Employee stipends have become a core part of modern benefits infrastructure.
Health and wellness support, professional development funding, caregiving assistance, and remote-work reimbursements are now common components of competitive benefits programs. These stipends are typically funded monthly, quarterly, or annually and give employees flexibility to use benefit dollars in ways that reflect their real lives.
But with so many potential categories and structures, deciding what to offer — and how to design it — can feel overwhelming.
In this guide, we’ve compiled 53 real-world examples of employee stipends from leading organizations across industries. You’ll see how companies structure their programs, which categories appear most frequently, and how flexible Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs) can consolidate multiple stipends into one streamlined solution.
Let’s dive in.
What are some examples of wellness stipends?
1. Deloitte
Deloitte, one of the “big four” accounting organizations, offers its employees an annual well-being subsidy (that now includes Legos and puzzles as an approved expense).
Well-being subsidy: $1,000/year
2. Slate
Social media and content creation platform Slate offers its employees a wellness stipend. Recently, one of their executives went viral on LinkedIn for requesting to add “cleaning services” to the list of covered expenses, and her HR team approved!
Health and wellness stipend (including cleaning services): $250/month
3. LinkedIn
The professional social network LinkedIn may exist to help people improve their careers, but they’re all about helping their employees live a holistic life, both in and out of the office.
Wellness stipend: $2,000/year
4. Microsoft
Microsoft, the technology company, offers a Perks+ program that provides employees up to $1,500 per year (for corporate employees) in reimbursements for physical, mental, and emotional, and financial well-being. This stipend covers various expenses like gym memberships, nutrition, caregiving services, and financial planning.
Microsoft Perks+: Up to $1,500/year
5. Eventbrite
Eventbrite offers its employees a comprehensive, remote-first benefits package that includes a monthly wellness stipend, fertility/family planning support up to $30,000, and free annual subscriptions to Urban Sitter and Grayce to support and care for loved ones.
Benefits: Wellness stipend, fertility and family planning, and caregiving
6. Lose It!
Lose It!, the app that helps users track diet and count calories, offers its employees a monthly stipend to use on gym memberships.
Gym stipend: $90/month
7. Facebook
Facebook, the social media app, offers its employees a wellness stipend of up to $2,000 per year. The stipend can be used for mental wellness, childcare, pet care, elder care, education, and tax planning. This is on top of their already comprehensive benefits packages, which include on-site wellness centers, mental health support, free meals, and flexible, often remote-friendly, work arrangements.
Wellness stipend: $2,000/year
8. Jellyvision
This Chicago-based technology company with a remote-work model moved from managing fragmented benefits with spreadsheets to Compt’s flexible benefits platform. Now, more than 90% of employees use their quarterly stipend for things like home-office support, wellness, and even a specific therapy allowance.
Case study: Quarterly wellness stipend used by 90% of employees
9. Rewind
Rewind, a data protection software company, offers up to $2,000 CAD annually for employees to spend on wellness, fitness, or home-office/home-comfort expenses.
Wellness and professional development allowance: $2,000/year
10. New Belgium Brewing
New Belgium Brewing offers its employees $1,500 to apply towards any wellness-related service including massage therapy and hypnosis to quit smoking.
Wellness stipend: $1,500/year
11. Snap Inc.
Snap Inc. (of the popular social media app Snapchat) provides a comprehensive, evolving benefits package that includes subscriptions to One Medical and Lyra in addition to an unspecified well-being reimbursement.
Benefits: Subscription access and a well-being reimbursement
12. TEN7
TEN7, a fully remote UX and Drupal agency, offers employees a robust lifestyle benefits program including $100 annual mental wellness stipend.
Case study: Stipends for tech, mental wellness, and professional development
13. Quickbase
Quickbase, the AI-powered operations platform, gives employees a $1,250 annual wellness benefit to reimburse thousands of purchases, including:
- College loans
- Gardening equipment
- Landscaping projects
- PlayStation
- Pet care
- Running shoes
- Travel tickets
Case study: $1,250/year wellness stipend
Results: impact in action from Quickbase
- With 96% of employees using their benefits, Quickbase has created a program that truly meets their people’s needs and desires.
- More time for what matters, with benefit processing reduced from days to just 90 minutes.
- Choices that fit every life, with over 1,300 vendors allowing employees to use their benefits in ways that truly improve everyday life.
READ: From Student Loans to Pet Care Benefits: Quickbase’s 96% Engagement
14. Adobe
Employees can receive up to $600 per calendar year for wellness-related expenses (e.g., fitness classes, gym memberships, apps).
