Shopify Loyalty App Pricing Compared: What 12 Apps Cost at 1,000 to 50,000 Members

A loyalty program is meant to pay for itself. Yet the app running it often gets expensive faster than repeat revenue grows. A plan that cost $15 at launch jumps a tier after one good quarter, puts VIP tiers behind a $199 upgrade, or bills overage in your busiest month. Shopify loyalty app pricing runs on order counts and feature gates that rarely match how merchants budget. This guide works out how much a loyalty app really costs at four store sizes.

Apps are ranked on cost per unlocked feature at real order volumes. Headline price and install count don’t decide the order.

Key highlights

• Love Loyalty, Smile.io and Rivo lead this ranking. Love Loyalty includes VIP tiers, Shopify POS and paid memberships at $79 a month, where Smile.io charges $199 for tiers alone.
• Ten of these 12 apps bill on total Shopify orders, so guest checkouts count toward your plan.
• Median monthly cost across all 12: $15 at 1,000 members, about $176 at 5,000, about $225 at 10,000 and about $600 at 50,000.
• A 2,000-order Black Friday spike adds $0 on Love Loyalty Plus or BON Growth, and $400 on Smile.io Growth.

How we picked and verified these apps

Advertised starting rates rarely match the line items on an active merchant’s monthly bill. To uncover the true total cost of ownership, we evaluated 12 of the most installed and highest-rated loyalty solutions across four merchant growth profiles. Every price, order cap and rating below was checked against the live App Store listing.

• First-party billing audits: live pricing matrices, order caps and overage clauses across App Store listings, vendor pricing pages and developer documentation.
• Standardized volume modelling: member pools converted into monthly store transactions on a stated DTC baseline, so apps with conflicting billing metrics compare on the same basis.
• Feature-gate tracking: the exact financial threshold that opens VIP tiers, native Shopify POS and checkout extensibility.
• Code architecture assessment: theme impact, where program data is stored, and support for headless and Checkout UI extensions.
• Merchant review consensus: complaint patterns taken from Magicbean’s study of 3,410 Shopify loyalty app reviews, which coded every written one- and two-star review by hand.

Pricing stays quiet until something goes wrong with it. Magicbean’s study found pricing in only 7.7% of written loyalty app reviews, but in 43.3% of one- and two-star reviews, 5.6 times as often. Among merchants who did raise price, 30% called it too expensive, 29% had trouble with charges, refunds or cancelling, and 25% hit a feature locked behind a higher plan or an order limit.

For a wider view of which app suits which store, start with our guide to the best Shopify loyalty apps.

Why budgeting a loyalty app by members gets the cost wrong

Your dashboard counts members. Your invoice counts orders. Most loyalty budgets go wrong in that gap.

What is the ghost tax on loyalty apps?

The ghost tax is the share of your bill driven by customers who never touch the program: guest checkouts, seasonal buyers and shoppers who never sign in. Rivo’s help centre states that usage is based on monthly orders processed through Shopify, whatever the loyalty participation. BON’s documentation says it counts every order on every sales channel, including canceled and refunded ones. Rise.ai defines a store order as any order created in your store, including ones that never touch a gift card.

The effect shows up one tier early. Smile.io’s Standard plan covers 1,000 orders for $79, which sounds right for a 5,000-member store. That store actually processes around 1,250 orders and needs Growth at $199, roughly two and a half times the budget.

How many orders does a program with 1,000 members generate?

Because loyalty apps bill by orders while merchants plan by members, we built a standardized DTC baseline model for this comparison. We assume an active loyalty member purchases an average of 1.8 to 2.4 times per year (about 0.16 orders a month), and that guest checkouts and first-time buyers account for roughly 45% of total store transactions. This creates an apples-to-apples operational translation across apps with conflicting billing models.

• 1,000 members: 150 to 300 orders a month
• 5,000 members: 1,000 to 1,500 orders a month
• 10,000 members: 2,000 to 3,000 orders a month
• 50,000 members: 8,000 to 12,000+ orders a month

Every cost below uses the midpoint: 250, 1,250, 2,500 and 10,000 orders.

Shopify loyalty app pricing at 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 50,000 members

Each cell is the cheapest plan that covers that order volume, overage included. The VIP column is often a pricier plan than the one in the cost columns.

