Every WooCommerce store eventually asks the same question: how do I get customers to come back?
The answer, for most, is a loyalty program. Points on purchases. Rewards for repeat buying. Something that gives your customer a reason to choose you over the competitor who’s one Google search away.
The problem is that most loyalty plugins stop at “earn points, redeem points.” That’s not a loyalty program. That’s a coupon generator with extra steps.
A real loyalty program needs behavioral mechanics. Tiers that make customers want to level up. Expiration that creates urgency. Referrals that turn buyers into recruiters. Birthday rewards that surprise people. Multiplier events that amplify your promotions. Subscription milestones that reward commitment.
Most WooCommerce loyalty plugins don’t have any of that. They give you a flat point system and call it done.
I tested every major loyalty plugin on the market in early 2026. Here’s what I found, who each one is best for, and which one I’d actually install on a store I cared about. Updated August 2026.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Refinery Points & Rewards | WooCommerce Points and Rewards | YITH Points and Rewards | GrProgram | SUMO Reward Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $49-149/yr | $179/yr | $99-179/yr | Free + $99/yr Pro | $49 (lifetime) |
| Tiers | Yes (Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum) | No | No | Yes (Pro only) | No |
| Points Expiration | Yes (inactivity-based) | No | Yes (calendar-based) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (calendar-based) |
| Referral Points | Yes (built-in) | No | Requires add-on | No | Yes |
| Birthday Points | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Multiplier Events | Yes (scheduled) | No | No | No | No |
| Subscription Milestones | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| HPOS Compatible | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Block Checkout | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No |
| Free Version | Yes (WordPress.org) | No | Yes (limited) | Yes | No |
| Best For | Stores wanting a full behavioral loyalty system | Existing Woo ecosystem users | Budget-friendly basics | Gamification-focused stores | One-time purchase, simple setup |
1. Refinery Points & Rewards (Best Overall)
The only WooCommerce loyalty plugin with tiers, expiration, referrals, birthday points, multiplier events, and subscription milestones in a single package.
Price: $49/yr (1 site), $99/yr (5 sites), $149/yr (unlimited). Free version on WordPress.org.
Best for: WooCommerce stores that want a complete loyalty system, not just a point counter.
Most loyalty plugins give you one mechanic: earn and redeem points. Refinery Points & Rewards gives you 6 interconnected mechanics that reinforce each other.
Tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) create status. Customers want to level up. Each tier comes with earning multipliers, so Gold members earning at 1.5x reach their next reward faster. That creates a flywheel where higher-tier customers shop more to maintain their status.
Inactivity-based expiration creates urgency without punishing active customers. Points expire after 12 months of no purchase activity. Every purchase resets the clock. The plugin sends automatic reminder emails at 60, 30, and 7 days before expiration. Those emails convert at rates that would make your newsletter jealous.
Referral points turn customers into a growth channel. Each customer gets a unique referral link. When their friend buys, both sides win: the referrer earns points, the friend gets a discount. Stack referral points with tier multipliers and your Gold members become your most motivated referrers.
Birthday points trigger automatically based on the customer’s profile. Scale them by tier. 100 points for Bronze, 200 for Gold, 300 for Platinum. Birthday emails already have a 45% open rate. Adding points turns a greeting into a purchase.
Multiplier events let you schedule 2x or 3x point weekends during promotions. Stack them with tiers and a Platinum customer during a 2x event earns at 4x their base rate. Run these quarterly during your biggest sales. They drive loyalty signups and give existing members an extra reason to buy now.
Subscription milestones reward longevity. After 3 consecutive renewals, award 500 bonus points. After 6, award 1,000. After 12, award 2,500 plus a tier upgrade. This makes cancellation feel expensive for subscribers who are close to their next milestone. If you’re running subscription products and need churn prevention, milestone rewards are the loyalty-side complement.
The plugin is HPOS compatible, works with the block-based checkout, includes a REST API for custom integrations, and supports CSV import so existing customers don’t start at zero.
Pros:
- Most complete behavioral loyalty system on WooCommerce
- 6 mechanics that work together (tiers, expiration, referrals, birthdays, multipliers, milestones)
- Inactivity-based expiration (smarter than calendar-based)
- Free version on WordPress.org to test before buying
- HPOS and block checkout compatible
- Tier multipliers stack with event multipliers
Cons:
- Newer plugin (less community content and tutorials compared to YITH)
- Full feature set requires the paid version
2. WooCommerce Points and Rewards by WooCommerce (Best for Simplicity)
A straightforward earn-and-redeem system built by the WooCommerce team.
Price: $179/yr (single site).
Best for: Stores that want basic loyalty points without complexity, and prefer an official WooCommerce extension.
This is the “official” loyalty plugin. It’s built by Automattic’s WooCommerce team, which means tight integration and reliable updates. It lets customers earn points on purchases and reviews, then redeem those points as discounts.
That’s genuinely all it does. No tiers. No expiration. No referrals. No birthday rewards. No multiplier events. No subscription milestones.