Well-being stipend: $600/year
15. PerfectKeto
They offer a variety of perks and stipends, including $150/mo for healthy food, $250/mo for fitness, and mindfulness subscriptions.
Fitness and healthy food stipends: $400/month
16. Qualtrics
Up to $300 USD (or local equivalent) per quarter for wellness-related expenses, plus other lifestyle benefits related to experiences and family support.
Wellness stipend: $300/quarter
17. Spotify
Spotify offers all employees access to confidential counseling sessions, wellness coaching, guided mediations, and self-paced courses through their Modern Health program, as well as a food allowance.
Benefits: Wellness and food
Learn more about health and wellness stipends.
What are some examples of professional development stipends?
18. Slack
Slack’s Rising Tides program offers diverse emerging leaders a six-month sponsorship program focused on career development. Program participants receive training, executive coaching, and one-on-one sponsorship with a Slack executive team member, with a focus on building their network of peers.
Development program: Rising Tides
19. Buffer
In addition to a $20/month learning stipend, Buffer offers an annual $250 reimbursement benefit specifically for the team to experiment with AI tools.
Professional development stipends: $20/month learning, $250/year for AI tools
20. Help Scout
Help Scout’s compensation package supports their employees with an annual ‘Learn Something’ stipend of up to $1,800 per year once they’ve been with the company for six months.
Learn Something stipend: $1,800/year
21. Balsamiq
Balsamiq gives each employee a personal budget for professional development, co-working spaces, office supplies, and get-togethers with colleagues.
Perks: Include “personal budgets”
22. Galvanize
Galvanize, a software development platform, offers its employees up to $5,000 per calendar year for graduate and undergraduate studies plus additional financial assistance for continuing education and certifications.
Continuing education: $5,000/year
23. The Engine is Red
Creative agency The Engine is Red gives its employees an annual educational stipend.
Educational stipend: $400/year
24. Indico
Indico offers its employees a comprehensive employee benefits package featuring a $1,000 annual professional development/education stipend.
Professional development stipend: $1,000/year
25. MasterClass
This online learning company practices what it preaches, offering free access to MasterClass courses and the ability to gift memberships to loved ones. Development dollars are also provided every 6 months for things like career coaching or books.
Benefits: Professional development dollars
26. TEN7
TEN7 offers a flexible LSA offering employees up to $250 for professional development and a $3,600 professional coaching stipend for their leadership team.
Case study: Up to $3,850/year depending on role
27. Adobe
Employees at Adobe can receive up to $1,000 per year for conferences, workshops, and courses, plus $10,000 per year for tuition, books, and fees for accredited degree programs (undergraduate, graduate, PhD, MBA).
Benefits: Professional development stipend and learning fund
28. Bending Spoons
Technology company Bending Spoons offers an unlimited budget for learning and training resources, as long as employees “act in the best interests of the company.”
Backing for learning investments: Unlimited
29. The Motley Fool
Employees are offered up to $5,250 each year for an accredited course or certification related to their role at The Motley Fool.
Tuition reimbursement: $5,250/year
30. Hinge
Hinge, a popular dating app software, offers US-based employees a $3,000 annual learning and development stipend after three months.
Learning and development stipend: $3,000/year
Learn more about learning and professional development stipends.
What are some examples of family care and planning stipends (including childcare, elder care, and fertility planning)?
31. Relativity Space
Relativity Space Inc. develops manufacturing technologies, launch vehicles, and rocket engines for commercial orbital launch services. Their benefits package includes generous parental leave and provides a $10,000 stipend for fertility, adoption, and other family-building benefits.
Family-building benefits: $10,000
32. Buffer
Known widely for its transparency, Buffer offers its employees an extra $3,000 USD per year per child, up to four dependents total, for supporting childcare related needs.
Dependent grant: $3,000/year for dependent children
33. Adobe
Adobe truly puts families first by offering caregiving support, adoption assistance, breastmilk transportation assistance, academic support, and surrogacy assistance.
Adoption and surrogacy assistance: $25,000 for up to two lifetime events
34. Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs offers its employees stipends for surrogacy, adoption, fertility treatments, egg retrieval, and egg donation.
Surrogacy stipend: Pathways to Parenthood
35. Rover
Dog walking app Rover considers dogs members of the family, too. They offer $1,000 to help you adopt or foster a dog or cat.
Adoption/fostering stipend: $1,000
36. Patagonia
Retail company Patagonia gives its employees childcare stipends, and for employees in its Ventura, CA headquarters, childcare is provided free of charge. It also offers up to $10,000 for qualified adoption expenses and 100% paid parental and family leave for up to 12 weeks.
