How Much Does a Loyalty Program Cost?

Last updated: October 2026

Prices vary a lot between platforms, and there are genuinely free options if you know where to look.

Key Takeaway: Most loyalty platforms charge a monthly fee and have no free plan. FaveCard starts free, with no time limit and unlimited customers, making it the most affordable option for small businesses. The biggest ongoing cost is not the software; it is the rewards you give away, and those pay for themselves through repeat visits.

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The honest answer to “how much does a loyalty programme cost?” is: it depends. It depends on whether you use digital or paper cards, whether you need Apple and Google Wallet, whether the platform charges per transaction, and whether “free” actually means free or is just a trial.

This guide breaks down every cost you will face (software fees, hidden charges, reward expenses, and hardware) with real prices from real platforms. No “contact us for pricing.”

Types of Loyalty Programme Costs

Before comparing platforms, it helps to understand what you are actually paying for. Loyalty programme costs fall into six categories.

1. Monthly software fees

This is the subscription you pay to run your loyalty programme. Most platforms charge a flat monthly fee. Some charge per location, which adds up fast if you have multiple sites.

• Budget range: free on a few platforms, a monthly fee on most. The comparison table below has real prices.
• Watch out for: Per-location pricing. With three locations, you pay the fee three times.

2. Setup and onboarding fees

Some platforms charge a one-time fee to get you started. This might include account configuration, staff training, or custom card design.

• Most common: none. Many modern loyalty apps let you set up on your own.
• Watch out for: Enterprise-tier products that bundle mandatory onboarding packages.

3. Transaction fees

A few platforms charge a small fee every time a customer earns or redeems a stamp. This is rare but worth checking: it can add up quickly in high-traffic businesses.

• Most common: none. Platforms like FaveCard, Stamp Me, and Loopy Loyalty do not charge per transaction.
• Watch out for: SMS-based systems where each notification costs money.

4. Reward costs (the free stuff you give away)

This is the cost most people forget. Every “buy 9 get 1 free” card means you are giving away roughly 10% of revenue to your most loyal customers. But research by Bain & Company, cited in Harvard Business Review, found that increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25–95%, so those free coffees pay for themselves.

• Typical cost: 5–15% of revenue from loyal customers.
• How to manage it: Set your stamp count high enough that the reward cost stays below your margin. If a coffee costs you £1 to make and sells for £3.50, giving one away every 10 visits still leaves you well ahead.

5. Design and printing costs (paper cards only)

If you are still using paper punch cards, you are paying for design and reprinting every time you run out.

• Typical cost: £50–£200/year in printing alone.
• The hidden cost: Up to 80% of paper loyalty cards are lost or thrown away before being redeemed, according to research cited by loyalty industry sources. That is marketing spend with no return.
• Better option: A digital loyalty card can be free on the right platform and cannot be lost. It sits on the customer’s phone.

6. Hardware costs (tablet stands, scanners)

Some loyalty systems require dedicated hardware: a tablet stand at the counter, a barcode scanner, or a specific POS terminal.

• Most common: none. Phone-based QR scanning (like FaveCard’s staff app) requires no extra hardware.
• Watch out for: POS-locked systems. Square Loyalty requires Square POS hardware, which means a hardware investment if you do not already use Square.

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Loyalty Programme Cost Comparison (2026)

Here is what six popular loyalty platforms actually charge. Competitor prices re-checked on each vendor’s own site on September 29, 2026.

Platform	Free plan?	Starting price	Per location?	POS required?	Key limitation
FaveCard	Yes (no time limit)	Free / paid plans (see pricing)	No	No (any POS)	Free plan shows FaveCard branding
Stamp Me	No (30-day trial)	$49/month	No	No	No permanent free plan
Loopy Loyalty	No (15-day trial)	$25/month	1 card, 1 location	No	Trial only, limited to 1 location on base plan
Square Loyalty	No (30-day trial)	$49/mo per location (Square Plus)	Yes ($49 each)	Yes (Square only)	Locked to Square POS, no Google Wallet
CandyBar	Discontinued	–	–	–	No longer takes sign-ups
Toast Loyalty	No	Bundled in Toast pricing	Yes	Yes (Toast only)	Restaurant-only, requires Toast POS

What the table tells you

• Cheapest option: FaveCard Free: no trial, no time limit, unlimited customers.
• Most expensive for multi-location: Square Loyalty. Three locations costs $147/month.
• POS-locked: Square Loyalty and Toast Loyalty only work with their own hardware. If you use a different POS, they are not an option.
• No permanent free plans from Stamp Me, Loopy Loyalty, or Toast. Once the trial ends, you pay or lose access.

For a detailed review of each alternative, see our Stamp Me alternatives comparison.

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Hidden Costs Most Platforms Don’t Tell You About

The monthly price on a platform’s website is rarely the full story. Here are the costs that catch people off guard.

Annual contracts with cancellation fees

Some platforms offer a lower monthly rate if you commit to an annual plan, but charge a penalty if you cancel early. Always check whether you can pay month-to-month.

SMS and notification charges

Platforms that send loyalty updates via text message often charge per SMS. At £0.03–£0.05 per message, sending a monthly reminder to 500 customers costs £15–£25/month on top of your subscription.

FaveCard’s Business plan sends messages through the customer’s Apple or Google Wallet card: no SMS fees, no phone numbers needed.

