Best loyalty apps for UK small businesses (2026)

Nine loyalty apps for UK small businesses compared on how customers earn, what they work with, public price and free trial. We make Zeal, one of the nine. Checked 22 Oct 2026.

Omar Ebeid

Co-founder & CEO

Nov 9, 2026

Updated 9 November 2026.

We make Zeal, one of the nine options compared here. The best loyalty app for a UK small business depends on how your customers pay and what you already use to take payments. On Square or SumUp, their own loyalty tools are the simplest start. If you want a stamp card on customers' phones that you can message, a wallet-card service such as Perkstar or Loopy Loyalty fits. If you take card payments on a supported card machine and want returning customers to earn without scanning or showing anything, Zeal adds loyalty to the card machine itself.

How we compared

We make Zeal, one of the options below. We've compared every option on the same criteria using each vendor's own published information, checked on 22 October 2026. For Zeal, we've used our own product information.

Who it suits
How customers join and earn: app, wallet pass, QR scan, phone number, or just pay by card
Which card machines or EPOS it works with
Public price, in the vendor's currency, and whether it is per location
Free trial

We haven't used review scores. Prices may exclude VAT.

Nine loyalty options at a glance

Option	Best for	How customers join and earn	Works with	Public price	Free trial
Stamp Me	Cafés wanting a ready-made stamp card	Stamp Me app (member code can also be saved to a phone wallet); staff scan or customers tap	Stand-alone; own StampPod and StampTag	From £39 a month (Lite, limited-time offer). One location per plan	30 days
Loopy Loyalty	Wallet stamp cards with push and location messages	Add a wallet pass from a QR code or link; staff stamp with an app	Stand-alone; Zapier, Make and API	$25, $69 or $95 a month for 1, 3 or 10 locations (currency not named)	15 days
Perkstar	A low fixed price and wallet cards you can message	Add a wallet card from a QR code or link; staff scan or customers tap	On the Scale plan: Square, Clover, Epos Now, Lightspeed, Loyverse, Shopify POS, SumUp	£15, £30 or £65 a month, one location included; extra locations £10 a month each	7 days
Square Loyalty	Businesses already on Square	Phone number on Square checkout; optional Apple Wallet pass	Square Point of Sale, Online and Invoices	£25, £45 or £65 a month per location, by loyalty visits	30 days
SumUp Loyalty	Businesses already on SumUp	SumUp Local app with a linked payment card, then earn automatically	SumUp card readers and point of sale	Free, according to SumUp's own guide	Not needed
Remy Rewards	Independents wanting a consumer app with local discovery	Remy Rewards app; NFC tap, in-app, or automatic through an EPOS on Growth	On Growth: Square, Epos Now, Goodtill by SumUp, Shopify, Squarespace	£15 or £25 a month per location (£12 or £20 billed annually)	Yes, length not stated
Zeal	Businesses taking card payments on a supported card machine	Just pay by card; new customers can join in a couple of taps on the card machine	Supported card machines from Worldpay, Elavon, Lloyds Cardnet, Adyen, DNA Payments, Viva Wallet and NMI	Talk to us	Talk to us
Embargo	Hospitality venues wanting loyalty and ordering together	Embargo app; place phone on the Embargo device or show a QR code	Lightspeed Restaurant (K-Series and L-Series); says it can integrate into your EPOS	On request	Ask after a demo
LoyaltyLion	Online shops on Shopify	Online account; in store through Shopify POS or an optional wallet pass	Shopify and Shopify POS	From $199 a month (Classic, 500 orders; currency not named); free plan recommended for up to 400 orders a month	14 days

Best if you want a digital stamp card you can launch today

These three tools put a card on the customer's phone and don't need your card machine. For how this model differs from loyalty on the card machine, see Zeal compared with digital stamp-card apps.

Stamp Me

Best for: cafés and independents that want a ready-made digital stamp card with their own stamping tools.
How customers earn: customers join in the Stamp Me app by searching for your business or scanning a QR code, and can also save a member code to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Staff scan the code, or customers tap a StampPod or StampTag.
Works with: stand-alone. Stamp Me says it needs no complicated EPOS integration.
Price: Lite £39 a month (shown as a limited-time offer), Pro £49, Elite £129. Each plan covers one location.
Worth knowing: Stamp Me's blog says customers still need the app to join, even with a wallet member code. Its help centre says you can manage app-less members from the web portal, but those customers have to ask you to see their stamps and don't get push messages. See how Stamp Me compares with Zeal.

Loopy Loyalty

Best for: businesses that want a branded Apple Wallet or Google Wallet stamp card with push and location-based messages.
How customers earn: customers add your card to their phone's wallet from a QR code or link, with no app to download. Staff add stamps with Loopy's Stamper App.
Works with: stand-alone, with Zapier, Make and a developer API. No EPOS or card machine integrations are named.
Price: Starter $25 a month (one location), Growth $69 (three locations), Ultimate $95 (ten locations). The page doesn't name the currency.
Worth knowing: Loopy says that when you cancel, your cards are scheduled for deletion at the end of the billing period, and it doesn't offer refunds.

