Paper punch cards
- Good at
- Cheap, familiar, nothing to install.
- Keep in mind
- Cards get lost or forgotten, and you can’t see who comes back or how often.
Shopping for a café loyalty app? Compare first.
Stamp card apps, Wallet card builders, POS loyalty, your own branded app — or one shared app with a free plan. Here is how they line up, with sources.
Data as of October 2026
Side by side
Facts from each company’s own website and app-store listing, checked on 4 October 2026. “Not stated” means we did not find it on their public site — not that it is missing.
| What it is | Nearily | Stamp Me1 | Loopy Loyalty2 | Square Loyalty3 | Joe Coffee4 | Boomerangme5 | SumUp Connect (formerly Fivestars)6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | One shared loyalty app for cafés + café discovery map | Stamp card app | Wallet stamp card builder (by PassKit) | Loyalty inside the Square POS | Network of independent coffee shops: order-ahead + shared rewards | Wallet loyalty card builder | Loyalty and SMS marketing for SumUp merchants |
| Free plan | Yes — Free plan, forever: 1 location, no limit on stamps or guests | No (30-day trial) | No (15-day trial) | Not in Square Free | No subscription; free listing possible | No (14-day trial) | No (money-back guarantee) |
| Paid plans from | Cafe Pro $11/mo (999 ₽), Cafe Ultra $22/mo (1,999 ₽) | Lite $49/mo (1 location); Pro $79/mo | Starter $25/mo (1 card, 1 location); Growth $69/mo | Square Plus $49/mo per location, plus processing fees | 2.6% + $0.10 per in-store transaction; loyalty holds 6% per loyalty transaction | Business $199/mo ($164/mo billed yearly) | Connect Plus $199/mo with SumUp POS, $269/mo standalone |
| Hardware / POS | None: any phone or tablet scans the guest QR, or the guest says a 4-digit code; iiko integration on paid plans | None required; optional paid NFC tags | None (Stamper staff app) | Square POS; Square operates in the US, CA, UK, AU, JP, IE, FR and ES | JOE POS / hardware-as-a-service | None (scanner app); POS integrations on the Franchise plan | Built around SumUp POS / POS Lite |
| What guests use | One free app for every partner café, with a café map | Stamp Me customer app | No customer app: one Wallet card per brand | No shared app across businesses | Shared app with coffee-shop discovery (US) | Wallet cards, no discovery app | Text-to-join and SMS messages |
| Wallet card | Apple Wallet card (iOS) | Member code in Apple / Google Wallet | Apple & Google Wallet | Apple Wallet pass | Not stated on their site | Apple & Google Wallet | Not stated on their site |
| Works offline | Yes — scanning works without internet | Not stated on their site | Not stated on their site | Not stated on their loyalty page | Not stated on their site | Not stated on their site | Not stated on their site |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Or compare by kind of tool
Most options fall into a few families. Each has a place.
Loyalty inside your POS
- Good at
- One flow at the till; rewards land on the receipt.
- Keep in mind
- Tied to that POS, usually a monthly fee on top of it, and no way for new guests to find you.
Your own branded app
- Good at
- Everything carries your brand; deep marketing tools.
- Keep in mind
- Built for chains: setup and monthly costs, and every guest has to install one more app just for you.
Wallet card builders
- Good at
- A card in Apple or Google Wallet, no app to install.
- Keep in mind
- Often paid from day one, or free only up to a cap; a card per brand, with no shared map where new guests can find you.
Shared (coalition) apps
- Good at
- One app for many cafés, so guests discover new places.
- Keep in mind
- Pricing and rules vary a lot between platforms — commissions, card caps, customer caps. Check the table.
Nearily
A shared app with a free plan for cafés, forever: stamps or cashback, any phone or tablet as the scanner, offline scanning, a café map where guests of other partner cafés can find you, an Apple Wallet card on iPhone, and guest analytics in the partner panel.
When something else fits better
We would rather you pick the right tool than the wrong one from us.
