If you’re in HR, People Ops, or Finance and responsible for designing a personalized benefits program, chances are you’ve either evaluated Forma or are considering switching from it, and are thinking about Forma alternatives.

If you’re here, you already know that managing lifestyle benefits isn’t as simple as handing out stipends. It’s about delivering a program that actually fits your employees’ lives, works across countries and currencies, stays compliant, and doesn’t bog your team down with manual admin. Too often, teams using platforms like Forma run into the same roadblocks: merchant code restrictions, declined transactions, incorrect transaction approvals, tax headaches, and systems that just don’t scale.

A truly effective stipend platform should remove those pain points and support your team’s growth, not create more work. Based on what we’ve seen from teams transitioning away from Forma, here are the core capabilities to look for in a modern stipend management platform:

Platform consolidation that reduces tool sprawl

Forma users often end up supplementing the platform with separate tools for rewards, learning, wellness, and/or DEI. A strong alternative should bring all of these programs under one roof, reducing administrative chaos and vendor costs.

Built-in tax compliance you don’t have to fix later

One of the most consistent frustrations we hear from teams leaving Forma is around taxes. While it’s known that many benefits carry tax implications, Forma provides no visible guidance in its customer support documentation on how taxable vs. nontaxable spend is tracked or reported — just look at their support page.

The absence of documentation raises a few questions:

• Is the process simple or complex? If it were seamless, you’d expect it to be clearly documented. The silence suggests there may be hidden complexity.
• Who carries the burden? Without clear guidance, Finance often ends up retroactively sorting taxable vs. nontaxable benefits, making manual adjustments, and absorbing the compliance risk.
• What about employees who leave? A Finance team lacking clarity is left without an easy, visible reconciliation process for employees who received taxable benefits but are no longer at the company.
• Is this a priority area? If tax compliance were a core strength, it would likely be highlighted more prominently.

By contrast, a better platform bakes in tax compliance from day one. That means handing taxability in real time and generating audit-ready payroll files from the start. For detailed guidance, explore our comprehensive tax compliance guide.

True global scalability

If you have employees across multiple countries, you’ve likely run into Forma’s limitations with currency support, time zones, and compliance. Look for a platform that can support international teams with localized stipends and automated tax handling.

Vendor-free flexibility (no merchant code blockages)

One of the top frustrations with Forma is merchant code restrictions, leading to declined transactions, underused stipends, or merchant approval but with items listed on the no-go list. Every merchant is considered “unverified” until manually approved (yes, even individual sellers on Amazon), which means extra work for program admins. Employees are then stuck in a loop: their transaction gets blocked, they escalate to HR, and HR has to work with Forma to request approval and the code. This results in a frustrating experience for everyone. 

The best Forma alternatives use a reimbursement model that lets employees choose any vendor that fits your benefit policy, without time-consuming delays or having to approve each new vendor added. 

No more embarrassing card declines

Forma’s card-based system often leaves employees stranded when transactions get declined, damaging trust in the benefits program. A reimbursement-first platform puts the employee in control: they make the purchase, upload the receipt, and get reimbursed quickly — no awkward moments at checkout.

In this article, we’ll walk through four alternatives to Forma. But if you’re looking for a stipend solution that truly puts flexibility, compliance, and the employee experience first, Compt stands out from the rest.

Ready to eliminate stipend management headaches? Request a demo.

Comparing top Forma alternatives

1. Compt: The all-in-one tax-compliant choice

Compt is a lifestyle benefits platform built to help companies offer personalized, meaningful perks, without the complexity. Instead of locking employees into a rigid marketplace or forcing HR teams to juggle multiple tools, Compt gives people the freedom to spend their stipends in ways that fit their lives. Whether your program includes wellness, family support, and/or professional development, employees can use stipends within the categories you define, buying from any merchant that fits. HR and People Ops stay firmly at the helm with programs that are inclusive, easy to manage, and flexible enough to grow with your team. 

And where Compt really shines is behind the scenes. Built with robust functionality and a simple, intuitive user experience, Compt makes life easier for everyone. Designed by a former CFO, it’s built with Finance in mind, delivering real-time visibility into spending patterns, automated tax classification, seamless payroll integrations, and global currency support.

No merchant code issues. No card declines. No year-end surprises. Just a smart, scalable platform that keeps employees happy, HR confident, and Finance in control.

Feature #1: Simplify benefits by consolidating features, stipends, and rewards into one powerful platform (not a mess of disconnected tools).

One of the biggest headaches for HR and People Ops teams is managing a scattered tech stack: one tool for wellness stipends, another for professional development, a third for rewards and recognition. With Compt, you can consolidate to save money and reduce administrative burden.

Compt combines all your core employee programs: lifestyle stipends, LSAs, professional development, and employee recognition. That means less vendor management, fewer logins, and more time spent on strategy (not admin). You also get real-time reporting that’s payroll-ready, helping HR and Finance teams stay in sync and prepared for an audit, should it occur. 

