Few companies in these interviews have completed a move off LoyaltyLion, and no destination has drawn more than two. Two moved loyalty onto Yotpo, which they already ran for reviews or for their other brands. The other completed moves went to another Shopify loyalty app, Rivo, Smile.io or Growave, or to Rise.ai for cash back paid as store credit. Not every move replaced points: the brand on Rivo kept points on the new platform, and the one that swapped points for cash back later questioned it. A baby-products brand is partway through a move to Rivo, two brands sunset or paused their programs, and brands keep arriving on LoyaltyLion at the same time. So this page reports where the leavers went, what kind of move each was, what the move away from points has looked like in practice, and when staying makes sense. The triggers behind a move are in why brands switch loyalty platforms, the costs in what buyers pay for a loyalty platform, the complaints in top complaints about loyalty platforms, and the closest rival in LoyaltyLion vs. Smile.io.
The alternatives, by what they are
Every product companies here name when leaving LoyaltyLion, weighing a move, or choosing something else in an evaluation, sorted by what the product is rather than by how often it comes up.
Among the alternatives with a published rating, Rivo at around 7.5 sits above LoyaltyLion's around 6.5, and Smile.io at around 6 sits just below it. All three rest on small samples, and they come from different groups of buyers, not from before-and-after scores at companies that switched, so they cannot show whether any one move improved satisfaction.
What lower-rating LoyaltyLion buyers complain about
A basic program, support and add-on pricing, and few of them leave over it. Most buyers in these interviews who score it 6 or below were still on it when we spoke to them. A complaint beside a move did not necessarily cause it. How LoyaltyLion's complaints compare with Smile.io's is on the head-to-head, and how they compare with the rest of the category is on the complaints page.
Some want more program than they have. A consumer-devices brand that scored it an eight or a nine through mid-2025 gave it a six in May 2026, saying “LoyaltyLion has just been out of the box for us,” citing too little help growing the program and analytics it calls not as solid as it needs. An accessories brand scoring it a seven wants gamification and custom experiences for an engaged community. These describe those companies' programs on the date of the interview. LoyaltyLion's site today lists points, VIP tiers, referrals, experiential rewards, analytics and more than 100 integrations, so check the current product rather than reading any of this as a list of what it lacks.
And most of them stay. A beauty brand scoring it a six chose it on price and thinks “in terms of a more robust solution, I'm thinking it must exist out there,” but says migrating off it is not a priority. A consumer-goods company that dropped its score over add-on charges was asked whether it would replace LoyaltyLion: “In the near future, no.”
Where buyers go
The cards are grouped by what kind of move each destination represents, and each one says whether a company completed a move, has one under way, only considered one, or passed on LoyaltyLion in an evaluation. The evidence is thin throughout: Yotpo, the only destination named twice, took one whole program and one brand of several, so read these as directions rather than a ranking.
A suite already in place
Two completed moves, and both consolidated loyalty onto a vendor the company already used. A drinks retailer had moved its loyalty program from LoyaltyLion to Yotpo by its April 2024 interview, beside the Yotpo reviews and subscriptions it was running. A multi-brand apparel group moved one brand off LoyaltyLion onto the Yotpo loyalty its other brands already ran. Yotpo also comes up as the next choice: a fashion brand leaving the cash-back tool it chose over LoyaltyLion names Yotpo as its front-runner for loyalty and reviews together, saying “I used them in my previous job and honestly, they're good.” Yotpo's site sells loyalty and referrals as a product that connects to its reviews.
No head-to-head published yet
A move under consideration, not one made. The consumer-devices brand above, which runs Okendo for reviews, is weighing whether to fold loyalty into it to save money: “Okendo has a loyalty portion to it. I wonder if there's a way for us to save money by consolidating it in there.” Okendo's site lists a loyalty product with points, VIP tiers, perks, store credit and memberships, with referrals sold as a separate product. Nothing is decided.
No head-to-head published yet
Another Shopify loyalty app
One completed move and one under way. A children's apparel brand moved to Rivo in early 2025 for an integration with the platform its mobile app runs on; that account, and its note that Rivo connects to fewer platforms, is on the head-to-head. Its later interviews show the move holding: by August 2026 it scored Rivo a ten, saying “we were able to build out a loyalty shop and storefront where people can redeem points for products.” LoyaltyLion's site today lists that app platform among its partners, so the gap that brand describes was its 2025 setup. The baby-products brand still moving is on the cards below.