You are happy with the loyalty inside your POS
If your POS already runs loyalty and your guests use it, keep it. If you use iiko, Nearily can work alongside it on the paid plans.
You want an app with only your brand on it
Nearily is one app shared by many cafés. If a fully branded app of your own is the goal, a white-label provider is built for that.
Ordering ahead is the main thing you need
If pick-up ordering with in-app payment matters more than loyalty, look at services built around ordering first.
You are not a café
Nearily is made for coffee shops and cafés. Salons, shops and other businesses are better served by general loyalty tools.
How to switch (without losing regulars)
Join in the app
Download Nearily, then Profile → Settings → Become a partner. The Free plan costs nothing.
Match your current rule
Choose stamps or cashback and set the same reward your guests already know, e.g. the 10th coffee free.
Run both for a while
Keep honouring old cards until they are used up while new visits go to Nearily. Guests show their QR or say a 4-digit code.
Close the old one when you are ready
Check your current provider’s notice period before you cancel.
Questions
Can I switch from Stamp Me or Loopy Loyalty to Nearily?
Yes. Join in the Nearily app (Profile → Settings → Become a partner), set the same stamp rule, and run both side by side until the old cards are used up. The Free plan costs nothing, so there is no overlap in fees on our side.
Is Nearily an alternative to Square Loyalty?
Nearily needs no POS: any phone or tablet with the Nearily app is the scanner. As of October 2026, Square Loyalty is part of Square Plus ($49/mo per location) and Square operates in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Japan, Ireland, France and Spain. If you already run Square and are happy with it, it may suit you better.
Looking for a Fivestars alternative?
Fivestars now redirects to SumUp, whose loyalty product is SumUp Connect (from $199/mo with SumUp POS as of October 2026). Nearily’s Free plan for cafés is free forever, with optional Cafe Pro at $11/mo and Cafe Ultra at $22/mo.
Is Nearily really free for cafés?
Yes. The Free plan covers the whole loyalty program — stamps or cashback, offline scanning, unlimited guests, basic analytics — for one spot, forever, with no commission on sales. Cafe Pro ($11/mo) and Cafe Ultra ($22/mo) are optional.
Do I need any hardware?
No. The barista scans the guest’s QR code with any phone or tablet in the Nearily app, or the guest says a 4-digit code. iiko integration is available on paid plans.
What happens if the internet goes down?
Scanning keeps working offline: stamps are queued on the barista’s device and synced when the connection returns.
Do my guests need an app?
Yes — the free Nearily app (App Store, Google Play, RuStore, AppGallery). It is one app for every partner café, so guests keep all their cards in one wallet and find new cafés on the map. On iPhone the card can also go into Apple Wallet.
Try it — the Free plan never expires
Joining happens right in the Nearily app:
Profile → Settings → Become a partnerSources
Competitor information comes from each company’s public website and app-store listings as of 4 October 2026 and may have changed since. Prices are monthly unless stated. All product names and trademarks belong to their owners; no affiliation is implied. Spotted something out of date? Write to hello@nearily.com and we will fix it.
- Stamp Me (checked 4 October 2026): www.stampme.com/pricing · apps.apple.com/us/app/stamp-me/id485578470
- Loopy Loyalty (checked 4 October 2026): loopyloyalty.com/pricing · apps.apple.com/us/app/loopy-loyalty-stamper/id945301614
- Square Loyalty (checked 4 October 2026): squareup.com/us/en/pricing · squareup.com/us/en/software/loyalty · squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5168-supported-countries
- Joe Coffee (checked 4 October 2026): www.joe.coffee/pricing · www.joe.coffee/for-coffee-shops
- Boomerangme (checked 4 October 2026): boomerangme.com/pricing
- SumUp Connect (formerly Fivestars) (checked 4 October 2026): www.sumup.com/en-us/loyalty-program/ · www.sumup.com/en-us/loyalty-program/pricing/