Fedele vs Fivestars: Which Loyalty App Wins for Small Businesses?

Fedele vs Fivestars: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Fivestars (now part of SumUp) is an all-in-one payments, marketing, and loyalty platform used by over 14,000 businesses. Fedele is a focused loyalty platform that does one thing well — helping small businesses reward their customers. Here's how they compare.

What is Fivestars?

Fivestars is an all-in-one payments and marketing platform that combines loyalty programs, marketing automation, and payment processing. It offers a customer touchscreen at the point of sale, push notifications, SMS/email campaigns, and detailed analytics. Fivestars is primarily focused on the US market.

What is Fedele?

Fedele is a dedicated loyalty platform focused on simplicity. You create a points-based loyalty program, manage it from your phone, and customers collect points via barcode scanning with the free Fedele companion app. No POS integration, no touchscreens, no complexity.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Fedele	Fivestars
Focus	Loyalty program only	Payments + marketing + loyalty
Loyalty model	Points-based with custom rewards	Points + automated promotions
Management	Mobile app (smartphone)	Web dashboard + in-store touchscreen
Customer app	Free companion app with barcode	Fivestars app + in-store touchscreen
Point collection	Barcode scanning	Touchscreen at POS or phone number
Marketing automation	No	Yes (SMS, email, push)
Push notifications	Coming soon	Yes
Hardware required	None — smartphone only	Fivestars touchscreen tablet
POS integration	Not required	Fivestars Pay integrates with POS
Multi-location	Coming soon	Yes
Availability	Worldwide	Primarily US
Free plan	Yes — up to 5 customers	No

Pricing Comparison

	Fedele Starter	Fedele Premium	Fivestars
Price	Free	From $59.99/mo	From $299/mo
Model	Self-service	Self-service	Managed service
Hardware costs	None	None	Touchscreen included
Contract	None — cancel anytime	None — cancel anytime	Annual contract typical
Setup	Instant — download and start	Instant	Onboarding with rep

The Price Gap

The most striking difference is the price. Fivestars starts at $299/month — that's 5x the cost of Fedele Premium, and infinitely more than Fedele's free plan.

For a coffee shop, salon, or small retail store doing $10,000-$30,000/month in revenue, spending $299+/month on loyalty and marketing is a significant investment. Fedele's free plan or $59.99/month Premium tier makes loyalty accessible to businesses at any scale.

When to Choose Fedele

Fedele is the right choice if you:

Want a simple, affordable loyalty program without the complexity of an all-in-one platform
Are a small business that doesn't need enterprise-level marketing automation
Want to start free and upgrade only when you're ready
Don't want to install hardware (touchscreens, tablets) in your store
Operate outside the US — Fedele works worldwide
Prefer managing from your phone without a desktop dashboard

When to Choose Fivestars

Fivestars makes sense if you:

Need payments, marketing, and loyalty in one platform
Want automated SMS and email campaigns built into your loyalty tool
Have the budget for $299+/month and see it as a marketing investment
Want an in-store touchscreen for customer check-in
Operate in the US market where Fivestars has strong presence
Need multi-location management right now

The Verdict

Fivestars is a powerful all-in-one platform — but it's built for businesses that need (and can afford) a comprehensive marketing and payments solution. For most small businesses, it's overkill.

If what you really need is a loyalty program — a way to reward repeat customers and keep them coming back — Fedele delivers exactly that, at a fraction of the cost. No contracts, no hardware, no complexity. Start free and see results with your first customers.