A paper stamp card works. It costs almost nothing and every customer understands it. It also gets lost, forgotten, and photocopied. So most small shops look at a digital stamp card at some point. Then they see the prices.
We make one of these tools. KANJIN's stamp card is free. That gives us a reason to write this post, and it also gives you a reason to read it carefully. So we set two rules. Every price and trial below comes from a survey we did today, with a link to the source. And where a competitor does something better than we do, we say so.
What "free" means in this market
Very few of these tools are free. Most have a free trial of 7 to 30 days, then a monthly fee. Some are "free" only if you already pay for a point-of-sale system that includes them. A small number have a real free tier.
When you compare, ask four questions:
- What do I pay each month after the trial?
- How does a customer join? An app they download, a wallet pass, a phone number, or a POS account?
- Is there a contract, and does it renew on its own?
- Can I take my customer list with me if I leave?
The comparison table
| Tool | Monthly price | Free trial | How customers join | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KANJIN (ours) | Stamp card free forever. Paid plan $39 per location | Not needed. Early access is free, billing not live | Phone number at the counter. No app | None. Cancel any time |
| Loopy Loyalty Starter | $25 | 15 days | Wallet pass on the phone. No app | Not checked |
| Stamp Me Lite | $49 | 30 days | Customer downloads the Stamp Me app | Not checked |
| Loyalzoo Grow | $77 | 7 days | Through Clover or Square POS | Not checked |
| Square Loyalty | Part of Square Plus, about $49 per location | Not checked | Through the Square register | Not checked |
| SumUp Connect (was Fivestars) | $269 standalone | Not checked | Not checked | Not checked |
| TapMango | $350 to $400 on real bills | Not checked | Not checked | 12-month contract |
| Kangaroo Rewards Core | $79 | Not checked | Not checked | Not checked |
| LINE Official Account | Free tier | Not needed | Inside the LINE app (Taiwan and Japan) | None on the free tier |
"Not checked" means our survey did not confirm it. Check the vendor's page before you decide.
Tool by tool
KANJIN (ours)
KANJIN is a free back office for cafes, salons and small shops. The stamp card is one part of it. A customer gives their phone number at the counter. Your staff types it on a tablet and presses one button. That is the stamp. No app to download, no card to carry. You print a Counter poster so people know the card exists.
The Free plan also includes Shift notes, a Daily ledger, Break-even and profit calculators, and Review replies drafted with your own free Gemini key. On the Free plan your data stays on your device.
The Paid plan is $39 a month per location, cancel any time. It puts your customer list in the cloud on every tablet, adds a one-tap Slow Day email to regulars who said yes, sends a Google review request email after each visit, runs rainy-day and win-back automations, and finds local YouTube and Instagram creators with a written invitation. Billing is not live yet, so early access is free.
Where others are better: KANJIN has no wallet pass and no POS integration. It sends email, not text messages (SMS). If you need any of those, one of the tools below is a better fit.
Loopy Loyalty
Loopy Loyalty starts at $25 a month with a 15-day trial. The card lives in the customer's phone wallet as a pass. No app to download. This is the strongest answer to "my customers will not install an app" among the paid tools. The customer keeps the card on their own phone, which a phone-number card at the counter cannot do.
Stamp Me
Stamp Me Lite is $49 a month with a 30-day trial, the longest trial in this list. Customers download the Stamp Me app. That is a real cost. Some people will not install an app for a coffee. But once the app is installed, the card is always with them, and the 30-day trial gives you a month to see how many of your customers accept it.
Loyalzoo
Loyalzoo Grow is $77 a month with a 7-day trial. It runs inside Clover and Square point-of-sale systems. If you already ring up sales on one of those, the stamp happens at the register with no extra step. That is better than any separate tablet, including ours. The price is the trade.
Square Loyalty
Square Loyalty comes with Square Plus at about $49 a month per location, according to this review. Like Loyalzoo, it works at the register. If you are already on Square Plus for other reasons, this is close to free for you. If you are not, you are paying for a POS plan to get a stamp card.
SumUp Connect (was Fivestars)
SumUp Connect is $269 a month as a standalone product. That is more than ten times the cheapest paid tool in this list. For a single cafe, a fee this size has to bring in many extra visits every month. "The monthly fee is hard to justify" is the most common complaint we read about tools in this price range.
TapMango
TapMango bills come to $350 to $400 a month in the reports we found, with a 12-month contract. It is the most expensive tool here. A 12-month contract means one bad year costs you over $4,000 with no way out. Read the renewal terms before you sign.
Kangaroo Rewards
Kangaroo Rewards Core is $79 a month. We did not confirm the trial, join method or contract in our survey, so we leave those blank rather than guess.
LINE Official Account
If your shop is in Taiwan or Japan, LINE Official Account has a free tier with a built-in shop card. Most of your customers already have LINE, so there is no new app. Outside those markets it does not help.
What owners complain about
We read owner reviews on Capterra and in Square's seller community. Five complaints come up again and again.
| Complaint | What to check before you buy |
|---|---|
| The monthly fee is hard to justify | How many extra visits pay for it? At a $28 check and 30% food cost, one visit earns you about $19.60. |
| 12-month contracts that renew on their own | Ask for the cancel terms in writing. |
| Asking for a phone number slows the line | Time it at your own counter for one busy shift before you decide. |
| Customers will not download an app | Pick a tool with no app: phone number, wallet pass, or a POS-linked card. |
| You cannot take your data when you leave | Ask how to export your customer list before you sign, not after. |
How to choose
- You want the cheapest working card and you have a tablet at the counter. Try KANJIN. It is free, and there is nothing to cancel.
- Your customers hate apps but you want something on their phone. Loopy Loyalty's wallet pass at $25 a month.
- You already run Square or Clover. Square Loyalty or Loyalzoo. The stamp at the register is worth the price if you already pay for the POS.
- You want a full marketing suite and you have the sales volume to pay for it. SumUp Connect or TapMango. Read the contract first.
- You are in Taiwan or Japan. Start with LINE.
Frequently asked questions
Is a digital stamp card better than paper? It is better at two things. You get a list of who your regulars are, and you can reach them. Paper cannot do either. If you never plan to contact regulars, paper is fine.
Do customers really refuse to download apps? Many do, especially for a small purchase. That is the most repeated complaint we read. Phone numbers, wallet passes and POS-linked cards avoid the problem.
Can I move my customer list from one tool to another? Sometimes. Ask each vendor for an export before you sign. On KANJIN's Free plan the data is already on your device, so there is nothing to ask for.
Why is KANJIN's stamp card free? The stamp card builds a list of regulars. KANJIN makes money when you decide to email that list with the Paid plan. If you never do, the card stays free.
Before you pick
Work out what one extra visit is worth to you with the free Break-even calculator. Then divide any monthly fee by that number. That is how many extra visits a tool must bring in each month to pay for itself. KANJIN's stamp card needs zero. If you later want the Slow Day email and the review requests, the Paid plan is $39 a month per location, cancel any time.