#	App	Billing basis	Free plan cap	1,000 members (~250 orders)	5,000 (~1,250)	10,000 (~2,500)	50,000 (~10,000)	Cheapest plan with VIP tiers	Overage policy
1	Love Loyalty	Orders	150 orders	$12/mo	$79/mo	~$154/mo	$399/mo	$79/mo (Growth)	$15 per 100 on Growth, none on Plus
2	Smile	Orders	200 orders	$15/mo	$199/mo	$199/mo	~$1,124/mo (annual)	$199/mo (Growth)	Hard caps on lower plans, then $20 or $5 per 100
3	Rivo	Orders, 250K participant cap	200 orders	$15/mo	~$219/mo	~$469/mo	Custom quote	$49/mo (Scale)	$20 per 100, capped at $499/mo
4	LoyaltyLion	Orders	~400 orders	$0	~$274/mo	~$399/mo	$2,500–$5,000+/mo	Classic + paid add-on	No self-serve fee, plan renegotiated
5	Yotpo Loyalty	Orders	100 orders	$199/mo	~$324/mo	~$449/mo	~$849/mo	Premium (custom quote)	$0.20, then $0.10, then $0.05 per order
6	Joy Loyalty	Orders	150–250 orders	$0	$129/mo	~$179/mo	~$649/mo	$129/mo (Advanced)	$15, $10 or $5 per 100 by plan
7	BON Loyalty	All orders, all channels	150 orders	$15/mo	$129/mo	$129/mo	$129/mo	$129/mo (Growth)	None on Growth (unlimited)
8	Appstle Loyalty	Orders	250 orders	$0	$30/mo	$100/mo	~$350/mo	$30/mo (Business)	$0.05 per order above 5,000
9	Growave:	Orders	100/mo, 500 lifetime	$15/mo	$165/mo	~$349/mo	$999/mo	$199/mo (Growth)	$20, $15 or $10 per 100 by plan
10	Rise.ai	Total store orders	None	~$50/mo	~$187/mo	~$250/mo	$599.99/mo	Store credit model, no tiers	$0.20 to $0.05 per order by plan
11	Stamped	Orders, per module	None	$299/mo	$299/mo	$299/mo	Custom quote	$299/mo (Loyalty 5k)	Removed in June 2025
12	Gameball	Monthly redeemable customers	100 customers	$34/mo	$159/mo	$159/mo	~$259/mo (est.)	$34/mo (Starter)	$0.02 per rewarded customer over plan

Three plans put a ceiling on the bill: Love Loyalty Plus and BON Growth with unlimited orders, and Rivo Scale capped at $499. Everything else scales with volume. VIP tiers run from $30 on Appstle to a sales call on Yotpo, with seven of the 12 charging at least $79 before tiers switch on. If tiers are the feature forcing your upgrade, compare the loyalty apps with VIP tiers and points expiry before you pick a plan.

What each Shopify loyalty app costs as your store grows

Each block opens with the pricing detail that matters most for that app. Review-study figures come from Magicbean’s results by app.

1. Love Loyalty: Best feature-to-dollar ratio at scale

Love Loyalty puts VIP tiers, Shopify POS and paid memberships on one $79 plan, and its $399 tier is the cheapest unlimited-order plan that includes checkout extensions and API access.

Cost/members at 1k: $12 (Professional) | 5k: $79 (Growth) | 10k: ~$154 (Growth) | 50k: $399 (Plus)

The ladder opens early. Free covers points, in-cart redemption and referrals. Professional at $12 adds POS, a loyalty page and Klaviyo. Growth at $79 adds VIP tiers, paid memberships and B2B loyalty, where Smile charges $199 for tiers alone. Program data sits in Shopify metafields, so no heavy external widget lands on your theme. Growth charges $15 per 100 orders past 2,000, which makes Plus cheaper at about 4,100 orders a month.

Where the bill bites:

• Paid memberships carry a 1.8% transaction fee on Growth and 0.8% on Plus.
• The free plan covers 150 orders, the lowest free cap here.
• Nothing sits between $79 and $399, and Appstle undercuts it at 5,000 and 10,000 members.

