Sign-up
Does the customer have to install an app, or does the card go straight to their phone?
Comparison
Digital loyalty card software for small businesses: the 2026 comparison
When you set out to launch a digital loyalty card, you quickly land on ten websites that all say the same thing. So we did what we do with our own customers: we looked at three things. How the customer signs up. What happens at the counter. And what it really costs once you add messages, staff and setup.
We publish this comparison, and we are on the list. You guessed it: Cartia comes first, and we’ll tell you why. Prices and features for the other providers come from their public pages, checked on November 1, 2026, with a link so you can verify. This is not an independent test: it’s our selection, made for neighborhood shops.
The nine solutions at a glance
| Software | Public starting price | For the customer | What it does well |
|---|---|---|---|
| CartiaOur pick | Free up to 50 customers, then €29.90 a month, no VAT added | Apple Wallet or Google Wallet card, nothing to install | Win-back messages, staff accounts, export and offline counter included in Pro |
| Passcard | Free up to 30 customers, then €35 excl. VAT a month (€350 excl. VAT a year) | Apple Wallet or Google Wallet | Network plan with a shared card |
| Loyeo | Free up to 100 customers, then €29 excl. VAT a month | Apple Wallet or Google Wallet | WhatsApp and SMS with a quota |
| Zerosix | €49 excl. VAT a month per shop, €190 excl. VAT setup fee | Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, web account | More than 70 integrations, hands-on support |
| Hey Pongo | Quote on request | Wallet, tablet, kiosk, payment terminal or app | More than 80 technology partners |
| Adelya | No public price list | Physical card or Wallet | Plans for networks and chains |
| Fidme Stamps | Free for 1 to 9 shops | Fidme app | Stamp card inside a consumer app |
| SumUp Local | Free, from the SumUp dashboard | SumUp Local app | Points added with every card payment |
| Loopy Loyalty | From $25 a month | Apple Wallet or Google Wallet | Digital stamps, unlimited customers |
Prices are as shown by each provider: some exclude VAT, one is in dollars. A €29 price before VAT and a €29.90 price with no VAT added don’t read the same way, hence the details below.
How we chose
Six questions you can also ask during a demo, with us or anyone else.
The counter
Who uses it, on what device, and what happens when the network drops?
The full price
Subscription, setup, messages, staff accounts.
Win-back messages
Which ones go out on their own, and at what cost.
Commitment
Can you stop whenever you want?
The people behind it
Knowing who’s there when something doesn’t work.
Our pick
Cartia: complete loyalty for an independent shop
Our pick for a neighborhood shop that wants a real loyalty program, without asking customers to install anything.
Here’s how it works with us. The customer scans your shop’s QR code, fills in a short form, and their card lands in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. It takes about a minute. No account to create, no password, no app. You add their points or stamps from the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. See how it works.
A price you can understand
The Free plan goes up to 50 customers, no credit card needed. Pro costs €29.90 a month, with unlimited customers. Business costs €59.90 for three shops, then €10 a month for each extra shop. There are no setup fees. We don’t charge VAT (French small-business exemption, article 293 B of the French tax code): the price you see is the price you pay. Paid yearly, Pro comes to €287.04 a year, or €23.92 a month. And there’s no commitment: you can cancel in one click.
Free
€0
- Up to 50 customers
- No credit card needed
Pro
€29.90a month
- Unlimited customers
- €287.04 a year when paid yearly, or €23.92 a month
Business
€59.90a month
- Three shops
- Then €10 a month per extra shop
- No VAT added
- No setup fees
- No commitment
What Pro includes, with no add-ons:
- Unlimited customers
- Wallet notifications
- Automatic win-back messages
- Accounts for your staff
- Export of your customer list
- The offline counter
Win-back messages sent from the Wallet
Your messages go through the card itself. No text messages to buy, no credits to top up. Four things you can do with Pro or Business:
- Send a notification to all your customers, or to just one group
- Send an automatic message after the first visit
- Win back customers who stop coming (30 days by default)
- Write a message around their date of birth
The counter keeps working without a network
A market, a food truck, a basement, a router that reboots in the middle of service. With Pro and Business, the counter keeps each visit on the device, with its time, and sends it when the network comes back. Cartia rechecks every visit and tells you about any it rejects. You only need to have opened the counter once with internet on the device.
Among the provider pages we read for this article, it’s the only offline mode described.
If you take payments with SumUp
We built a connection with SumUp: when a customer pays by bank card, their points arrive without them taking out their loyalty card. We open it on request, and you decide when to turn it on, once your staff is ready. No card number is stored at Cartia.
Write to us if you’d like to set it up.
Two people, not an anonymous help desk
Cartia is Chhaju and Rania, two people who build the product, design it and answer when something goes wrong. Our names are on our About page, with our names. You can reach us through the chat on the website and in the dashboard, or by email at contact@cartia.fr. Data is hosted in Germany.
Create my Cartia card for free
Up to 50 customers with no credit card. Pro and Business: 14-day free trial, credit card required to activate, no commitment.
The eight other solutions
Passcard: several cards, and one shared card for a network
Worth a look if you run several shops and want a customer to earn in one and redeem in another.
Passcard offers Apple Wallet and Google Wallet cards, a free plan up to 30 customers, then Essentiel at €35 excl. VAT a month (€350 excl. VAT a year) and Pro at €59 excl. VAT a month (€590 excl. VAT a year). The Réseau (network) plan starts at €69 excl. VAT a month for two shops and offers a shared card.
