Counter Club is made by the Not a Chain team, so this comparison is our own. Every fact about another product links to that product's own page.
The verdict
If your shop already takes payments through Square and you want points to land on the sale without anyone pressing a second button, Square Loyalty is the stronger fit, because it lives inside the checkout and Counter Club does not. If your till is something else, if a busy month would push you into a dearer Square band, or if you want to text your regulars, Counter Club costs less and does the texting. Square's Australian marketing page offers email campaigns and never mentions text campaigns, and Square's own community moderators wrote in 2024 that text campaigns were not available in Australia.
The facts side by side
| Counter Club | Square Loyalty | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | Regulars, A$24 a month, No GST. One shop, up to 500 members, email campaigns | A$49 per calendar month, per location, for 0 to 500 loyalty visits. GST is not stated on Square's page |
| How the price moves | By the size of the club: A$24 up to 500 members, A$69 (Local Favourite) for unlimited members. Stamps are never counted | By locations and by loyalty visits that month: A$49 for 0 to 500, A$99 for 501 to 1,500, A$149 for 1,501 or more. Enrolling, earning a point and redeeming a reward each count as a visit |
| Free plan | Free for up to 50 members. No money changes hands; the price is your consent to marketing emails and calls from us and our partners. Free sends no campaigns | No free plan. A 30-day free trial |
| Till needed | None. Staff press Stamp on a phone, tablet or the till computer beside any till | Points are earned through Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices or a Square Online site |
| How a customer is recognised | Their Australian mobile, confirmed once by a texted code. Staff find the member's row and press Stamp | A phone number at checkout; points are added with the sale. An optional Apple Wallet pass |
| Kind of programme | Stamps only: one card, one reward, 2 to 50 stamps | Points by visit, by amount spent, or by item and category |
| Texts | Local Favourite (A$69, No GST) sends text campaigns from a number that is the shop's alone, inside 2,000 campaign messages a month, no charge per text | Automatic texts when a customer earns points or a reward. Marketing texts are not offered on Square's Australian marketing page |
| Email campaigns | On both paid plans, to members who gave and confirmed an address | Square Marketing, a separate subscription: A$20 a month up to 500 contacts, A$35 up to 1,000, A$50 up to 2,000, unlimited email sends. GST not stated |
| Contract | Monthly, cancel any month | No long-term contract |
| Suits | One shop on any till with a few hundred regulars it wants to text | A shop already on Square that wants loyalty to happen at the checkout |
How each price moves as the shop gets busier
The two products charge for different things, so the gap depends on how busy you are. Counter Club charges for the size of the club. Square charges for activity, per location, every month.
Take a cafe that adds a point to 30 coffees a day across a six-day week. That is about 780 earning visits a month before anyone enrols or claims a reward, which puts it in Square's 501 to 1,500 band: A$99 a month for that location. Emailing the club through Square Marketing, with up to 500 contacts, adds A$20, so A$119 a month, and Square's pages do not say whether GST sits on top. The same cafe with 300 members pays Counter Club A$24 a month on Regulars, email included, or A$69 on Local Favourite to email and text. A record month of stamps costs the same as a quiet one.
Now a quieter shop: a gift shop with 200 loyalty visits a month. Square Loyalty is A$49, or A$69 with Square Marketing for email. Counter Club is still A$24 on Regulars. The gap is smaller, and for a shop already on Square the time saved at checkout may be worth it.
A second location changes the sum again. Square prices each location separately, so two busy shops in the middle band pay A$198 a month for loyalty alone. Counter Club is set up for one shop: one card, one members list and one login. It lists no multi-site features.
Texting the club
This is the clearest difference in Australia. Square sends a text automatically when a customer earns points or a reward, which is useful, but those are notices about the account, not messages from you. For campaigns, Square's Australian marketing page lists email and says nothing about text. On Square's community board, a moderator wrote in June 2024 that SMS marketing was available only to sellers in the US, and another reply in September 2024 said text campaigns were not available with Square Marketing in Australia. We found no newer statement from Square either way, so check your own Square Dashboard before you decide on that point alone.
On Counter Club's Local Favourite plan, texts go from a mobile number that belongs to your shop, so a STOP reply comes back against your shop and is acted on at once. Each text opens with your shop name and a colon and ends with the member's own opt-out link. You write up to 300 characters, and each member a campaign reaches counts as one campaign message, however long the text. The number is part of the plan, with no separate charge. Details are on your sending number.
Where the card meets the till
Square's real advantage is at the checkout. The customer gives a phone number, the sale goes through, and the points follow it. Nobody opens a second screen. Square's point of sale also starts at $0 a month on its Australian pricing page, so for a shop already taking cards through it, Loyalty is an add-on rather than a new system.
Counter Club never sees the sale. Your staff decide what earns a stamp, find the member on the Members page and press Stamp. Staff find the member by first name or the last digits of their mobile in the search box at the top of the page. That is one press per visit, and in a queue it is a step Square users skip. In return the card works the same whatever the till, and swapping tills later does not touch the club. If neither tool fits, nine loyalty card tools sold in Australia are set out side by side on one page.
Where Square Loyalty is the better choice
- You already take payments on Square, and you want points to arrive with the sale rather than by a separate press.
- You want points per dollar, or rewards tied to an item or a category. Counter Club runs stamps only, one reward per card.
- You want customers to carry an Apple Wallet pass. Counter Club has no Wallet pass.
- You sell through Square Online and want rewards redeemable there as well as in store. Counter Club's rewards are handed over at the counter.
- You run several locations on Square. Its pricing is built around locations, and Counter Club lists no multi-site features.
- Your email needs go past one message to the club: Square Marketing lists automated campaigns and voucher redemption, and Counter Club offers neither.
Questions
Can I run Counter Club next to Square?
Yes. Counter Club connects to no till, so it runs beside Square the way it runs beside any other system. Square takes the payment, and staff press Stamp on the member's row. Because nothing links the two, a stamp is not tied to a sale.
Does Square send marketing texts in Australia?
Not according to the pages we could find. Its Australian marketing page offers email campaigns only, and Square community moderators said in 2024 that text campaigns were not available in Australia. We found no 2026 statement from Square that changes this.
What counts as a loyalty visit on Square?
Square's page says a loyalty visit is any time a customer enrols in the programme, earns a point or redeems a reward. The month's count decides the price band for each location.
Can I bring my Square Loyalty members across?
No. Counter Club has no import. Every member joins by typing their own mobile and confirming a code, which is what lets you message them later. Ask regulars to scan the QR while their order is made; launching the card in week one covers the asking.
Is GST in these prices?
Counter Club charges no GST because the business is not registered for it, so A$24 or A$69 is what you pay. Square's loyalty and marketing pages do not say whether their prices include GST.
How we checked
Square's loyalty, marketing and point of sale prices were read on its Australian pages in October 2026, and its position on marketing texts on its own community board. Square's pages carry no GST note, so its prices appear as published. Counter Club's side is taken from our pricing page and help articles.