Regulr vs FiveStars: Honest Comparison (2026)

Overview

FiveStars (now part of SumUp) is a digital loyalty platform for local businesses with decent reward programs and basic marketing automation. The catch: it needs a tablet at your counter and relies on customers checking in manually. There's no churn prediction, no AI. Just rule-based automation. And with the SumUp acquisition, the product's future direction is unclear.

Digital loyalty and marketing platform

Feature-by-feature comparison

Green checkmarks mean the feature is included. Dashes mean it's not available or requires a workaround.

Feature	Regulr	FiveStars
AI-powered customer insights	✓	—
Automated win-back campaigns	✓	✓
Churn prediction	✓	—
Digital loyalty program	✓	✓
POS integration	✓	✓
SMS & email campaigns	✓	✓
Customer segmentation	✓	✓
Apple/Google Wallet pass	✓	—
No hardware required	✓	—
Multi-POS support	✓	—

Pricing

Regulr

$99/mo

Per location. All features included.

FiveStars

FiveStars pricing starts around $299/mo. Regulr starts at $99/mo with more advanced AI-powered retention included.

Where FiveStars works well

FiveStars is best for businesses that want a traditional loyalty program with marketing automation and don't need AI-driven predictive retention.

Where FiveStars falls short

No AI-powered churn prediction

Requires proprietary hardware (tablet) at the counter

Higher price point for comparable features

Marketing automation is rule-based, not AI-driven

Now part of SumUp: product direction uncertain

Where Regulr does better

AI predicts churn before it happens: not after

No hardware required: works via your existing POS

Apple & Google Wallet passes for seamless loyalty

Lower price with more advanced AI capabilities

Works with any POS system, not locked to one provider

The bottom line

FiveStars is a solid choice if you need fivestars is best for businesses that want a traditional loyalty program with marketing automation a. But if your main goal is reducing customer churn with AI-powered retention, personalized campaigns, and POS-connected automation, Regulr is built specifically for that.

Regulr wins on 5 features that FiveStars doesn't offer, while FiveStars has 0 features Regulr doesn't. They share 5 features in common.

Still deciding?

Get a personalized recommendation based on your business type and goals.

Join 2,400+ local business owners. We respect your inbox.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Regulr different from FiveStars?

FiveStars is a traditional loyalty platform. Regulr is an AI-powered retention platform that predicts which customers are at risk and automatically re-engages them, before they stop coming back.

Does Regulr require hardware like FiveStars?

No. FiveStars requires a tablet at your counter. Regulr integrates directly with your POS. No extra hardware needed.

Is Regulr cheaper than FiveStars?

Yes. Regulr starts at $99/mo compared to FiveStars at ~$299/mo, and includes more advanced AI-powered features.