# What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for loyalty program software (small businesses) on 2026-10-17

## In short

On 2026-10-17, Claude (Anthropic) with web search was asked "best loyalty program software for small businesses". It named 13 brands; the first six, in order, were Square, Square POS, Smile.io, Shopify, BigCommerce and Marsello.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Question | best loyalty program software for small businesses |
| Asked on | 2026-10-17 |
| Engine | Claude (Anthropic) with web search |
| Model | claude-opus-5 |
| Brands named | 13 |
| Sources cited | 7 |
| Audience | small businesses |
| Coverage | Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included. |
| Last verified | 2026-10-17 |

Page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/loyalty-program-software-small-businesses-2026-10-17
Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

## The answer, as recorded

Asked on 2026-10-17 through Claude (Anthropic) with web search (model claude-opus-5).

> The honest answer is that the "best" one is mostly determined by what you already use to take payments - loyalty works best bolted onto your POS or store platform, not as a separate thing your staff has to remember. Here's who I'd actually name, in order:
> 
> **1. Square Loyalty - the default pick for most brick-and-mortar small businesses.** $25/month per location, and it just turns on inside the Square POS you're already ringing sales through. Customers enroll with a phone number at checkout, points accrue automatically, no extra app or hardware. If you're on Square, stop shopping and use this. ([pricing](https://www.capterra.com/p/276727/Square-Loyalty/alternatives/))
> 
> **2. Smile.io - the default for a small online store (Shopify/BigCommerce).** Genuinely usable free tier, which is rare, so you can launch points and referrals this week at zero cost and only pay as you grow. The catch: the jump from the cheap tiers to Unlimited is steep (up to ~$999/mo), so it's great to start with and worth re-evaluating later. ([pricing](https://www.capterra.com/p/169446/Smile-io/))
> 
> **3. Marsello - best if you sell both in-store and online.** ~$60/month per site for the entry plan, ~$120 for the 

## Brands named, in the order the engine gave

| Position | Brand | How it was named |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Square | mentioned |
| 2 | Square POS | mentioned |
| 3 | Smile.io | mentioned |
| 4 | Shopify | mentioned |
| 5 | BigCommerce | mentioned |
| 6 | Marsello | mentioned |
| 7 | Google | mentioned |
| 8 | Loyverse | mentioned |
| 9 | Stamp Me | recommended |
| 10 | LoyaltyLion | mentioned |
| 11 | Yotpo | mentioned |
| 12 | Kangaroo | mentioned |
| 13 | RaftLabs | mentioned |

## Sources the engine cited

- https://www.capterra.com/p/276727/Square-Loyalty/alternatives/ (review)
- https://www.capterra.com/p/169446/Smile-io/ (review)
- https://costbench.com/best/loyalty-program-for-small-business (other)
- https://blog.loopyloyalty.com/?p=1199 (other)
- https://www.getapp.co.uk/compare/106663/2062466/loyverse-pos/vs/square-loyalty (other)
- https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/stamp-me/ (review)
- https://www.raftlabs.com/blog/top-customer-loyalty-software (vendor)

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.