It holds the Built for Shopify badge and a 5.0 rating from a small review base. In Magicbean’s study, 13 of its 14 pricing mentions were praise and it drew no one- or two-star reviews in the 24-month window. Best for 1,000 to 10,000 members wanting tiers and POS without a $199 plan. Full breakdown in our Love Loyalty review.

2. Smile.io: Low entry floor, steep enterprise cliff

Smile.io is cheap below 1,000 orders a month and expensive above 2,500, because the only plan past Growth is $999, billed annually.

Cost/members at 1k: $15 (Essential) | 5k: $199 (Growth) | 10k: $199 (Growth) | 50k: ~$1,124 (Plus)

The trap sits at exactly 1,000 orders. Standard covers 1,000 for $79 and the next plan is Growth at $199, so order number 1,001 costs $120 a month. The lower plans use hard caps with a grace period instead of overage, so you’re told at the start of the next month and have until its end to upgrade. Past Growth’s 2,500 orders, overage runs $20 per 100, the steepest rate here. Shopify POS works from the free plan up.

Where the bill bites:

• VIP tiers, points expiry and checkout redemption all start on Growth at $199. API access needs Plus.
• Integrations are capped at one on Essential and two on Standard.
• Advanced multi-location POS routing is reported to need the $999 Plus tier.

Smile has the largest review base in the category and the Built for Shopify badge. It also drew the most one- and two-star reviews of the 25 apps Magicbean studied (24), with support and pricing the top two complaints. One merchant wrote of being “forced to pay $199/mo FOREVER or Cancel” (Einstein’s Attic Madison, 1★, 2 May 2026). Best for stores under 1,000 orders, or those with volume to justify $199. More detail in our Smile.io review.

3. Rivo: Developer-friendly with a $499 spend cap

Rivo’s Scale plan never bills more than $499 a month, which makes it the most predictable mid-volume option here.

Cost/members at 1k: $15 (Essential) | 5k: ~$219 (Scale) | 10k: ~$469 (Scale) | 50k: custom (Enterprise)

Scale includes 400 orders for $49, then $20 per 100, with a hard $499 ceiling. The $49 headline misleads a growing store, since the meter has added $170 by 1,250 orders. What the cap buys is certainty, because no spike produces a five-figure surprise. VIP tiers, referrals and points expiry all start at $49, undercutting Smile by $150. Plus at $499 adds checkout extensions and the Rivo Developer Toolkit.

Where the bill bites:

• Plus stops at 2,500 orders, so 50,000 members means an Enterprise quote with no published midpoint.
• Free and Essential are points only, with no referrals.
• The listing carries no Built for Shopify badge.

Rivo bills month to month. Half its pricing mentions in Magicbean’s study were complaints, 3 of 6, and it had the fourth-most one- and two-star reviews (16). Best for stores under 2,500 orders wanting early tiers and a known ceiling. See our Rivo review.

4. LoyaltyLion: Free entry to 400 orders, quoted beyond

LoyaltyLion is free under 400 orders a month and $199 from 500, and every plan above Classic is priced by sales call.

Cost/members at 1k: $0 (Free) | 5k: ~$274 (Classic) | 10k: ~$399 (Classic) | 50k: $2,500–$5,000+ (custom)

Classic’s price climbs in a straight line, from $199 at 500 orders to $549 at 4,000. There’s no self-serve per-order overage. Exceed your agreed band by more than 25% over three consecutive months and LoyaltyLion starts a mandatory renegotiation, which protects you through one Black Friday and costs you leverage afterwards. Merchants on custom annual contracts report roughly 20% increases at renewal.

Where the bill bites:

• VIP tiers are a Classic add-on, reported at $150 to $200 a month, or included with Advanced at $399 to $729.
• POS covers one location on Classic. Multiple locations need Advanced.
• Checkout redemption is limited to Shopify Plus stores, and paid plans are annual.

LoyaltyLion’s reviews mention setup more than any other app in Magicbean’s study (48.6%), and 54% of its support praise is about setup or migration help. Pricing is its weak spot, with 4 of 9 pricing mentions being complaints, one merchant calling “the price increases are outrageous” (Avernic Smoke Shop, 1★, 15 Nov 2025). Best for $2M+ brands with a retention team to use the analytics. See our LoyaltyLion review.

