A loyalty program is a ledger with a storefront on top: every purchase, review, referral or birthday writes points to a member record, and every redemption spends them. Buying software for it goes wrong in two predictable ways. A shop with a few hundred orders a month signs a contract built for a retailer with six million members, and a retailer with stores, an app and a points currency shared between brands outgrows an order-priced Shopify app within a year. This ranking sorts thirteen products by how well they serve a small or mid-sized merchant first, with the enterprise and developer platforms placed after the tools a normal marketing team can launch alone. We judged setup effort, what the program costs once order volume grows, whether member balances can leave with you, how tied the program is to one commerce platform, and who each product should not be sold to.
Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the
shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in loyalty program software
cannot hold places 1 to 3. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
How we ranked these
Setup: a weekend for app-store tools, a project for engines
The thirteen products split into two groups by how they get live. Smile.io, Joy, LoyaltyLion, Rivo and Marsello install from a commerce platform's app store, read order history, and give a merchant a branded rewards page, a launcher widget and a handful of earning rules to switch on. A small team can have points running within days, and the work that remains is choosing a currency value that does not give away margin. Antavo, Open Loyalty, Voucherify, Talon.One and Annex Cloud are built the other way round: a rules engine and an API, with a storefront, app or checkout team expected to call it. Expect a scoped implementation with a partner or an in-house developer, and plan for the point-of-sale and ecommerce systems to be wired separately. Square Loyalty sits between the two, live from the Square dashboard for anyone already taking payments there.
The real price: orders, members or API calls
Loyalty software is billed on a different meter in each camp, and the meter decides the bill. Smile.io and Joy publish plans keyed to monthly orders and charge a stated fee for each extra block of 100 orders, so a seasonal spike raises the invoice automatically. LoyaltyLion also prices by average monthly orders, but only its Classic plan shows a number ($199 a month for 500 orders); its higher plans are quoted. Open Loyalty bills by active members, meaning registered members who perform at least one loyalty event in a month. Voucherify meters API calls and publishes two plans at EUR 600 and EUR 1,200 a month. Antavo, Annex Cloud, Talon.One and Talkable do not publish prices at all, which for most small merchants answers the question before the first demo.
Getting your data out: balances, tiers and wallet passes
What matters on exit is not the customer list, which any commerce platform already holds, but the points balances, tier history and referral links that exist only inside the loyalty product. App-store tools generally let a merchant export members and balances, and a migration mostly means loading those figures into the next tool and announcing it to members. Digital wallet passes are the awkward case: Smile's terms say wallet passes cannot be transferred to another provider, and give a terminated merchant 48 hours to extract names and point balances. API-first products make the data easier to reach programmatically, because the ledger is only ever read and written through endpoints you already integrate. Ask any vendor for a full export of balances with timestamps before signing, and test it on a sandbox account.
Independence from the vendor: platform lock and parent companies
Two kinds of dependence matter here. The first is the commerce platform. Smile, Joy, LoyaltyLion, Rivo and Marsello are built around Shopify and a short list of other storefronts, so a later replatform can force a loyalty migration too. Square Loyalty is tied completely to Square's payments and point of sale. The second is the owner. Square Loyalty belongs to Block, Inc., Talkable operates as Curebit, Inc., Open Loyalty is part of OEX SA, and Yotpo sells loyalty as one module in a suite with reviews and SMS, discounted when bundled. Standalone engines such as Voucherify and Talon.One, and API-based tools generally, let one program survive a change of storefront, which is the main reason to accept their larger bill.
Who it's for: retailers, brands, and developers
A single-store merchant with under a few thousand orders a month wants Joy, LoyaltyLion, Smile.io or Marsello, and should choose between them on price per order and whether it also sells in a physical shop. A cafe, salon or boutique that already uses Square should try Square Loyalty before anything else. A direct-to-consumer brand on Shopify Plus with a retention team can look at Rivo or Yotpo. A multi-brand retailer, mall operator or franchise group with a points currency shared across channels belongs in Antavo, Open Loyalty or Annex Cloud. A product team that needs coupons, cart-level promotions and loyalty in one decision engine should evaluate Voucherify or Talon.One. Brands that mainly want customer referrals should look at Talkable.
