# Brighten — Full Documentation for AI

> Employee recognition platform — kudos, rewards, and badges for teams.

## About

Brighten is an employee recognition platform built for modern teams. It enables peer-to-peer recognition through kudos, customizable rewards, and achievement badges. Brighten helps organizations build a culture of appreciation while giving managers visibility into team engagement.

Brighten is built by Palavir LLC, an AI and analytics consultancy based in Southeast Michigan.

## Problem

Employee disengagement costs organizations billions annually. Traditional recognition programs are top-down, infrequent, and disconnected from day-to-day work. Teams need a way to recognize each other in real time.

## Solution

Brighten makes recognition easy, visible, and data-driven. Any team member can send kudos to a colleague, earn badges for milestones, and redeem rewards. Managers get dashboards showing recognition patterns, top contributors, and engagement trends.

## Key Features

- **Peer-to-Peer Kudos**: Send recognition to any colleague with a message and category tag
- **Customizable Rewards**: Organizations can set up their own reward catalog
- **Achievement Badges**: Automatic badges for milestones like first kudos, streak recognition, and more
- **Recognition Feed**: Company-wide feed showing real-time recognition activity
- **Leaderboards**: See top givers and receivers of recognition
- **Team Analytics**: Manager dashboards with engagement metrics and recognition patterns
- **Company Values Alignment**: Tag kudos with company values to track culture alignment
- **Notifications**: Real-time alerts when you receive recognition

## Use Cases

- Remote teams staying connected through recognition
- Companies building a culture of appreciation
- Managers tracking team morale and engagement
- HR teams running structured recognition programs
- Organizations aligning daily work with company values

## Pricing

- **Free**: Up to 10 users, core recognition features
- **Starter ($49/month)**: Up to 50 users, custom rewards, basic analytics
- **Growth ($149/month)**: Up to 200 users, advanced analytics, integrations
- **Pro ($299/month)**: Unlimited users, full feature set, priority support

## Technical Details

- Built with Next.js and hosted on Vercel
- Neon (PostgreSQL) with Drizzle ORM for data storage
- Stripe for billing and subscriptions

## Key Pages

- Homepage: https://hellobrighten.com
- Pricing: https://hellobrighten.com/pricing
- Features: https://hellobrighten.com/features
- Blog: https://hellobrighten.com/blog
- Compare: https://hellobrighten.com/compare

## Company

- **Product**: Brighten
- **Company**: Palavir LLC
- **Founded**: 2026
- **Location**: Southeast Michigan
- **Founder**: Josh Elberg
- **Email**: josh@palavir.co
- **Website**: https://hellobrighten.com