62 US dollars, shipping is a flat 6.99 US dollars globally, and Caroo+ is 1,398 US dollars a year.

Perkbox: Does Perkbox publish pricing?

No. The pricing page offers flexible packages and a quote form with no plan names, per employee rates or minimum headcount.

Caroo: Is a subscription required?

No. You can pay per gift plus shipping with no contract. Caroo+ is optional and only worth it at volume.

Perkbox: Is there a minimum number of employees?

None is published. Perkbox has moved upmarket from its earlier self service positioning, so smaller employers should confirm eligibility early in the conversation.

Caroo: Does the flat shipping rate cover customs and duties?

No. It covers shipping. Import duties and taxes in the destination country are separate and can surprise international recipients.

Perkbox: Is recognition reward budget included?

No. Recognition points are funded by the employer separately from the platform fee, and that budget is typically larger than the licence itself.

Caroo: How does Caroo get employee home addresses?

It collects them from recipients directly rather than requiring HR to hold them, which is the operational step most internal gifting programmes fail on.

Perkbox: Does it work outside the United Kingdom?

Yes, in Australia and parts of Europe, but the discount catalogue is much deeper in the United Kingdom and value per employee differs accordingly.

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