Passcard pricingLoyeo: WhatsApp and SMS in the subscription
If your customers respond better to WhatsApp or text messages, this is the one to look at.
Loyeo offers a Wallet card, a free plan up to 100 customers, then Basic at €29 excl. VAT a month and Pro at €49 excl. VAT a month. Each WhatsApp message or SMS counts as one unit, with 100 units a month on Basic and 300 on Pro. Wallet notifications don’t use any units.
Loyeo pricingZerosix: loyalty connected to your POS
The pick for shops where connecting to the point of sale comes first.
Zerosix lists more than 70 integrations, Wallet cards, SMS campaigns and hands-on support. The public price is €49 excl. VAT a month per shop, plus €190 excl. VAT for setup, with no commitment. SMS and promotions are listed as “consumables not included.”
The Zerosix offerHey Pongo: a setup you build with them
For a broader setup with several sign-up points: tablet, kiosk, payment terminal, QR code or Wallet.
Hey Pongo lists more than 80 partners (POS systems, kiosks, online ordering) and SMS or email campaigns. There is no public price: the offer is quoted on request.
Hey Pongo’s overviewAdelya: for networks and chains
Built for a network with a head office and separate roles.
Adelya offers one platform for independent businesses and another for chains, with a physical card or Wallet, plus campaigns. No price list is public: you have to request a demo.
The offer for independentsFidme Stamps: stamps inside a consumer app
Worth a look if your customers already use the Fidme app.
It’s free for a business with 1 to 9 shops. From 10, the page lists 20 a month excl. VAT, without naming the currency. The customer gets their stamps through the Fidme app, not through Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
The Fidme offerSumUp Local: loyalty tied to your SumUp payments
Worth a look if you already take payments with SumUp.
The program is advertised as free: the customer installs the SumUp Local app, adds their bank card, and earns points or stamps with every payment. Payment processing fees aren’t listed on the program page.
The SumUp programLoopy Loyalty: digital stamps, billed in dollars
Worth a look if you want a simple stamp card with no app for the customer.
Loopy Loyalty offers Starter at $25 a month for one shop, Growth at $69 for three, Ultimate at $95 for ten, with unlimited customers and a 15-day trial. Prices are in dollars, and the page doesn’t say whether they include tax.
Loopy pricingThe details that change the choice
- Wallet doesn’t mean “no app”
- Apple Wallet and Google Wallet are already on the phone. With a Wallet card, your customer installs nothing with your name on it. On some Android phones, Google Wallet has to be downloaded if it isn’t already there.Our Apple and Google Wallet guide
- A notification is not a text message
- A text message goes to a phone number. A Wallet notification is attached to the card and depends on the phone’s permissions. It costs nothing to send with Cartia, but it doesn’t guarantee anyone reads it. A good demo shows you what appears on your customers’ screens, not what’s planned on paper.
- “Offline” means two things
- Showing a card that’s already on the phone and recording a visit at the counter without internet are two different features. Ask every provider: “Can I record a visit without a network on the device that scans?”
- Your customer list belongs to you
- Ask for a sample export before you commit. At Cartia, CSV export is included in Pro. Think about GDPR too: tell your customers, explain what their data is used for, and respect their choice to receive your offers or not.Guidance from the CNIL, France’s data protection authority
Test before you commit
Run this short scenario with each tool. It takes less than an hour.
Create your real card
Your logo, your reward, a rule your staff can explain in one sentence.
Sign up as a customer
On an iPhone and on an Android.
Add a visit, then correct it
From the device that will stay at the counter.
Give a reward
And check the balance.
Turn off the network
And do it again.
Plan your exit
Export your data and read the cancellation terms.
To choose your rule, the guide to building a profitable loyalty program helps you start from your margin and how often customers visit.
Further reading
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Which loyalty software should an independent shop choose?
Cartia is our pick: an Apple Wallet or Google Wallet card, win-back messages, staff accounts and an offline counter, all included in a single subscription at €29.90, with no VAT added. You start free with up to 50 customers, no credit card needed. Compare the plans.
Is there free loyalty software?
Yes. Cartia is free up to 50 customers, Passcard up to 30, Loyeo up to 100. Fidme Stamps is free for 1 to 9 shops, and the SumUp Local program is free for SumUp customers. Every free plan has its limits: check what’s included before you send your first customers.
Do I need to change my POS system?
No, not to get started. You add visits from the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. If you take payments with SumUp, we can connect your checkout so points arrive with the payment. Write to us.
Points or stamps?
Stamps work when every visit has the same value. Points work when amounts vary. The right choice depends on your average spend per visit and how often customers come back, not on how many options the software has.
Can I manage several shops?
Yes. Cartia Business includes three shops, each with its own program, then €10 a month for each extra shop. If you want a single card shared across a whole network, also look at Passcard’s Réseau plan.
Do my customers have to install an app?
Not with a Wallet card: it goes into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Fidme Stamps and SumUp Local, on the other hand, work through their own app.
Does loyalty software guarantee more sales?
No. A card helps your customers come back; it doesn’t replace a good offer or a warm welcome. To measure your program, count sign-ups, repeat visits and rewards given.
Cartia
Launch your card with Cartia
Your first goal isn’t to set up ten campaigns. It’s to have a card your customer understands and your staff knows how to use. Start with a points or stamp program, then add win-back messages, staff accounts and the offline counter when you move to Pro.
Create my loyalty card for free
Up to 50 customers with no credit card. Pro and Business: 14-day free trial, credit card required to activate, no commitment.