A beverage brand used LoyaltyLion briefly before moving to Smile.io around 2019 or 2020, and is still there several years on. It is the oldest completed move here, and the only one in these interviews between the two closest Shopify rivals. How buyers separate them, and why brands also leave Smile.io, is on the head-to-head. Smile.io's site lists points, VIP tiers and referrals, with Shopify POS for in-store programs.
A completed move the buyer did not make. At an activewear brand, the IT and customer service teams replaced LoyaltyLion without the buyer we interviewed knowing: “Honestly, our IT totally just changed that on us.” By October 2025 the brand was dealing with discount codes being shared and reused: “I know we've been having issues with discount codes and stuff leaking, which is a huge issue.” It is open to going back to LoyaltyLion, but wants to compare a few vendors first. Growave's site sells loyalty, referrals, reviews and wishlists as one Shopify app.
No head-to-head published yet
Credit or perks instead of points
A fashion brand replaced LoyaltyLion's points program with Rise.ai's cash back in October 2025, on the advice of colleagues who thought points confused customers. “The price was the same, so the price was not a big factor.” Five months later: “Now that we're on Rise AI, I regret it and I probably should have simplified the program.” By its account, its setup holds little customer data beyond email and cash balance, so tiers have to be run through Shopify flows. Rise.ai's Shopify listing describes gift cards, store credit, cash back and loyalty in one wallet. The brand's full story is below.
No head-to-head published yet
Not a departure: two brands passed on LoyaltyLion for it in an evaluation. A pet-health brand chose Bubblehouse because it wanted rewards built from gifts and perks rather than discounts, and said of LoyaltyLion, Smile.io and others it looked at, “their programs are all structured on points, which is not how we wanted to approach it.” It scored Bubblehouse highly in November 2026. An apparel brand that chose it in 2025 for a more experiential program scored it lower. Bubblehouse's site lists points, tiers and paid memberships with perks. Its sample is too small to publish a number.
No head-to-head published yet
Paused, built in-house, or 99minds
Two brands stopped using LoyaltyLion without a replacement, for different program reasons, and neither is a rival vendor displacing it. A swimwear brand sunset its program for low adoption at its purchase frequency: “Wasn't a reflection of Loyalty Lion or the platform, just the program.” A luxury gifting brand that never discounts paused its program after product rewards gave away too much, calling the design one that “wasn't well thought through,” and had not restarted it when we last spoke to them.
Two companies evaluated LoyaltyLion and went different ways, and neither is a completed move off it. A fashion label found “LoyaltyLion did almost everything that we wanted to do,” but missed a way to waive return shipping automatically for members and could not see the return on investment, so in 2024 it started a single-tier program built on tools it already ran rather than buying a dedicated platform. Separately, a beauty retailer wanting a bespoke program recalls LoyaltyLion among the vendors it compared, and selected 99minds, an outside vendor, because “none of them were able to provide us with a solution at the price that 99Minds had.” 99minds' site sells loyalty, gift cards and store credit as one retention platform.
Read together, the completed moves follow two broad patterns: folding loyalty into a suite the company already pays for, or moving to another Shopify app, sometimes one that shows or pays rewards differently. These are not equivalent migrations, and none of the destinations here is shown to be better overall. Meanwhile brands keep arriving: a jewelry retailer integrating LoyaltyLion for its Shopify move scores it an eight before launch, and the activewear brand above wants to come back.
Should you move off points?
