Square Loyalty Alternative for Small Businesses
Square Loyalty
Points are earned automatically on every Square sale – but you need Square POS and a paid Square Plus plan for each location.
Stempely
A digital punch card that sits next to any register. Customers scan a QR code with their phone camera. Free for up to 25 customers.
Both are good tools. The right one depends on which register you use and how much you want to spend.
What is the best Square Loyalty alternative? Stempely is the best Square Loyalty alternative for small businesses that don’t run on Square or don’t want to pay for Square Plus just for loyalty. It is a digital punch card that works alongside any register: customers scan a QR code with their phone camera (or tap an NFC tag) and save the card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. It is free for up to 25 customers with every feature, and Premium costs $14.99 per month.
Square and Square Loyalty are trademarks of Block, Inc. Stempely is not affiliated with Block, Inc. Competitor details are taken from Square’s public website as of October 2026.
The short version
Square Loyalty vs. Stempely at a glance
Square Loyalty is not sold on its own. As of October 2026 it is part of the paid Square plans, which are billed per location. Stempely is a standalone loyalty program, so the cost doesn’t depend on your point-of-sale system.
$49/mo.
per location for Square Plus, the lowest Square plan that includes Loyalty (as of October 2026)
$0
for Stempely with every feature for up to 25 customers – no trial, no time limit
5 min
to set up a Stempely punch card – no new hardware, no POS migration
What studies show: According to Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer costs 5–25x more than retaining an existing one. A loyalty program only pays off if customers actually join it. That is why the sign-up step – phone number at checkout or a QR code scan – matters as much as the price.
Square Loyalty vs. Stempely: feature and pricing comparison
Square figures as of October 2026, taken from squareup.com. Check Square’s pricing page for the latest numbers.
| Criterion | Square Loyalty | Stempely |
|---|---|---|
| Price for one location | Included in Square Plus at $49/mo per location | $0 up to 25 customers, then $14.99/mo |
| Free plan | No – Square Free ($0/mo) does not include Loyalty | Yes – free forever, every feature, up to 25 customers |
| Free trial | 30 days on Square Plus and Square Premium | Not needed – the free plan has no time limit |
| Point-of-sale requirement | Runs on Square POS, Square Invoices and Square Online | None – works next to any register, POS or cash box |
| How customers join | Enter their phone number at checkout | Scan a QR code with the phone camera – no phone number required |
| How rewards are earned | Automatically with each Square sale – per visit, amount spent, item or category | One stamp per QR scan or NFC tap, with a limit you set (e.g. once per day) |
| Where the customer keeps the card | Linked to their phone number | Apple Wallet, Google Wallet or the free Stempely app |
| Customer messaging | Email and text via Square Marketing (Square Plus: first 500 texts free, then 3¢ per text) | Push notifications through the free Stempely app |
| Additional locations | Each location billed at the plan price ($49/mo on Plus) | Premium plus $5/mo per extra location |
| Privacy | See Square’s privacy notice | GDPR-compliant, data hosted in the EU |
Free forever · GDPR-compliant · Set up in 5 minutes
Who Square Loyalty is good for – and who should look elsewhere
Square Loyalty is a points program built into the Square ecosystem. If your register is already Square, it is the path of least resistance: customers type their phone number at checkout and earn points on every purchase, even cash purchases, without staff doing anything extra. You can reward per visit, per dollar spent, per item or by category, and the program shows up in the same dashboard as your sales.
The catch is that Loyalty is not a standalone product. As of October 2026 it comes with Square Plus ($49 per month per location) or Square Premium ($149 per month per location); the free Square plan does not include it. If you are already paying for Square Plus because you use its advanced POS features, Loyalty is effectively included. If you would upgrade only to get a loyalty program, that is $588 a year for a single location.
Stempely is built for the other group: coffee shops, salons, barbers, bakeries and food trucks that use a different POS (Clover, Toast, Lightspeed, Shopify POS, a cash register or a simple card reader) or that just want a digital version of the paper punch card. Nothing has to be connected to your register. You print a QR code or place an NFC tag at the counter, customers scan it, and the stamp lands on the card in their Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
Because stamps are not tied to a payment, Stempely works the same for cash, card or prepaid customers – and for businesses that run more than one register system across locations. The trade-off is that a customer has to scan once per visit instead of being recognized automatically at checkout.
