What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for loyalty program software (small businesses) on 2026-10-08

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-10-08

Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

The question asked, verbatim: best loyalty program software for small businesses

Brands named, in the order the engine gave

1. Square recommended
   Square Loyalty - my default recommendation if you already use Square for checkout.
2. Google mentioned
   It makes digital stamp cards that live in Apple/Google Wallet, so customers don't download anything.
3. Stamp Me mentioned
   Stamp Me - same idea as Loopy, POS-agnostic, worth a look if you want loyalty owned separately from your checkout hardware and are comparing a couple of stamp-card vendors.
4. Loyverse mentioned
   Loyverse - if you're pre-revenue or very price-sensitive, it's a free POS with loyalty built in.
5. Shopify mentioned
   If you sell online (Shopify/Woo)
6. Smile.io recommended
   Smile.io - the one I'd start with for a Shopify store.
7. Stamped mentioned
   Stamped - the value play once you've outgrown Smile's free plan.
8. Marsello mentioned
   Marsello - the one to graduate to if you're genuinely omnichannel (store and online).
9. RaftLabs mentioned
   (RaftLabs (https://www.raftlabs.com/blog/best-loyalty-program-software))
10. Yotpo mentioned
    The most common expensive mistake is buying an omnichannel platform like Marsello or Yotpo for a business running one channel.

Sources the engine cited

The answer, as recorded

The honest answer is that the right pick depends almost entirely on where you take payment, so here's how I'd rank them with that in mind. ## If you have a physical store/café/salon **1. Square Loyalty** - my default recommendation if you already use Square for checkout. It's the least amount of new work: points accrue automatically at the register off the customer's phone number, no separate app or card for staff to manage. $49/mo per location for up to 500 loyalty visits, $99 for 501-1,500, $149 up to 10,000, with a 30-day trial. The catch is it's useless outside Square's ecosystem, and the per-visit tiers mean a busy single location can jump to $99 fast. ([Square](https://squareup.com/help/article/6382)) **2. Loopy Loyalty** - best if you *don't* want to switch POS or buy hardware. It makes digital stamp cards that live in Apple/Google Wallet, so customers don't download anything. Plans run roughly $25/$69/$95 a month. Rewards logic, reporting, and segmentation are basic - it's a punch card, done well, not a marketing platform. ([Loopy Loyalty blog](https://blog.loopyloyalty.com/?p=1199), [Capterra](https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/loopy-loyalty/)) **3. Stamp Me** - same idea as Loopy, POS-agnostic, worth a look if you want loyalty owned separately from your checkout hardware and are comparing a couple of stamp-card vendors. ([Stamp Me](https://www.stampme.com/blog/stamp-me-vs-square-loyalty-alternative-usa)) **4. Loyverse** - if you're pre-revenue or very price-sensitive, it's a free POS with loyalty built in. You'd be adopting a whole POS to get it, so only relevant if you're choosing one anyway. ## If you sell online (Shopify/Woo) **1. Smile.io** - the one I'd start with for a Shopify store. Genuinely free tier to test the concept, best-in-class setup experience, and the Shopify integration is the most frictionless of the bunch. Paid plans scale up to around $999/mo, and that scaling is the real complaint - it gets expensive as order volume grows. ([G2](https://www.g2.com/compare/smile-io-vs-stamped)) **2. Stamped** - the value play once you've outgrown Smile's free plan. $49/mo with unlimited orders, roughly 70% cheaper than comparable Smile tiers, and it bundles product reviews and UGC. Pick this over Smile if reviews are part of your plan anyway. ([CostBench](https://costbench.com/compare/smile-io-vs-stamped-loyalty/)) **3. Marsello** - the one to graduate to if you're genuinely omnichannel (store *and* online). ~$60-120/mo per site, no order-volume caps, and it unifies loyalty across both. Overkill for a single-channel business. ([RaftLabs](https://www.raftlabs.com/blog/best-loyalty-program-software)) ## What I'd actually do Start with Square Loyalty if you're on Square, or Smile.io's free plan if you're on Shopify - both let you validate that your customers care before you commit budget. The most common expensive mistake is buying an omnichannel platform like Marsello or Yotpo for a business running one channel. One caveat on the numbers: loyalty vendors change pricing often and regionally (Square's Canadian tiers are $60/$100/$140, for instance), so confirm current rates on the vendor's own pricing page before you budget. Also treat the "12-18% lift in member revenue" figures these vendors publish as marketing - they're vendor-sourced, and a chunk of that is usually your already-loyal customers getting discounted rather than new incremental spend. Sources: - [Square Loyalty Pricing](https://squareup.com/help/article/6382) - [Loopy Loyalty - best loyalty app for small business 2026](https://blog.loopyloyalty.com/?p=1199) - [Loopy Loyalty on GetApp](https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/loopy-loyalty/) - [Stamp Me vs Square Loyalty](https://www.stampme.com/blog/stamp-me-vs-square-loyalty-alternative-usa) - [Smile.io vs Stamped (G2)](https://www.g2.com/compare/smile-io-vs-stamped) - [Smile.io vs Stamped Loyalty pricing (CostBench)](https://costbench.com/compare/smile-io-vs-stamped-loyalty/) - [Best loyalty program software 2026 (RaftLabs)](https://www.raftlabs.com/blog/best-loyalty-program-software)

Near this answer

The same question, recorded on other dates: 2026-10-05, 2026-10-04, 2026-10-02, 2026-09-30, 2026-09-26, 2026-09-24, 2026-09-22, 2026-09-20, 2026-09-19, 2026-09-16, 2026-09-14.

loyalty program software, asked for other audiences: agencies (asked 2026-10-08).

Other categories with a recorded answer: affiliate marketing platforms, brand design agencies, content marketing agencies, customer review management software.

Markdown edition · JSON record · the question page, with every recording · Answer Watch · AEO Watch

Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.