An app costs more than the coffees it would give away
A custom app means a developer, two app stores, a backend and someone to keep it all alive. For a café that is a year of profit before the first stamp.
Loyalty card · Cafés
Your café's own loyalty card on their phone, live today. No developer, nothing to build.
Building your own app costs months and a developer. TapTime gives you the card designer: design a card in your colors with your logo, customers keep it on their phone after one scan, and your staff add stamps by scanning at the counter. From $49 a month per location.
14 days freeNo card requiredLive in an afternoon
Lumen Loyalty CardCafé Lumen
Free coffee after 9 stamps
6/9
Scan at the till
Till 1
Maria K.6 of 9
- +1 stampTue 08:40
- +1 stampMon 08:35
- +1 stampSat 10:12
This is the real card and the till screen, not a mock-up. Switch the color scheme, add a stamp, redeem the reward.
How can a café get its own loyalty card without building an app?
A café does not need to develop an app to have a loyalty card on customers' phones. With TapTime you design a branded stamp card in a card designer: colors or a gradient, your logo, stamp and reward icons, fonts. Customers keep it on their phone after one scan, staff add stamps by scanning at the counter, and the card is live the day you design it.
- $49
- a month per location, card included
- 14 days
- free trial, no card required
- 0
- developers, app stores or updates to manage
- 1
- afternoon to design it and go live
You wanted your own app. You got a quote and a six-month wait.
Every café owner has had the thought: our own app, our own card, our logo on the home screen. Then came the developer's quote, the app store review, the updates, and the paper card stayed in the drawer.
The white-label apps look like everyone else's
You get a template with your logo squeezed into a corner, a monthly fee per feature and a card that could belong to any shop on the street.
Meanwhile the paper card does nothing for you
It cannot tell you who your regulars are, it cannot be updated, and half of them are lost before the fifth stamp.
The designer makes it yours. Their phone makes it real.
Everything you would have paid a developer for is already built. You bring the logo and the reward.
A card designer, not a template
Colors or a gradient, your logo, a stamp icon and a reward icon, fonts. Preview it as you go. It looks like your café, not like a software company.
On their phone, nothing to install
Customers keep your card on their phone after one scan. Nothing to submit, nothing to update, nothing to maintain.
Live the day you design it
Design the card, print the QR code, put it by the till. The first stamp can happen this afternoon, not next quarter.
Stamping is a scan from any phone
The customer shows their code, your staff scan it from the dashboard on any phone and tap Add a stamp. No reader, no tablet, no hardware.
Rewards, promo codes and gift cards in one place
Set the stamps to a reward, the reward itself, terms and expiry. Promo codes, gift cards and a refer-a-friend program are part of the same module.
The numbers an app would have promised
Stamp and reward statistics per location, so you know how many customers are collecting, how many are one coffee away and how many rewards you gave.
From logo to a card on a customer's phone, in one afternoon.
No developer, no app store account, no onboarding call. You use the dashboard; customers scan once and the card is on their phone.
-
01
Design the card
Upload the logo, pick the colors or a gradient, choose the icons and the font. Set the reward: nine stamps, a free coffee.
-
02
Print the QR code
Download it and put it on the counter, the cup sleeve or the door. Customers scan it once and your card is on their phone — nothing to install.
-
03
Scan at the counter
Your staff open the dashboard on any phone, scan the customer's code and add a stamp. When the reward unlocks, tap Redeem.
Building your own app versus a card in TapTime, honestly.
| Building your own app versus a card in TapTime, honestly. | Your own custom app | TapTime loyalty card |
|---|---|---|
| Time to launch | Months of development and app store review | An afternoon in the card designer |
| Who builds and maintains it | A developer, then another one for the updates | Already built; you design the card |
| Your branding | Yours, at a developer's day rate | Your logo, colors, icons and fonts in the designer |
| Getting the card onto their phone | Persuade each one to download an app with only you in it | They scan your QR code once. Nothing to install. |
| Stamping | Whatever you paid to have built | A scan from the dashboard on any phone |
| What it costs | A development budget, then hosting and updates | $49 a month per location, card included |
Wednesday, 14:00, at Café Lumen.