Compared to platforms like Forma, which only handles stipends and pre-tax benefits, or Bonusly, which focuses purely on recognition, Compt’s all-in-one setup offers a truly unified experience for employees and admins alike. Benefits include:

• One platform to manage all employee reimbursements and rewards
• Unified reporting across programs for simpler analysis and decision-making
• A single source of truth for Finance and Payroll (no spreadsheet chaos!)
• Less training and setup time for HR admins
• A consistent, seamless employee experience across all programs

Learn more about how Compt’s stipend administration software can streamline your entire benefits program.

Feature #2: Tax compliance is automatic, accurate, and built in from day one.

Tax compliance is one of the biggest pain points for Finance teams when it comes to stipends, and most platforms make it harder than it needs to be. With Compt, tax treatment is handled at the source. That means every stipend is automatically classified as taxable or nontaxable, the right reporting is applied at the time of reimbursement, and payroll-ready reports are generated without any extra work.

In contrast, card-based and marketplace solutions like Forma and many other Forma alternatives leave the heavy lifting to you. Finance teams are often stuck manually sorting through year-end reports, retroactively adjusting payroll based on unclear tax rules, handling employee complaints about surprise tax withholdings, and taking on compliance risk from incorrect or inconsistent classifications

Compt eliminates all that. Our platform is 100% IRS-compliant and integrates directly with your payroll system, so Finance doesn’t have to second-guess classifications or chase down receipts. No more tax season surprises, no more year-end cleanup — just accurate, audit-ready data every single pay period.

Learn more about our payroll integrations and how we keep compliance stress off your plate.

Feature #3: Scale benefits effortlessly across 75+ countries with a unified global platform.

Managing employee benefits across borders is notoriously complex, but it doesn’t have to be. While card-based or marketplace platforms often break down across countries, time zones, and currencies, Compt was built to scale. Whether you have employees in five countries or 75, we make it easy to deliver a consistent, compliant experience — no workarounds required.

Compt supports global teams out of the box, combining vendor-free flexibility with built-in tax handling and multicurrency support. You don’t need separate vendors for each country, and there are no surprise exchange fees or compliance gaps to manage. Just one platform that works everywhere.

With Compt, you get:

• Multicountry support for 75+ countries (and counting)
• Multicurrency reimbursement without hidden fees
• A consistent experience for employees, no matter where they work
• Local country payroll process so you’re not chasing rules per country
• No vendor contracts or region-specific platforms to manage

For example, imagine having employees in both Albania and New York City who want the same robust experience without setting up separate vendors. Compt will handle that automatically.

See how Compt helps build global stipend programs that work seamlessly across borders.

Feature #4: Vendor-free flexibility, without restrictions, so employees choose what works for them — not what’s on an approved list.

Too many stipend platforms limit employees to a short list of pre-approved vendors — or worse, rely on confusing merchant codes that frequently block legitimate purchases. That leads to a familiar cycle: declined transactions, frustrated employees, and underutilized benefits that cost your company money but don’t deliver value. For example, an employee might be at Target picking up vitamins as part of their health and wellness stipend, but when they check out, the transaction gets declined because Target isn’t on the approved vendor list.

Compt takes a different approach. Our category-based reimbursement model gives employees the freedom to choose any vendor that fits within your program’s guidelines. There are no merchant codes to navigate, no restrictive vendor lists, and no red tape.

Imagine this: One of your employees wants to use their wellness stipend for a local climbing gym or a niche meditation app that isn’t part of a marketplace. On a card-based platform like Forma, the transaction might get declined or flagged for manual review simply because the vendor doesn’t match a specific merchant code. With Compt, they make the purchase, submit a receipt, and — if it aligns with your policy — it’s approved and reimbursed. It’s that simple. In fact, more than 99% of expenses were approved in the first half of 2025. 

This kind of flexibility leads to dramatically higher participation, fewer support tickets, and a more inclusive experience for your team. It also saves HR and Finance from chasing down exceptions or manually approving one-off vendor requests.

Feature #5: Zero transaction failures — because a declined benefit isn’t a benefit at all.

Card-based stipend platforms often come with a hidden risk: failed transactions. Whether it’s because of merchant code mismatches or vendor restrictions, declined purchases frustrate employees and flood HR with support requests.

Compt takes a reimbursement-first approach that eliminates this issue entirely. For example, say an employee signs up for a virtual conference using a card-based platform, and the payment is declined because of an unrecognized merchant. With Compt, that employee pays upfront, submits the receipt, and is reimbursed — smooth, simple, and stress-free, with no card declines or confusion.

When benefits work reliably, employees use them confidently, and HR doesn’t have to play tech support.

Feature #6: Maximum ROI on every benefit dollar with 100% of your budget going to employees, not intermediaries.