5. Yotpo Loyalty: Tier-locked behind custom contracts

Yotpo keeps VIP tiers on its custom-quoted Premium plan, so $199 buys a points program without tiers.

Cost/members at 1k: $199 (Pro) | 5k: ~$324 (Pro) | 10k: ~$449 (Pro) | 50k: ~$849 (Pro)

The free plan stops at 100 orders a month, so a 1,000-member store already pays $199. Pro includes 500 orders, then charges $0.20 per order, dropping to $0.10 and $0.05 as volume rises. That free tier is better than its reputation, with points, referrals with fraud prevention, Shopify POS and an ROI dashboard. The bundle argument has narrowed, though. Yotpo discontinued Subscriptions on 31 May 2025 and closed native Email and SMS on 31 December 2025, cutting around 200 roles, about 34% of staff.

Where the bill bites:

• Tiers, free-product rewards and a success manager sit on Premium with no public price.
• Premium volume is reviewed at renewal, so a strong year raises next year’s bill.

Yotpo is the app merchants name most often as the one they left, and 4 of its 5 pricing mentions in Magicbean’s study were complaints. It also has the highest support mention rate of the 25 apps (86.3%), which cuts both ways. Best for brands already paying for Yotpo Reviews, which is now the whole bundle. See our Yotpo Loyalty review.

6. Joy Loyalty: Flexible usage tiers with recent repricing

Joy raised Essential from $24.99 to $29 and Advanced from $99 to $129 this year, and still charges one of the lowest overage rates at scale.

Cost/members at 1k: $0 (Starter) | 5k: $129 (Advanced) | 10k: ~$179 (Advanced) | 50k: ~$649 (Ultimate)

Essential stops paying off at about 1,170 orders, where its $15-per-100 overage catches up with Advanced’s flat $129. Advanced is where the useful features live: VIP tiers, B2B tiers, the POS extension, paid memberships and cart-drawer redemption. Joy added free white-glove migration on Advanced and Ultimate in May 2026.

Where the bill bites:

• The free Starter plan caps completed referral orders at 30 a month, and Essential at 100.
• Checkout extensions need Ultimate at $499 and a Shopify Plus store.
• The listing shows 150 free orders and Joy’s pricing page shows 250. One merchant reported it as a lifetime cap, writing that “the free plan is NOT 150 monthly orders, it is 150 LIFETIME orders” (Blue Aster LLC, 1★, 1 Apr 2025), so confirm the terms before you plan around them.

Best for small stores that will move to Advanced past about 1,200 orders. See our Joy Loyalty review.

7. BON Loyalty: Unlimited orders on a $129 flat bill

BON’s Growth plan includes unlimited monthly orders for $129, which makes it the cheapest app here at 50,000 members by a wide margin.

Cost/members at 1k: $15 (Starter) | 5k: $129 (Growth) | 10k: $129 (Growth) | 50k: $129 (Growth)

The ladder runs Free at 150 orders, Starter $15 for 300, Basic $29 for 500 with POS, then Growth with no cap. VIP and B2B tiers come with Growth, and API access sits on an Enterprise plan by request. BON supports 250+ languages at once across its widget and emails, which is why cross-border brands land on it. Two mechanics matter. BON counts every order, including canceled and refunded ones, and capped plans carry no overage because the program stops awarding points until the next cycle.

Where the bill bites:

• No paid memberships at any tier.
• Fewer enterprise marketing integrations than LoyaltyLion or Rivo.

BON holds the Built for Shopify badge, and none of its 142 support mentions in Magicbean’s study was a complaint. It drew 3 one- or two-star reviews across 24 months, and all 10 of its pricing mentions were praise. Best for high-volume and international stores wanting a flat bill. See our BON Loyalty review.

8. Appstle Loyalty: Low-cost VIP tiers on a budget

Appstle is the budget pick here, at $30 for 5,000 members and $100 for 10,000, with plainer design as the trade-off.

Cost/members at 1k: $0 (Free) | 5k: $30 (Business) | 10k: $100 (Business Premium) | 50k: ~$350 (Business Premium)

Free covers 250 orders, Starter $10 covers 500 with POS, Business $30 covers 2,000 and opens the VIP program and points expiry, and Business Premium $100 covers 5,000 with checkout redemption for Plus stores. Past 5,000 orders it charges $0.05 each, the lowest rate here, on a $100 base rather than $499. Annual billing saves 20%.

