How much does a loyalty program actually cost in 2026?
Paper stamp cards cost almost nothing upfront but bleed money through fraud and printing over time. A custom-built app costs $8,000-$30,000 plus maintenance. A ready-made platform like Dawwerni costs 399-459 DT/year in Tunisia, 750-900 SAR/year in Saudi Arabia, 14,000-17,000 EGP/year in Egypt or 4,990-5,990 TRY/year in Türkiye, with a 7-day free trial.
Paper stamp cards: cheap until it is not
- Printing: roughly 0.1-0.3 DT per card, seems free
- No data: you cannot see who is close to a reward, who stopped coming, or what they bought
- Fraud: stamps get shared, faked or given without a purchase — most owners never measure how much this costs them
- No reminder mechanism: a lost card means a lost relationship, permanently
Custom-built apps: expensive and slow
- Development: typically $8,000 to $30,000 for a basic loyalty app
- Timeline: 3 to 6 months before customers can use anything
- App store friction: customers must download an app for one business — most refuse
- Ongoing cost: hosting, bug fixes and updates rarely stop after launch
Ready-made platforms: the real 2026 prices
A platform like Dawwerni removes the download problem entirely (the customer just scans a QR code) and the price is fixed and transparent: 399 DT/year (Starter) or 459 DT/year (Pro) in Tunisia, 750/900 SAR/year in Saudi Arabia, 14,000/17,000 EGP/year in Egypt, and 4,990/5,990 TRY/year in Türkiye — with a 7-day free trial to test it with real customers before paying anything.
What actually determines your cost per customer
The number that matters is not the subscription price, it is cost per returning customer. A 399 DT/year plan spread over 300 monthly customers costs roughly 0.11 DT per customer per month — cheaper than one lost sale from a customer who never came back because nothing invited them to.
What you get beyond the "card"
- Gamified rewards (spin wheel, quiz, mystery door and 7 other games) instead of a plain stamp
- A CRM that segments customers and tracks who is about to churn
- Automated birthday offers and win-back messages
- Anti-fraud limits and verified winning codes so rewards cannot be gamed
- An honest Google review invitation built into the same flow
FAQ
Is a free stamp card app good enough for a small café?
It works for basic tracking, but most free apps show ads to your customers, offer no CRM, and cannot run games or automated win-back messages — features that pay for a paid platform within a few months.
What is the cheapest way to start a loyalty program in 2026?
A platform with a free trial, like Dawwerni's 7-day trial, lets you test gamified loyalty with zero upfront cost before committing to an annual plan starting at 399 DT, 750 SAR, 14,000 EGP or 4,990 TRY depending on your country.
Does a loyalty program pay for itself?
Yes, when it increases visit frequency even slightly. A customer who returns twice more per year because of a game and a reward covers a full year of most loyalty platform subscriptions on its own.
Turn visits into reviews, repeat visits and sales
Try Dawwerni free for 7 days. Setup takes about 10 minutes.