Why FaveCard Is Free (And Always Will Be)

Last updated: June 2026

FaveCard’s basic card is free because the thing that replaces a paper punch card shouldn’t cost $25 to $49 a month. Our Free plan gives every customer a digital loyalty card in their phone browser, the Web Wallet: unlimited customers, animated stamps, a celebration screen, QR scanning, your choice of card colour and stamp count, and basic analytics, with no time limit and no credit card required. You only pay if you want the premium layer on top: Apple and Google Wallet passes, your branding, and the tools that bring customers back.

Here’s something that bothers us about the loyalty card industry.

A cafe owner wants to reward regulars. That’s it. A simple stamp card: buy 9 coffees, get the 10th free. The kind of thing a paper card does for pennies.

So they Google “digital loyalty card.” And most platforms they find charge $25 to $49 a month. That’s $300 to $588 a year, just for the basic stamp card.

We think the basic card should be free.

---

The maths doesn’t add up

A small cafe makes maybe $2,000-$5,000 a month. Paying $25 to $49 a month for a basic stamp card means giving up 1 to 2.5% of revenue before it brings in a single extra customer.

And here’s what these platforms actually give you for that: a card that says “buy X, get Y free.” The same thing paper did. Just on a phone now.

Some of them don’t even have a free trial. Others give you 14 days and then ask for a credit card. One platform we found caps the “free” plan at 50 customers. A busy cafe blows past 50 in the first week.

We compared every “free” loyalty card app we could find. Most of them aren’t actually free.

---

So we made it free. Actually free.

Not “free until 50 customers.” Not “free if you use our POS system.” Not “free with a credit card on file.”

A $0 plan, no time limit. No credit card required. No customer cap.

Here’s what you get for $0:

• A digital loyalty card on your customers’ phones: the Web Wallet card, opened right in their browser with no app to download, where they tap stamps and see a celebration screen when they earn a reward
• Basic customization: pick your card colour, your number of stamps, and the rewards customers unlock
• Animated stamps and celebrations: every stamp tap feels satisfying, and completing a card triggers a full-screen animation
• Unlimited customers: no cap, ever
• A mobile scanning app: for staff to scan and stamp from their phone

That’s not a demo. That’s a fully working digital loyalty card for your business.

---

Start with premium access until the first 30 customers are on the card

Every new FaveCard account gets premium access until the first 30 customers are on the card with the paid features unlocked. No credit card. No commitment. Just the full experience from day one.

Before that 30-customer milestone, you can try the premium tools: Apple and Google Wallet passes, your own logo and banner on the card, visit reminders, birthday wishes, and win-back campaigns.

When the first 30 customers are on the card, you choose. Pick a paid plan, or stay on Free.

And here’s the important part: any Apple or Google Wallet passes your customers saved during premium access keep working forever. We never revoke them. Your customers won’t notice a thing.

---

What’s the catch?

We get this question a lot. Fair enough: when everything else costs money, free sounds suspicious.

Here’s the honest answer: the core product is completely free. The thing that replaces a paper punch card (a digital loyalty card, animated stamps, a scanning app, unlimited customers) costs $0 with no time limit.

Think about it: a paper stamp card costs you money. Printing, reorders, wasted cards when customers lose them. The digital version of that exact same thing? Free with FaveCard.

What the paid plans add

Upgrading (see the pricing page for current plans and rates) unlocks things like:

1. Apple and Google Wallet passes: your loyalty card moves from the browser into your customers’ Apple or Google Wallet, for lock-screen access and two-second scanning.
2. Your branding on the card: your logo, banner image, and custom stamp icons (the card colour and stamp count are already free on every plan).
3. Engagement and automations: visit reminders, birthday wishes, and win-back messages to bring inactive customers back.

That’s how we make money: businesses that want the branding, wallet, and engagement layers upgrade when they’re ready.

But the loyalty card itself? The stamps, the scanning, the celebrations? That works. Fully. With no expiration date.

Free vs paid at a glance

	Free ($0/month)	Paid plans
Digital loyalty card on the phone	Web Wallet (browser)	Web Wallet + Apple & Google Wallet
Card colour & number of stamps	Yes	Yes
Rewards on the card	Yes	Yes
Stamp cards	1 active	Unlimited
Unlimited customers	Yes	Yes
Animated stamps & celebrations	Yes	Yes
Mobile scanning app	Yes	Yes
Your logo, banner & custom stamp icons	No	Yes
Visit reminders & win-back	No	Yes
Birthday wishes	No	Yes
Customer messages	No	Yes
Detailed analytics	No	Yes
Customer data export	No	Yes
Unlimited employees	No	Yes

See the pricing page for current plans and rates.

---

How we make money

Paid subscribers. Businesses that want Apple & Google Wallet passes, their own branding, or engagement automations upgrade when they’re ready (see pricing). That’s how FaveCard stays free for everyone else.

---

Why we’re doing this

We’re a small business ourselves. Two people, no investors, no big office. We know what it’s like to watch every pound and question whether a $50/month tool is worth it before you’ve seen results.

We’ve talked to dozens of small business owners. Cafe operators, salon owners, barbers, restaurant managers. The same story keeps coming up:

“I know I should have a loyalty programme. But I can’t justify $50/month when I’m not sure it’ll work.”

We get it, because we’d say the same thing.

That hesitation means thousands of small businesses stick with paper cards that get lost, or they just… don’t do loyalty at all.

We think the barrier should be zero. Try it. See if customers come back more often. See if the digital card actually works better than paper. Then decide if you want the upgrade.

No risk. No commitment. No sales call.

---

A promise

We’re two people, Lukas and Michael. We don’t have a marketing department writing this. It’s us. And we’re making a simple promise:

The Free plan has no time limit. That’s a promise.

We won’t quietly remove the free plan in 6 months. We won’t cap it at 50 customers once we grow. Yes, every account starts with premium tools until the first 30 customers are on the card, but after that milestone the Free plan keeps working forever. And any wallet passes your customers saved? They keep working too.

If you’re running a coffee shop, a barbershop, a nail salon, a restaurant, or any business where people come back, you can have a professional digital loyalty card for $0.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing.

Create your free card