Best Smile.io Alternatives for Shopify in 2026
Looking for Smile.io alternatives? Compare six Shopify loyalty apps on free-plan features, VIP tier pricing and real reviews, including where Smile still wins.
Smile.io is one of the best-known loyalty apps on Shopify: launched in 2014, now past 4,100 reviews, more than any other app in the category, and a 2026 Shopify Build Award winner. It's a reasonable default for a lot of stores, and this list isn't here to pretend otherwise.
But merchants search for a Smile alternative for a consistent set of reasons. VIP tiers, one of the features shoppers actually notice, sit behind Smile's $199/month Growth plan. Redeeming at checkout needs that same $199 plan and Shopify Plus, so standard stores can't get it at any price. The Essential and Standard plans cap how many integrations you can connect at once, so Klaviyo and a review app can't both run until you're on the $79/month Standard tier. A number of long-term reviewers mention costs rising as features they used moved to higher plans.
This list covers six Smile alternatives worth a look, starting with our own app. We built it because we thought the free tier of a loyalty app should include VIP tiers, not gate them, and we're including it first for that reason. The other five are genuine competitors with real strengths of their own, and we've tried to be straight about where each one wins.
Quick comparison: Smile.io alternatives for Shopify
| App | First paid plan | Free plan orders/mo | VIP tiers | Shopify rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Loyalty (our pick) | $10/mo | 250 | Free, 5 levels | 5.0★ (490) |
| Growave Loyalty | $15/mo | 200 | $199/mo | 4.8★ (1,297) |
| Rivo: Loyalty Program & Rewards | $15/mo | 200 | $49/mo | 4.8★ (1,389) |
| BON: Loyalty Rewards Referrals | $15/mo | 150 | $129/mo | 5.0★ (1,948) |
| CWILL Loyalty & Referrals | $19/mo | 50 | $69+/mo | 4.9★ (813) |
| Joy: Loyalty Program & Rewards | $29/mo | 250 (free Starter) | $129/mo | 4.9★ (1,694) |
1. Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards: the best overall Smile alternative
Essential Loyalty covers the same core ground as Smile, points, referrals, VIP tiers, store credit, with one structural difference: almost none of it is gated. VIP tiers are free on every plan, including the free one, with five configurable levels and a real point multiplier per level. Klaviyo integration, product-page points, and cart redemption with no discount code are all included free too. Paid plans top out at a flat $79/month for unlimited orders, with no per-order overage fee, ever, if you outgrow a plan you're upgraded in place.
Why it's the top Smile alternative:
VIP tiers, Klaviyo, and product-page points all included on the free plan
250 orders/month free, rising to unlimited at a flat $79/month with no overage fees
Store credit reward auto-applies at checkout on any Shopify plan, no Shopify Plus required (beta)
24/7 human support on every plan, including free, with the founder taking calls directly
5.0-star rating, 14-day free trial, 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans
Worth knowing:
Essential Loyalty is newer and smaller than Smile: 490 reviews against Smile's 4,100+, so there's less of a track record to go on. Its native integration list is shorter too, Klaviyo, Omnisend, and Judge.me, rather than Smile's broader roster that adds Gorgias, Loox, Mailchimp, and Recharge. There's no gift-card reward type yet, and no public developer API for headless storefronts.
Price
Free up to 250 orders/month. Starter $10/month (500 orders). Essential $24/month (1,500 orders). Growth $79/month (unlimited). 14-day free trial, 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans.
2. Growave Loyalty
See the full Essential Loyalty vs Growave comparison for the complete feature and pricing breakdown.
Growave bundles loyalty with wishlists, reviews, and referrals in one app, a genuinely useful combination if you'd otherwise be running three separate apps. It supports Shopify POS and Shopify Flow, works in 16 languages, and ships checkout and account extensions for Shopify Plus stores. The catch is that its two headline loyalty features, store credit and VIP tiers, are both locked to its $199/month Growth plan, the steepest gate of any app on this list, and the cheaper Entry plan doesn't include either.
Strengths:
One app for loyalty, wishlist, reviews, and referrals
Works in 16 languages, including French, German, Japanese, and Chinese
Checkout and account extensions built for Shopify Plus
Dedicated success managers and 24/7 support on higher plans
Worth knowing:
Store credit and VIP tiers both require the $199/month Growth plan. Overage fees apply past each plan's order limit, $20 per 100 extra orders on Entry, $15 per 100 on Growth.
Price
Free up to 200 orders/month. Entry $15/month (500 orders). Growth $199/month (1,500 orders, includes store credit and VIP tiers). 14-day free trial.
