Growave vs Okendo: 2026 Comparison

Most Shopify brands treat loyalty and reviews as separate concerns, installing different apps for each. It's a logical assumption—but it's also costing you efficiency, integration headaches, and missed opportunities for unified customer insights.

Growave and Okendo both solve retention problems, but they take fundamentally different approaches. Growave consolidates multiple functions—loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlists, social login—into one integrated platform. Okendo positions itself as a specialized community marketing suite, using AI and interactive tools to drive deeper customer intelligence and engagement.

The choice between them isn't about which is objectively "better." It's about which philosophy aligns with your business stage, budget, and strategic priorities. Let me walk you through the details so you can make an informed decision.

Growave vs. Okendo: At a Glance

Feature Deep Dive: A Side-by-Side Comparison

1.1. Reviews & User-Generated Content (UGC)

Growave's approach centers on effortless collection and display. The platform lets you gather product reviews, site reviews, and rich media (photos and videos) with minimal friction. Google Shopping integration amplifies visibility beyond your store. The "Attributes" feature—available from the Growth plan—lets you gather detailed customer insights through custom questions, essentially building a feedback database alongside reviews.

To maximize the impact of your visual content and social proof, delve into our complete Shopify guide to user-generated content in loyalty programs.

Okendo's review philosophy leans heavily on AI-powered automation. Review moderation, summaries, and keyword extraction happen automatically. Rich media reviews—especially photos and videos—get premium treatment. Okendo integrates with TikTok Shop and Google, expanding where your reviews appear. The performance metric matters here: Okendo customers report a 4.2x average PDP conversion rate uplift.

The UGC choice depends on your team's capacity. Growave requires more manual curation; Okendo handles much of the work algorithmically.

1.2. Loyalty & Rewards Programs

Growave's loyalty program is comprehensive and flexible. Points, gifts, and VIP tiers form the foundation, but the platform emphasizes engagement rewards—points for social sharing, referrals, reviews, and brand interactions. Shopify POS support means in-store and online loyalty function seamlessly. The potential payoff? Up to 72% more repeat sales and a 9.2% increase in AOV when paired with a retention strategy.

Okendo's loyalty system is points-based but with a unique lever: loyalty actions can be triggered by quiz or survey responses. This creates a feedback loop where customer intelligence directly drives engagement. VIP tiers, points multipliers, and expiration rules round out the toolkit. Their performance metric shows a 3x average member repeat purchase uplift.

Growave rewards behavior diversity. Okendo rewards customer insights. Pick based on whether your brand benefits more from social amplification or customer data.

1.3. Referral Programs

Both platforms offer referral programs, but the execution differs slightly.

Growave's referral program is designed to drive traffic and new sales through social sharing and email referrals. Fraud protection ensures integrity. It's straightforward—reward advocates for bringing new customers.

Okendo's referral offering includes automated workflows, widgets, and invite pages. The fraud protection is robust. Okendo customers report a 17x average ROI on referrals, which suggests their implementation drives genuine conversions. The ability to offer loyalty points or discounts for referrals adds flexibility.

For an in-depth look at setting up and promoting successful referral campaigns, check out our complete Shopify referral program guide.

1.4. Other Key Differentiators

Growave's unique features include integrated wishlists with automated email reminders (proven to boost conversions), Instagram shoppable galleries for direct social sales, and social login for frictionless registration. Multi-language support is built in, crucial if you're expanding internationally.

Okendo's distinctive tools are surveys and quizzes. These aren't fancy—they're strategically powerful. Pillow Cube saw a 27x ROI combining quizzes, reviews, and referrals. Soylent achieved a 20% survey response rate. NEIWAI's Bra Fit Quiz drove a 15% conversion rate surge. Okendo also reports a 21% average quiz user purchase rate and a 70% survey response rate. If customer data informs your product roadmap or personalization strategy, these tools pay for themselves.

Customization, Integrations, & Support

2.1. Design Flexibility & Customization

Growave uses template-based pop-ups and prompts. You can fully customize branding and tailor experiences for headless commerce, but there's less granular control over aesthetics compared to Okendo.

Okendo offers CSS editor access for more advanced users, enabling pixel-perfect customization. If your design system demands precision, Okendo gives you more levers.

2.2. Integrations for a Seamless Ecosystem

Both integrate seamlessly with Shopify—that's table stakes. Both also connect to Klaviyo, Gorgias, and Attentive, the essential trio for most mid-market brands.

For specific strategies on leveraging email marketing with loyalty data, explore our Klaviyo integration insights.

Here's what matters for mid-market operations: Does the integration enable the workflows you actually need? Growave's Shopify POS integration matters if you operate physical retail. Okendo's ability to enrich Klaviyo segments with survey data matters if your email marketing is segment-driven. Test integration depth before committing.

2.3. User Experience & Merchant Support

Growave offers 24/7 live chat and email support across all plans, with dedicated CSMs for higher-tier customers. Response times are generally quick.

Okendo also provides 24/7 support but positions it as "strategic guidance"—they emphasize partnership over transactional support. For enterprise customers, you get a US-based success team.

Both earn solid merchant reviews for responsiveness. The real difference: Growave feels accessible at all tiers; Okendo's premium support is reserved for higher plans.

Pricing Reality Check: Understanding the True Cost

Growave's pricing scales by features. The free plan covers up to 100 orders/month and includes loyalty points, wishlists, and product reviews. But it excludes VIP tiers, referral fraud protection, and deeper analytics.

Paid plans begin at $49/month (Entry), jump to $199/month (Growth), then $499/month (Plus), and $999/month (Unlimited). As you upgrade, you unlock features. The order limit applies mainly to the free plan; paid tiers focus on feature access.

