LoyaltyLion has been a fixture of Shopify loyalty since 2014, and if you're reading this you've probably just seen their pricing page and felt your eyebrows move. This comparison walks through what LoyaltyLion and Keystone Loyalty & Rewards each cost, what's actually included at each tier, and which stores each app genuinely fits.
Disclosure first: Keystone is our product. Where LoyaltyLion is the better choice, we'll say so plainly.
TL;DR verdict
- Choose Keystone if you want VIP tiers, POS rewards and integrations at small-business prices ($14.99-$129/mo), or you want the program built for you rather than a toolkit and a documentation link.
- Choose LoyaltyLion if you're an established mid-market or enterprise brand that wants agency-grade onboarding, 130+ languages, and strategic reviews - and the budget to match ($199/mo minimum for a paid plan, with key features on custom-priced tiers).
Pricing, side by side
Prices as shown on the Shopify App Store and loyaltylion.com in July 2026 - check the live pages for current numbers.
| Keystone | LoyaltyLion | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0 - up to 250 orders/mo | $0 - up to 400 orders/mo |
| First paid plan | $14.99/mo Starter (500 orders) | $199/mo Classic (500+ orders) |
| VIP tiers | $69/mo (Standard) | Advanced plan - custom quote (App Store listing mentions tiers at Classic; their own pricing page places them in Advanced) |
| Scaling plan | $129/mo Growth (2,000 orders, then $20/100) | Custom quotes (Advanced, Plus) |
| Top plan | $499/mo Plus (5,000 orders, then $10/100) | Custom quote |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days (Classic) |
Two honest observations. First, LoyaltyLion's free plan is the most generous order allowance in the category - 400 orders a month, more than Keystone's 250. Second, the cliff after it is steep: the next step is $199/month, a 13x jump from Keystone's $14.99 entry plan, and their own pricing page places VIP tiers and Shopify POS in the custom-priced Advanced tier.
Feature-by-feature
Points and rewards
Both cover the core loop thoroughly: points for purchases, sign-ups, reviews and social actions, redeemable as discounts, free shipping and products. LoyaltyLion's free plan includes on-site activity points and analytics; Keystone's free plan includes points, discount rewards and dynamic discount codes.
VIP tiers
On Keystone, tiers ship on the $69 Standard plan. On LoyaltyLion, the App Store listing and their pricing page disagree about where tiers live (Classic vs. Advanced), and Advanced is a custom-quote conversation with sales. If you want tiers this quarter without a procurement cycle, that difference is decisive.
Referrals
Keystone includes referrals from Starter ($14.99). LoyaltyLion supports referral points as a core mechanic; at the free level it focuses on on-site activities, with the full program at Classic and above.
Integrations
LoyaltyLion's catalog is genuinely strong - Klaviyo, Gorgias, ReCharge, Attentive, Loox, Tapcart and 50+ more, with unlimited integrations at Classic. Keystone covers the highest-impact stack (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Shopify Flow, Zapier) from the Growth plan, and adds something LoyaltyLion doesn't have: a public agent API and MCP server, so AI assistants can read and manage your program.
Languages
LoyaltyLion advertises 130+ languages on Advanced (7 on the free plan). Keystone's storefront widget supports multi-language from the Growth plan. Global brands with many locales should weigh LoyaltyLion here.
Setup and support
LoyaltyLion's Classic includes onboarding and a free loyalty page design, and their higher tiers add twice-yearly and quarterly strategy reviews - a genuinely agency-like model. Keystone's equivalent is more direct: from the $69 Standard plan our team builds the entire program for you, and the $499 Plus plan includes a dedicated manager who runs and optimizes it all year. Recent LoyaltyLion reviews on the App Store cite multi-day support waits and difficult cancellations; weigh review recency yourself when evaluating.
Where LoyaltyLion genuinely wins
- Most generous free plan in the category: 400 orders/month.
- Enterprise depth: 130+ languages, strategic reviews, big-brand references, London-based team trusted by 10,000+ stores since 2014.
- Integration breadth: 50+ native integrations.
Where Keystone wins
- The entire middle of the market: $14.99-$129 covers what LoyaltyLion prices at $199-custom. A store doing 1,000 orders a month pays $69 on Keystone for a feature set that maps to LoyaltyLion's Advanced conversation.
- VIP tiers without a sales call.
- Done-for-you setup at $69 instead of enterprise-tier pricing.
- Transparent overage pricing ($20/100 orders on Growth, $10/100 on Plus) versus plan-adjustment conversations.
- AI-ready: public API, MCP server, AI assistant integration.
Switching from LoyaltyLion to Keystone
Export customer point balances (CSV) from LoyaltyLion, and Keystone's import restores them one-for-one - nobody loses points, which is the thing customers actually notice. On Standard and above our team runs the migration for you, typically inside a day. Keep your old widget live until the new one is styled, then swap in one theme update.
Bottom line
LoyaltyLion built a genuinely good enterprise product with the best free tier in the category - if you're under 400 orders a month, starting free with them is rational, and if you're a global brand with a loyalty budget, their strategic model earns its price. The gap is everything in between: for stores that outgrow a free plan but don't have $199-plus-custom budgets, Keystone delivers tiers, referrals, POS and done-for-you setup at prices the middle of the market can actually justify. For that segment - which is most of Shopify - Keystone isn't the budget alternative. It's the better product at a fraction of the price.
Related reading
- Smile.io vs Keystone: Which Shopify Loyalty App Fits Your Store?
- The 7 Best Shopify Loyalty Apps in 2026 (Honest Comparison)
- How to Build a Loyalty Program That Truly Scales
Ready to put this into practice? Keystone Loyalty & Rewards launches points, VIP tiers and referrals in minutes — VIP tiers at a third of what the big-name apps charge, a done-for-you setup option, and a free plan to start.