Where the bill bites:

• Widget themes and colour settings come on Starter, but layout reordering and branded email styling need custom CSS and raw HTML, with no drag-and-drop builder.
• Paid memberships live in a separate Appstle app, so a second dashboard and a second bill.

Appstle had no one- or two-star reviews in Magicbean’s 24-month window, and 83.2% of its written reviews mention support. Best for cost-first stores up to about 10,000 members.

9. Growave: Multi-feature bundle for small stores

Growave costs more than a standalone loyalty app at every band, and only pays off when it replaces separate reviews and wishlist tools.

Cost/members at 1k: $15 (Entry) | 5k: $165 (Entry) | 10k: ~$349 (Growth) | 50k: $999 (Unlimited)

Entry at $15 covers 500 orders and bundles points, referrals with fraud protection, photo reviews, a wishlist and Shopify POS. The climb after that is steep. Growth at $199 covers 1,500 orders and adds VIP tiers, the POS loyalty QR and gift cards. Plus at $499 covers 3,000 and adds checkout extensions and headless API access.

Where the bill bites:

• Entry overage is $20 per 100, and Growave caps that plan at 1,500 orders for $215.
• Integrations are capped at one on Entry and three on Growth.
• The free plan allows 100 orders a month and pauses after 500 total orders.
• Two of its 8 one- and two-star reviews in Magicbean’s study describe billing after removal, one merchant asking “I uninstalled but was charged $125?” (RunnersWorld Tulsa, 1★, 6 Mar 2025).

Best for stores cutting three or four retention apps to one bill. See our Growave review.

10. Rise.ai: Store credit pricing on total store volume

Rise.ai rewards customers in store credit and gift cards, and bills on every store order whether or not credit was involved.

Cost/members at 1k: ~$50 (Starter) | 5k: ~$187 (Small Business) | 10k: ~$250 (Pro) | 50k: $599.99 (Premium)

The ladder is Starter $19.99 for 100 orders at $0.20 each after, Small Business $59.99 for 400 at $0.15, Pro $199.99 for 2,000 at $0.10 and Premium $599.99 for 12,000 at $0.05. Rise.ai’s help centre confirms the counting rule: a store order is any order created in your store, including orders that never touch a gift card.

Where the bill bites:

• Overage applies to every order, including ones where no credit was redeemed.
• There are no point challenges, gamified earning rules or VIP tiers.
• Pricing comes up in 15.3% of its written reviews, twice the category average, and 6 of its 11 pricing mentions are complaints.

Best for brands that already sell gift cards and want cashback mechanics. If that model appeals, compare the Rise.ai alternatives.

11. Stamped: Module-based flat billing with no overage

Stamped sells Reviews and Loyalty as separate modules, and the published loyalty plan starts at $299 a month.

Cost/members at 1k: $299 (Loyalty 5k) | 5k: $299 | 10k: $299 | 50k: custom quote

That $299 plan covers up to 5,000 monthly orders with earning rules, on-site widgets, email and SMS templates and basic analytics. Reviews are priced separately at $23 for 200 orders, $99 for 1,000 and $199 for 5,000, so a brand wanting both lands near $498. Stamped removed overage fees in June 2025, which makes the bill predictable inside a band.

Where the bill bites:

• The listing shows no free loyalty plan and no trial, and loyalty is thin without Stamped Reviews alongside it.
• Reliability is its most-mentioned issue. It has the highest reliability mention rate of the 25 apps in Magicbean’s study (39.4%), and 11 of its 17 pricing mentions are complaints.
• It drew the second-most one- and two-star reviews (22), 10 of them about bugs.

Best for brands where reviews drive retention and loyalty is the add-on. See our Stamped Loyalty review.

12. Gameball: Billed on active rewarded users instead of orders

Gameball is the one app here that bills on monthly redeemable customers, which makes it cheap at high order volume and hard to forecast.

