Yotpo Loyalty alternative with a real free plan

Yotpo: Loyalty Rewards Program (formerly Swell) is a points-based loyalty and referral app built for stores already using Yotpo's reviews and retention products, with 4.7 stars across 969 reviews. It ships 20+ pre-built campaigns to reward actions beyond purchases, and integrates deeply with Yotpo's own reviews and SMS tools.

Look at the order limits, though, and Yotpo's free plan is the tightest in this comparison: free only applies under 100 monthly orders, well below most competitors. Checkout point redemption and Klaviyo-style integrations require the Pro plan at $199/month, which itself adds per-order fees above 500 orders, and its VIP/tier-based rewards, confirmed on Yotpo's own loyalty-tiers product page, are a Pro-only feature too, not available free. Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards covers 250 monthly orders free, includes VIP tiers and Klaviyo on that free plan, and its paid tiers start at $10/month with no per-order surcharges.

If you're evaluating Shopify loyalty apps for the first time, or you've outgrown Yotpo's 100-order free cap, it's worth a closer look.

Essential Loyalty vs Yotpo: Loyalty Rewards Program

Both apps help merchants run a points-based loyalty and referral program and reward customer actions. Essential Loyalty also includes VIP tiers on every plan, while Yotpo reserves VIP/tier-based rewards for its $199/month Pro plan. The difference is how many monthly orders you get before paying anything, and which features sit behind that first paid plan.

Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards offers:

• 250 orders/month on the free plan, more than double Yotpo's under-100-order free cap

• VIP tiers with 5 levels, configurable thresholds and per-tier point multipliers: included on the free plan

• Klaviyo integration, syncing points balance, tier, referral URL and birthday: included on the free plan

• A store-credit reward that auto-applies at Shopify checkout on any plan, no Shopify Plus required (beta, Essential plan and above)

• Flat monthly pricing with no per-order surcharges at any tier

• 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans, refunded via Shopify billing on request

Yotpo: Loyalty Rewards Program offers:

• An established app with 969 reviews and a 4.7-star rating

• 20+ pre-built campaigns to reward actions beyond purchases

• Deep native integration with Yotpo's own reviews and SMS/retention suite

• Checkout point redemption, once you reach the $199/month Pro plan

Yotpo has the stronger review history and a real advantage for stores already running Yotpo Reviews or SMS. Essential Loyalty gives most Shopify stores a far higher free-plan ceiling and includes VIP tiers and Klaviyo without a $199/month plan or per-order fees.

Key Differences

Free plan order limit: 250 vs. under 100

Yotpo's free plan only applies to stores processing under 100 monthly orders, the tightest free-plan gate of any loyalty app in this comparison series. Cross that threshold and the Pro plan starts at $199/month.

Essential Loyalty's free plan covers up to 250 monthly orders, more than double Yotpo's cap, before any upgrade is needed.

Klaviyo and VIP tiers: free vs. Pro plan only

Yotpo's loyalty platform includes VIP/tier-based rewards, confirmed via Yotpo's own product pages, though the Shopify Pro-plan listing doesn't itemize them separately from its "Additional Ways to Earn" features — either way, they aren't available on the free plan. Its Klaviyo-style integrations (listed as "Addt'l Integrations") are Pro-only, not available on the free plan.

Essential Loyalty includes VIP tiers, five levels with configurable thresholds and point multipliers, and Klaviyo integration syncing points, tier, referral URL and birthday — all on the free plan.

Pricing structure: flat fees vs. per-order charges

Yotpo's Pro plan starts at $199/month and adds $0.08 to $0.20 per order once a store passes 500 monthly orders, a usage charge on top of the flat fee.

Essential Loyalty's tiers are flat: $10/month up to 500 orders, $24/month up to 1,500, $79/month unlimited, with no per-order surcharge at any volume.

Checkout redemption without Shopify Plus

Yotpo's checkout point redemption is a Pro-plan feature, requiring the $199/month tier before customers can redeem points at checkout.

Essential Loyalty's store-credit reward works differently: a customer redeems points for native Shopify store credit, which auto-applies at checkout with no code and no apply step, because store credit is a native Shopify checkout feature available on every plan. It requires the Essential plan ($24/month) and is currently in beta.

Where Yotpo leads

Yotpo has real strengths Essential Loyalty doesn't try to match. It ships 20+ pre-built campaigns that reward actions beyond purchases, and its loyalty program integrates natively with Yotpo's own reviews and SMS/retention suite, a meaningful advantage for stores already running those tools. With 969 Shopify reviews and a 4.7-star rating, it also has the stronger track record of the two.

Pricing & Plans

Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards

Usage-based pricing. Start free and scale as your loyalty program grows.

Free: up to 250 loyalty program orders/month; Points program with VIP tiers, Referral program, Product page and cart placement, Floating loyalty widget, Klaviyo/Omnisend/Judge.me integrations, Multi-language support, Customer account page.

Starter: $10/month (up to 500 orders); Everything in Free, POS support, Dedicated loyalty page, Full feature access, 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 paid plans: request a refund within your first 30 days and it's returned through Shopify billing, no questions asked.

Yotpo: Loyalty Rewards Program

Free plan is capped tightly; Pro adds a per-order fee above 500 orders.

Free: for stores under 100 monthly orders; Points program, discount rewards, referrals, AI chat support, basic analytics and reporting.

Pro: $199/month (up to 500 orders, then $0.08–$0.20 per additional order); Everything in Free, checkout point redemption, 20+ pre-built campaigns, Klaviyo and SMS integrations, priority support, and VIP/tier-based rewards (confirmed via Yotpo's own loyalty-tiers product page, though not itemized by that name in the Shopify listing).

Key pricing difference: Essential Loyalty's free plan covers more than double Yotpo's order cap, includes VIP tiers and Klaviyo for free, and its paid tiers are flat with no per-order charges. Yotpo's Pro plan costs the same $199/month as the next tier up but adds usage-based fees past 500 orders.

Switching from Yotpo to Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards

Switching loyalty apps on Shopify takes some planning, but your customer data, purchase history, email addresses, and order records, stays in Shopify and isn't affected.

• Export your existing member data from Yotpo (customer list and points balances)

• Install Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards from the Shopify App Store

• Import customer points balances using the CSV import feature in Settings

• Configure your points program, VIP tiers, and referral program

• Set up your Klaviyo integration and connect your other tools

• Enable placements (widget, product page, cart) and test on a product

• Disable Yotpo's loyalty program on your storefront once Essential Loyalty is confirmed working

Last checked: October 1, 2026