3. Rivo: Loyalty Program & Rewards
See the full Essential Loyalty vs Rivo comparison for the complete feature and pricing breakdown.
Rivo is a founder-led, actively-developed app that ships weekly and leans on Shopify's newer APIs. It's a good fit for DTC brands already running SMS marketing, with native integrations into Attentive and Postscript alongside Klaviyo and Gorgias, and its top plan adds a developer toolkit and checkout extensions for custom builds. The trade-off is that referrals and VIP tiers, two features most merchants expect early, both sit behind the $49/month Scale plan, and the app only displays in English.
Strengths:
Active weekly development with a Shopify-native tech focus
Shopify POS included from the $15/month Essential plan
Native Attentive and Postscript (SMS) integrations
Developer toolkit and checkout extensions on the Plus plan
Worth knowing:
No multi-language display: English only, a hard limit for international stores. Referrals and VIP tiers both require the $49/month Scale plan. The free plan is capped at 200 orders with no referrals, VIP, or integrations.
Price
Free up to 200 orders/month. Essential $15/month (500 orders). Scale $49/month, pay-as-you-go beyond that. Plus $499/month (2,500 orders, custom pricing above). 14-day free trial.
4. BON: Loyalty Rewards Referrals
See the full Essential Loyalty vs BON Loyalty comparison for the complete feature and pricing breakdown.
BON is the pick on this list for stores that need something Smile doesn't offer at all: B2B loyalty tiers for a wholesale channel running alongside a retail program, plus support for headless and Hydrogen storefronts. It holds the highest review count here, 1,948 reviews at a perfect 5.0, and merchants consistently cite fast, hands-on support. Several features that come free elsewhere, VIP tiers, Shopify POS, and multi-language display, are reserved for its higher plans.
Strengths:
B2B loyalty tiers for wholesale stores (Growth plan)
Headless and Hydrogen storefront support
Gamification: daily check-in rewards, purchase streaks, limited-time campaigns
1,948 reviews at 5.0 stars, support quality frequently cited
Worth knowing:
VIP tiers require the $129/month Growth plan. Multi-language display needs the $29/month Basic plan and above, and the app supports 5 languages against 20+ on some alternatives. Shopify POS isn't available on Free or Starter.
Price
Free up to 150 orders/month. Starter $15/month (300 orders). Basic $29/month (500 orders). Growth $129/month (unlimited). 7-day free trial.
5. CWILL Loyalty & Referrals
See the full Essential Loyalty vs CWILL comparison for the complete feature and pricing breakdown.
CWILL, rebranded from Loloyal and also shown in places as TrustWILL Loyalty, lists support for 20 languages, the broadest on this list, and gives every plan, including free, access to temporary point-multiplier campaigns most competitors charge for. Support is well-reviewed, with 24/7 live chat. VIP tiers and Klaviyo both require the $69+/month Growth plan, and Starter and Growth plans both carry per-order overage fees once you exceed the plan's cap, something a few recent reviewers describe being surprised by.
Strengths:
20 languages listed, the broadest language support here
Free temporary point-multiplier campaigns (2x, 3x), on every plan including Free
Shopify Flow support free on every plan
813 reviews at 4.9 stars, Built for Shopify
Worth knowing:
VIP tiers and Klaviyo both require the $69+/month Growth plan. Starter and Growth carry per-order overage fees, $20 and $15 per 100 extra orders, once you exceed the plan cap, and the Plus tier has no published price. No native store-credit reward; redemption is coupon-based.
Price
Free up to 50 orders/month. Starter $19/month (200 orders) or $29/month (500 orders), plus overage beyond that. Growth from $69/month (500 orders), scaling toward $99+/month, plus overage. Plus is custom-priced. 14-day free trial.
6. Joy: Loyalty Program & Rewards
See the full Essential Loyalty vs Joy Loyalty comparison for the complete feature and pricing breakdown.
Joy has the widest feature set on this list: paid memberships, social rewards for Instagram actions, Apple and Google Wallet loyalty passes, a custom rule engine, and a documented developer API with Hydrogen headless support on its top plan. It's a strong pick for a store that wants to configure every detail or needs member-vs-non-member reporting. The trade-off is complexity and cost: VIP tiers, Shopify POS, and paid membership are all locked to the $129/month Advanced plan, and several reviews mention a steeper setup process.
Strengths:
Social reward actions: Instagram comment, story mention, auto DM
Apple Wallet and Google Wallet loyalty passes (Advanced plan)
Documented developer API and Hydrogen headless support (Ultimate plan)
Deep member-vs-non-member and CLV-style reporting (Essential plan and above)
Worth knowing:
VIP tiers and Shopify POS both require the $129/month Advanced plan. Lists only 6 languages. Per-100-order overage pricing applies on paid plans, and several reviews note the setup takes longer than expected given how much there is to configure.