Cost/members at 1k: $34 (Starter) | 5k: $159 (Pro) | 10k: $159 (Pro) | 50k: ~$259 (Pro, estimated)

Free Forever covers 100 monthly redeemable customers and includes points, referrals and Shopify POS, the cheapest route to in-store loyalty here. Starter at $34 caps at 1,000 orders and opens 5 VIP tiers and the spin wheel, the second-cheapest tier entry after Appstle. Pro at $159 adds unlimited tiers, checkout embeds and RFM segments, covers 5,000 rewarded customers and charges $0.02 for each one beyond that.

Where the bill bites:

• A successful campaign raises the bill, since engagement is the billing metric.
• API access is a $199 add-on on top of Pro, and arcade mechanics clash with luxury positioning.
• Only 16 of its reviews fall inside Magicbean’s study window, so there’s less merchant evidence than for the larger apps.

Best for brands with a young audience that will play along with challenges and badges.

Which loyalty apps include referrals on the free plan?

Smile.io, Love Loyalty, Yotpo, BON, Appstle and Gameball all include referrals at no cost, and Yotpo adds fraud prevention and email flows on its free tier. Joy includes referrals on free Starter but caps completed referral orders at 30 a month, rising to 100 on Essential and unlimited from Advanced. Three apps charge for them: Rivo from $49, Growave from $15, and LoyaltyLion from $199. Our roundup of the best free Shopify loyalty apps covers what each free tier includes, and the best Shopify referral apps compares referral features on their own.

Which loyalty apps support POS on cheap plans?

Omnichannel stores need points syncing both ways between Shopify POS and the online store, and several apps charge well above their entry price for it.

App	POS on free plan?	Cheapest plan with POS	Multi-location support	Wallet passes
Love Loyalty	No	Professional ($12/mo)	Yes	Apple and Google, on Growth ($79)
Smile.io	Yes	Free ($0)	Advanced routing reported on Plus ($999)	No
Rivo	No	Essential ($15/mo)	3 locations on Scale, unlimited on Plus	No
LoyaltyLion	No	Classic ($199/mo), single location	Advanced (custom quote)	No
Yotpo Loyalty	Yes	Free ($0)	Yes	No
Joy Loyalty	No	Advanced ($129/mo)	Yes	Apple and Google, on Advanced ($129)
BON Loyalty	No	Basic ($29/mo)	Basic	No
Appstle Loyalty	No	Starter ($10/mo)	Yes	No
Growave	No	Entry ($15/mo), QR on Growth	Yes	No
Gameball	Yes	Free ($0)	Yes	No

POS barely registers in merchant reviews. It appears in under 3% of written reviews for every app in Magicbean’s study, so test it on your own counter rather than trusting review volume. Our list of the best Shopify loyalty apps for POS goes deeper on in-store setup.

What hidden costs do Shopify loyalty apps charge?

Four costs never appear in a plan’s headline price, and each can change which app is cheapest for you.

The overage trap index

Size your plan for your busiest month. Here’s what 2,000 extra orders in November adds:

App and plan	Orders included	Overage rate	Cost of 2,000 extra orders
Love Loyalty Plus	Unlimited	None	$0
BON Growth	Unlimited	None	$0
Smile.io Plus	7,500	$5 per 100	$100
Joy Ultimate	7,000	$5 per 100	$100
Appstle Business Premium	5,000	$0.05 per order	$100
Joy Advanced	2,000	$10 per 100	$200
Rise.ai Pro	2,000	$0.10 per order	$200
Yotpo Pro	500	$0.20, then $0.10 per order	$250
Love Loyalty Growth	2,000	$15 per 100	$300
Growave Growth	1,500	$15 per 100	$300
Smile.io Growth	2,500	$20 per 100	$400
Rivo Scale	400	$20 per 100, capped at $499	$400

Two plans charge nothing extra and most of the rest fall between $5 and $10 per 100 orders. Smile’s lower plans and BON’s capped plans bill no overage and pause features, trading a surprise charge for a program that stops rewarding purchases mid-season.

The VIP tier paywall

The master table carries the cheapest plan with tiers for every app. The spread runs from $30 on Appstle and $34 on Gameball to $199 on Smile and Growave. LoyaltyLion sells them as a Classic add-on reported at $150 to $200 a month, and Yotpo won’t quote tiers without a sales call.

