# What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for loyalty program software (small businesses) on 2026-10-13

## In short

On 2026-10-13, Claude (Anthropic) with web search was asked "best loyalty program software for small businesses". It named 9 brands; the first six, in order, were Square, Square POS, Loyverse, Marsello, Shopify and BigCommerce.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Question | best loyalty program software for small businesses |
| Asked on | 2026-10-13 |
| Engine | Claude (Anthropic) with web search |
| Model | claude-opus-5 |
| Brands named | 9 |
| Sources cited | 5 |
| Audience | small businesses |
| Coverage | Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included. |
| Last verified | 2026-10-13 |

Page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/loyalty-program-software-small-businesses-2026-10-13
Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

## The answer, as recorded

Asked on 2026-10-13 through Claude (Anthropic) with web search (model claude-opus-5).

> The honest answer is that "best" splits cleanly by *where you sell*, so here's who I'd actually name, in order:
> 
> **If you have a physical storefront (café, salon, retail):**
> 
> 1. **Square Loyalty** - ~$25/location/month, bolted onto Square POS. If you're already on Square, this is the default answer and you should probably stop reading. Points accrue automatically at checkout off the phone number the customer already gives you; no app for them to download, nothing for you to reconcile. The ceiling is low but the floor is high.
> 2. **Loyverse** - free POS with a free built-in loyalty program. Genuinely the best value if you don't have a POS yet and don't want a monthly bill. Catch: no first-party payment processing or hardware, so you're stitching together a card reader yourself.
> 3. **Marsello** - ~$60-299/month, and the one I'd name if you run both a shop *and* a website and want one points balance across them. Several roundups put it at the top overall for exactly that reason. Overkill for a single location.
> 
> **If you sell online (Shopify/BigCommerce):**
> 
> 4. **Smile.io** - free up to 200 orders/month, then roughly $15 up to $999 depending on tier. Points, referrals, VIP tiers, minim

## Brands named, in the order the engine gave

| Position | Brand | How it was named |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Square | mentioned |
| 2 | Square POS | mentioned |
| 3 | Loyverse | mentioned |
| 4 | Marsello | mentioned |
| 5 | Shopify | mentioned |
| 6 | BigCommerce | mentioned |
| 7 | Smile.io | mentioned |
| 8 | LoyaltyLion | mentioned |
| 9 | RaftLabs | mentioned |

## Sources the engine cited

- https://www.merchantmaverick.com/loyverse-vs-square/ (other)
- https://g2.com/products/smile-io/pricing (review)
- https://www.raftlabs.com/blog/best-loyalty-program-software (vendor)
- https://costbench.com/best/loyalty-program-for-small-business (other)
- https://smallbiztrends.com/loyalty-card-software/ (other)

The question page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/loyalty-program-software/small-businesses

Alerts and membership: Answer Watch Pro, 79 USD per month: https://bikoosh.com/answers. Bikoosh is monitoring assistance, not complete protection.

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.