Growave alternative with free VIP tiers

Growave holds a 4.8-star rating across 1,172 reviews, launched in 2014, and markets itself as an all-in-one retention platform bundling loyalty, product reviews, wishlists, and referrals. More than 15,000 Shopify brands have used it, and it carries Shopify’s Built for Shopify badge.

The main question merchants run into is pricing. Growave’s free plan covers basic points, wishlist, and product reviews, but VIP tiers, store credit, points expiry, gift cards, and Klaviyo beyond the first integration slot all sit at the Growth plan ($199/month). That is a $15-to-$199 jump to access the features that define what a loyalty program actually does. Integrations are metered by plan: one on Entry, three on Growth, unlimited only at Plus ($499/month). Klaviyo takes that one slot on Entry, meaning any second tool requires upgrading.

Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards is the stronger choice for merchants who want VIP tiers, Klaviyo, analytics, and referrals without a paid plan, and a clear path to $79/month for unlimited orders.

Quick Verdict

• Best for a complete loyalty program from day one: Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards

• Best for all-in-one retention (loyalty + reviews + wishlist in one app): Growave

• Best price for unlimited orders: Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards ($79/month vs. Growave $999/month)

Essential Loyalty gives merchants VIP tiers, referrals, and Klaviyo on the free plan, and a fixed $79/month for unlimited orders. Growave bundles more under one roof, but the real loyalty program lives at the $199 Growth tier, and the only truly uncapped plan is $999/month.

👉 Install Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards and test it on your store Available on the Shopify App Store as “Essent Loyalty Program Rewards”

Essential Loyalty vs Growave

Both apps help Shopify merchants run points programs, VIP tiers, referrals, Klaviyo integration, Shopify POS, and a customisable loyalty widget. Where they diverge is what’s included on each plan and whether you’re paying for a focused loyalty app or a bundled platform of tools you may not need.

Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards

• VIP tiers (5 levels) on the free plan

• Klaviyo included free, not counted against any integration slot

• Analytics on the free plan

• 5.0-star rating, 437 reviews, Built for Shopify

• $79/month for unlimited orders, no overage billing

• Product page and cart widget active on install

• 30-day money back guarantee on paid plans

Growave: Loyalty & Wishlist

• All-in-one: loyalty + product reviews + wishlist in one dashboard

• 4.8-star rating, 1,172 reviews, Built for Shopify

• Launched 2014, 15,000+ stores B2B points program (Plus, $499/month)

• Headless API and SDK (Plus)

• Google Shopping reviews integration (Growth)

Feature Comparison

Key Differences

1. VIP Tiers and What They Cost

Growave’s VIP tiers are a Growth plan feature at $199/month. The Entry plan ($15/month) adds referrals and one integration but no VIP tiers, no store credit, no points expiry, and no gift cards. The features that make a loyalty program worth running sit behind a 13x price jump from Entry to Growth.

Essential Loyalty includes VIP tiers with five configurable levels on the free plan. A store at 150 orders a month gets the same tier system as one at 5,000.

2. Klaviyo and Integration Gating

Growave meters integrations by plan: one on Entry, three on Growth, unlimited on Plus. Klaviyo on Entry counts as that one slot, adding a second tool requires upgrading to Growth at $199/month.

Essential Loyalty integrates with Klaviyo on the free plan with no slot limit. Merchants who use Klaviyo, Omnisend, and Judge.me don’t have to choose which tool to give up.

3. Pricing Structure

Growave’s four public tiers all have order caps with overage billing ($20/$15/$10 per 100 additional orders by plan). The only uncapped plan is Unlimited at $999/month. A mid-market store growing past 1,500 orders faces Entry ($15, one integration) → Growth ($199, real loyalty) → Growth plus overages as volume climbs.

Essential Loyalty is flat pricing with no overages. Free covers 250 orders. Paid plans are $10/month (500 orders), $24/month (1,500 orders), and $79/month with no order cap.

4. Checkout Redemption

Growave’s native checkout redemption requires both a Shopify Plus subscription and the Growave Plus plan ($499/month). Below that, customers receive a discount code to enter manually at checkout.

Essential Loyalty’s cart-level redemption is active on the free plan. Checkout extension availability follows Shopify Plus requirements (a platform requirement, not Essential’s gating), but merchants without Plus still get working cart-level redemption.