The 13 tools, reviewed
#1 LoyaltyLion
Ecommerce loyalty for growing online stores · United Kingdom · loyaltylion.com
Order-based pricing Free under 400 orders London, UK
LoyaltyLion sits first because it is the clearest bridge between a free tool and a serious program. A store under 400 orders a month can start on the free plan, move to the $199 Classic plan as volume rises, and later reach VIP tiers, challenges and points on product pages on the Advanced plan. Its integration list is longer than most order-priced rivals, which matters once loyalty has to feed an email tool or a helpdesk. The pricing page states cost follows average monthly orders, so the bill is predictable from a number the merchant already tracks. It is built for stores that have decided loyalty is a channel.
Where it falls short
The $199 entry price is above Joy and Smile.io for the same order volume, and Advanced and Plus have no published numbers, so the cost of VIP tiers is only known after a sales conversation. Some of the more useful automation and AI features are reserved for Plus. Stores outside Shopify should check integrations first.
Wrong for
A store with under 200 orders a month that just wants a cheap points widget; Joy or Smile.io's free tiers cost nothing, and a merchant with a physical shop should check Marsello first.
Pricing: Classic costs $199 a month for 500 orders; Advanced and Plus are quoted. A free plan exists for stores at or below 400 monthly orders. (free plan)
Visit LoyaltyLion →
#2 Joy
Low-cost Shopify points, tiers and memberships · Vietnam · joy.so
Free plan Order-based Hanoi, Vietnam
Joy earns second place on price clarity. The free Starter plan allows 250 orders a month with basic points and up to 30 referrals, and the next step is just $29 for 500 orders, so a store that outgrows free does not meet a big jump. The upper plans add the things merchants usually ask for next: VIP tiers and paid memberships on Advanced, and APIs, multi-store and an AI copilot on Ultimate. All paid plans carry a 14-day trial and a 30-day refund guarantee, and every overage rate is printed on the page. For a Shopify store that wants a working program this quarter, it is the cheapest sensible route.
Where it falls short
Support on lower plans is a knowledge base only, with dedicated account managers reserved for Ultimate. The company is smaller and newer than Smile.io or Yotpo, and its public pages state no certifications. The overage fee is $15 per 100 orders on Essential, which gets expensive for a store that sits above the allowance every month.
Wrong for
A brand running stores, an app and a point of sale on one points currency, or a buyer who needs a named security certification; look at Open Loyalty or Antavo.
Pricing: Free Starter at 250 orders a month; Essential $29 (500 orders), Advanced $129 (2,000), Ultimate $499 (7,000), each with a stated per-100-order overage. (free plan)
Visit Joy →
#3 Marsello
Loyalty for shops with tills and web stores · New Zealand · marsello.com
Per-site pricing POS and ecommerce Auckland, New Zealand
Marsello takes third because it treats the shop floor and the web store as one customer base without asking for a developer. The Launch plan includes RFM segmentation, a customer portal and Apple and Google Wallet passes, and the Accelerate plan adds VIP tiers, custom segmentation and API access. The fair-use bases of 25,000 and 50,000 monthly orders are far above what order-priced Shopify apps allow at similar money. Pricing is per site, which suits a single boutique and should be priced carefully for a chain. The 14-day trial and no-contract stance keep the exit cheap.
Where it falls short
Each extra site costs the same as the first, so a retailer with several locations pays per outlet. Email marketing starts at $15 USD per 1,000 customers and SMS is credit-based, so a marketing-heavy program costs more than the headline plan. It is less widely known than Smile.io, so fewer agencies have experience with it.
