| What matters | Essential Loyalty | Growave |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | Leads: 5.0★ (490 reviews) | Has it: 4.8★ (1,296 reviews) |
| Built for Shopify | Has it: Yes | Has it: Yes |
| Free plan order cap | Has it: 250 orders/month | Has it: 200 orders/month |
| Core loyalty features | ||
| VIP tiers | Leads: Free plan, 5 levels | Not available: Growth plan ($199/mo) |
| Klaviyo integration | Leads: Free, no slot limit | Not available: $15/mo, 1 of 1 slot |
| Referral program | Leads: Free plan | Has it: Entry plan ($15/mo) |
| Analytics | Has it: Free plan | Has it: All plans |
| Store credit | Leads: All plans | Not available: Growth plan ($199/mo) |
| Points expiry | Leads: All plans | Not available: Growth plan ($199/mo) |
| Gift cards | Leads: All plans | Not available: Growth plan ($199/mo) |
| Checkout & POS | ||
| Shopify POS | Has it: All plans | Has it: Entry plan ($15/mo) |
| Checkout redemption | Has it: Cart-level, all plans | Not available: Plus plan ($499/mo) + Shopify Plus |
| Pricing & scale | ||
| Unlimited orders | Leads: $79/month | Not available: $999/month |
| Integration slots | Leads: No limit, any plan | Has it: 1 Entry / 3 Growth / unlimited Plus |
| Bundled extras | ||
| Product reviews | Not available: Not included | Leads: All plans, bundled |
| Wishlist | Not available: Not included | Leads: All plans, bundled |
| B2B points program | Not available: Not available | Has it: Plus plan ($499/mo) |
| Headless API | Not available: Not available | Has it: Plus plan ($499/mo) |
Checked against the Shopify App Store, 1 October 2026.
Which app should you choose?
Choose Essential Loyalty if:
- You want VIP tiers, Klaviyo, and referrals free from day one
- You're scaling past 1,500 orders/month and don't want per-order overage billing
- You already use a reviews or wishlist 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 in
Growave holds a 4.8-star rating across 1,296 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.
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 offers:
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, 490 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 offers:
All-in-one: loyalty + product reviews + wishlist in one dashboard
4.8-star rating, 1,296 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)
- 8 Essential Loyalty Leads on VIP tiers, Klaviyo, referrals, store credit, points expiry, gift cards, unlimited-order pricing, and integration slots.
- 4 Growave Leads on bundled product reviews, wishlist, B2B points programs, and headless API access.
Checked against the Shopify App Store, 1 October 2026. Tallies count features where one app clearly leads; features both apps offer equally aren't counted either way.
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.
Winner: Essential Loyalty Free VIP tiers vs. a $199/month gate, because Essential includes five-level VIP tiers on the free plan; Growave requires the Growth plan to unlock them.
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.
Winner: Essential Loyalty Klaviyo access and integration limits, because Klaviyo is free and unmetered on Essential; Growave counts it against a one-integration cap on its cheapest paid plan.
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.
Winner: Essential Loyalty Cost to run unlimited orders, because $79/month flat vs. Growave's $999/month Unlimited tier, with no overage billing on either Essential plan.
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.
Winner: Essential Loyalty Redemption below the Shopify Plus tier, because Cart-level redemption works on Essential's free plan; Growave's native checkout redemption needs Shopify Plus plus its $499/month Plus plan.
Where Growave leads: all-in-one bundling
Every Growave plan includes product reviews and wishlist alongside loyalty, and that is a genuine advantage for merchants who want all three under one login and one bill. Growave's decade-long track record, B2B points programs, and headless API at the Plus tier are also real capabilities Essential doesn't offer. For merchants already paying for Judge.me or Loox, the bundle is redundant, but for a store starting from scratch, consolidating three tools into one app has real appeal.
Winner: Growave Wanting loyalty, reviews, and wishlist under one subscription, because Growave bundles product reviews and wishlist at every plan, including free, plus B2B points and a headless API at the Plus tier — features Essential doesn't offer.
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.
Switching from Growave to Essential Loyalty
Your customer data, order history, and store settings stay in Shopify. Only the loyalty program layer changes.
Export your customer points balances and tier data from Growave (Settings → Export).
Install Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards from the Shopify App Store
Import points balances via CSV in Essential Loyalty’s Settings: customers keep what they earned.
Configure your points program
VIP tiers, and referral settings (under 20 minutes for a standard setup).
Confirm the widget is appearing on product pages and in the cart: Essential activates these on install.
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.
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.
Growave vs Essential Loyalty: common questions
- Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards is the strongest Growave alternative for merchants who want VIP tiers, Klaviyo integration, and referrals without paying $199/month for them. Essential includes all three on the free plan, with unlimited orders at $79/month compared to Growave’s uncapped tier at $999/month. Growave is worth considering if you want loyalty, product reviews, and wishlist bundled under one subscription, or if you need a B2B points program or headless API.
- Growave is a capable platform with a long track record (4.8 stars, 1,296 reviews). It is well-regarded for bringing loyalty, product reviews, and wishlist under one dashboard. The main limitation is that the loyalty features most merchants actually want (VIP tiers, store credit, points expiry, gift cards) sit behind the Growth plan at $199/month, and integrations are metered with only one allowed on the $15/month Entry plan.
- Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards gives merchants a complete loyalty program (VIP tiers, referrals, Klaviyo, analytics, store credit) on the free plan. Growave gates those same features at the Growth plan ($199/month) and meters integrations by tier. Growave is a bundled platform covering reviews and wishlists alongside loyalty; Essential Loyalty is a focused loyalty app that integrates with your existing tools.
- No. Growave’s free plan covers basic point earning, wishlist, and product reviews. VIP tiers are a Growth plan feature ($199/month). Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards includes VIP tiers with five configurable levels on the free plan.
- Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards is one of the strongest Shopify loyalty program apps for merchants who want VIP tiers, referrals, Klaviyo integration, and analytics without paying a monthly fee for them. It holds a 5.0-star rating across 490 reviews and includes all core features on the free plan. Growave is a strong alternative for merchants who want loyalty, product reviews, and wishlist bundled together, or who need B2B points programs and headless API access at scale.
- Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards starts free with VIP tiers, Klaviyo, referrals, and 250 monthly orders included. Paid plans are $10, $24, and $79/month with no overage billing: $79/month covers unlimited orders. Growave’s free plan is limited to basic points, wishlist, and reviews. Its Growth plan ($199/month) is where the real loyalty features start, and the only plan with no order cap is Unlimited at $999/month.
- Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards combines points programs, VIP tiers, referral programs, Klaviyo integration, store credit, and analytics, all on the free plan, with unlimited orders at $79/month. Growave offers a broader platform (loyalty plus reviews plus wishlist) with B2B points, headless API, and checkout extensions at higher tiers. For merchants who want the most complete loyalty feature set at the lowest entry cost, Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards is the stronger Shopify loyalty program app.
Last checked: October 1, 2026
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