Churn can be a real growth killer for SaaS businesses, shrinking their user base and stalling progress.

With users hopping from one app to another, keeping them engaged is the ultimate challenge. So, how do you fix this?

Solution: Enter SaaS gamification. By adding a little competitive spark and using gamification elements, you can turn ordinary actions into something fun and rewarding. This means happier, more engaged users who stick around longer.

With the right gamification techniques, you’ll have users coming back to complete tasks, earn badges, and stay active.

In this article, we’ll walk you through ten inspiring examples of gamification to drive engagement in SaaS, including:

• Asana: Using badges to encourage users
• Miro: Celebrating task completion with pop-ups
• HubSpot: Certification programs for customer loyalty
• Apollo: Milestone completion emails that reward users
• Grammarly: Recap emails to keep users coming back

Let’s dive in!

But first, let's see why gamification could be a game-changer for retention...

Why is SaaS gamification key for user engagement?

Good user engagement is like the holy grail in the SaaS industry. After all, keeping users active and coming back regularly is the goal, but with so many apps vying for attention, how do you stand out?

The answer lies in SaaS gamification.

Gamification integrates core game elements—think points, rewards, badges—into non-game contexts.

By adding these engaging, game-like elements, you’re creating a user journey that’s fun, interactive, and, most importantly, habit-forming.

With gamification, users are incentivized to complete tasks, explore new features, and engage with your product in meaningful ways.

The right gamification strategy motivates your users, increases loyalty, and drives customer engagement.

Okay, so now that we agree that you should implement gamification strategies into your product...

Let’s look at ten standout examples that turn everyday tasks into opportunities for user success.

10 examples of great SaaS gamification

1. Asana: Using badges to encourage users

How Asana boosts engagement with badges

Asana has mastered the art of gamification with its badge system, which celebrates users for hitting key milestones and completing tasks. These badges create a sense of achievement, nudging users to keep exploring and progressing within the app.

Customer engagement gets a boost as users earn badges, adding a bit of thrill to the usual task management grind.

With each new badge, users find renewed motivation to complete tasks and see what comes next, building a habit around using Asana.

The badges serve as visual cues and rewards, effectively keeping users engaged and reminding them of their achievements.

Implementing gamification with badges

Badges work best for B2B SaaS businesses with a bit of complexity—think project management tools, analytics platforms, or CRMs—where users engage with a range of features or workflows.

For these types of SaaS products, badges can highlight key actions, like passing a certification (example #3), reaching milestones, or mastering advanced features, making the customer journey feel both rewarding and guided.

To make badges effective, design them to represent meaningful achievements and display them prominently so users feel recognized for their progress.

By adding badges, you can boost motivation and keep engagement levels high—a small addition with a big impact.

2. Miro: Celebrating task completion with pop-ups

Miro’s pop-ups encourage users to accomplish tasks

Miro takes gamification up a notch with celebratory pop-ups that appear when users complete certain tasks, adding a burst of color and satisfaction to project management.

These pop-ups serve as micro-celebrations that instantly reward users, turning mundane tasks into small victories and adding a sense of achievement right from the start.

💡 During onboarding, these pop-ups can have a big impact on activation rates by fostering a sense of achievement. This approach makes users feel valued and recognized, motivating them to keep exploring the platform.

By linking task completion with a “congratulations!” moment, Miro keeps its SaaS platform feeling fresh and interactive, turning task completion into something users look forward to.

How to use celebratory pop-ups to motivate users

For any SaaS app looking to actively engage users, celebratory pop-ups are an effective tool, especially during onboarding.

Set up pop-ups to appear upon task completion or at key milestones. Make them visually appealing with colors, animations, or confetti to add that extra fun factor.

These pop-ups provide instant feedback and excitement, making users more likely to stay engaged, return frequently, and feel connected to the platform.

It’s an easy way to create a memorable and rewarding first experience.

3. HubSpot: Certification programs for customer loyalty

Building customer engagement through certifications

HubSpot’s certification programs are a prime example of gamification that builds loyalty while adding real value to users.

These programs reward users for completing courses and passing tests, giving them badges (example #1) and certificates that add credibility to their professional profiles.

By offering certifications, HubSpot builds a loyal user base that feels accomplished and valued.

Each certification represents a tangible accomplishment that incentivizes users to dive deeper into HubSpot’s ecosystem. As users gain skills and share their badges, they become ambassadors for the platform, adding credibility while boosting engagement.

Certifications create a mutually beneficial experience where users grow professionally, and HubSpot strengthens its community of engaged, knowledgeable users.

Implementing certification programs as a gamification technique

Certification programs are ideal for SaaS products with complex features or advanced functionality, where users benefit from deepening their knowledge over time—think CRM systems, analytics tools, or marketing platforms like HubSpot.

To set up a certification program, start by identifying key skills that align with your product’s core functions and user needs. Develop modules or courses that guide users through these skills, awarding visually appealing, shareable badges or certificates upon completion.