Wrong for
A purely online brand whose entire stack is a storefront app; Joy or LoyaltyLion costs less per order. Also wrong for a large chain needing multi-brand program governance.
Pricing: Loyalty Launch from $100 NZD (about $60 USD) per site per month, Loyalty Accelerate from $200 NZD (about $120 USD); 14-day trial; marketing and SMS add-ons extra. (free trial)
Visit Marsello →
#4 Smile.io
Order-priced points and referrals for Shopify · Canada · smile.io
Free plan Published tiers Ontario, Canada
Smile.io is the best-known loyalty app for Shopify and its plan ladder is easy to read: from free at 200 orders a month up to Plus at 7,500, with every plan including points, referrals and a branded program. Full branding and multi-language support come on the free plan, which many rivals reserve for paid tiers. It sits fourth, behind three products that fit a small merchant a little better, because it is a dominant incumbent and the ordering rule puts such vendors at place four or lower. For a Shopify store that wants the most familiar option with a large pool of agency knowledge, it is a safe choice.
Where it falls short
Per-order overage fees add up, and VIP programs and better analytics need the more expensive tiers. The terms give a terminated merchant 48 hours to extract names and point balances, and state that wallet passes cannot be moved to another provider, a real lock-in for programs that rely on them.
Wrong for
A retailer with physical stores, a mobile app or multi-brand points needs a different class of product; Open Loyalty, Antavo or Annex Cloud fit that better.
Pricing: Free (200 orders), Essential $15, Standard $79, Growth $199, Plus $999 on annual billing, and a custom Enterprise plan for retailers above $40M annual revenue. (free plan)
Visit Smile.io →
#5 Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals
Loyalty module inside a retention suite · Israel · yotpo.com
Free plan Suite bundle Israel
Yotpo makes sense when loyalty is not bought alone. The pricing page states that combining Reviews & UGC with Loyalty & Referrals in a bundle costs less than buying each separately, and a store already collecting reviews gets a shared customer record. The free plan allows a foundational program to launch, and paid tiers begin at $199 a month with custom branding and points rules. Higher tiers are quoted around catalog and market size. It sits fifth as a large incumbent in ecommerce retention, below the three smaller specialists and Smile.io.
Where it falls short
Beyond the $199 entry point the pages give no numbers, so cost at scale is a sales conversation. It is more complex to configure than Joy or Smile.io, and the commercial case rests on adopting more than one module. The privacy policy names Yotpo Ltd. as headquartered in Israel with a UK entity.
Wrong for
A small merchant that only needs points and nothing else; a dedicated loyalty app is cheaper. Also not ideal for a buyer who wants fixed, published pricing beyond the first paid tier.
Pricing: Free plan to start; paid Loyalty & Referrals tiers from $199 a month; Premium and Enterprise are quoted, and bundling with Reviews & UGC lowers the combined price. (free plan)
Visit Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals →
#6 Square Loyalty
Loyalty built into the Square till · United States · squareup.com
Square-only 30-day trial Oakland, CA
Square Loyalty is the easiest program to start for a business that already takes payments through Square, because enrollment is a field at checkout and no data has to be synchronized between systems. Earning can be by visit, spend, item or category, and tiers multiply points for Bronze, Silver and Gold members. Customer records feed Square's own CRM and marketing tools, which removes one integration. Square's page cites its own 2022 figures on member spending, which are marketing data, not independent evidence. It ranks sixth because Block is a major platform and the product only works inside Square.
Where it falls short
It cannot be used without Square's payments and POS, so the program leaves with Square if you switch processors. The feature set is narrower than a dedicated loyalty tool: no deep referral logic, no cross-brand currency, and limited reward-catalog flexibility. Pricing details are not published on the page we reviewed.
Wrong for
A business using another payment processor or running a Shopify store with its own loyalty app, or any brand needing a custom API; see Marsello or Voucherify.