For some stores, that’s fine. If you just want “spend $100, earn $5 off your next order” and nothing more, this plugin handles it cleanly. The admin interface is simple. The settings are minimal. You set a points-per-dollar rate, a redemption value, and you’re done in 10 minutes.
The biggest advantage is reliability. It’s maintained by the WooCommerce core team. HPOS compatible. Block checkout compatible. You won’t run into compatibility issues with other Woo extensions.
The biggest disadvantage is ceiling. Once you install it, there’s nowhere to grow. When you want to add tiers or expiration or referrals, you can’t. You’d need to switch plugins entirely and migrate customer point balances. That migration is painful.
Pros:
- Built by the WooCommerce team (guaranteed compatibility)
- Simple setup, minimal configuration
- HPOS and block checkout compatible
- Reliable long-term maintenance
Cons:
- No tiers, no expiration, no referrals, no birthday points, no multiplier events
- $179/yr for a flat point system is expensive relative to what you get
- No free version to test
- Zero behavioral mechanics. Just earn and redeem.
- No growth path. You’ll outgrow it and face a migration.
3. YITH WooCommerce Points and Rewards (Best Budget Option)
A solid basic loyalty plugin at a competitive price.
Price: Free version on WordPress.org. Premium: $99/yr (1 site), $179/yr (6 sites).
Best for: Stores on a tight budget that want more than the bare minimum but don’t need a full behavioral system.
YITH has been in the WooCommerce plugin business for over a decade. Their Points and Rewards plugin is one of the more popular options, and for good reason. It hits the basics well and throws in a couple of extras that the official WooCommerce extension skips.
The free version gives you basic point earning and redemption. The premium version adds calendar-based point expiration, points for specific actions (registration, reviews, referrals as an add-on), and more granular control over earning rates per product or category.
The expiration system uses calendar-based deadlines (points expire on a fixed date), which is simpler but less smart than inactivity-based expiration. A customer who buys every month still has their points expire on the same date as someone who bought once and never returned. That’s a blunt instrument.
YITH doesn’t have tiers. No Bronze, Silver, Gold progression. No earning multipliers. No birthday points. No subscription milestones. No scheduled multiplier events. It’s a better flat system than the official extension, but it’s still fundamentally flat.
Referrals require a separate YITH add-on, which adds cost. If you’re already in the YITH ecosystem and use their other plugins, the integration is smooth. If not, buying separate YITH add-ons for referrals, wishlists, and other features adds up fast.
Pros:
- Affordable ($99/yr premium, free lite version)
- Calendar-based point expiration (basic but functional)
- Granular earning rules per product/category
- Well-documented with a large user base
- HPOS compatible
Cons:
- No tiers or earning multipliers
- Calendar-based expiration (not inactivity-based)
- Referrals require a separate paid add-on
- No birthday points, multiplier events, or subscription milestones
- Admin UI feels dated compared to newer plugins
4. GrProgram (Best for Gamification)
A gamification-focused loyalty plugin with tiers, challenges, and badges.
Price: Free version on WordPress.org. Pro: $99/yr.
Best for: Stores that want gamification elements (badges, challenges, leaderboards) alongside standard loyalty points.
GrProgram takes a different angle than most loyalty plugins. Instead of focusing purely on points and rewards, it leans into gamification. Badges, challenges, progress bars, leaderboards. If your audience responds to achievement mechanics (think fitness brands, gaming communities, or younger demographics), this could be a fit.
The free version gives you basic points and badges. The Pro version ($99/yr) adds tiers, point expiration, challenges, and more advanced reward rules.
Tiers in GrProgram work differently than you might expect. They’re structured around activity completion and badge collection rather than pure spend-based progression. That’s interesting for engagement-focused stores but awkward for traditional ecommerce where “spend more, earn more” is the natural model.
The gamification approach is genuinely unique in the WooCommerce loyalty space. Nobody else is doing challenges and leaderboards this way. But it’s also a narrower use case. Most WooCommerce stores selling physical products don’t need leaderboards. They need a tier system tied to purchase behavior.
Block checkout compatibility is partial. Check their latest release notes before installing if you’ve migrated to the block-based checkout.
Pros:
- Gamification mechanics (badges, challenges, leaderboards) are unique
- Tiers available in Pro
- Free version to test
- Good fit for engagement-driven brands
Cons:
- Gamification approach doesn’t fit every store
- Tiers are activity-based, not spend-based (unusual for ecommerce)
- No birthday points, no multiplier events, no subscription milestones
- No built-in referral system
- Partial block checkout support
- Smaller user base means less community support
5. SUMO Reward Points (Best Lifetime Deal)
A one-time purchase loyalty plugin with no annual renewals.
Price: $49 one-time (via CodeCanyon). Updates and support included for 6 months, then optional renewal.
Best for: Stores that hate annual plugin subscriptions and want a simple points system they can set up and forget.