Perkstar

Best for: UK small businesses that want a low fixed monthly price and wallet cards they can message.
How customers earn: customers add a branded card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet from a QR code, link, email or text, with no app download. Staff scan it, customers tap an NFC plate (a £10 one-off add-on), or, on Scale, a connected EPOS rewards purchases.
Works with: on the Scale plan, Square, Clover, Epos Now, Lightspeed, Loyverse, Shopify POS and SumUp; your EPOS provider must give API access. No link to stand-alone card machines such as Worldpay or Elavon is listed.
Price: Starter £15 a month, Growth £30, Scale £65, each including one location. Extra locations cost £10 a month each.
Worth knowing: Starter covers stamp and points cards; Growth and Scale add membership, coupon, gift card and prepaid visit cards. Cashback is available on request. All plans include push and location-based messages.

Best if you take payments with Square or SumUp

On Square or SumUp, built-in loyalty is usually the easiest route. Perkstar (on Scale) and Remy Rewards (on Growth) also connect to some of them.

Square Loyalty

Best for: businesses already using Square Point of Sale.
How customers earn: on Square checkout, customers enter their phone number to join and earn, and can add a digital pass to Apple Wallet.
Works with: Square Point of Sale, Square Online and Square Invoices.
Price: £25, £45 or £65 a month per location, depending on loyalty visits (0 to 500, 501 to 1,500, or 1,501 or more).
Worth knowing: customers earn on cash purchases too. Square's help centre says customers must give the same phone number for each payment method. See how Square Loyalty compares with Zeal.

SumUp Loyalty

Best for: SumUp merchants who want free loyalty inside the SumUp dashboard.
How customers earn: customers download SumUp's free consumer app, SumUp Local, and link a payment card once. After that, paying at a participating SumUp business earns stamps or points automatically.
Works with: SumUp's own card readers and point of sale.
Price: free. SumUp's guide calls it "a free tool" with no additional cost; the product page shows no price.
Worth knowing: launched on 21 April 2026 in the UK and five other European countries. Customers join SumUp's own app, which also shows them other local SumUp businesses. See how switching from SumUp works.

Remy Rewards

Best for: independents who want a consumer loyalty app with local discovery.
How customers earn: through the Remy Rewards app, which Remy's pricing page says is required. Stamps are added by an NFC tap, in the app, or, on the Growth plan, automatically through an EPOS integration.
Works with: on the Growth plan, Square and Epos Now for automatic stamps or points, plus Goodtill by SumUp, Shopify, Squarespace and Acuity Scheduling.
Price: Starter £15 and Growth £25 a month per location, billed monthly (£12 and £20 billed annually), checked 22 October 2026.
Worth knowing: each location needs its own NFC card. Starter includes one push notification a month; Growth has unlimited.

Best if you already take card payments on a supported card machine

Card-linked loyalty removes the customer's step (app, pass, scan or phone number) on return visits by using the payment itself. See loyalty for small businesses on the card machine you already use.

Zeal

Best for: shops, cafés, restaurants and multi-site groups that take card payments on a supported card machine and want returning customers to earn without scanning or showing anything.
How customers earn: customers pay by card as usual. Zeal recognises returning customers from the card they pay with and shows their stamps or points on the card machine during payment. New customers can join in a couple of taps on the card machine without downloading anything, and can choose to share a phone number.
Works with: supported card machines from Worldpay, Elavon, Lloyds Cardnet, Adyen, DNA Payments, Viva Wallet and NMI. For Barclaycard, Clover, Dojo, Global Payments, Tyl by NatWest and takepayments, Join the Waitlist. Square, SumUp, Zettle, Stripe Terminal and Teya readers can't host Zeal; ask Zeal about switching.
Price: Talk to us. Pricing depends on your setup and your payment provider.
Worth knowing: it only runs on supported card machines, and there's no published price or self-serve trial. Your loyalty programme is suggested after the first month, once Zeal has listened to your card payments. It only reaches customers who pay by card. Zeal is installed remotely alongside your payment app, so payments go through as they do today. Check if your card machine works.

Best for hospitality ordering or online shops

Embargo

Best for: coffee shops, bakeries and restaurants that want loyalty, a CRM, ordering and staff tipping from one supplier, or that run Lightspeed Restaurant.
How customers earn: customers download the Embargo app. To collect a stamp, they place their phone on the Embargo device or show a QR code to staff.
Works with: Lightspeed Restaurant POS (K-Series and L-Series), according to Lightspeed's integration directory. Embargo also says it "can integrate into your POS", so ask about yours.
Price: on request. Embargo asks you to get a quote and describes a monthly rolling subscription.
Worth knowing: your card sits inside Embargo's own app, next to other venues' cards; Embargo calls it "like your own app, on our wallet". See how Embargo compares with Zeal.

