Growave vs Stamped: 2026 Comparison
Your Shopify store probably isn't using the right tool for customer loyalty. Most merchants struggle to choose between platforms that either do everything mediocrely or specialize so narrowly they miss opportunities. That's where the Growave vs Stamped decision gets interesting—not because both are good, but because they're fundamentally different approaches to the same problem: how to retain customers and increase their lifetime value.
Growave positions itself as your all-in-one marketing hub, combining loyalty, reviews, wishlists, and UGC under one dashboard. Stamped, meanwhile, starts with reviews and social proof as the foundation, then layers loyalty and email automation on top. Understanding which philosophy actually matches your store's needs is the difference between a tool that multiplies your revenue and one that creates operational overhead.
This comparison cuts through the marketing noise. You'll see exactly what each platform delivers, where they fall short, and most importantly, which one actually fits your business stage and priorities.
Growave: The All-in-One Marketing Powerhouse
Growave's core value proposition is consolidation. Rather than juggling separate apps for points programs, review collection, wishlists, and UGC galleries, merchants get everything in a single interface. The platform launched in 2014, giving it over a decade of iteration on what Shopify stores actually need.
Key Features and Benefits
Loyalty & Rewards: The foundation includes points programs where customers earn for purchases, referrals, and engagement. VIP tiers let you create Bronze, Silver, Gold structures that reward your best customers with exclusive perks. Referral programs come with fraud protection built in—critical when you're incentivizing word-of-mouth. You also get gift cards, custom reward actions (like "follow us on Instagram"), and Shopify POS loyalty so in-store customers earn the same points as online buyers.
Reviews & UGC: Growave collects customer reviews with photo support, integrates with Google Search & Shopping to display reviews where potential customers actually search, and pulls Instagram UGC into shoppable galleries. You can customize review forms and widgets to match your brand, then display them throughout your store.
Wishlists: The wishlist feature lets customers save items they're interested in, then triggers automated email reminders when those items go on sale, come back in stock, drop in price, or are running low. This converts browsing into future revenue.
Additional tools include social login options and Instagram shopping galleries that turn your community into a sales channel.
What Growave Does Well
Includes native social login and wishlist functionality—eliminating the need for separate apps just for these features. This consolidation matters more than it sounds. Every app integration adds friction, support tickets, and monthly subscription fees. Growave removes that friction.
A unified dashboard for multiple retention touchpoints means your team isn't bouncing between three different tools to see what's happening. You can check loyalty metrics, review sentiment, and wishlist activity in one place. This matters for mid-sized teams that don't have dedicated specialists for each channel.
Growave also offers predictable order-based scaling costs. You're not penalized with higher fees as you get more reviews or emails—you pay based on order volume, which grows proportionally with revenue. Back-in-stock emails convert wishlist data into repeat purchases, a dynamic that Growave has clearly optimized over a decade.
The platform ranks 4.8 stars on the Shopify App Store with 94% of ratings being 5-star reviews. Customer support is generally praised as responsive and helpful, with 24/7 email/chat/phone support available on higher-tier plans.
Growave's Limitations
Individual features lack advanced specialized depth. Growave's review tools are solid, but if you're a brand where authentic customer feedback is your primary growth driver, Stamped's review-specific features will feel more powerful. Similarly, the loyalty functionality is robust but not as customizable as dedicated loyalty specialists like LoyaltyLion.
Support response times can vary on lower tiers. You get 24/7 support on Growth and Plus plans ($199/month and above), but entry-level tiers depend on business hours support. For growing stores on tight budgets, this can mean slower resolution during critical moments.
Pricing Reality Check
Growave's free plan exists but comes with serious limitations. You get basic loyalty features, but most merchants need to upgrade to unlock email integrations and advanced customization.
Current paid plans start around $49/month (Entry tier) and scale to $999/month (Unlimited). The Growth plan at $199/month unlocks most features small-to-mid brands need. A 14-day free trial lets you test before committing. Here's the reality: while the entry price looks reasonable, reaching full functionality for omnichannel brands typically requires the Growth or Plus tier ($199-$499/month).
The "all-in-one" cost savings calculation only works if you're currently paying for separate apps. If you're running just a basic points program, the upgrade cost might not justify consolidation. But if you're using separate apps for wishlists, reviews, and referrals, Growave likely cuts your monthly stack costs significantly.
Stamped: The Review-First with Robust Loyalty Solution
Stamped takes a different philosophical approach. Where Growave says "we'll handle your entire retention strategy," Stamped says "customer trust through authentic reviews is the foundation—everything else flows from that." The platform launched its Loyalty & Referrals product in 2020, after several years of perfecting reviews collection.
Key Features and Benefits
Product Reviews & UGC: This is Stamped's core strength. The platform collects authentic customer feedback through in-email review requests (both email and SMS), supports photo and video reviews, includes a Q&A section for customer questions, and uses AI sentiment analysis to help you understand what customers actually think. You get customizable widgets for display, Google Shopping integration to show reviews where people search, visual galleries, Facebook Reviews import, and shoppable Instagram integration.