Checkout extensibility and Shopify Plus gates

Shopify turned off checkout.liquid for the information, shipping and payment pages on 13 August 2024, and for the thank-you and order status pages on 28 August 2025, including apps using script tags. Loyalty redemption inside Shopify Plus checkout now runs through Checkout UI extensions. The cheapest published route is Appstle at $100, and the cheapest unlimited-order route is Love Loyalty at $399. Rivo, Growave and Joy each want $499. Plus merchants weighing these gates should also read our list of the best loyalty apps for Shopify Plus.

Points breakage and balance-sheet liability

The Antavo Global Customer Loyalty Report 2026 found that 26.2% of loyalty points go unspent and 11.9% expire unspent, an estimated $10 billion a year in the US alone. Unexpired points sit on your books as a liability, so expiry rules matter. Love Loyalty includes them at $12 and BON at $15, while Smile, Yotpo and Growave hold expiry back until their $199 plans. Setting the earn rate is the other half of that math, which our guide to loyalty points per dollar covers.

What a loyalty app costs over 12 months

Merchants budget in years, and vendors quote in months. Annual billing changes the picture for several apps, and the gap between the cheapest and dearest option widens sharply with volume.

App	1,000 members	5,000 members	10,000 members	50,000 members
Love Loyalty	$144	$948	$1,848	$4,788
Smile.io	$180	$2,388	$2,388	$13,488
Rivo	$180	$2,628	$5,628	Custom
LoyaltyLion	$0	$3,288	$4,788	$30,000–$60,000
Yotpo Loyalty	$2,388	$3,888	$5,388	$10,188
Joy Loyalty	$0	$1,548	$2,148	$7,788
BON Loyalty	$180	$1,548	$1,548	$1,548
Appstle Loyalty	$0	$360	$1,200	$4,200
Growave	$180	$1,980	$4,188	$11,988
Rise.ai	$600	$2,250	$3,000	$7,200
Stamped	$3,588	$3,588	$3,588	Custom
Gameball	$408	$1,908	$1,908	~$3,108

Figures are 12 times the monthly cost at each band, before annual discounts. Four apps cut the bill if you pay yearly: Appstle and Growave at 20%, BON at 20% on Growth, and Smile’s Plus plan is annual-only at $13,488. At 50,000 members the spread runs from about $1,548 on BON to about $13,488 on Smile, a difference of roughly $12,000 a year for the same core program.

The annual contract trap: While annual billing trims around 20% off plans from Appstle, Growave, or BON, lock-in cuts both ways. If your order volume drops during a slow quarter or if an app’s script slows your theme during peak season, you surrender all pricing leverage and cannot downgrade or switch without absorbing the remaining contract value.

Unless your monthly volume is completely stable, test the app on month-to-month billing through at least one major holiday rush first.

What changed in Shopify loyalty app pricing in 2026

Five of these 12 apps repriced this year, and the direction was not uniform.

• Joy raised Essential from $24.99 to $29 and Advanced from $99 to $129, while increasing its free order allowance.
• Growave cut Entry from $49 to $15 a month for the same 500 orders, the largest reduction in the group.
• Smile.io replaced its old $49 Starter plan with $15 and $79 tiers, lowering the entry point and leaving the $199 and $999 steps untouched.
• Stamped removed overage fees in June 2025 and moved to module pricing, so loyalty now starts at $299.
• BON restructured around an unlimited-order Growth plan, though its listing and pricing page have shown different figures for it during the year.

The pattern is that entry prices are falling while mid-tier prices hold or rise. That widens the jump merchants hit when they cross an order cap, which is the single most common pricing complaint in Magicbean’s review study.

How do you switch loyalty apps without losing points balances?

All 12 apps support CSV imports of customers and point balances, so a switch is a data job rather than a rebuild. Magicbean’s study found that 86% of merchants who described switching praised the migration help they got, while only 22% mentioned cost savings, so the quality of the handover matters more than the discount.