LoyaltyLion

Best for: ecommerce brands selling through Shopify.
How customers earn: through an account on your online store. In physical stores, through Shopify POS or Loyalty Pass, an optional wallet card with in-store QR scanning.
Works with: Shopify and Shopify POS (one location on Classic, multiple on higher plans).
Price: Classic $199 a month including 500 orders a month (currency not named). Advanced and Plus have custom pricing. LoyaltyLion recommends its free plan for stores with 400 orders a month or fewer.
Worth knowing: it is built for online stores first. In shops it works through Shopify POS, so it suits retailers already selling on Shopify.

Restaurant groups weighing larger platforms can read our guide to alternatives to Thanx and Punchh for UK restaurant groups.

When Zeal isn't the right fit

Choose something else if:

You're on Square or SumUp and don't want to switch. These readers can't host Zeal, so Square Loyalty or SumUp Loyalty will be quicker. If you'd consider changing provider, ask Zeal how switching works.
You want wallet-pass push marketing. If messaging a card on the customer's phone is the main goal, Perkstar and Loopy Loyalty are built for it; Zeal puts no card on the phone.
You're an online-only shop. LoyaltyLion is built for Shopify stores; Zeal is for in-person payments.
Most of your customers pay in cash. Zeal only reaches card payments. Square Loyalty lets customers earn on cash purchases, and wallet passes work however the customer pays.
Your provider is on Zeal's waitlist. For Barclaycard, Clover, Dojo, Global Payments, Tyl by NatWest or takepayments, Join the Waitlist, or use a stand-alone stamp card meanwhile.

How to choose

Start with how you take payments. On Square or SumUp, try their built-in loyalty first. On Shopify, look at LoyaltyLion. On another card machine, check whether Zeal works: our guide to linking your card machine to a loyalty app covers each provider.
Decide what customers must do. If push messages matter most, choose a wallet pass. If you want customers to earn on return visits without showing or scanning anything, choose card-linked. The fewer steps a scheme asks for, the more customers keep using it: see why shoppers join loyalty schemes but don't return. Our guide to loyalty without an app compares the models.
Count your locations before comparing prices. Square Loyalty and Remy Rewards charge per location, and Perkstar charges £10 a month for each extra one. Loopy Loyalty plans cover one, three or ten. If you run more than one site, see how to run a loyalty programme across multiple locations.
Try before you commit. Most stamp-card tools offer a free trial. For card-linked loyalty, ask for a demo on a card machine like yours, and ask any vendor how you export customer data if you leave.

Illustrative example: a café group with three locations, at prices published on 22 October 2026. Perkstar Starter costs £35 a month (£15 plus two extra locations at £10), Remy Rewards Starter £45, Square Loyalty's lowest band £75 (£25 a location), and Loopy Loyalty's Growth plan $69 for all three. Features differ by plan.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best loyalty app for a small business in the UK?

It depends on how you take payments. Square Loyalty and SumUp Loyalty suit businesses on those systems. Perkstar, Loopy Loyalty and Stamp Me suit businesses wanting a digital stamp card on customers' phones. Zeal suits businesses taking card payments on a supported card machine that want returning customers to earn without an app.

Is there a free loyalty app for small businesses?

SumUp describes SumUp Loyalty as free for SumUp merchants. LoyaltyLion recommends its free plan for online stores with 400 orders a month or fewer. Most others offer a free trial instead, from 7 days (Perkstar) to 30 days (Stamp Me and Square Loyalty).

How much does a loyalty scheme cost?

On 22 October 2026, published prices for popular loyalty apps used by UK small businesses ranged from free (SumUp Loyalty) to $199 a month (LoyaltyLion Classic). Entry plans for stamp-card and wallet tools started at £15 to £39 a month for one location. Square Loyalty costs £25 to £65 a month per location. Embargo quotes on request; for Zeal, talk to us.

Do customers need to download an app to join a loyalty scheme?

Not always. With Perkstar and Loopy Loyalty, customers add a card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet instead. Square Loyalty uses a phone number on Square checkout. Stamp Me, Remy Rewards, Embargo and SumUp Loyalty are built around their own apps. With Zeal, customers download nothing: returning customers are recognised from the card they pay with.

Can I add loyalty to the card machine I already have?

It depends on your provider. Zeal works on supported card machines from Worldpay, Elavon, Lloyds Cardnet, Adyen, DNA Payments, Viva Wallet and NMI. For Barclaycard, Clover, Dojo, Global Payments, Tyl by NatWest and takepayments, you can Join the Waitlist. Square and SumUp readers run their own loyalty and can't host Zeal, but Zeal can explain how switching to a supported provider works. You can check your card machine on Zeal's site.