5. The Bundle Question

Every Growave plan includes product reviews and wishlist alongside loyalty. For merchants who want all three, that is a real advantage. For merchants who already use Judge.me or Loox, Growave bundles tools they’re paying for but not using. Essential Loyalty integrates with your existing reviews tool and doesn’t charge for wishlist features you didn’t ask for.

Set up Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards on your store

Pricing & Plans

Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards

Free: up to 250 loyalty program orders/month

• Points program with VIP tiers (5 levels)

• Referral program

• Birthday points

• Analytics dashboard

• Klaviyo, Omnisend, Judge.me integrations

• Product page and cart placement

• Floating loyalty widget

• Multi-language support

Starter: $10/month (up to 500 orders)

• Everything in Free

• POS support

• Dedicated loyalty page

• Full access to all features

• 14-day free trial

Essential: $24/month (up to 1,500 orders)

• Everything in Starter

• Personal support

• 14-day free trial

Growth: $79/month (unlimited orders)

• Everything in Essential

• Personal support

• 14-day free trial

30-day money back guarantee on all paid plans, no questions asked.

Growave: Loyalty & Wishlist

Order caps with overage billing on every plan except Unlimited.

• Free: 200 orders/month: Basic points, wishlist, reviews. 48-hour email support.

• Entry: $15/month: 500 orders (+$20 per 100). Referrals, POS basics, 1 integration. 24/7 email support.

• Growth: $199/month: 1,500 orders (+$15 per 100). VIP tiers, store credit, gift cards, points expiry, loyalty page, 3 integrations.

• Plus: $499/month: 3,000 orders (+$10 per 100). Checkout extensions (Shopify Plus required), unlimited integrations, headless API. Unlimited: $999/month: no order cap.

Key pricing difference:

Essential Loyalty’s $79/month includes unlimited orders, VIP tiers, Klaviyo, and no overage billing. Growave’s equivalent is $999/month.

Which App Is Better for Different Use Cases?

See how Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards fits your store

When to Choose Each App

Choose Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards if:

• You want VIP tiers and Klaviyo on the free plan

• You’re scaling past 1,500 orders/month and don’t want per-order billing

• You already use a reviews app and want to keep it

• Your budget ceiling is $79/month regardless of order volume

Choose Growave if:

• You want loyalty, reviews, and wishlist under one subscription

• You run Shopify Plus and want native checkout extensions

• You need B2B points programs or a headless API

• You have under 200 orders/month and want reviews and wishlist bundled

Switching from Growave to Essential Loyalty

Your customer data, order history, and store settings stay in Shopify. Only the loyalty program layer changes.

1. Export your customer points balances and tier data from Growave (Settings → Export).

2. Install Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards from the Shopify App Store

3. Import points balances via CSV in Essential Loyalty’s Settings:  customers keep what they earned.

4. Configure your points program

5. VIP tiers, and referral settings (under 20 minutes for a standard setup).

6. Confirm the widget is appearing on product pages and in the cart: Essential activates these on install.

7. Once verified and live, uninstall Growave from your Shopify admin.

Both apps use Shopify’s native customer accounts, so member data migrates cleanly. The main task is recreating your program configuration and importing points balances.

Final Verdict

Growave has been in the Shopify ecosystem for over a decade, and its track record shows in the review count and feature breadth. If you want loyalty, product reviews, and wishlists in one system and are comfortable at the $199/month Growth tier, it is a capable choice. Its B2B points program and headless API are features that few loyalty apps offer.

Where Growave falls short is the pricing structure. The $15-to-$199 jump is steep, integration metering adds friction for merchants whose stack goes beyond one email tool, and the only uncapped plan is $999/month. VIP tiers, store credit, and points expiry are not available below $199/month.

Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards gives merchants the core loyalty program (VIP tiers, referrals, Klaviyo, analytics) on the free plan, and a clear ceiling of $79/month for unlimited orders. Merchants who want a focused loyalty layer without a bundled platform or a 13x pricing cliff will find Essential the cleaner fit.

Install Essential Loyalty and launch your first loyalty program in minutes

Switching from Growave? We move it with you

Switching help is free on every plan: your current program keeps running while we set up alongside it, your customers' balances, lifetime points and VIP tiers come across, and for most stores the move is an afternoon, not a project. Book a migration call and we'll plan it with you, or see how a switch works.