This model favors brands wanting a complete toolkit immediately. You're not paying per action—you're paying for functionality.

Okendo's pricing is order-based, meaning costs scale with sales volume. The free plan covers 50 orders/month but is limited to reviews. Essential ($19/month for 200 orders) adds some loyalty basics. Growth ($119/month for 1,500 orders) includes surveys and quizzes. Power ($299/month for 3,500 orders) rounds out the suite.

This model favors brands with predictable, consistent order volume. As you grow, you upgrade tiers. But if your orders spike seasonally, costs can surprise you.

Understanding how to increase customer lifetime value (CLV) is crucial for this evaluation.

The real math: If you're doing 1,200 orders/month, Growave's $199/month Growth plan covers you. Okendo's Essential tier ($19/month) is a steal for reviews alone, but adding quizzes and loyalty requires jumping to Growth ($119/month). At higher volumes, Okendo's order-based model can feel expensive if you're not fully utilizing every feature.

For mid-market brands, Growave's feature-tiered approach often feels more predictable. Okendo rewards consistency and benefits from their suite's strategic power, but requires careful budget planning.

Pros and Cons: A Balanced View

3.1. Growave: Strengths and Limitations

Pros:

• Shopify Plus readiness with headless compatibility
• Wishlist notifications boost repeat sales
• Consolidated dashboard for unified data

Cons:

• Broad feature set can lead to underutilization
• UGC tools are less optimized than Okendo's

3.2. Okendo: Strengths and Limitations

Pros:

• AI review summaries and smart forms
• Centralized profiles across surveys and quizzes
• US-based strategic success team for enterprise

Cons:

• Annual terms required for platform bundles
• Pricing is not friendly for low-volume merchants
• No negative review alerts or reputation tools

Decision Framework: Choosing the Right Solution for Your Brand

Choose Growave if:

You're consolidating retention functions and want everything under one roof. Growave eliminates tool sprawl. If your tech stack already has five different apps and you're tired of managing integrations, Growave's consolidation is attractive.

You need Shopify POS integration for omnichannel loyalty. If you operate physical retail alongside online, Growave handles in-store and digital loyalty seamlessly.

You operate internationally. Multi-language support is built in, not an afterthought.

Your budget aligns better with feature-tiered pricing. If you want a specific feature set at a predictable monthly cost without worrying about order overages, Growave's model works.

For a deeper understanding of overarching customer retention strategies, refer to our guide on how to create a customer retention strategy.

Choose Okendo if:

Community marketing is your north star. If customer intelligence, social proof, and AI-driven insights are strategic priorities, Okendo's specialized suite delivers depth Growave doesn't match.

You see ROI in interactive tools. Quizzes and surveys work for your customers—proven by Okendo's case studies. If product recommendations, personalization, or customer segmentation depend on these tools, Okendo's investment pays off.

You have consistent, predictable order volume. Order-based pricing makes sense when growth is steady. You know what you'll spend next month.

Your brand is scaling rapidly and you can support dedicated success team guidance. Enterprise support matters when Okendo's full suite powers your strategy.

If neither Growave nor Okendo perfectly aligns with your specific requirements, you may find value in exploring other options detailed in our overview of the best Shopify loyalty apps.

Conclusion: Your Strategic Choice for Retention

Both platforms are powerful. Both drive meaningful retention outcomes. The difference isn't quality—it's philosophy.

Growave offers efficiency through consolidation. One dashboard, unified customer view, simplified integrations. It's the pragmatic choice for mid-market brands juggling multiple retention tools and craving operational simplicity.

Okendo offers depth through specialization. AI, surveys, quizzes, and intelligence-driven loyalty. It's the strategic choice for brands where customer data and engagement insights directly inform growth initiatives.

Evaluate your current tech stack, your team's capacity to manage tools, your strategic priorities, and your budget constraints. Neither choice is wrong—but one will feel significantly better aligned with how your brand operates and grows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I migrate my existing reviews to either platform?

Both platforms support importing existing reviews during onboarding, though data structure matters. Growave and Okendo both have documented migration processes, but contact their support teams early to understand mapping requirements for your specific data. Migration difficulty depends more on your current review source than on either platform.

Which platform offers better support for international stores?

Growave has a clear advantage here. Built-in multi-language support and international payment flexibility make it the default choice for cross-border merchants. Okendo is primarily US-focused, though international brands can use the platform—you'll just need to handle localization separately.

How do these apps impact site speed?

Both platforms are built for performance, but like all customer-facing apps, they add some script load. Growave's consolidated approach can theoretically be lighter than running multiple separate tools. Okendo's AI features don't noticeably impact frontend speed. Test both on a staging environment with your typical product catalog before committing.

What happens if I outgrow my current plan?

Growave's plan upgrades unlock new features but don't reset your data—smooth transition. Okendo's upgrades are typically tied to order volume tiers, so as you grow, you move to the next tier automatically (with prorated billing). Either way, plan changes don't cause data loss.

TLDR

Growave and Okendo solve loyalty and reviews differently. Growave consolidates loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlists, and social login into one integrated platform—ideal for mid-market brands reducing tool sprawl and valuing operational simplicity. Okendo specializes in AI-powered community marketing with surveys and quizzes, perfect for brands where customer intelligence drives product strategy and personalization. Growave uses feature-tiered pricing ($49-$999/month); Okendo uses order-based pricing ($19-$299/month). Choose Growave for consolidation and omnichannel support; choose Okendo for deep customer insights and interactive engagement tools. Your decision should reflect your tech stack complexity, strategic priorities, and growth stage.