How much does a digital stamp card cost? Prices and models
How much does a digital stamp card cost? The short answer: between 0 and 89 € per month, depending on how many customers are actively collecting. The longer answer is worth reading, because the cost of a stamp card is not just about the software. This article compares pricing models, weighs paper, hardware, and custom apps against each other, and shows when which plan makes sense.
Four ways to a stamp card and their cost types
Before you compare prices, you should know what cost types apply to each approach:
| Approach | One-time costs | Ongoing costs | Hidden costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper card | Design, stamp | Printing, reprinting | Time at checkout, fraud, no analytics |
| Plastic card with terminal | Terminal, card production | Maintenance, software, card stock | Hardware failure, counter space |
| Custom app | Development (five figures) | Hosting, updates, store accounts | Customers won't download the app |
| Wallet stamp card (SaaS) | None | Monthly plan based on customers | No hardware, no development |
The wallet approach is the only one with no one-time costs and no hardware. That's why it's interesting for small shops.
What paper cards really cost
Paper seems free, but it isn't. Example: a café with around 300 cards in circulation per quarter:
- Printing: At typical printing costs for small-run cards, you pay several cents per card, plus design the first time. Budget a low double-digit amount per quarter for reprints.
- Time at checkout: Finding the card, stamping it, handing it back takes longer than a scan. With a hundred stamps a day, that's easily several minutes per shift.
- Lost cards: Some cards go missing, the customer starts over or gives up. This loss of loyalty is the most expensive item, but doesn't show up in any invoice.
- Fraud: Forged stamps and goodwill gestures without purchase cost rewards that no one can track. Details in Preventing stamp card fraud.
- No analytics: You don't know how many cards are active, who's becoming inactive, or whether the program is working.
The pure printing costs are low. The costs of what paper can't do are high. The detailed comparison is in Paper stamp card vs. digital stamp card.
Hardware solutions: terminal and plastic card
The classic plastic customer card with a reader at the checkout comes from an era when smartphones weren't standard. The cost structure:
- A terminal or card reader as a purchase, often in the three-digit range, sometimes as a rental
- Plastic cards in production, depending on volume and features
- Software license, sometimes tied to the terminal provider
- Replacement if defective, space needed at the checkout
Add to that the customer disadvantage: another plastic card in the wallet that's left at home when you need it. For chains with integrated checkout systems this can make sense. For a single shop, the effort is usually disproportionate.
Custom app: the most expensive option
Some owners consider a custom app because they know it from big chains. The scale: developing a simple customer card app typically costs five figures, plus ongoing costs for servers, updates with every new iOS and Android version, and developer accounts in the app stores.
The bigger problem isn't the money, it's adoption: customers won't download an app for a café. The barrier is too high, and the app disappears from the phone after two weeks. Why wallet cards don't have this problem is explained in Customer loyalty without a custom app.
The stampa plans in detail
stampa charges based on active customers, meaning cards that are actually being used, not cards ever issued. All plans are month-to-month cancellable.
| Plan | Price per month | Active customers | Key differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 € | up to 100 | No credit card needed, your own logo and colors, includes "Powered by stampa" |
| Starter | 29 € | up to 250 | No "Powered by stampa", Google review bonus |
| Growth | 49 € | up to 750 | Plus geofencing (reminder nearby), CSV export |
| Pro | 89 € | up to 2,000 | For shops with many regular customers or multiple locations |
| Enterprise | On request | More than 2,000 | Custom agreement |
With annual billing, the terms equal roughly two free months. Every plan includes Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, stamping via smartphone with no hardware, lock screen messages, automations for win-back, birthday, and slow days, print-ready poster with QR code, auto-generated privacy policy per shop, and dashboard with ROI measurement.
Find current prices and all details on the pricing page.
Which plan for which shop?
The only question is: how many customers are actively collecting?
- New shop or just testing: Free. 100 active customers is a lot to start with, and you pay nothing as long as you stay under that.
- Café, bakery, snack shop in a residential area: Starter usually works for the first year. 250 active customers is a solid base.
- Busy café in a city center, restaurant with many regulars: Growth. Geofencing brings extra visits in foot-traffic areas.
- Multiple locations or very high frequency: Pro.
Example calculation for Starter: 29 € per month with 200 active customers is 14.5 cents per customer per month. If just one in ten customers makes one extra visit per month because of the card, that's 20 visits. At an average ticket of 5 €, that's 100 € in sales, more than three times the cost. And this effect is measured with a real control group at stampa, not guessed.
What else to budget for
Regardless of provider, every loyalty program has two line items outside the software:
- Cost of goods for rewards: The free coffee costs you about 0.80 € in goods. With 80 redeemed rewards per month, that's 64 €. How to choose a reward that works and stays affordable is shown in Choosing the right reward for your loyalty program.
- Printing the poster: A few euros at the copy shop, one-time.
That's it. No hardware, no development, no card production.
Conclusion
How much does a digital stamp card cost? With stampa, 0 € up to 100 active customers, then 29, 49, or 89 € per month depending on size, with no hardware and no development. Paper seems cheaper, but costs time, loyalty, and visibility; terminals and custom apps are disproportionate for single shops. Easiest is to do the math yourself: start free, no credit card, and see in the dashboard what the card brings.