Pricing: Add-on to Square with a 30-day free trial; the page states no hidden fees or locked-in contracts, and exact monthly pricing is shown at signup. (free trial)
Visit Square Loyalty →
#7 Rivo
Shopify loyalty with cashback and accounts products · United States · rivo.io
Shopify-focused Published tiers SOC 2 Type II
Rivo is a good fit for a Shopify brand that has outgrown a starter app but not yet reached an enterprise engine. Scale costs $49 a month for up to 2,500 orders and 250,000 loyalty participants, a larger allowance than most competitors give at that price. Plus at $499 removes the order cap. The pages state SOC 2 Type II and GDPR adherence, plus dedicated support in chat, email or Slack on every plan. Cashback is sold separately as a ledger-backed store credit balance, an option other order-priced apps do not offer.
Where it falls short
It is built around Shopify, so a platform change means a new loyalty vendor. Cashback and Accounts are separate paid products, from $199 and $499 monthly. The Scale plan has only a seven-day trial, and Plus has none. The entity is a Delaware corporation, and we could not verify a headquarters address.
Wrong for
Stores on non-Shopify platforms, or physical retailers needing till integration; Marsello or Square Loyalty serve those better. Also unnecessary for stores under a few hundred orders.
Pricing: Scale from $49 a month (7-day trial, up to 2,500 orders), Plus $499 a month for unlimited orders, custom plans for large brands; Cashback from $199 and Accounts from $499. (free trial)
Visit Rivo →
#8 Antavo
Enterprise loyalty cloud for multi-channel brands · Hungary · antavo.com
Quote only Enterprise Hungary
Antavo is where a retailer goes when loyalty has become a program with its own team. It covers tiers, a points economy, gamification, receipt scanning and a digital wallet, and connects to Shopify, Klaviyo, Bloomreach and Braze. Named customers on its site include KFC, SKIMS, PUMA and Hyatt, and it lists 38 agency partners, 31 loyalty consultancies and 23 system integrators, which helps with implementation capacity. It is a European company and a mall, franchise or food-and-beverage group can model a shared currency across locations. It ranks eighth because the smaller tools above get a normal merchant live faster.
Where it falls short
Nothing about price is public, and the contact page shows no street address for offices. A rollout needs partner support or a developer, so total cost includes services. Business-result figures on the homepage (25% lower acquisition costs, 22% revenue growth) are marketing claims with no named study.
Wrong for
A store with a few hundred orders a month. The sales process and implementation project are disproportionate; Joy, Smile.io or LoyaltyLion do the job.
Pricing: No public pricing; sold through demos and agency, consultancy and integrator partners. (none)
Visit Antavo →
#9 Voucherify
API-first coupons, loyalty and referrals engine · Poland · voucherify.io
API-first Published pricing Katowice, Poland
Voucherify is the one product here that lists real prices for an API-first engine, which makes it easier to evaluate than most of its category. Loyalty, coupons, referrals and gift cards share one rules engine, so a promotion like double points on a coupon-qualified cart can be expressed in a single place. Hosting is in Katowice for the EU and New York for the US, with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 stated. The 60-day trial is the longest on the list, and plan limits are stated in API calls per minute and per month. A development team gets exactly what it needs.
Where it falls short
The cheapest plan is EUR 600 a month, too much for a store that only wants points. A developer must build storefront widgets, because it is a backend. API-call caps of 25,000 a month can be tight for a busy checkout, and once the trial ends API access is blocked until a plan is chosen.
Wrong for
A merchant without developers who wants a branded rewards page this week; choose Smile.io, Joy or LoyaltyLion, which ship the storefront side ready-made.