Loyalty & Referrals: Stamped offers points programs, referral programs, VIP programs, UI launcher customization, and API access for deeper integrations. It's not as expansive as Growave's loyalty suite, but it's designed to complement the review-first approach rather than compete with standalone loyalty platforms.
Lifecycle (Email Automation): This is where Stamped differentiates from Growave. While Growave focuses on transactional reminders (wishlist updates, price drops), Stamped's Lifecycle product automates personalized post-purchase, replenishment, and win-back journeys. This is the sophisticated email automation that retention specialists usually handle through separate tools like Klaviyo.
What Stamped Does Well
Affordable access to both reviews and loyalty as a bundled product. While Stamped's full suite can be expensive, you can start with reviews alone and add loyalty later without ripping out the foundation.
Stamped sends automated review requests via SMS and email, dramatically increasing response rates compared to post-purchase emails alone. This automation is powerful—merchants report that in-email review requests convert significantly better than manual follow-ups or banners on product pages.
AI modules help with review analysis and filtering. Rather than reading hundreds of reviews manually, Stamped's sentiment analysis automatically categorizes feedback by theme. This helps you quickly spot product issues or opportunities for improvement. Some merchants use this to identify which SKUs need attention or which product variants customers actually prefer.
Stamped has an official partnership with Google Shopping and TikTok, meaning your reviews can be displayed in high-traffic areas where shoppers make purchasing decisions. This goes beyond your website—it's social proof at the moment of truth.
The platform claims 30,000+ fast-growing retailers use Stamped, and their case studies show measurable results. Georgiemane achieved 49.9% in repeat revenue with their system. New York & Company saw a 97% repeat purchase rate with VIP customers and increased AOV. These aren't generic testimonials—they're specific, trackable outcomes.
Stamped's Limitations
Analytics are high-level compared to specialists. While you can see review volume and sentiment, you won't get the granular segmentation and cohort analysis that advanced analytics platforms offer. If your decision-making depends on diving deep into data to understand micro-trends, Stamped's dashboards might feel thin.
Visual review collection is average without optimization. Stamped collects photo reviews, but some users report that the photo submission and display aren't as polished as platforms designed specifically for visual content. You might need to spend more time optimizing or supplementing with dedicated UGC tools to match what Instagram-native brands can achieve.
Additionally, Stamped's pricing structure is modular and complex. You're charged separately for reviews, loyalty, and lifecycle based on request volume or orders, which can lead to surprising bills if your store grows faster than expected. Some merchants have reported that the full suite can feel expensive once you add all products together.
Pricing Reality Check
Stamped's free Reviews plan tops out at 50 requests per month—useless for any store with real volume. Their paid review plans range from $23/month (200 requests) to $299/month (3,500 requests). For context, a store doing 500 orders per month would need roughly 500 review requests, landing them in the $149-$299/month tier just for reviews.
Loyalty-only plans start around $59-$479/month depending on order volume. A full suite (Reviews + Loyalty) for a store processing 1,500 orders monthly runs $279-$659/month. Add Lifecycle email automation, and you're pushing toward multi-product bundles starting at $798/month.
The per-unit scaling is actually more predictable than Growave's tiered approach, but the total cost compounds quickly once you're using multiple products. A 5,000-order-per-month store would easily spend $500-$1,000+/month on the full Stamped suite, while Growave's Plus plan ($499/month) would cover everything.
Growave vs. Stamped: A Side-by-Side Comparison
Core Approach: All-in-One vs. Specialized
Growave is the "one tool for everything" approach. You manage loyalty, reviews, wishlists, and UGC from a single dashboard, and the integration is native rather than bolted-on. This reduces complexity but means each feature is a jack-of-all-trades.
Stamped is the "perfect the foundation, build from there" approach. Reviews are the centerpiece—everything from loyalty to email automation is designed to amplify the impact of authentic customer feedback. This creates a coherent philosophy but requires your store to actually care about reviews as your primary growth lever.
UGC and Reviews Depth
Both platforms collect photo reviews. Stamped explicitly supports video reviews; Growave's research mentions photo reviews as primary. If video testimonials are central to your strategy, Stamped has a clearer advantage.
Stamped's AI sentiment analysis categorizes feedback automatically. Growave focuses more on collection and display. For data-driven teams that want to extract insights from customer feedback, Stamped wins. For teams that just want high-quality review display without extra analysis, both work.
Loyalty Program Customization
Growave offers points, VIP tiers, referral programs with fraud protection, gift cards, and custom reward actions. This is comprehensive. Stamped offers points, referrals, and VIP programs but positions loyalty as supporting the reviews ecosystem rather than as its own sophisticated suite.
If your store needs advanced loyalty mechanics—complex tiering rules, specific redemption options, or heavy referral emphasis—Growave is more flexible. If loyalty is "nice to have" alongside your reviews strategy, Stamped's is sufficient.
Email Automation Philosophy
Growave's email focus is transactional: wishlists, price drops, back-in-stock alerts. These convert effectively but are reactive to customer behavior.
