Compare the 5 best Joy Loyalty alternatives for Shopify in 2026. See real pricing at every order tier and which app includes VIP tiers and POS for less.
You installed Joy Loyalty because it looked complete on paper. Then the triggers stopped firing, the membership tier counts came back wrong, and support blamed your setup instead of fixing it. You're not alone. Merchants leave Joy over reliability problems, feature gates, and a migration path that makes existing customers start from zero.
In this article, you'll find:
By the end, you'll know which Shopify loyalty app fits your store.
TL;DRLove Loyalty is the best Joy Loyalty alternative for Shopify stores. You get VIP tiers, paid memberships, POS support, and referrals starting at $79/month, while Joy locks those same features behind its $129 Advanced plan. Love Loyalty prices every core loyalty feature lower and keeps redemption fast across the storefront.
Joy Loyalty offers a full feature set on paper, but merchants report broken automations, migration limits, and features gated behind higher tiers. Joy includes points, VIP tiers, referrals, and paid memberships, so the gaps show up in reliability and pricing rather than missing capabilities.
Merchants report three recurring problems.
1. Automations break without warning. Merchants using Shopify Flow triggers report the flows stopping with no alert, sometimes repeatedly. When earning rules or discount logic change on their own, stores can ship unexpected orders at the wrong discount before anyone notices.
2. Migration doesn't carry past purchases. Merchants report that Joy's migration asks existing customers to buy again and sign up before they earn anything, so past purchases don't convert to points. That removes the reason a loyal customer would join at launch.
3. Core features sit behind the $129 tier. VIP tiers, POS, and paid memberships all live on Joy's Advanced plan at $129/month for 2,000 orders. A store that wants to segment its best customers or run in-store loyalty has to reach that tier to do it.
This is why merchants look for Joy alternatives that hold up under daily use, migrate existing customers with their points intact, and include core loyalty features at lower tiers.
Here are the five best Joy alternatives, ranked on loyalty features, pricing, and reliability.
Love Loyalty is the best Joy alternative. It gives fast growing Shopify brands VIP tiers, paid memberships, and POS at $79/month, all of which Joy keeps on its $129 plan. You get the whole loyalty program on one Shopify-native app, with data stored in Shopify metafields so your pages load fast.
What you get with Love Loyalty:
Love Loyalty vs Joy pricing
Love Loyalty prices every tier below Joy. Your entry plan costs $12/month for 500 orders with the full points program and a dedicated loyalty page. Joy charges $29/month for the same 500 orders and puts the loyalty page on its Essential tier.
Love Loyalty handles 2,000 orders for $79/month with VIP tiers, paid memberships, and POS support included. Joy charges $129/month for the same 2,000 orders, since VIP tiers, memberships, and POS all sit on its Advanced plan.
At the top, Love Loyalty runs $399/month for unlimited orders with checkout extensions and B2B support. Joy charges $499/month and caps you at 7,000 orders, then adds $5 per 100 orders beyond that.
Pros:
Cons:
Shopify App Store rating:
LoyaltyLion helps brands convert first-time buyers into repeat customers through points and rewards integrated across the shopper journey.
What you get with LoyaltyLion:
LoyaltyLion vs Love Loyalty pricing
Love Loyalty starts at $12/month against LoyaltyLion's $199/month entry plan for 500 orders. At the mid-tier, LoyaltyLion charges for 2,000 orders without VIP tiers or POS included, while Love Loyalty includes both at $79/month. At the top, LoyaltyLion moves to custom enterprise pricing, so costs stop being public. Love Loyalty stays at a flat $399/month for unlimited orders with checkout extensions.
Pros:
Cons:
Shopify App Store rating:
Yotpo helps brands turn one-time buyers into repeat customers through customizable loyalty programs and analytics.
What you get with Yotpo:
Yotpo vs Love Loyalty pricing
Love Loyalty starts at $12/month against Yotpo's $199/month for 500 orders. At the mid-tier, Yotpo charges $299/month for 1,000 orders without VIP tiers or POS, while Love Loyalty handles 2,000 orders at $79/month with both included, plus paid memberships Yotpo doesn't offer. At the premium level, Yotpo shifts to custom pricing while Love Loyalty stays at a flat $399/month.
Pros:
Cons:
Shopify App Store rating:
Loyoly helps brands build loyalty through user-generated content and brand ambassador programs.
What you get with Loyoly:
Loyoly vs Love Loyalty pricing
Love Loyalty starts at $12/month against Loyoly's $99/month entry plan. At the mid-tier, Love Loyalty supports 2,000 orders for $79/month with POS, memberships, VIP tiers, and onboarding included, while Loyoly charges $449/month for 500 orders without POS or memberships. At the premium level, Love Loyalty offers unlimited orders for $399/month against Loyoly's $999/month.
Pros:
Cons:
Shopify App Store rating:
Growave bundles loyalty, wishlists, reviews, and referrals into one retention platform. It suits stores that want those tools in one place.
What you get with Growave:
Growave vs Love Loyalty pricing
Growave's entry plan starts at $15/month for 500 orders, below Love Loyalty's $12. If you only need points and referrals at low volume, that entry price is hard to beat. Growave puts VIP tiers and store credit on its $199/month Growth plan for 1,500 orders, while Love Loyalty includes VIP tiers, memberships, and POS at $79/month for 2,000 orders. At the top, Growave charges $499/month and caps at 3,000 orders, then adds $10 per 100 beyond that. Love Loyalty runs $399/month for unlimited orders.
Pros:
Cons:
Shopify App Store rating:
Love Loyalty is the best Joy alternative for Shopify merchants. It includes VIP tiers, paid memberships, POS support, and referrals at $79/month, the same features Joy gates behind its $129 Advanced plan.
Merchants report broken Shopify Flow automations, a migration path that asks existing customers to repurchase before earning points, and core features like VIP tiers and POS sitting on higher tiers.
Love Loyalty is the better choice for growing stores. It includes VIP tiers, memberships, and POS at $79/month for 2,000 orders, while Joy charges $129/month for the same order volume to unlock those features. At the top tier, Love Loyalty offers unlimited orders for $399/month, while Joy caps at 7,000 orders for $499/month and charges $5 per 100 orders beyond that.
Joy starts with a free plan for 250 monthly orders. Essential costs $29/month for 500 orders. Advanced costs $129/month for 2,000 orders and includes VIP tiers, POS, and paid memberships. Ultimate costs $499/month for 7,000 orders with checkout extensions and API access, then $5 per 100 orders beyond the cap.
Love Loyalty offers the best value at $12/month for 500 orders with the full points program and a dedicated loyalty page. Its $79/month plan handles 2,000 orders with VIP tiers, referrals, POS, and paid memberships included.
Love Loyalty includes paid memberships on its $79/month and $399/month plans, with a one-click checkout upsell that applies member benefits to the same order. Joy includes memberships on its $129/month Advanced plan.
Yes. Love Loyalty offers migration support that transfers customer point balances and tier status, with dedicated onboarding handling the transfer. It has migrated programs at 100,000+ and 1,000,000+ customers without point or tier loss.
.avif)