You'll foster loyalty and empowerment across your user base by tailoring certifications to your user personas and offering them as a growth tool.

4. Apollo: Milestone completion emails that reward users

How Apollo celebrates user progress

Apollo boosts user engagement by celebrating milestones with customized emails, rewarding users for their progress within the platform.

These milestone emails are like mini-celebrations recognizing users for completing significant actions, like reaching usage milestones or achieving essential tasks.

By showing appreciation for their efforts, Apollo keeps customer retention strong, making users feel recognized and valued.

This consistent recognition reminds users of their growth and builds a positive relationship with the platform. Each milestone email acts as a gentle reminder that they’re progressing, making it more likely they’ll continue using the platform.

Apollo’s approach is simple but powerful, using emails to keep users engaged and motivated to achieve even more.

Creating milestone emails to engage users

For any SaaS company looking to enhance user engagement, milestone emails are a versatile and impactful way to drive both activation and retention.

During onboarding, milestone emails help new users reach those crucial aha moments by celebrating early accomplishments. Start by identifying 4-7 key actions, like exploring essential features or completing initial tasks. Trigger personalized, congratulatory emails as users reach these milestones to encourage further exploration and boost activation rates.

Beyond onboarding, milestone emails become powerful tools for retention and expansion. By recognizing achievements at later stages—such as mastering advanced features or hitting usage milestones—these emails keep users motivated and encourage them to discover the platform’s full potential. This approach supports long-term loyalty, helping turn regular users into power users who stay engaged and get the most out of the platform.

Make each email visually engaging, using gamified elements like badges or progress bars to show achievements. This strategy not only builds stronger user relationships but also creates a positive, rewarding experience that reduces churn.

5. Grammarly: Recap emails to keep users coming back

Engaging users through recap emails

Grammarly’s recap emails are a clever way to engage users by offering a summary of their weekly or monthly achievements. These recaps give users insight into their progress, like words written, errors corrected, and vocabulary improvements.

💡 By showing users how far they’ve come, Grammarly makes it easy for users to see the value they’re getting from the platform, increasing engagement and fostering loyalty.

Recap emails are an effective way to keep users coming back because they offer tangible proof of improvement. Each email acts as a pat on the back, motivating users to continue their journey and set new personal goals.

These emails provide timely feedback, making it easy for users to feel good about their ongoing progress.

Implementing recap emails for active users

To add recap emails to your SaaS platform, start by collecting data on meaningful user actions or improvements.

Then, design an email template that highlights these achievements clearly and in a visually engaging way. To personalize the data points for each recipient, you'll have to use liquid text.

Include personalized statistics or badges to reward their activity, nudging users to keep up the momentum.

These emails are motivational boosts that keep users invested and looking forward to their next engagement with the platform. They create a habit-forming cycle that naturally encourages long-term usage.

For more email strategies to engage your users, read Lifecycle email marketing for SaaS businesses.

6. Duolingo: Leaderboards to foster healthy competition

How Duolingo uses leaderboards to drive user engagement

Duolingo has made a name for itself by using all sorts of gamification tactics, among which are leaderboards, to drive user engagement through friendly competition.

By showing users where they rank among their peers, the language learning app taps into the power of healthy competition—a powerful motivator that nudges users to keep practicing to improve their standing.

The leaderboard fuels users’ drive to advance, stay active, and earn a higher rank.

This gamified approach promotes customer engagement by making language learning interactive and community-driven. Knowing they’re competing against others keeps users excited and connected, encouraging them to log in regularly to boost their position.

It’s an effective strategy that turns the learning experience into a social activity.

Implementing leaderboards to encourage users

Implementing a leaderboard is not always relevant, especially for B2B SaaS. But it's a great idea if you're in the EdTech industry, like Duolingo, for instance.

Start by choosing key metrics for comparison, whether it’s tasks completed, points earned, or milestones reached.

Make the leaderboard visible and dynamic to keep it engaging. Adding small rewards or visual incentives can further encourage participation. Leaderboards leverage social interaction, turning the experience into one that’s both fun and motivating.

This simple gamification element can be a game-changer, making users more invested in their progress and more loyal to the platform.

7. Notion: Onboarding support to teach users

How Notion guides and encourages users in their onboarding process

Notion nails the onboarding experience with interactive pop-ups and tips designed to guide users from day one. Instead of overwhelming new users with endless features, Notion uses a structured onboarding process that’s paced and purposeful.

By showing relevant tips as users explore, Notion helps them master essential functions and build confidence early on, which leads to long-term customer success.

The beauty of this approach lies in its simplicity. Notion makes learning the platform easy and enjoyable by delivering tips, keeping users actively involved, and enhancing engagement and retention.

Setting up gamified onboarding in SaaS products

For SaaS companies, gamified onboarding can make a big difference in user satisfaction. Start by mapping the core steps new users need to reach a core activation milestone and add pop-up tips to guide them through these actions.