SUMO’s selling point is the price model. $49 once. No annual renewal for the plugin itself (just optional extended support). For store owners who break into hives at every annual renewal notice, that’s appealing.
The feature set covers the basics. Points on purchases, registration, reviews, and social shares. Points expiration on a calendar basis. Referral points for bringing in new customers. Multiple redemption options (cart discount, coupon generation).
It works. It’s not pretty. The admin interface looks like it was designed in 2019 and hasn’t been updated. The settings are spread across multiple tabs without much visual hierarchy. You’ll spend more time configuring SUMO than any other plugin on this list.
The bigger concern is long-term compatibility. SUMO is sold on CodeCanyon, not through the WordPress.org repository or a dedicated plugin shop. HPOS compatibility is partial. Block checkout support is absent as of April 2026. If WooCommerce’s evolution toward blocks and HPOS is the future (it is), SUMO is not keeping pace.
For a store running Classic Checkout on a stable WooCommerce setup with no plans to adopt HPOS, SUMO works fine at a great price. For anyone planning to stay current with WooCommerce’s direction, the compatibility gaps are a problem.
Pros:
- $49 one-time purchase (no annual renewal for the plugin)
- Referral points included
- Points on social shares
- Multiple redemption methods
Cons:
- No tiers, no birthday points, no multiplier events, no subscription milestones
- Outdated admin interface
- Partial HPOS support, no block checkout support
- CodeCanyon distribution (slower updates, less WooCommerce ecosystem alignment)
- Calendar-based expiration only
- 6-month support window unless you pay for renewal
How to Choose the Right One
Skip the feature matrix for a second. Here’s the real decision framework.
How sophisticated is your retention strategy?
If you just need “earn points, redeem points” and you’re done thinking about it, WooCommerce Points and Rewards or YITH will handle it. Simple. Predictable.
If you want a loyalty program that actually changes customer behavior (tiers that create aspiration, expiration that creates urgency, referrals that create growth), you need Refinery Points & Rewards. Nothing else on this list combines all 6 mechanics.
What’s your WooCommerce setup?
Running HPOS and block-based checkout? Cross off SUMO. It’s not there yet. Refinery, WooCommerce Points and Rewards, and YITH all support both.
Still on Classic Checkout with no HPOS? All 5 plugins work. But you’ll want to migrate eventually, and choosing a compatible plugin now saves you a painful switch later.
What’s your budget model?
Hate subscriptions? SUMO is $49 once. Everyone else is annual. But remember what “once” means in WordPress: you get updates for a limited window, and compatibility with future WooCommerce versions isn’t guaranteed after that.
Want to test before buying? Refinery, YITH, and GrProgram all have free WordPress.org versions. WooCommerce Points and Rewards and SUMO do not.
Do you sell subscriptions?
If you run WooCommerce Subscriptions, only Refinery Points & Rewards has subscription milestone rewards. No other plugin on this list ties loyalty to renewal longevity. For subscription stores, this is the deciding factor. Pair it with a dedicated churn prevention platform and your retention stack covers both the loyalty side and the recovery side.
The Verdict
Best overall: Refinery Points & Rewards. It’s the only plugin that gives you tiers, inactivity-based expiration, referrals, birthday points, multiplier events, and subscription milestones in one package. Every other plugin on this list gives you a subset. If you’re serious about retention, this is the one to install. Start with the free version on WordPress.org and upgrade when you’re ready for tiers and behavioral mechanics.
Best for simplicity: WooCommerce Points and Rewards. Clean, reliable, official. If flat points are all you need, this works. Just know you’ll outgrow it.
Best budget option: YITH WooCommerce Points and Rewards. Solid basics at $99/yr. Calendar-based expiration is better than no expiration. The free version lets you test before committing.
Best for gamification: GrProgram. If your audience responds to badges, challenges, and leaderboards, this is your pick. Niche, but effective for the right store.
Best lifetime deal: SUMO Reward Points. $49 once. Works if you’re on Classic Checkout and want something simple with no annual cost. Don’t expect it to keep up with WooCommerce’s roadmap.
The Bigger Picture
A loyalty plugin is one piece of a retention system. Points bring customers back. But you also need a cart experience that maximizes what they spend when they return. You need conversion optimization to make sure first-time visitors become customers in the first place. And if you sell subscriptions, you need churn prevention working alongside your loyalty program so points and recovery emails coordinate instead of competing.
The plugin handles the mechanics. The strategy behind it determines whether those mechanics actually move your numbers. Pick the plugin that matches where your store is today and where you want it to be in 12 months.
If you’re unsure where the biggest revenue opportunity is hiding in your store, start there. Loyalty might be the answer. Or it might be the second thing you fix after a bigger leak gets plugged.
For ongoing technical operations and making sure your plugin stack stays healthy as WooCommerce evolves, that’s a separate conversation. But it matters more than most store owners realize, especially when you’re running 5+ growth-focused plugins that need to play nice together.
Mike Valera builds WooCommerce growth tools at RefineryWP.