Pricing: Business EUR 600 or $650 a month (25,000 API calls, 3 projects); Organization EUR 1,200 or $1,300 (50,000 calls, 5 projects); Enterprise quoted; 60-day free trial. (free trial)
Visit Voucherify →
#10 Open Loyalty
API-first loyalty engine priced on active members · Poland · openloyalty.io
Per active member API-first Wroclaw, Poland
Open Loyalty prices on active members, not orders or API calls, which suits a program with many registered members of whom only some are active. Its pricing page says customers get full API access and an admin UI with no feature limits, so a small program is not locked out of features by plan. Multi-wallet support lets a retailer run, say, points and a separate partner currency. It states ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and GDPR compliance and runs on AWS. The company is part of the OEX group. It ranks tenth: strong for the right team, but needs engineering.
Where it falls short
There is no public price and no free plan, and the definition of an active member is settled in the agreement, so the effective rate can differ from a quote you compare. It needs development resources to attach to a storefront and point of sale. The name suggests open source, but the product is proprietary.
Wrong for
Any store wanting a ready-to-install app with a rewards page; it is a platform for a technical team. Choose Joy, Smile.io or LoyaltyLion instead.
Pricing: Priced on active members, meaning registered members with at least one loyalty event in a calendar month; no figures published; demo required. (none)
Visit Open Loyalty →
#11 Talkable
Referral marketing platform with fraud controls · United States · talkable.com
Referral-first Quote only San Francisco, US
Talkable is a different shape of product that happens to share this category. Where the others reward repeat purchases, it focuses on turning customers into an acquisition channel, with campaigns, A/B tests and segmentation. Its fraud prevention is the headline: the site says the algorithm has saved customers over $100M in fraudulent referrals, a vendor claim, but referral abuse is a genuine cost that cheaper tools often ignore. For a brand whose growth model leans on friend-gets-credit offers, it belongs on the shortlist beside a points tool. It ranks eleventh since most buyers want points first.
Where it falls short
It does not run a points, tier or cashback program in the way loyalty tools do, so you may need a second product. Pricing is hidden behind a sales form, and no free plan exists. The company address on its privacy policy is a mailbox-style suite.
Wrong for
A store that wants a points and tier system; Smile.io, LoyaltyLion or Joy cover that and include basic referrals. Also too heavy for a small shop.
Pricing: No published pricing; sales conversation required, and no free plan is offered. (none)
Visit Talkable →
#12 Talon.One
Promotion and loyalty engine for enterprise teams · Germany · talon.one
Volume-based API-first Berlin, Germany
Talon.One treats loyalty as one use of a promotion rules engine, which is the right architecture for a company whose offers depend on cart contents, customer segments and campaign calendars. The Starter plan already includes a staging environment and audit logs, features that matter once several people edit live promotions. Professional adds a dedicated customer success manager and database server. The company is registered in Berlin as Talon.One GmbH. It ranks twelfth because its minimum 500,000 coupons sets the bar far above the merchants this ranking is mainly for.
Where it falls short
All pricing is individual, and the Starter minimum of 500k coupons shows it is aimed at large volumes. Nothing is ready-made for a storefront, so developers build the customer-facing layer. There is no free plan and the loyalty feature set is not the product's primary identity.
Wrong for
A small or mid-sized merchant with a simple points program. The cost and build effort are out of proportion; Joy, Smile.io or Marsello are better.
Pricing: Volume-based and individually quoted across Starter, Professional and Enterprise; Starter requires at least 500k coupons; no free plan. (none)
Visit Talon.One →
#13 Annex Cloud
Enterprise loyalty experience platform · United States · annexcloud.com
Quote only Enterprise Denver, US
Annex Cloud is built for programs that are already large. Its site cites 115 million member profiles, 500 million transactions a year and clients such as Harley-Davidson, Harrods and Henkel, which indicates the scale it expects. The platform splits into modules for engagement, personalization, retention, referral advocacy and AI journey orchestration, so a brand can buy parts of it. It sits last because most buyers of this ranking do not need that scale, and because no price or free tier is public, not because it lacks capability.
Where it falls short
Pricing is closed and the hosting model is not specified on its pages beyond SaaS. The privacy policy refers to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework instead of dedicated EU hosting, which European buyers will want to examine. For a small team the module list is more than needed and implementation is a project.
