Gift card software comparison for small business
Honest, independent overviews of the major SMB gift card platforms. No invented pricing, no fake awards — just clear pros, cons, and which platform fits which type of business.
Comparison table
At-a-glance feature comparison across the most-used SMB gift card platforms.
| Vendor | Best for | Physical | Digital | POS | Booking | Multi-location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square | Restaurants, Salons | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shopify | Boutiques, DTC brands | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Toast | Restaurants, Cafés | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Clover | Retail, Restaurants | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Lightspeed | Retail, Hospitality | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Vagaro | Salons, Spas | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mindbody | Yoga, Pilates | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| GiftUp | Hospitality, Experience businesses | — | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Yiftee | Local retail, Restaurants | — | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Tango | Corporate HR, Marketing teams | — | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
Feature support is based on the most recent published vendor documentation. Always confirm on the vendor's official site before making a decision.
Vendor profiles
Independent overview of each vendor's features, fit, and trade-offs.
Square
Square Gift Cards is the most accessible gift card platform for US small businesses, with native support for physical and digital cards, POS redemption, and online sales. If you already use Square for payments, this is the lowest-effort option.
Shopify
Shopify Gift Cards is a built-in product type for Shopify merchants. If you already sell through Shopify, you can activate gift cards in your admin without a separate app. Best for online-first retailers and DTC brands.
Toast
Toast Gift Cards is built specifically for restaurants on the Toast POS system. It supports physical, digital, and online gift card sales with full liability tracking and POS redemption.
Clover
Clover offers a gift card program through its POS platform, with both physical and digital card options. Best for businesses already using Clover for payments and POS.
Lightspeed
Lightspeed offers gift card functionality built into its retail and hospitality POS platforms. Best for mid-market retailers and hospitality businesses already using Lightspeed.
Vagaro
Vagaro is a booking and POS platform purpose-built for salons, spas, and fitness studios. Its gift certificate functionality integrates with booking, making it especially strong for service businesses.
Mindbody
Mindbody is a wellness and fitness business management platform with built-in gift certificate functionality. Best for established fitness, wellness, and beauty businesses with multi-staff operations.
GiftUp
GiftUp is a dedicated gift certificate platform you can embed on any website. Best for businesses without a POS-integrated gift card option, or for businesses that want a richer branded gifting experience.
Yiftee
Yiftee is a digital gift card platform purpose-built for local communities. It powers many city- and downtown-association gift card programs, where the gift can be spent at any participating local business.
Tango
Tango (Tango Card) is an enterprise-grade rewards and gift card platform used by HR, marketing, and customer-experience teams to send bulk digital gift cards. Best for corporate and B2B programs, not single-business gifting.