The best loyalty app for small business in 2026: an honest comparison

The 30-second version

Picking the best loyalty app for small business gets much easier once you split it into three questions: does the customer have to download something, what do you pay per location, and do you only need a punch card or something more? The table below sums up the tools we compared. Every third-party figure comes from the vendor's own site, as of October 2026 (links in each section).

For deeper one-on-one comparisons, read our Loopy Loyalty alternative, Stamp Me app review and Fideloop alternative pages.

What to check before you choose a loyalty app

Get clear on what you need before comparing brands. These are the questions that change the answer most:

• Does the customer have to download an app? Every extra step in the checkout line means fewer sign-ups. Cards in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet live in the wallet that already comes with the phone. We explain how in our Apple Wallet loyalty card guide.
• Which card types do you need? A coffee shop does fine with a punch card. A bakery with very different ticket sizes works better with points. If you want to sell gift cards or a membership, the tool has to support them. See points vs stamps vs cashback.
• What do you pay per location? Some tools charge per location, others per customer, per active card or per loyalty visit. Run the numbers with your own figures.
• Can you message customers? Push notifications to the lock screen are how you bring people back. Check how many each plan includes.
• Are there transaction fees? If the tool processes payments, it may take a cut. If you take the money at your own till, it doesn't.
• Is it tied to your POS? Some programs only work with one point-of-sale system.
• Currency, language and data: where your customer data is stored matters if you serve EU customers.

Stampaz

Stampaz creates loyalty cards that customers save to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, with a web card for anyone who uses neither. Customers sign up in seconds by scanning the QR code on your counter poster, and you set it all up yourself in about 5 minutes.

• Who it's for: coffee shops, barbers, bakeries, restaurants, beauty salons, gyms and retail stores, from single shops to small chains.
• Pros: 6 card types on every plan; several cards at once; staff scanner on any phone with no accounts; push notifications and location-based reminders (Pro and Chain); birthday, welcome and "we miss you" automations (Pro and Chain); no transaction fees; EU data hosting and CSV export.
• Cons: no free plan and no advertised free trial; the Local plan includes 4 push campaigns a month.
• Price: Local €29/month (1 location), Pro €49/month (up to 10 locations), Chain €149/month (up to 30). Excluding tax, no lock-in.

The best-known international loyalty apps

Loopy Loyalty

Digital stamp and punch cards delivered as Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes, no app required. According to its pricing page, as of October 2026: Starter $25/month, Growth $69/month, Ultimate $95/month (annual billing saves 20%). 15-day free trial with no credit card, unlimited customers.

• Who it's for: a single shop that only needs a punch card.
• Limits: 1, 3 or 10 locations and 1, 3 or 10 card designs depending on the plan.

Stamp Me

A digital stamp card with its own customer app and a merchant app called Stamp Business. According to its pricing page, as of October 2026: Lite €29 / £39 (labelled a limited-time offer), Pro €49 / £49, Elite €169 / £129 a month. 30-day free trial with no card needed.

• Who it's for: one location whose customers don't mind installing an app, and who want extras like Scratch & Win or a Birthday Club.
• Watch out for: every plan is single-location; 2 published programs, then a one-time €15 / £15 for each extra one.

Boomerangme

A digital card platform with many card types (punch, prepaid punch, points, cashback, membership, gift, coupon and discount) and agency and white-label plans. According to its pricing page, as of October 2026: Business from $199/month ($164/month billed annually), with a 14-day trial. We could not confirm Apple Wallet or Google Wallet on that page.

• Who it's for: agencies, franchises and businesses that resell or manage many programs.

PassKit

Infrastructure for building Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes of every kind: loyalty, membership, coupons, tickets, gift cards and more. According to its pricing page, as of October 2026, it charges a platform fee plus pass-volume fees on a rate card that isn't public, with a 45-day trial.

• Who it's for: companies with developers or their own integrations. PassKit is the base you build on; Stampaz is a finished product with a fixed price.

If you already use a POS

Square Loyalty

Square's loyalty add-on. Customers join at checkout with their phone number, by QR code or through Square Online. Pricing depends on your country and on monthly "loyalty visits". As of October 2026, Square's help page served in Spain shows €40, €65 or €100 per location per month (up to 500, 1,500 or 10,000 visits), and the Australian page shows $49 / $99 / $149 for the same tiers. 30-day trial. It requires Square POS.

Shopify, SumUp and Lightspeed

• Shopify: there is no single native loyalty plan; merchants install apps. Smile.io, one of the most used, lists Free, then $15, $79, $199 and $999 a month, as of October 2026.
• SumUp (US): loyalty sits inside paid bundles such as Connect Plus at $269/month or POS bundles from $199/month, as of October 2026 (pricing).
• Lightspeed: loyalty is part of Lightspeed POS, and its Restaurant (O-Series) update added Apple Wallet and Google Wallet cards. We found no public loyalty price.

If you already take payments with one of these, its built-in program is the most integrated option. Stampaz has a flat price that doesn't depend on visits, works next to any till and puts the card in the customer's phone wallet.

What about a free digital punch card?

There are free options, with limits. As of October 2026:

• Stampa (stampa.app), based in Germany, has a free plan with up to 100 active cards and 5 push notifications. Despite the similar name, it has nothing to do with Stampaz.
• 7stamp (7stamp.com), based in Slovakia, has a "Free Forever" plan with up to 25 card operations a month.

A free plan can be enough to test whether your customers like the idea. Once you have more customers than it allows, you'll pay. Stampaz has no free plan.

And Stampcard? We looked it up to include it, but stampcard.com leads to a domain-for-sale page. We found no active product under that name, so it isn't listed.

How to decide for your shop

Three tips before you sign up:

1. Price it over a year with your number of locations and customers, not just the first month.
2. Test the sign-up on your own phone. If it's fiddly for you, it'll be worse for a customer in line.
3. Ask how you get your data out if you ever switch tools.

Ready to start? Our guide on how to create a loyalty card for your business walks you through it. If you run a coffee shop, a barber shop or a restaurant, there are examples for your trade.