One afternoon from an idea to a card on customers' phones.
-
The owner uploads the logo, picks a terracotta gradient, sets nine stamps to a free coffee and previews the card. Twenty minutes.
-
The QR code is printed and taped beside the till. The first customer scans it and sees the card in the café's own colors — nothing to install.
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Two friends at the window table compare cards on their phones. One already has a card from a bakery across town; the café's card sits right next to it.
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Closing time. The dashboard shows twenty-six cards created and thirty stamps given, on a day that started with a paper card in a drawer.
Everything an app developer would have wired up, already connected
Tracking, alerts, automations and an API usually come months after the app. Here they come with the loyalty card at no extra cost: no add-on, no higher tier, no per-event fee and no code to write.
How conversions, webhooks and the API work
Sign-up tracking without writing a tag
Each customer's first stamp goes from the server to GA4 as sign_up and to Meta as CompleteRegistration, once per member. No SDK to add and no tag to test before launch day.
Launch day, counted in your team chat
Point new-member alerts at your Telegram group, Slack or Discord and watch the card spread through the afternoon, one short message per customer, in the language you pick.
New members into Mailchimp, no code
Zapier, Make, n8n or Pipedream pass each new member to Mailchimp or a CRM like HubSpot, with the name and the card. Press Send test first and the tool learns every field.
An open API if you want to build on it
Read loyalty programs, cards, rewards and an event feed with keys you make in the dashboard, 50 requests a minute each. Documented in the open at /docs/api, with no partner application.
One flat price. The designer, the stamps and the card on their phone included.
$49 a month per location. The card designer, the card on the customer's phone, scanning at the counter, statistics, promo codes, gift cards and refer-a-friend are all included. No development, no hosting, no per-user fees.
Running several cafés? One card works at every counter, and each location has its own $49 subscription under one dashboard. Add a QR menu, table reservations or appointments later; they are switched on separately.
Built for every café that wants its own card.
- Cafés
- Coffee shops
- Bakery cafés
- Brunch spots
- Tea rooms
- Juice and smoothie bars
- Dessert cafés
- Small café chains
Questions café owners ask about a loyalty card.
Do customers need to install an app?
No. They scan your QR code once and the card is on their phone — nothing to install. Your card appears in your colors, next to any other TapTime cards they hold. You never build or publish an app yourself.
Do I publish my own app?
You never publish an app. The card is yours: your logo, colors, icons, fonts and reward are what the customer sees on their phone after one scan. That is why you do not need a developer.
How much can I customize the card?
Colors or a gradient, your logo, the stamp icon, the reward icon and the font, plus the number of stamps, the reward title and description, the terms and an optional expiry.
How long does it take to go live?
Most cafés design the card and have the QR code by the till within an hour. There is no app store submission, no onboarding call and nothing to install on your side.
Do I need any hardware at the counter?
No. Your staff scan the customer's code from the TapTime dashboard on any phone or tablet you already have. No reader, no terminal, nothing to plug in.
Can I change the design or the reward after customers have the card?
Yes. Edit the reward, the number of stamps, the terms or the design in the dashboard and every card updates. Nothing to reprint, nothing to resend.
What does it cost and is there a contract?
$49 a month per location, paid monthly by card. No development cost, no setup fee, no contract. The first 14 days are free and you do not enter a card to start.
What happens if I stop paying?
After a short grace period the card is paused and shows a brief “temporarily unavailable” note on the guest's phone. Nothing is deleted: the design, the cards and the statistics are all there when you switch it back on.
Is there an API for my café's loyalty cards and rewards?
Yes. The TapTime REST API reads your loyalty programs, members' cards and rewards, plus an ordered feed of every stamp and reward, with read-only keys you create in the dashboard. Signed webhooks can push each event to your own system instead, and the documentation is open at /docs/api.
Your card, on their phone, by tonight.
Fourteen days free, no card, cancel any time. The designer is waiting for your logo.
14 days free No card required Cancel anytime