Feature gating

The “starting at” price often excludes the features you actually need. Custom branding, analytics, customer messaging, and multi-location support are frequently locked behind higher tiers. Check what is included at the advertised price, not just what the platform can do.

Per-location pricing

As shown in the comparison table, some platforms charge per location. A single-site cafe pays $49/month for Square Loyalty (via Square Plus). A three-location chain pays $147/month. This scales linearly and becomes the largest hidden cost for growing businesses.

Data export fees

If you want to leave a platform, can you take your customer data with you? Some platforms restrict data export to paid tiers or charge a fee. FaveCard’s Business plan includes full customer email export at no extra cost.

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How to Calculate Your Loyalty Programme ROI

Before committing to any platform, run the numbers for your business. Here is a simple framework.

Monthly cost:

• Software fee (nothing on a free plan, otherwise the platform’s monthly price)
• Reward cost (e.g., 10 free items at £3 cost each = £30/month)
• Total: £30/month on a free plan, or £30/month plus the subscription on a paid one

Monthly return:

• Extra repeat visits from loyalty members
• Higher spend per visit (according to Square, loyalty members spend 37% more after joining)
• Reduced acquisition costs (a returning customer costs nothing to “acquire”)

Example: If loyalty brings back 10 extra customers per month who spend £15 each, that is £150/month in additional revenue. Subtract your total programme cost (say £30 for rewards on FaveCard Free), and you net £120/month, a 4x return.

For a full breakdown with your own numbers, see our loyalty programme ROI guide.

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The Free Option: What the Free Plan Actually Gets You

If your budget is tight (or if you simply want to test whether loyalty works before spending anything), here is what FaveCard’s Free plan includes.

Feature	Free	Paid plans (see pricing)
Digital loyalty card on phone	Yes (browser-based)	Yes (+ Apple & Google Wallet)
Animated stamps & celebration screens	Yes	Yes
QR code scanning (staff app)	Yes	Yes
Unlimited customers	Yes	Yes
Totals of cards issued, stamps and rewards	Yes	Yes
Apple + Google Wallet passes	trial, then paid	Yes
Custom logo and banner	No (FaveCard branding)	Yes
Custom stamp icons	No	Yes
Customer messages	No	Yes
Unlimited employees	No	Yes
Full email access + export	No	Yes

No credit card required. Every new account starts with premium tools free for the first 30 days, so you can try them before deciding what you need.

The Free plan is not a stripped-down demo. It is a working loyalty programme with unlimited customers, a digital card on the customer’s phone, animated stamps, and QR scanning from your staff app. The main difference is branding and wallet passes: the Free plan shows FaveCard’s name on the card, and Apple/Google Wallet passes are a paid feature (though the premium tools every new account gets free for the first 30 days include them).

For most businesses just starting out, that is a perfectly acceptable trade-off. Your customers care about earning their free coffee, not whose logo is on the card.

When you are ready for custom branding, it comes with a paid plan, and customer messages come with the Business plan (see pricing for current rates).

How FaveCard compares on price

What you get	FaveCard Free	Typical competitor
Monthly cost	Free	Monthly fee
Time limit	None	Free trial, then paid
Customer limit	Unlimited	Often capped on free tiers
Digital card on phone	Yes (browser-based)	Varies
Apple + Google Wallet	Paid plan	Sometimes extra
Setup fee	None	Sometimes
Transaction fees	None	Rare, but check

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Paper vs Digital: The Real Cost Difference

If you are still weighing paper punch cards against digital, here is the maths.

Paper cards:

• Printing: £50–£200/year
• Design: £0–£100 (one-time, or each redesign)
• Loss rate: up to 80% of cards never redeemed
• Customer data: zero
• Reminders: impossible

Digital loyalty card (FaveCard Free):

• Software: free
• Printing: none
• Loss rate: 0% (the card is on their phone)
• Customer data: each customer’s stamps and last visit date

The paper card looks cheap until you account for what you are losing: data, redemption, and the ability to bring customers back between visits. For a deeper comparison, see our paper vs digital loyalty card guide.

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Which Price Point Is Right for You?

Here is a quick decision framework based on your situation.

You should choose a free plan if:

• You are testing whether loyalty works for your business
• Budget is your primary constraint
• You do not need custom branding yet
• You want to start today without any commitment

You should choose a paid FaveCard plan (see pricing) if:

• You want your own logo and branding on the card
• You want to send messages to customers between visits
• You need full customer data and email export
• You have validated that loyalty drives repeat visits

You should choose a POS-bundled programme if:

• You are already locked into a specific POS ecosystem (Square or Toast)
• You need features only available on that platform
• Multi-location management within one POS is important to you

For most small businesses (cafes, salons, barbershops, restaurants, nail studios), the choice is straightforward. Start free. See if customers engage. Upgrade if and when you need more.

Start free with FaveCard: no time limit, no credit card needed. Set up your first loyalty card in 5 minutes.

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How to Set Up a Loyalty Programme in 5 Minutes

Once you have decided on a budget, getting started is faster than you think.

1. Create your account. No credit card required on FaveCard. Sign up and you are in.
2. Design your card. Pick colours, set stamp count, choose your reward. Takes 2 minutes.
3. Share with customers. Print a QR code for your counter, or share a link on social media.
4. Scan stamps. Download the FaveCard app on your phone to scan customer cards.
5. Watch returns. Check your dashboard to see who is coming back and how often.

For a full step-by-step walkthrough, see our guide to creating a loyalty programme.

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Frequently Asked Questions