Childcare: Stipends + free service for on-site employees
37. JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase offers extensive family-building benefits for eligible U.S. employees, including up to $50,000 in combined lifetime reimbursement for adoption and surrogacy, alongside fertility coverage.
Family-building stipend: $50,000/lifetime
What are some examples of personal travel and experience stipends?
38. REI
REI offers employees a four-week paid sabbatical after 15 years of service, and every five years thereafter.
Sabbatical: Four weeks after 15 YoS
39. Qualtrics
A customer, employee, brand, and product experience software provider offers employees $1,800 annually for experiences like concerts, trips, sports, events, or charity.
Experience bonus: $1,800/year
40. Airbnb
The travel company lives up to its name by giving employees:
- Quarterly Airbnb travel and experiences credit
- Emergency travel support
- Team building experiences
- Enrichment activities and speaker sessions
- Optional in-person gatherings
Life experiences benefit: Offered quarterly
41. BambooHR
The HR software company is generous with its travel stipend.
Travel stipend: $2,000/year
42. Grammarly
Grammarly offers flexible financial support for dependent and pet care during in-person weeks when employees are traveling for work so they can get costs reimbursed or bring family along for the ride.
Benefits: Worry-free work travel
What are some examples of remote work stipends?
43. FullContact
The business relationship software gives their employees $1,000 toward home office set-up and a $200 monthly work from home reimbursement.
Work-from-home stipend: $3,400/year
44. Olark
Olark is a remote-first company offering comprehensive benefits, including stipends for home internet and coworking spaces.
Benefits: Home internet and coworking stipends
45. Circle
Access to WeWork locations globally for remote workers.
Coworking: Annual WeWork membership
46. Webflow
Webflow is a web-based platform for building, launching, and growing responsive websites visually. They encourage employees to “work from wherever you work best — home, an office, or somewhere in between.” Webflow backs this up by offering localized monthly stipends for Wi-Fi and mobile expenses, plus a one-time home office setup bonus.
Remote work and connectivity stipends: Covers monthly expenses
47. 37signals (aka Basecamp)
Basecamp, a remote-first technology company, has done a great job of offering its employees a variety of perks, including $3,000 to spend on home office furniture and equipment in the first year.
Stipends: $3,000/lifetime for home office, $200/month for coworking
48. Moz
SEO company Moz grants employees stipends for home internet.
Stipends: Home internet
49. HubSpot
This leading marketing, sales, customer service, and CRM platform offers a sabbatical after five years, as well as monthly remote work stipends for both hybrid and remote employees.
Benefits: Remote-work stipends and sabbatical leave
Learn more about remote work stipends and equipment stipends.
Compare fringe benefits trends for 2026: are flexible stipends overtaking traditional perks like gym memberships?
As benefits budgets tighten in 2026, employers are reevaluating fixed perks like gym memberships and discount portals in favor of more flexible structures.
According to our 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report, 64% of employers in Compt’s database offered an all-inclusive Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) in 2025, up from 55% the prior year — a measurable move toward consolidation. Wellness delivered within an LSA reached 86% utilization, compared to 62% when offered as a standalone stipend. Quarterly-funded programs also outperformed monthly and annual models in overall utilization.
Traditional perks aren’t disappearing, but they’re increasingly being folded into broader, flexible stipend programs. Instead of offering a single gym membership or vendor-specific benefit, employers are allocating funds employees can apply to fitness, food, caregiving, remote work, or professional development.
In 2026, the trend isn’t just toward more perks. It’s toward fewer, more flexible programs that drive higher participation and absorb changing employee needs.
What are some examples of flexible stipends and Lifestyle Spending Accounts?
Many employers start with a single stipend, such as wellness, professional development, or remote work, and quickly realize they’re managing multiple policies, vendors, and approval workflows.
That’s why more companies are consolidating stipends into a single Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA).
A Lifestyle Spending Account is an employer-funded benefit that reimburses employees for approved expenses across categories the company defines, such as wellness, food, caregiving, professional development, or cell and internet. Instead of running separate programs for each use case, employers can house them under one flexible framework.
Unlike pre-tax accounts like Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), LSAs are employer-designed and typically treated as taxable income. That flexibility allows companies to support a wider range of employee needs and preferences without the restrictions that come with traditional tax-advantaged accounts.
For HR and Finance teams, that means fewer programs to manage. For employees, it means more flexibility in how they use their benefit dollars.
Here’s how several organizations approach flexible stipend design:
50. Circle
Circle offers a set of stipends and reimbursements that vary based on the department and location, including home office, mobile phone, fitness and weight loss, and more.