The interviews do not show a settled answer. One thread running through recent moves is not about features but about the reward itself: whether members earn points, see dollars, collect store credit or unlock perks. The clearest completed move away from points is the fashion brand that swapped LoyaltyLion's points for Rise.ai's cash back and later regretted how its program worked. A baby-products brand is moving to Rivo partly to show rewards in dollars and pay them as store credit, but had not finished. A new platform does not have to mean leaving points: the apparel brand on Rivo lets members spend points on products. The brands that chose Bubblehouse over LoyaltyLion wanted gifts, perks or an experiential program instead.
| Kind of move | What the interviews show | Platforms named | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed replacement | Loyalty moved off LoyaltyLion to another vendor | Smile.io, Yotpo, Rivo, Growave, Rise.ai | Around 2019 to 2025 |
| One brand of several | A multi-brand apparel group moving one brand onto the Yotpo its other brands use (also counted above) | Yotpo | Before late 2025 |
| Migration under way | A baby-products brand still live on LoyaltyLion, with the cutover set for September 1, 2026 | Rivo | 2026 |
| Planned move | A skincare company planning a move from LoyaltyLion | Yotpo | 2023 |
| Planned exit from the replacement | The fashion brand that moved to cash back plans to leave it when its contract ends in April 2027 | Rise.ai out; Yotpo the front-runner | 2026 |
| Program sunset or paused, no replacement | A swimwear brand sunset its program for low adoption; a luxury gifting brand paused after its product rewards proved too generous; no successor vendor or restart confirmed | None | 2024 |
| Return under consideration | The activewear brand moved to Growave by its IT team is open to going back | LoyaltyLion | 2025 |
| Move under consideration | Consolidating into a reviews vendor's loyalty, a more customizable tool, or a gamified add-on; no decision recorded | Okendo, TYB | 2025 to 2026 |
| Passed on LoyaltyLion | Evaluated and not chosen: for gift cards and store credit, a program without points, a bespoke program, or an in-house program | Rise.ai, Bubblehouse, 99minds; own program | 2023 to 2026 |
| Move toward LoyaltyLion | Brands launching on it, including one replacing another loyalty platform | LoyaltyLion | 2023 to 2026 |
Changing how rewards are shown and redeemed. The baby-products brand weighed leaving LoyaltyLion in January 2026 and by June was moving to Rivo, citing price and functionality and rewards shown as dollars and redeemed as shop credit rather than discount codes, as told on the head-to-head. The interview describes what the brand wants members to see and use, not whether points stop being the unit the platform records underneath. What that account leaves out is the cutover. Rivo had missed its go-live date: “They gave us a go live date and they've missed it by two weeks now, or three weeks.” The brand would pay both vendors during the overlap, and Rivo offset it: “They reduced their fees so that we weren't double paying.” The pet-health brand above went further and chose a program with no points at all. Rivo's help center describes a program that runs on either points or store credit, a setting that shows points with an estimated cash value while staying a points program, and cashback offers paid as store credit for eligible Shopify Plus shops. So a move to Rivo is not by itself a move off points: the apparel brand above uses Rivo to let members spend points on products.
And back again. The fashion brand that swapped LoyaltyLion's points for Rise.ai's cash back had trusted a colleague's view that points were too hard for customers to understand. In August 2026, with the contract running to April 2027, it said it “would definitely go back to a more traditional type of loyalty program, points-based and just easier to manage on the back end for us,” with Yotpo as its choice for loyalty and reviews. That is one company's experience of one setup, not evidence that cash back fails. Rise.ai's listing describes rewards for signups, lifetime spend and referrals paid as store credit, so check what your plan supports.
The implication, ours and not a buyer's, is that the reward structure is a program decision to settle and test with members before choosing a vendor, because one brand chose a tool for its reward model and came to regret the model rather than the tool.
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The interviews do not settle that as a rule, but high scorers describe a recognizable situation.
A program tied into the rest of the stack. A premium apparel brand scores LoyaltyLion an eight for “how it integrates seamlessly with the app” and its email and SMS tools. Its next job is the program, not the platform: helping members understand their tier and what it unlocks.
A team that wants guidance at the start. A jewelry retailer integrating it ahead of launch says “they've been a really good partner and have provided a lot of feedback around program mechanics and structures.” Even a brand leaving for Rivo scored LoyaltyLion an eight on its way out.
Where the limits show. The clearest misfits are programs that want gamification, custom experiences or rewards structured without points, and teams that want more help growing the program after launch. An accessories brand puts the trade plainly: “if you really just wanna get a good basic loyalty program up, I would say they're a good partner.” The pricing complaints, a base plan plus add-ons, are on the head-to-head.
