Loyalty Gator vs Preferred Patron

Loyalty Gator provides cloud-based customer loyalty, gift card, and employee incentive programs for businesses. Programs can award points for purchases, actions, or referrals, and support digital punch cards and other reward options. The company says businesses do not need a point-of-sale connection. Customers can enroll online and check balances through the business website on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Businesses can review customer activity and marketing reports and export customer lists for campaigns. The service offers a developer API and Zapier connections, plus integrations including Mailchimp, Shopify, QuickBooks Online, and Square. Its TangoCard connection lets customers redeem points for electronic gift cards. Plans include unlimited loyalty transactions and no transaction fees, subject to fair use and possible extra bandwidth charges. Bite supports up to 100 customers; Snack supports up to 5,000 and adds birthday points and Zapier integration; Meal supports up to 10,000 and adds a customer web portal, referrals, social integration, Google Analytics, and Tawk.to integrations. A 30-day free trial and money-back guarantee are listed, excluding custom development and white-label services. The company says cancellation after the trial requires 30 days' notice.

Preferred Patron gives restaurants, bars, pubs, and grills a branded frequent-diner program for repeat visits and guest retention. Programs can use spend- or visit-based rewards, optional points, VIP tiers, bonus promotions, and digital rewards. SMS and email support birthday, anniversary, promotional, and win-back outreach. Additional options include gift cards, referrals, raffle or sweepstake campaigns, instant wins, and review collection. The maker says restaurants can use the service without replacing their POS, although transaction capture depends on the POS or integration workflow. Listed integrations include Lightspeed X-Series, Square POS, QuickBooks Online, PostcardMania, and ActiveCampaign. Members can use iOS and Android apps or a mobile web portal. Pricing starts at $29 a month under an annual agreement, paid monthly, for one to three locations; month-to-month terms cost 40% more. Growth pricing is per location and includes up to 10,000 active members on published plans. There is no self-service free trial; the company offers a live demonstration.