When you invest in employee benefits, every dollar should go toward … well, your employees. But with many platforms, a surprising amount gets lost to card processing fees, currency exchange charges, lost or stolen cards, and marketplace markups. Compt avoids all of that by using a vendor-free, reimbursement-based model, so 100% of your benefits budget actually supports your people, not third-party middlemen.

Unlike card-first platforms that require preloading funds (and leave unused balances behind), Compt reimburses only real, approved purchases. That means you’re paying for what employees actually spend, not what you offered. There’s no pre-funding. No wasted dollars. No expiration-related losses or hidden fees skimmed off the top. Every dollar is used with intention, and you’ll know exactly where it went.

Let’s say your team rolls out a $500 quarterly wellness stipend. With card-based platforms, you end up losing a percentage of that to processing fees or unused balances. With Compt, if an employee has an annual $500 wellness stipend and spends $300 at a local gym and $100 on a meditation app, they get fully reimbursed for the combined $400, and your company keeps the remaining unused $100 — no fees, no leftovers, no waste. 

The result is full transparency, maximum ROI on your benefits budget, and no wasted spending on unnecessary intermediaries.

Get a custom quote to see exactly what you’ll pay with Compt.

2. Benepass: A strong card-first option for personalized stipends

Benepass offers a card-first approach to employee stipends and lifestyle spending accounts, making it easy for employees to pay directly for their benefits without fronting any cash. This zero out-of-pocket experience is a big win for many companies, especially those looking for a smooth, familiar purchasing flow. Benepass also supports a broad range of benefit categories, giving employees plenty of flexibility to choose what fits their unique needs.

To help ensure compliance, Benepass codes eligibility rules into its Visa card, enabling most transactions to be automatically approved or declined at the POS. This built-in logic reduces the need for manual receipt review.  While such automation helps lighten the administrative load, some companies may still prefer more flexible, vendor-free models for niche use cases or global reimbursement. 

Benepass currently has more limited global support compared to other platforms, which isn’t ideal for organizations with international teams. For those seeking broader geographic coverage, tax automation, or reimbursement-based flexibility, Compt offers a more scalable alternative. 

3. Espresa: A modern choice for well-being–focused lifestyle spending accounts

Espresa specializes in lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs) with a strong emphasis on employee well-being and engagement. Their mobile-first, globally inclusive platform is built to support distributed teams — whether in-office, remote, or hybrid — with features like wellness challenges, rewards and recognition, and employee communities. This makes Espresa a good fit for companies looking to boost culture and engagement alongside benefits.

That said, Espresa’s focus is more narrowly tailored to well-being and LSA-type benefits, which means it lacks some of the broader stipend program capabilities that larger or more complex companies might need. If your goal is a unified platform that consolidates all types of personalized employee stipends across professional development, rewards, family benefits, and beyond, Espresa might feel a bit limited.

Ultimately, Espresa is a solid option if you want to create an engaging, culture-driven employee experience centered on well-being. But for organizations seeking a more comprehensive, vendor-free reimbursement platform that scales globally and automates tax compliance, Compt’s broader scope and Finance-friendly design make it the better all-around solution.

4. Bonusly: A go-to for recognition-driven employee engagement

Bonusly stands out as a user-friendly platform focused on peer-to-peer recognition and micro-bonuses. It’s built to help companies boost morale, strengthen team bonds, and reinforce company values through frequent, meaningful shout-outs and rewards. The gamification features make celebrating wins fun and visible, which helps create a positive and connected culture across teams.

That said, Bonusly’s strength lies mainly in recognition programs rather than comprehensive stipend or benefits administration. It doesn’t offer the full suite of personalized employee stipends or lifestyle spending accounts that companies might need for broader employee benefits management. So, if you’re looking for a platform that handles everything from professional development reimbursements to global tax compliance, Bonusly isn’t quite built for that level of complexity.

In short, Bonusly is a solid choice for organizations wanting to ramp up engagement through recognition. But for teams needing a unified, scalable platform to manage personalized stipends with zero transaction failures and seamless compliance, Compt offers a more complete and flexible solution.

Choose Compt, the stipend platform built for modern HR

When evaluating Forma alternatives, the best choice becomes clear. While traditional point solutions restrict benefits to narrow marketplaces or apps, limiting employee choice and leading to low participation, wasted budget, and poor ROI, Compt delivers a fundamentally different approach.

Compt is the only platform that delivers: 

• True all-in-one consolidation of stipends, LSAs, professional development, and rewards and recognition
• Guaranteed tax compliance with automated classification and payroll-ready reporting 
• Seamless global scalability across 75+ countries 
• Complete vendor-free flexibility without merchant code restrictions
• Zero declined transactions through reimbursement-based processing 
• 100% of your benefits budget going directly to employees

Don’t let another year pass managing multiple tools, cleaning up tax compliance issues, and dealing with employee complaints about declined cards or restricted vendors.

Ready to see how Compt can transform your employee benefits program? Request a demo today and discover why leading HR teams choose Compt over Forma and other traditional stipend platforms.