Price
Starter is free (250 orders/month). Essential $29/month (500 orders, then +$15/100). Advanced $129/month (2,000 orders, then +$10/100). Ultimate $499/month (7,000 orders, then +$5/100). 14-day trial on Essential and Advanced, 30-day on Ultimate.
Which Smile alternative fits your store?
Choose Essential Loyalty if:
- you want VIP tiers, Klaviyo, and cart redemption on the free plan, not a $199 upgrade
- you want a bill that never passes $79/month, no matter how large you grow
- you want 24/7 human support, including direct access to the founder, from day one
- you're setting up loyalty for the first time and want it live in two clicks
Choose one of the others if:
- you run a wholesale/B2B storefront or a headless build: look at BON
- you need a public developer API or deep member-vs-non-member reporting: look at Joy
- you're already on Attentive or Postscript for SMS: look at Rivo
- you want loyalty, wishlist, and reviews bundled in one app: look at Growave
- you need one of 20 listed languages or free point-multiplier campaigns: look at CWILL
Winner: Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards most Shopify stores looking for a Smile.io alternative, because it includes VIP tiers, Klaviyo, and cart redemption on the free plan, and its paid tiers top out at a flat $79/month with no per-order overage, where Smile and most of the field gate the same features behind $129–$199/month plans
Pricing and plan limits in this category change often. Before you commit to an annual plan on any of these apps, check its most recent reviews and its current pricing page on the Shopify App Store.
Switching from Smile.io
Your customers, their order history, and their points balances live in Shopify, not inside Smile, so switching doesn't put any of that at risk. Most loyalty apps, Essential Loyalty included, support a CSV import that carries points balances, lifetime points, VIP tier, and birthday across, so members keep what they've earned. Run the new app alongside Smile while you configure it, test with a real order, then turn Smile off.
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.
Smile.io alternatives: common questions
- Essential Loyalty Program & Rewards is the strongest all-round pick for most stores: VIP tiers, Klaviyo, and cart redemption are all on the free plan, and paid plans top out at a flat $79/month. The right pick still depends on your store: BON, Rivo, Growave, CWILL, and Joy are each a better fit for specific needs covered in the comparison table and sections above.
- Mainly pricing. VIP tiers and checkout redemption both require Smile's $199/month Growth plan, and checkout redemption also needs Shopify Plus on top of that. Essential and Standard plans cap how many integrations can run at once. Several long-term reviewers mention costs rising as features they used moved to higher tiers.
- Smile has the longest track record and the most reviews in the category by a wide margin, and its integration library is genuinely broad once you're on a paid plan. Where it loses ground to newer entrants like Essential Loyalty is price: a complete program with VIP tiers and checkout redemption costs $199/month on Smile, while several alternatives on this list include the same features free or for under $50/month.
- Yes. Five configurable tier levels with a real point multiplier, included free up to 250 orders/month. Smile, Growave, BON, CWILL, and Joy all gate VIP tiers behind a paid plan, from $49 to $199 a month.
- Essential Loyalty's pricing stops climbing earliest: $24/month covers up to 1,500 orders, and $79/month covers unlimited orders with no overage fee. Most of the field adds per-order overage charges once you exceed a plan's cap, so the real cost at volume is often higher than the listed starting price.
- By star rating, BON (5.0, 1,948 reviews) and Essential Loyalty (5.0, 490 reviews) are tied at the top. By review count, Smile.io itself still leads the category with over 4,100 reviews, reflecting its much longer time on the Shopify App Store.
- BON Loyalty documents headless and Hydrogen support today. Joy's Ultimate plan ($499/month) adds Hydrogen support alongside a developer API. Essential Loyalty does not currently document headless support.
- No, in most cases. Smile lets you export your member list and points balances, and several apps on this list, including Essential Loyalty, support a CSV import that sets customer balances, lifetime points, tier, and birthday directly, so members keep what they've earned. Activity history and who-referred-whom typically don't carry over on any app in this category.
- Track record and integration breadth, mainly. Smile has the most reviews in the category by a wide margin, supports subscription and gift-card reward types, and connects natively with Gorgias, Loox, Mailchimp, and Recharge in addition to Klaviyo and Judge.me, once you're past its lower-tier integration caps.
Last checked: October 1, 2026
Comparing Shopify loyalty apps head to head?
Written by
Milda Gaigalaite
Content and SEO specialist at Essential Apps. 8+ years in digital marketing, with the last 3 spent deep in the Shopify space, understanding how merchants grow and what gets in the way.
