Fivestars
Fivestars is a comprehensive customer loyalty and marketing platform that helps small businesses increase repeat visits through automated rewards, personalized messaging, and integrated payment processing solutions.
Guusto
Guusto is a versatile employee recognition and customer rewards platform that enables you to send digital gift cards instantly to boost engagement, retention, and workplace culture.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Fivestars | Guusto |
|---|---|---|
| Website | fivestars.com | guusto.com |
| Pricing Model | Subscription | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2011 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, USA | Vancouver, Canada |
Overview
Fivestars
Fivestars helps you turn one-time shoppers into lifelong customers by automating your retention marketing. Instead of managing messy paper punch cards, you get a digital loyalty program that captures customer data at the point of sale. You can automatically send personalized offers via text, email, or the Fivestars mobile app to bring people back during slow hours or special events.
The platform combines a customer-facing touch screen with powerful backend automation to track spending habits and visit frequency. You can see exactly which promotions drive revenue and adjust your strategy in real-time. It is designed specifically for local brick-and-mortar businesses like coffee shops, restaurants, and retail boutiques that want to compete with big-box rewards programs without the technical headache.
Guusto
Guusto provides a flexible way for you to recognize team members and reward customers through a massive network of retail partners. Instead of being locked into a single vendor, you can send digital gift cards that recipients redeem at over 60,000 locations. This flexibility ensures your rewards are actually valued and used by your team, whether you are celebrating a work anniversary, hitting a sales milestone, or simply saying thank you for a job well done.
You can manage your entire recognition program from a single dashboard, setting budgets and tracking every dollar spent. The platform eliminates the administrative headache of physical gift cards and manual tracking. Because you only pay for the rewards you send, it scales perfectly from small startups to large enterprises looking to build a more appreciative and connected workplace culture.
Overview
Fivestars Features
- Digital Loyalty Program Replace paper cards with a digital system that tracks points and rewards automatically at your checkout counter.
- Autopilot Marketing Send automated 'we miss you' messages and birthday rewards to customers who haven't visited in a while.
- Promotions & Announcements Blast one-time offers or event updates to your entire customer base via text and mobile app notifications.
- Customer Insights Access a detailed dashboard to see your total reach, visit frequency, and which customers spend the most.
- Integrated Payments Process credit card transactions and sign up loyalty members in one single step to speed up your lines.
- Fivestars Consumer App Get discovered by millions of local shoppers who use the Fivestars app to find rewarded businesses nearby.
Guusto Features
- Merchant Flexibility. Give your recipients the power to choose where they spend their rewards at over 60,000 global merchant locations.
- Instant Delivery. Send digital gift cards immediately via email, text, or print to celebrate wins the moment they happen.
- Budget Tracking. Monitor your recognition spending in real-time with centralized reports that show exactly where your reward dollars go.
- Peer-to-Peer Shoutouts. Empower your entire team to recognize each other's hard work with a social feed that builds community.
- Automated Milestones. Set up automated rewards for birthdays and work anniversaries so you never miss an important date again.
- Claim-to-Donate. Allow your recipients to donate their reward value to charity, aligning your recognition program with corporate social responsibility.
Pricing Comparison
Fivestars Pricing
Guusto Pricing
- Unlimited users
- No monthly fees
- Pay only for rewards sent
- Basic reporting
- Web and mobile access
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Custom branding
- Automated milestones
- Multiple team admins
- Advanced analytics
- HRIS integrations
Pros & Cons
Fivestars
Pros
- Extremely high customer adoption rate due to simple phone number sign-up
- Automated 'we miss you' texts effectively drive repeat foot traffic
- Large existing network of users helps new businesses get discovered
- User-friendly tablet interface requires almost no staff training
Cons
- Monthly subscription fees can be high for very small shops
- Hardware requirements may lead to counter space clutter
- Limited customization options for the mobile app interface
Guusto
Pros
- Recipients love the ability to choose their own gift cards
- Extremely easy to set up and send first rewards
- No hidden fees for the basic version of the platform
- Excellent customer support team that responds quickly to issues
Cons
- Mobile app interface can feel slightly dated compared to web
- Limited selection of physical gift card options for some regions
- Advanced automation features require a significant price jump