Visual aids, short tutorials, progress bars, and checklists are helpful for showing progress. Not only does this approach reduce friction, but it also builds users’ confidence with every step.

Effective onboarding with gamified elements makes users feel supported, keeps them engaged, and sets the foundation for customer retention as they explore and master your product.

8. Fiverr: Profile checklists to keep users on track

Encouraging users to complete tasks with profile checklists

Fiverr’s profile checklists provide a clear, gamified roadmap that encourages users to complete their profiles step by step.

By breaking down profile setup into manageable actions, Fiverr helps users understand what needs to be done and celebrates each small win along the way.

This checklist feature is a great way to generate a sense of accomplishment as users progress in your app.

Checklists work wonders because they give users structure, guiding them from task to task while making it easy to stay on track.

When users see their profile nearing completion, they’re motivated to take the final steps, which increases their overall engagement and commitment to the platform.

How to use checklists for user engagement

Adding checklists is as simple as creating a task list for key actions like profile setup or feature usage.

Start by identifying essential tasks and break them into steps, creating a checklist that encourages users to accomplish tasks. Providing visual indicators of progress—like percentage completed or a progress bar—keeps users motivated and engaged.

A well-designed checklist can boost retention and satisfaction, as it gives users a sense of accomplishment that makes them feel invested in the platform’s journey.

🌟 Bonus: Combine this with the email in example #4 for maximum efficiency!

9. The Fork: Earning points to incentivize users

Rewarding users with a point system

The Fork makes dining out even more appealing by offering a system where users earn “Yums” that they can redeem for discounts.

This point-based gamification strategy encourages users to return regularly and earn rewards, creating an enjoyable experience that builds loyalty and drives engagement. For users, every reservation brings them one step closer to a discount, incentivizing repeat visits.

This approach is powerful because it taps into the psychology of earning. Users are rewarded not only with points but with the satisfaction of working toward something tangible.

This keeps them actively engaged, as every reservation feels like progress toward a reward, making the platform valuable and fun to use.

Implementing a point system to increase user engagement

A points system is particularly effective for SaaS platforms that thrive on frequent, repeatable user actions—like booking, purchasing, or completing tasks. It’s a great fit for B2B2C SaaS products or marketplaces that focus on user-driven activity, such as reservation platforms, e-learning tools, or wellness apps.

For these products, each interaction can accumulate points, offering ongoing rewards that reinforce loyalty and engagement.

To set up a points system, identify the core actions you want to encourage, such as bookings, course completions, or repeated feature use. Assign points to each action and ensure users can easily track their points and progress. Clear communication about how points can be redeemed or used creates additional motivation, making every interaction rewarding and encouraging users to return frequently.

Points create a fun, fulfilling cycle that keeps users engaged and rewards them for continued use, making them feel invested in the platform.

10. Canva: Social sharing to foster social proof

Canva’s social sharing to engage and encourage users

Canva leverages social sharing to boost engagement and create a community effect, allowing users to share their creations on social media platforms directly from the app.

This feature builds credibility by showcasing real projects made with Canva. Users feel motivated to share, while Canva benefits from the exposure and trust that social proof brings.

Social sharing turns individual user success into something public and rewarding. When users see their work appreciated by friends or colleagues, they’re more likely to continue using Canva.

Plus, seeing shared content from other users can inspire new users to join, creating a positive feedback loop of engagement.

Using social sharing to enhance engagement

Social sharing works best for SaaS platforms that are highly visual or creative, like design tools, content creation apps, or marketing platforms—where user-generated content shines.

Integrate easy-to-use sharing buttons that allow users to post directly to social media channels.

This feature fosters community and builds customer loyalty. Recognize top-shared content or offer small rewards for sharing milestones to keep users motivated.

Social sharing is an effective way to make users feel appreciated, build credibility, and attract more users who see your platform’s impact through shared, real-world results.

Choosing the right SaaS gamification techniques to drive engagement

Not every gamification technique will be a perfect fit for every SaaS model. Choosing the right strategy is essential to boost engagement and drive long-term retention effectively.

Each example here—whether it’s badges, checklists, or social sharing—highlights ways to make your platform more engaging and rewarding.

The best gamification elements are those that align with your product’s goals and resonate with your personas.

From badges to milestone rewards, selecting the right techniques transforms mundane tasks into engaging experiences, ensuring users stay motivated, connected, and coming back for more.

Time to boost user engagement with gamification

Looking to add gamification that truly engages? At Digi Storms, we specialize in lifecycle marketing for SaaS companies, helping you support your gamification strategies with emails, in-app messages, and push notifications that drive results.

From onboarding to retention and expansion, we’ll design emails and engagement strategies to keep your users motivated and loyal.

Ready to see how we can help you turn user activity into long-term success?

Request your strategy call today to make your SaaS product stand out and grow!