The Short Answer
Loyalty program costs range from free (Square Loyalty basic) to $10,000+ per month (enterprise platforms like Punchh or Paytronix). For most local businesses, the real range is $0 to $399 per month depending on how much personalization and automation you want.
The more important question is ROI. A $399/month loyalty platform that drives even 10 extra repeat visits per month at $50 average check pays for itself 1.25x over. Most businesses see 3-5x returns within 90 days. Use our loyalty ROI calculator to model your specific numbers.
Cost by Platform Type
Free Loyalty Programs
Square Loyalty (free tier): Digital punch card. Basic. Customer earns visits or points, redeems rewards. Zero cost if you are on Square POS. Upgrade to $45/month for automations.
What you get: A digital punch card that replaces paper. Points tracking. Basic reward redemption.
What you do not get: SMS campaigns. Personalized messaging. Win-back automations. Wallet passes. AI personalization. Basically, it tracks loyalty but does not actively drive it.
Best for: Very small businesses on a tight budget who want to replace paper punch cards with something digital.
Mid-Range ($100-$400/month)
Marsello ($125/month+): Loyalty plus email/SMS marketing for Shopify and Lightspeed users. Template-based campaigns.
FiveStars ($199/month): Tablet-based loyalty with automated marketing. Works across POS systems.
Regulr ($399/month): AI-powered retention with POS integration, wallet passes, multi-channel campaigns (SMS, email, wallet push), and 5 automated campaign types. Every message is AI-generated and unique to each customer.
What you get at this tier: Actual retention marketing, not just loyalty tracking. Automated campaigns. Some level of personalization. Multi-channel messaging.
Best for: Independent businesses that want their loyalty program to actively bring customers back, not just reward people who were coming anyway.
Enterprise ($1,000-$15,000+/month)
Thanx (custom pricing): Card-linked loyalty, deep CRM, 400+ customer attributes, A/B testing, optional digital ordering. For 10+ location restaurant groups.
Punchh / Paytronix ($5,000-$15,000+/month): Enterprise loyalty with gamification, branded apps, complex tier structures, and massive integrations. For 50-100+ location chains.
What you get: Everything. Deep analytics, branded apps, enterprise integrations, dedicated account management.
What it costs beyond the monthly fee: $5,000-$15,000 implementation. 8-16 weeks setup. Dedicated IT resources. Ongoing management staff.
Best for: Large chains with dedicated marketing teams and six-figure annual marketing budgets.
Cost by Business Type
Restaurants
| Solution | Monthly Cost | Setup Cost | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper punch cards | $20-$50 (printing) | $0 | Immediate |
| Square Loyalty | $0-$45 | $0 | Instant |
| Toast Loyalty | $75+ | $0 | Instant |
| Regulr | $399 | $0 | 15 minutes |
| Thanx | $500-$2,000+ (est.) | $5,000+ | 4-8 weeks |
Read our best restaurant loyalty software comparison for detailed breakdowns.
Med Spas
| Solution | Monthly Cost | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp/Klaviyo DIY | $13-$45 | 2-4 hours |
| Boulevard (built-in) | $175+ | Integrated |
| Regulr | $399 | 15 minutes |
| Zenoti | Custom | 4-8 weeks |
Read our best med spa marketing software comparison.
Coffee Shops
| Solution | Monthly Cost | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|
| Paper punch cards | $10-$30 | Immediate |
| Square Loyalty | $0-$45 | Instant |
| Regulr | $399 | 15 minutes |
Read our coffee shop loyalty program guide.
Salons
| Solution | Monthly Cost | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|
| Paper punch cards | $10-$30 | Immediate |
| Square Loyalty | $0-$45 | Instant |
| Boulevard (built-in) | $175+ | Integrated |
| Regulr | $399 | 15 minutes |
The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About
1. Discount spend
Most loyalty programs give away 10% of revenue in discounts. Regulr averages 2.4% because the AI uses relationship-first messaging (60% of frequency boost messages include no offer at all). Over a year, the difference between 10% and 2.4% discount rates is $76,000 for a $1M restaurant.
2. Staff time
Programs that require staff to pitch enrollment, manage campaigns, or build segments cost $10-$20/hour in labor. At 5 hours/week, that is $2,600-$5,200/year in hidden costs. Fully automated platforms eliminate this entirely.
3. App fatigue
App-based loyalty programs (Punchh, Paytronix) require customers to download an app. Under 20% do. That means 80% of your customers are not in your loyalty system. Wallet pass-based programs (like Regulr) hit 50-80% enrollment because there is nothing to download.
4. Opportunity cost of no system
The real cost is not what you pay for a loyalty program. It is what you lose without one. The average local business loses 60-70% of first-time customers. At $50 average check and 15,000 annual customers, that is $500,000+ in lost lifetime value. Use our churn cost calculator to see your number.
How to Calculate Your ROI
Monthly loyalty program cost: $399 Average customer lifetime value: $1,200 (use our CLV calculator) Customers retained per month that would have churned: 5 (conservative) Monthly retained revenue: 5 x $1,200 = $6,000 in lifetime value protected Monthly ROI: $6,000 / $399 = 15x return
Even at just 2 retained customers per month, the ROI is 6x. The break-even is less than 1 saved customer per month for most businesses.
Use our retention ROI calculator to model your specific numbers.
The Bottom Line
Do not choose a loyalty program based on price. Choose it based on what it actually does to bring customers back. A free program that tracks points but does nothing to prevent churn is not saving you money. It is costing you the customers who slip away while your loyalty program sits there doing nothing.
The question is not "how much does a loyalty program cost?" It is "how much are you losing without one?"
Read our complete restaurant loyalty guide, coffee shop loyalty guide, or med spa loyalty guide for industry-specific strategies.
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Founder of Regulr and Denver Curated
I built Denver Curated into a local marketing platform reaching 300,000+ people across Denver, Austin, Chicago, and LA. Now I build retention technology at Regulr. I write about keeping customers because I have run the campaigns myself.