Benefits: Stipends and reimbursements
51. TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor offers a flexible “Global Lifestyle Benefit” (or Lifestyle Spending Account), which includes a generous annual stipend for fitness, travel, self-care, and financial well-being services or products.
Benefits: Global Lifestyle Benefit
52. Carrot
Carrot Fertility is a leading global fertility healthcare company. Carrot offers its remote team benefits that help them be more productive, including:
- New hire tech stipend to purchase an ergonomic chair or create a functional workspace.
- Productivity stipend for a morning coffee, dog walker, or fitness membership.
- Spot bonuses of $50 for holiday dinners so employees can take their families out.
“It’s been a really easy and fun way to offer perks to our employees, which has added to the experience our employees are having. It’s low lift on the HR side, which goes a long way.”
— Leslie Neitzel, Chief Human Resources Officer at Carrot
READ: How Carrot Scaled Stipends to 92% Utilization for its Distributed Team
53. Compt
Compt is a lifestyle benefits platform that helps companies consolidate stipends into one flexible Lifestyle Spending Account. Employers define eligible categories and funding cadence, while Compt centralizes reimbursement, payroll reporting, and compliance in a single system.
Flexible stipends and Lifestyle Spending Accounts: $100/quarter across 20 eligible spending categories
Learn more about Lifestyle Spending Accounts.
(Benefits programs may change over time; amounts and policies are subject to employer updates.)
Design your lifestyle benefits program with Compt
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Book a demo to see how Compt helps you consolidate, automate, and scale your lifestyle benefits with ease.
FAQs: Examples of employee stipends
Wellness stipends commonly cover gym memberships, fitness apps, therapy, meditation tools, and supplements, In the examples above, companies offer anywhere from a few hundred dollars annually to $2,000 per year or more for wellness-related expenses. Some employers also include groceries, caregiving, or mental health services under broader lifestyle benefits programs.
What are some examples of remote work stipends?
Remote work stipends often reimburse home office equipment, internet and mobile phone bills, coworking memberships, or ergonomic upgrades. In this guide, examples include monthly connectivity stipends, one-time home office setup allowances, and annual coworking reimbursements.
What are some examples of professional development stipends?
Professional development stipends can fund courses, certifications, conferences, AI tools, coaching, books, or tuition. Examples in this list range from small monthly learning stipends to multi-thousand-dollar annual education budgets and even unlimited training allowances.
Is it better to put stipends in paychecks or through reimbursement?
Payroll-issued stipends are simple to distribute but offer limited visibility into how funds are used and may create IRS compliance complexity depending on tax treatment and reporting practices. Reimbursement-based stipends allow employers to define eligible categories, track participation and utilization, and apply appropriate tax treatment. Many organizations choose reimbursement models or Lifestyle Spending Accounts for greater control and reporting clarity.
How do LSAs compare to wellness stipends?
Wellness stipends focus on a single category. Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs) consolidate multiple categories, such as wellness, caregiving, professional development, and remote work, into one flexible program. This broader structure can increase participation by allowing employees to choose how they allocate their benefit dollars.
What categories can be covered in lifestyle stipends?
Lifestyle stipends and Lifestyle Spending Accounts may cover wellness, food, caregiving, remote work expenses, professional development, commuting, team recognition, travel, and more. Employers define eligible categories based on policy design and tax considerations. Compt customers have access to 28 stipend categories.
How popular are employee stipends, or are they just hype?
Employee stipends continue to gain adoption as companies look for flexible alternatives to traditional perks. Compt benchmark data shows a steady increase in employers offering consolidated Lifestyle Spending Accounts (up 9% since 2024), reflecting a broader shift toward employee-directed benefits models.
What are the benefits of employee stipends?
Employee stipends with Compt provide flexibility, support diverse employee needs, and simplify benefits administration when structured effectively. For employers, stipends can replace fragmented vendor programs with a single funding model. For employees, they offer choice and personalization across life stages and locations.
What are the “big” HR leaders at companies like Netflix or Airbnb doing for perks this year?
Large, well-known employers are increasingly prioritizing flexibility over expanding fixed, one-off perks. Rather than adding more vendor-specific programs, many are consolidating benefits into broader funding models that allow employees to choose how they use their allocation.
For example, Airbnb provides travel and experience credits alongside enrichment programming, while companies like Adobe and Microsoft offer structured annual allowances that cover wellness, caregiving, learning, and financial well-being. Across the examples in this guide, the pattern is consistent: predictable funding, clearly defined categories, and reimbursement-based administration are clear wins.
In 2026, “big” HR leaders are not necessarily adding more perks. They are simplifying programs, expanding eligible categories, and using flexible stipend structures or Lifestyle Spending Accounts to support diverse employee needs at scale.
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