Wrong for
Small and mid-sized online stores, which are well served by cheaper tools such as Joy or LoyaltyLion, and any European buyer that requires data to stay in the EU.
Pricing: No public pricing and no free plan; contact required for a quote. (none)
Visit Annex Cloud →
What the data says about this market
Counted from the thirteen vendors on this page, the market is more spread out than its Shopify-heavy app listings suggest. Four are headquartered in the United States (Annex Cloud, Rivo, Square Loyalty, Talkable), four in the European Union (Antavo in Hungary, Voucherify and Open Loyalty in Poland, Talon.One in Germany), and the remainder sit in Canada (Smile.io), the United Kingdom (LoyaltyLion), Israel (Yotpo), New Zealand (Marsello) and Vietnam (Joy). Nothing about the category requires an American vendor, and the enterprise engines most often chosen by European retailers with several brands are in fact European.
Pricing is where the thirteen differ most. Seven publish numbers on their own pages: Smile.io, Yotpo, LoyaltyLion, Voucherify, Joy, Marsello and Rivo. The other six (Antavo, Open Loyalty, Annex Cloud, Talon.One, Talkable, Square Loyalty) ask a buyer to book a call or do not state a fee. Four products offer a free plan: Smile.io, Yotpo, LoyaltyLion and Joy, each limited by monthly order count. The free tiers are a customer-acquisition channel for the app vendors, and the limits are where they earn their money, because a store that grows past 200 to 400 orders a month moves onto a paid plan.
The qualitative trend is a drift from points alone toward programs that combine points, referrals, paid memberships, wallet passes and store credit. Rivo sells cashback as a separate standalone product, Joy advertises paid memberships on its Advanced plan, Marsello and Smile both add Apple and Google Wallet passes, and Voucherify and Talon.One treat loyalty as one kind of incentive beside coupons and gift cards. The practical effect for a buyer is that the cheapest tool is rarely the whole decision: an order-priced app can look inexpensive at 500 orders a month and cost much more once VIP tiers, integrations and growth push you up a plan.
The 13 ranked vendors, counted
- Headquarters by region: Europe 5, North America 5, Asia-Pacific 2, Middle East & Africa 1
- By country: United States 4, Poland 2, Canada 1, Germany 1, Hungary 1, Israel 1, New Zealand 1, United Kingdom 1, Vietnam 1
- Pricing model: Per order volume / month 4, Quote only 4, Add-on to POS subscription 1, Per API calls / month 1, Per active member 1, Per site / month 1, Tiered / month 1
- Free option: None 5, Free plan 4, Free trial 4
Counted from the 13 vendors on this page. More in our market data.
For the wider market behind loyalty program software, read our report The Global Shift to ICT Services,
or browse all industry reports.
Questions and answers
What is the best loyalty program software in 2026?
LoyaltyLion takes first place for a growing online store: it publishes a $199 entry plan, offers a free plan to stores under 400 orders a month and connects to 100+ tools. Joy is second, because its free tier and $29 Essential plan make it the cheapest route to a working points program. Marsello is third and the better pick when you also have a physical till. Choose Smile.io or Yotpo if your store already uses their review or SMS products, and an engine such as Voucherify or Antavo when you outgrow storefront apps.
How much does loyalty program software cost for a small store?
For a small online store the realistic range is $0 to about $200 a month. Joy and Smile.io both have free plans at 250 and 200 orders a month, Smile's Essential plan costs $15 and Joy's Essential costs $29. LoyaltyLion starts at $199 for 500 orders, Rivo at $49 for up to 2,500 orders, and Marsello at about $60 USD per site. The real driver is order volume, since extra blocks of 100 orders add a fee. Enterprise engines start well above that range.
Do I need a free plan, or is a trial enough?
