Disclosure: Keystone is our product. This is our honest comparison — every number below comes from the apps' public Shopify App Store listings as of August 2026, and we tell you plainly where Smile still wins.
Smile.io is the biggest name in Shopify loyalty for a reason: 4,197 reviews, a 4.9 rating, a Built for Shopify badge, and a track record going back to 2014. So why do merchants go looking for an alternative? Almost always the same two words: plan gating. On Smile, VIP tiers and points expiry — the two features that turn a points widget into a retention engine — only unlock on the $199/month Growth plan. If you run a store doing a few hundred orders a month, that price puts the most effective loyalty mechanics out of reach.
Here are seven alternatives, ranked, with real pricing and honest caveats.
TL;DR verdict
- Best value for VIP tiers: Keystone — tiers plus done-for-you setup at $69/month, versus $199 on Smile, $129 on Joy or BON.
- Cheapest points expiry: Keystone at $14.99/month; on Smile the same feature costs $199.
- Biggest budget option with VIP: Appstle — a VIP program on its $30 Business plan.
- Most reviews among challengers: BON (1,831 reviews at a 5.0 rating).
- Stay on Smile if: you depend on its mature integration ecosystem or need 20+ widget languages on the free plan.
Pricing at a glance (August 2026)
| App | Free plan limit | Cheapest paid plan | VIP tiers available at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keystone | 250 orders/mo | $14.99/mo | $69/mo |
| Smile.io | 200 orders/mo | $15/mo | $199/mo |
| Rivo | 200 orders/mo | $15/mo | $49/mo |
| BON | 150 orders/mo | $15/mo | $129/mo |
| Joy | 250 orders/mo | $29/mo | $129/mo |
| LoyaltyLion | 400 orders/mo | $199/mo | $199/mo |
| Yotpo Loyalty | Free to install | $199/mo | Above Pro |
| Appstle | 250 orders/mo | $10/mo | $30/mo |
1. Keystone Loyalty Rewards
Keystone is the newest app on this list, and we'll be upfront: it has a 5.0 rating from just 5 reviews, so it doesn't have Smile's social proof. What it does have is the pricing structure Smile users keep asking for. The free plan covers 250 monthly orders — more than Smile's 200. The $14.99 Starter plan includes referrals, Shopify POS, gift card rewards, and points expiry with notifications — points expiry alone requires Smile's $199 plan. The $69 Standard plan adds VIP tiers and something no other app on this list includes at that price: a done-for-you setup, where our team builds and launches your program. The $99 Growth plan adds Klaviyo and Mailchimp integrations, Shopify Flow triggers, and a multi-language, multi-currency storefront.
The math against Smile is direct: a store that wants VIP tiers and expiring points pays $199/month on Smile and $69/month on Keystone.
2. Rivo
Rivo (4.8 rating, 1,386 reviews, Built for Shopify) is the strongest established challenger on price. Its $49 Scale plan carries VIP tiers, points expiry, bonus campaigns, and custom CSS — features Smile reserves for $199. The free plan matches Smile at 200 monthly orders. The caveat: Klaviyo event integrations and its developer toolkit sit on the $499 Plus plan, so advanced email automation gets expensive fast.
3. BON Loyalty
BON holds a 5.0 rating across 1,831 reviews — the best rating-to-volume combination among the challengers — and carries the Built for Shopify badge. Its ladder is granular: $15 Starter (300 orders, birthday rewards, points expiry), $29 Basic (500 orders, POS, multi-language). VIP tiers, though, only arrive on the $129 Growth plan, which is nearly double Keystone's $69 and more than double Rivo's $49 for the same core feature.
4. Joy
Joy (4.9 rating, 1,705 reviews, Built for Shopify) matches Keystone's free plan at 250 monthly orders and has a strong automation story: 22+ Shopify Flow triggers and 30+ integrations from its $29 Essential plan. VIP tiers plus B2B tiers land on the $129 Advanced plan. If you want its developer toolkit or headless support, that's the $499 Ultimate plan.
5. LoyaltyLion
LoyaltyLion (4.6 rating, 473 reviews, around since 2014) is built for bigger merchants. The free plan is generous — 400 monthly orders — but the first paid step is the $199 Classic plan. There is no mid-market rung: it goes from free to $199. In exchange you get an agency-grade package: a loyalty page design, built-for-you Klaviyo flows, and onboarding support. For stores under roughly 1,000 orders a month, that jump rarely pencils out.
6. Yotpo Loyalty
Yotpo Loyalty (4.8 rating, 890 reviews) makes sense when you already run Yotpo Reviews or SMS and want one vendor. On its own, the ladder is stark: a free-to-install tier with a rewards sticky bar, then $199/month Pro for a rewards page and checkout redemption, with VIP tiers above that. Recent reviews also note it lacks the Built for Shopify badge, unlike most challengers here.
7. Appstle Loyalty
Appstle (5.0 rating, 1,264 reviews, Built for Shopify) is the budget pick. A VIP program, custom points expiration, and bulk automations all sit on its $30 Business plan — the cheapest route to tiers on this list. The trade-off is depth: checkout redemption requires Shopify Plus and the $100 Business Premium plan, and its loyalty feature set is younger (launched 2023) and leans on its subscription-app heritage.
Where Smile genuinely wins
Three things, honestly: first, social proof — 4,197 reviews is more than every challenger here combined except BON and Joy together, and that history means edge cases have been found and fixed. Second, its integration ecosystem is the most mature in the category. Third, its free plan ships 20+ widget languages, which international stores get nowhere else at $0.
Switching without losing points
Every app on this list imports points balances via CSV, and Smile exports them the same way. The short version: export from Smile, keep both widgets hidden during the cutover, import, spot-check twenty customers, then flip the new widget live. Keystone's Standard plan includes a done-for-you setup, which covers exactly this migration work.
Bottom line
If Smile's $199 gate is why you're reading this, the decision comes down to three numbers: Keystone gives you points expiry at $14.99 and VIP tiers with a done-for-you setup at $69; Rivo gives you tiers at $49 without the setup service; Appstle gives you a VIP program at $30 with a thinner feature set. We think the $69 Standard plan is the strongest package of the three — you get the tiers, the expiry mechanics, and a team that builds the program for you, at roughly a third of what Smile charges for the features alone.
Related reading
- Smile.io vs Keystone: a full loyalty comparison
- The best Shopify loyalty apps of 2026, compared
- 6 LoyaltyLion alternatives that cost less in 2026
Ready to run VIP tiers without the $199 price tag? Keystone Loyalty gives you tiers, points expiry, and a done-for-you setup at a third of big-name pricing — free up to 250 orders a month, with a 14-day trial on every paid plan.