• Export a customer CSV with email addresses, point balances and VIP tier status. Our guide to moving loyalty points between Shopify apps covers the fields each app expects.
• Install the new app in draft mode, import the CSV and check test accounts before publishing the widget.
• Announce the switch through Klaviyo as a program upgrade.
• Use assisted migration where it’s included. Love Loyalty migrates balances from Smile, LoyaltyLion and Yotpo free inside 24 hours, Joy includes it on Advanced and Ultimate, Rivo on Plus, and Smile only on Plus and Enterprise. Self-serve import tools cover Smile, Joy, BON, Appstle, Gameball, Growave and Stamped.

Leaving Smile is the most common move of all, and our walkthrough on migrating from Smile.io without losing points handles the balance mapping step by step.

Which loyalty app fits your store?

Fast-growing DTC brand, 1,000 to 10,000 members. Love Loyalty at $79 covers VIP tiers, POS and paid memberships, rising to about $154 at 10,000 members. Appstle costs $30 and $100 if plainer widgets are acceptable.

High-volume or Shopify Plus merchant, 50,000+ members. BON Growth at $129 is cheapest by a distance, without memberships or checkout extensions. Love Loyalty Plus at $399 is the cheapest unlimited plan with both, plus API access. LoyaltyLion is the pick for Klaviyo depth at contract pricing.

Cross-border global merchant. BON runs 250+ languages at once across its widget and emails, with LoyaltyLion’s 130+ language auto-translation on Advanced the next closest.

App minimalist or stack consolidator. Growave puts loyalty, reviews, wishlist and UGC on one bill, worth the premium only when you cancel at least two other apps.

Stores under 500 orders a month have a shorter list to work from, covered in our guide to loyalty apps for small Shopify stores.

Other loyalty apps we checked

• Nector runs loyalty, referrals and reviews from $49 a month, with VIP tiers and API access on its $349 Premium plan. Retail setups need custom onboarding.
• Tada handles gamified pop-ups and email capture, but it’s top-of-funnel and has no VIP tiers.
• S Loyalty is lightweight and long-established, but lacks checkout extensibility and advanced Klaviyo triggers.

So which loyalty app should you pay for?

Love Loyalty leads because $79 buys tiers, POS and memberships that cost $199 or a sales call elsewhere, and $399 buys unlimited orders with checkout extensions. Smile.io is the safest choice on track record and free-plan POS. Rivo gives developer access with a hard $499 ceiling. If price alone decides, Appstle wins to 10,000 members and BON at 50,000. Price it at next year’s order volume, not this month’s member count.

Frequently asked questions

Do Shopify loyalty apps charge per active member or per store order?

Most charge per store order. Smile.io, Love Loyalty, Rivo, LoyaltyLion, Joy, BON and Appstle all price on monthly Shopify order volume, which includes guest checkouts from shoppers who never joined. Gameball bills on monthly redeemable customers, and Stamped prices by module with unlimited orders.

What is the most cost-effective loyalty app for a store with 5,000 members?

Love Loyalty at $79 a month gives the most features per dollar at 5,000 members, covering VIP tiers, Shopify POS and paid memberships. Appstle costs $30 with simpler design and no memberships. Smile.io and Growave both cost $199 to reach VIP tiers.

What happens if my store exceeds its order cap during Black Friday?

It depends on the plan. Usage plans bill overage, so 2,000 extra orders cost $400 on Smile.io Growth and $300 on Love Loyalty Growth. Capped plans such as Smile’s lower tiers and BON’s Free and Basic pause features instead. Love Loyalty Plus and BON Growth charge nothing.

Is a free loyalty app viable for a brand with 1,000 members?

Yes, for points and referrals. A 1,000-member brand processes roughly 250 orders a month, which fits the free plans on LoyaltyLion (400 orders) and Appstle (250). VIP tiers and a loyalty page cost extra, from $12 a month on Love Loyalty.

Is annual billing cheaper for Shopify loyalty apps?

Sometimes, and on Smile.io’s Plus plan it’s the only option. Appstle and Growave each take 20% off annual plans, and BON discounts Growth by the same amount. Annual billing locks the plan, so a store expecting volume swings is usually better off monthly.

What should I check before committing to a loyalty app plan?

Check three numbers on your own store. Your trailing 12-month order count against the plan cap, the overage rate past that cap, and which plan unlocks the one feature you actually need. In Magicbean’s study, 25% of pricing complaints came from merchants who hit a feature gate after signing up.