A free plan suits a store that wants to test whether customers care at all, and Joy, Smile.io, Yotpo and LoyaltyLion offer one. A trial only tells you whether the setup works, because the plans differ in what happens at month two. The thing to inspect on a free plan is the ceiling: 200 orders a month for Smile, 250 for Joy, 400 for LoyaltyLion. If you are already near the ceiling, test on a paid plan's trial instead of discovering the limit during a sale.
Is a points program better than a stamp card or cashback?
Points suit stores with varied basket sizes, because a large order earns more and rewards can be priced against margin. A stamp or visit card suits a business with one repeated purchase, such as a cafe. Cashback or store credit, offered by Rivo as a standalone product, is simpler for customers to understand and cheaper to explain, but it is a real liability on your books. Square Loyalty and Marsello support visit-based and spend-based rules at the till, so test which one your customers behave around.
Which loyalty tools work with Shopify, and which don't?
Smile.io, Joy, LoyaltyLion, Rivo, Yotpo and Marsello all list Shopify integrations, and Rivo is built specifically for Shopify brands. Square Loyalty works through Square's own online store and point of sale rather than as a Shopify add-on. Antavo, Open Loyalty, Annex Cloud, Voucherify and Talon.One connect to Shopify and others through APIs or integrations that typically need a partner or developer. Check the vendor's current list for your platform and for your POS before assuming compatibility.
When should I move from an app to an API-first platform?
Move when the program has to live somewhere an app cannot reach: a native mobile app, a franchise point of sale, several brands sharing one points currency, or promotions that depend on cart contents. Voucherify, Talon.One, Open Loyalty and Antavo are designed for that. The cost is a developer or implementation partner and a higher fixed bill. If your program is points on web orders, an app handles it and the migration is not worth the project.
How do I stop a loyalty program from eating my margin?
Set the point value deliberately: decide what a point is worth in currency, what share of revenue the whole program may return, and set earning and redemption rates to match. Use expiry and minimum redemption thresholds, keep high-value rewards on higher tiers, and track redeemed value against incremental repeat orders instead of signups. The better tools show these numbers in a report. Check whether the plan you want includes the analytics, because several vendors reserve detailed reports for higher plans.
Can I keep my customers' points if I switch vendors?
Often you can, if you plan it. Request an export of balances, tier status and referral codes, load them into the new tool, and tell members before the cutover. The parts that rarely move are digital wallet passes and anything stored in the vendor's own app, since Smile's terms say wallet passes cannot be transferred to another provider. Run both systems side by side for a billing cycle if possible, and keep the old export file as your record of what you owe members.
Are these tools compliant with European data rules?
Compliance depends on the contracting entity and the hosting region, so ask for both in writing. Antavo, Voucherify, Open Loyalty and Talon.One are European companies, and Voucherify states it runs an EU region in Katowice, Poland and a US region in New York. Open Loyalty states it runs on AWS with ISO 27001 and GDPR compliance. Annex Cloud's privacy policy refers to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework rather than dedicated EU hosting. For the rest, check the data processing agreement.
What is the difference between loyalty software and referral software?
Loyalty software rewards behavior from existing customers over time, usually with points or tiers, while referral software rewards a customer for bringing a new one. Many loyalty tools bundle both: Smile, LoyaltyLion, Joy and Marsello include a referral feature. Talkable is the one built primarily around referrals, with fraud prevention as its central claim. If acquisition through existing customers is your main goal and a points program is secondary, evaluate Talkable beside the loyalty tools.
Which vendors on this list can a store with no developer realistically run?
Joy, Smile.io, LoyaltyLion, Rivo, Marsello and Square Loyalty are designed to be set up by a merchant from an admin screen. Yotpo needs more configuration, particularly for the paid tiers. Antavo, Open Loyalty, Annex Cloud, Voucherify and Talon.One assume engineering and implementation partners. Talkable falls between: configurable by a marketer, but sold through a sales process. If nobody on staff can read an API document, stay in the first group.