Stamped's Lifecycle automation is proactive: post-purchase nurture, replenishment campaigns (critical for CPG and wellness brands), and win-back sequences for lapsed customers. This is sophisticated customer journey automation, not just tactical reminders. For brands selling consumables or subscription-eligible products, Stamped's approach is significantly more powerful.
Scalability
Growave explicitly supports Shopify Plus, with features designed for enterprise-level operations. Its higher-tier plans accommodate large catalogs and high order volumes without performance issues.
Stamped positions itself for "fast-growing retailers." Its pricing scales by order volume, so a high-growth store could quickly outrun the cost curve. But once you're past 5,000+ orders monthly, the pricing becomes less predictable than Growave's tiered structure.
Customer Support
Growave offers 24/7 support on Growth and Plus tiers. Stamped is generally praised for responsiveness, but specific SLA information isn't as transparent. If 24/7 support is non-negotiable, Growave is the safer choice.
AI Capabilities
Growave uses AI for automations (implied through their feature set but not deeply documented in available research). Stamped explicitly uses AI for review sentiment analysis, classification, and reporting. Stamped's AI is more tangible and reviewable; Growave's AI features are less clearly defined.
Decision Framework: Which Platform Fits Your Store?
Choose Growave if...
You're a small-to-mid-sized Shopify store (or Shopify Plus) looking for an all-in-one platform to replace 3-4 separate tools. Your team is lean, and operational complexity costs you money and time. You're equally focused on building points-driven loyalty, collecting reviews, capturing wishlists, and creating UGC galleries. You want predictable, order-based pricing rather than per-metric charges. You value having everything integrated in one dashboard where your team can see the full customer engagement picture.
Growave is also the right choice if you're on Shopify Plus and need a platform with proven enterprise compatibility and features designed for larger operations.
Choose Stamped if...
You're a fast-growing retailer where customer reviews and social proof are your primary conversion driver. You're willing to focus deeply on one core strength—authentic reviews—rather than spreading thin across multiple features. You need sophisticated Lifecycle email automation to handle post-purchase retention, replenishment campaigns, and win-back sequences for lapsed customers. You're comfortable with modular, per-metric pricing because you're investing in specific high-impact features rather than everything.
Stamped is also the right choice if you're in CPG, wellness, skincare, or any category where repeat purchases depend on review credibility and sophisticated email automation to drive replenishment cycles.
The Bottom Line: Growave or Stamped?
Growave wins on consolidation, simplicity, and all-in-one value. If your store is currently using separate apps for different retention functions, Growave likely cuts costs and reduces complexity while delivering solid performance across loyalty, reviews, wishlists, and UGC.
Stamped wins on review specialization and lifecycle automation. If authentic customer feedback is your growth engine and you need sophisticated post-purchase email sequences, Stamped's depth in those areas is hard to match, despite higher overall costs.
The choice isn't about which platform is "better"—it's about which philosophy fits your store. Do you want one tool that does everything competently (Growave)? Or do you want a review-first platform with powerful email automation that assumes reviews are your competitive advantage (Stamped)?
Test both platforms using their free trials. Growave's 14-day trial and Stamped's free plan let you experience the actual workflow before committing. The platform that feels less clunky and more aligned with how your team actually works is often the right choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Growave or Stamped integrate with my existing tech stack?
Both platforms integrate with Klaviyo, Gorgias, and other major ecommerce tools. Growave mentions Attentive, TikTok, Firepush, and PushOwl integration. Stamped has official partnerships with Google Shopping and TikTok. For detailed integration options, check how loyalty programs integrate with your CRM—both platforms support the major ones, but scope your specific tools before deciding.
Do both platforms offer photo and video reviews?
Growave collects and displays photo reviews effectively. Stamped explicitly supports both photo and video reviews, giving it an edge if video testimonials are central to your strategy. Both offer customizable review widgets for your product pages.
Is there a free plan available?
Growave offers a free plan with basic loyalty features, plus a 14-day free trial on paid plans. Stamped's free Reviews plan covers only 50 requests/month—useful for testing but not for real-world use. Both offer free access to evaluate, but Growave's free plan is more functional for ongoing use by smaller stores.
Which platform is better for preventing review fraud?
Growave explicitly mentions fraud protection on its referral programs. Stamped focuses on collecting authentic feedback through in-email requests, which naturally filters out fake reviews since they're tied to actual customer emails. Different approaches, but both address fraud concerns. For more on building trustworthy loyalty systems, explore top customer loyalty program examples.
TLDR
Growave is your choice if you want an all-in-one platform consolidating loyalty, reviews, wishlists, and UGC—offering predictable pricing and broad functionality at the cost of specialized depth. Stamped is better if you're prioritizing reviews and social proof as your primary growth lever, combined with sophisticated lifecycle email automation for post-purchase customer journeys—accepting higher, more complex pricing for deeper specialization. The best platform depends on whether your store needs integrated simplicity (Growave) or review-first sophistication with advanced email automation (Stamped). Both integrate with major ecommerce tools like Klaviyo and offer ways to test before full commitment.