Where Square Loyalty is the better choice
- You already run Square POS and pay for Square Plus or Premium – Loyalty comes with it
- You want points awarded automatically with each payment, with no scan step for the customer
- You want spend-based rewards (points per dollar, per item or per category) rather than a punch card
- You want loyalty, email and text marketing and sales reports in one Square dashboard
Where Stempely is the better choice
- You want to start at $0: every feature is free for up to 25 customers, with no time limit
- You use a register other than Square – or no POS at all – and don’t want to switch
- Customers should join without giving a phone number: one QR scan with the phone camera is enough
- You want the card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, plus an optional free app with push notifications
- You want NFC tags at the counter for a tap-to-stamp experience
- You run several locations and want one card across all of them ($5/mo per extra location on Premium)
- You need GDPR compliance with data hosted in the EU
Your loyalty dashboard
See who comes back – without a POS integration
Stempely’s dashboard shows stamps, redemptions and which regulars haven’t been in for a while, independent of the register you use.
1.281
Gesamtkunden
6.316
Total stamps
3.114
Rewards redeemed
Live
Stamps today
Real dashboard with customer data anonymized.
Switching guide
How to switch from Square Loyalty to Stempely in 4 steps
You can run both side by side for a few weeks, so no regular loses the progress they have already earned.
The yearly math
What a loyalty program costs per year
Square Plus, 1 location
$588/yr
$49 per month per location as of October 2026. Includes Loyalty plus Square’s advanced POS features.
Square Plus, 3 locations
$1,764/yr
The monthly fee applies to each location you run.
Stempely Free
$0
Every feature for up to 25 customers. No credit card, no time limit.
Stempely Premium
$159/yr
Unlimited customers, or $14.99 billed monthly. $5/mo per extra location.
Square Plus is a full POS subscription, not just loyalty – if you use its other features, the comparison is closer than the numbers suggest.
No contract. Cancel Premium anytime.
Choose Your Plan
All features free for up to 25 customers. Then Premium.
Stempely
- Up to 25 customers
- Digital loyalty card
- QR code scanner
- Contactless stamps (NFC)
- Send offers & reminders
- Statistics
- QR code with logo
- Customer list
- More visibility with web
- Priority support
Franchise
- Everything in Premium
- Multiple locations
- Custom terms
- Dedicated account manager
Prices exclude applicable sales tax/VAT.
Square Loyalty alternative: frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Square Loyalty?
Stempely is the best Square Loyalty alternative for small businesses that don’t use Square POS or don’t want to pay for Square Plus only for loyalty. It works with any register, customers join by scanning a QR code with their phone camera, and it is free for up to 25 customers; Premium costs $14.99 per month.
How much does Square Loyalty cost?
As of October 2026, Square Loyalty is included in Square Plus at $49 per month per location and in Square Premium at $149 per month per location. The free Square plan does not include Loyalty, and Square offers a 30-day free trial of Plus and Premium.
Can I use Square Loyalty without Square POS?
No. Square Loyalty awards points through Square’s own sales channels – Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices and Square Online. If you use a different POS, you need a standalone loyalty program such as Stempely, which works next to any register.
Can I use Stempely if I already process payments with Square?
Yes. Stempely is independent of your payment system, so it runs alongside Square, Clover, Toast or a cash register. Customers collect stamps by scanning your QR code or tapping an NFC tag, not through the payment.
Do my customers need to download an app?
No. Customers scan the QR code with their phone camera and save the punch card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. The free Stempely app for iOS and Android is optional and adds push notifications for offers.
Will my customers lose their Square Loyalty points if I switch?
Not if you plan a short transition. Keep Square Loyalty active for a few weeks so customers can redeem existing points, while new visits are stamped on Stempely. Announce a clear end date at the counter.
Is Stempely a points program or a punch card?
Stempely is a digital punch card: customers collect one stamp per visit and get a reward after a number of stamps you choose. If you need points per dollar spent or per item, Square Loyalty’s points model is a better fit.
Keep your register. Add a loyalty program in 5 minutes.
Stempely works next to Square or any other POS. Customers scan, save the card to their phone wallet and come back.
The free plan stays free – up to 25 customers, no time limit.
Create your free punch cardFree-forever plan · Works with any POS · Data hosted in the EU
Also available directly as an app