The answer the evidence supports. Companies that left LoyaltyLion emphasize consolidating onto a suite they already ran, an integration with their app, price and functionality, a change of reward structure, and in one case a decision made by another team. Companies that stay emphasize integrations with the app, email and SMS, and early guidance on the program. What the evidence does not show is that any alternative is better overall, that leaving improved results, or that moving away from points works better than keeping them.
Our recommendation, not a practice buyers describe, is to check these before any move:
- The program first. Write down the earning rules, tiers, redemption and member experience you want in two years. Separate the currency members see from what the platform records: points with a dollar value shown, discount codes, store credit and perks that are not money each work differently for members and for the team running them. Test the mechanics with members before you compare vendors, and confirm the exact redemption and accounting capabilities in the plan you would buy. Two brands here sunset or paused their programs and blamed the program, not the software.
- The connections. Test your mobile app platform, email and SMS tools, reviews, subscriptions and point of sale against the plan you would actually buy, on each side. An integration a buyer found missing a year ago may exist today, and the reverse.
- The member migration. How balances, tiers, history and outstanding rewards move, who runs the cutover, how long both vendors run in parallel, and who pays for the overlap.
- The go-live date. Get the launch date and what happens if it slips in writing; one migration here ran weeks late.
- Total cost at equal scope. Get current quotes covering the base plan, the add-ons you expect to need in year two, order or member volume, and any bundle with reviews or other products. A lower licence is not a lower total cost, and a past contract is not today's price.
What this page should not be read to say. A move to a suite the company already ran does not mean the suite does more, a brand that stopped its program is not evidence against the platform, and a company that left points and regrets it is one company's result. These are observed moves, not a churn rate.
Common questions
What are the alternatives to LoyaltyLion?
In these interviews, companies that completed a move off LoyaltyLion went to Yotpo's loyalty product, the Shopify loyalty apps Rivo, Smile.io and Growave, or Rise.ai for cash back paid as store credit. Yotpo is the only destination with two completed moves, both onto a suite those companies already ran. A baby-products brand is partway through a move to Rivo, and several brands passed on LoyaltyLion in an evaluation for Bubblehouse, 99minds, Rise.ai or a program built on their own tools. Rivo rates around 7.5/10 and Smile.io around 6, against LoyaltyLion's around 6.5, from different groups of buyers.
Why do companies leave LoyaltyLion?
Those who left give different reasons: moving loyalty onto a suite they already used, an integration with their mobile app, price and functionality, a wish to show rewards as cash or store credit rather than points, and in one case a change made by the IT and customer service teams. Two brands sunset or paused their programs and said the program, not the platform, was the problem. A complaint beside a move did not necessarily cause it, and most buyers who score LoyaltyLion 6 or below were still on it when interviewed.
Is Rivo a good alternative to LoyaltyLion?
For some Shopify brands it has been. Rivo rates around 7.5/10 against LoyaltyLion's around 6.5, from different buyers. A children's apparel brand that moved for an app integration scored Rivo ten out of ten in August 2026, and a baby-products brand chose it for price, functionality and rewards shown in dollars and redeemed as store credit, though Rivo missed its first go-live date and the move was not finished. The same apparel brand says Rivo connects to fewer platforms than LoyaltyLion did, so test the integrations you need.
Should we switch our loyalty program from points to cash back or store credit?
The interviews do not settle it. The clearest completed move away from points is a fashion brand that moved from LoyaltyLion's points to a cash-back tool in October 2025; it regrets it and plans to return to a points program when its contract ends. A baby-products brand is moving to Rivo partly to show rewards in dollars and pay them as store credit, and a pet-health brand chose perks over points, while a brand already on Rivo kept points. Our recommendation, not a practice buyers describe, is to decide the reward structure first, separate what members see from what the platform records, test it with members, and then choose the tool.
Should I stay on LoyaltyLion?
The interviews do not settle that as a rule. Buyers who score it highly describe a program that connects to their app, email and SMS, and guidance on program mechanics during setup. Lower scorers describe a basic program, add-on pricing and support, and most of them were still on it. Our recommendation, not a practice buyers describe, is to write down the program you want in two years and test it, along with the member migration and the integrations, before pricing any move.
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