Comparison reviewed · 18 October 2026
CityShops Card alternative? Compare Iterum on price, Wallet and staff
One CityShops Card alternative is Iterum. CityShops costs €59 plus VAT a year on Basic, with points, chat and at most 150 customers, or €99 plus VAT on Full, with unlimited customers and the Wallet; the trial lasts 15 days. Iterum starts at €29.99 plus VAT a month, with Wallet, stamps or points and unlimited staff users on every plan, and no customer app.
Updated by Radman Sattari, Founder of Iterum
CityShops Card and Iterum compared
CityShops Card and Iterum both replace the paper punch card with a card on the customer’s phone, and both are Italian services. They differ a lot on price, on the role of the app, on how the staff work and on how many tools come in the box. The table sums up what each service states on its public pages on 18 October 2026.
We did not open a CityShops Card account or try the app: the information comes from the CityShops Card home page, its FAQ, its service instructions and the pages on single features, all in Italian, plus Iterum’s pricing page.
| Topic | Iterum | CityShops Card |
|---|---|---|
| Customer card | Opens from the counter QR code or a link and, on supported phones, saves to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet on every plan; without the Wallet it stays reachable from the link. | The customer scans the shop’s QR code, fills in a short form and can add the card to the Wallet, on Android and on iPhone; the digital Wallet is listed among the Full plan’s features. |
| Customer app | None: card, stamps and reward live in the browser or the Wallet. | Optional and free: it carries chat, offers, vouchers, price lists and orders. The service instructions still tell customers to download the app, while the FAQ describes the Wallet card without it. |
| Staff tool | The «Al banco» counter app in the browser of a phone, tablet or computer: scan the card’s QR code or type its code, then confirm the visit or the points. | The CityShops Card phone app, which the site links on Google Play, and a web back office in the browser: the merchant scans the customer’s QR code and types the amount or the points, or looks the customer up by name or phone number. |
| Staff accounts | One account per team member, with roles and permissions; no limit on team users on any plan. | The same shop account is used on several devices; the site does not describe separate accounts or permissions for staff. |
| Mechanics and rewards | A stamp card, with the visit confirmed at the counter, or a points card, with points entered by the staff; up to 1, 2 or 3 active cards on Base, Pro and Premium. | Points with four modes (direct points, one point every X euros, a percentage of the spend, X points per euro), cashback, a fixed-step «a bollini» mode, a rewards catalogue, and end dates for collecting and for using points. |
| Points without the counter | No: every visit or point is confirmed by the staff. | Yes: a daily QR code displayed in the shop gives «presence» points the customer redeems alone, and printed QR codes can carry a fixed number of points. |
| Messages to customers | Messages you write, 2, 4 or 8 a month per location depending on the plan, only to customers who opted in; they show on the card in the Wallet. | Vouchers with a phone notification to all followers, a group, customers who have not been in for a few months or hand-picked customers, plus posts in an in-app social feed; the site states no monthly limit. |
| Included limits | Unlimited total customers on every plan; 300, 1,000 or 5,000 new customers a month on Base, Pro and Premium. | Basic up to 150 customers; Full unlimited customers. |
| Billing | Monthly, cancel whenever you like, or yearly with two months free; amounts plus VAT. | Yearly subscription only, plus VAT, with no obligation to renew; payment through PayPal, also by credit card, or another way agreed with them. |
| Getting started | You set up the card in the designer before paying, then a 7-day trial with a payment card required to activate; you pay €0 today. | 15 days with the full app; the pages do not ask for a card to start and, when the trial ends, offer the yearly subscription. |
| Other tools | Customer list and profile, statistics, activity log and privacy tools on every plan; from the Pro plan also prepaid packages of visits or sessions, taken off at each visit. | Shop-to-customer chat, gift cards, prepaid and visit-count cards, takeaway and delivery orders (no in-app payment), price lists, an appointment calendar, Instant Win, customer groups and points shared between several shops. |
| Provider and support | FIDUS S.R.L., based in Rome; Fidus support on every plan. | An Italian business with a VAT number shown at the foot of the site; support by phone and WhatsApp, including help with the first setup. |
How much does CityShops Card cost in 2026, and how much does Iterum?
On 18 October 2026 CityShops Card publishes two yearly subscriptions. Basic costs €59 plus VAT a year and covers points and chat, up to 150 customers. Full costs €99 plus VAT a year, with unlimited customers and every tool in the app, including the digital Wallet, vouchers, gift cards, price lists and orders. The site states no monthly price and no price for a second shop.
Iterum Base costs €29.99 plus VAT a month, or €299.90 a year, Pro €99.99 and Premium €109.99 a month, with the yearly plan at ten months’ price. On price alone CityShops costs far less; what differs is what you pay for: with Iterum the Wallet, unlimited staff users and unlimited total customers already come with the entry plan, while with CityShops they come with Full.
| Plan | Price | Per month | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CityShops Card Basic | €59 plus VAT a year | about €4.92 | Points and chat, up to 150 customers |
| CityShops Card Full | €99 plus VAT a year | €8.25 | Unlimited customers and every tool, Wallet included |
| Iterum Base | €29.99 plus VAT a month, or €299.90 a year | €24.99 on the yearly plan | Wallet, stamps or points, unlimited team; 300 new customers a month |
| Iterum Pro | €99.99 plus VAT a month, or €999.90 a year | €83.33 on the yearly plan | As Base, 2 active cards and prepaid packages; 1,000 new customers a month |
| Iterum Premium | €109.99 plus VAT a month, or €1,099.90 a year | €91.66 on the yearly plan | As Pro, 3 active cards; 5,000 new customers a month |
What do you spend in the first year? Four cases
Here are four situations with the published prices, VAT excluded. It is our own calculation on examples, not data from real businesses.
The outcome is clear: for a small shop that only wants to collect points, CityShops costs about a fifth of Iterum. Iterum makes sense when several people work the counter and you want to know who confirmed each visit, when you want to pay month by month, or when customers must not install anything.
| Case | CityShops Card | Iterum |
|---|---|---|
| Shop with fewer than 150 customers, points only | Basic: €59 | Base yearly: €299.90 |
| More than 150 customers and a Wallet card | Full: €99 | Base yearly: €299.90 |
| You want to pay one month at a time | Not offered: yearly only | Base monthly: 12 × €29.99 = €359.88 |
| Two shops under the same brand | Price not stated on the site | Base plus one extra location at €23.99: €647.76 on monthly billing |
When CityShops Card may be the better choice
CityShops Card is the better deal when budget comes first: €59 or €99 a year, plus VAT, is a fraction of Iterum’s fee, and the 15-day trial is more than twice as long as ours; the public pages do not ask for a card to start. For a shop with few regulars that only wants to load points from a phone, that is a real advantage.
It also fits if you want one app for many jobs: chat with customers, welcome and birthday vouchers, gift cards and prepaid cards, takeaway or delivery orders, price lists, appointments for beauty salons and hairdressers, prize games and points shared with other shops. Iterum does none of these. The same goes if you want cashback as a percentage of the spend worked out by the app, or «presence» points customers redeem alone from a QR code displayed in the shop. Of prepaid products, Iterum handles only packages of visits or sessions, from the Pro plan and paid at the counter.
Iterum as a CityShops Card alternative: where it differs
With Iterum the customer never installs anything: they open the card from the QR code, save it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet on supported phones and get stamps and messages there. Wallet, stamps or points and sign-up from the QR code are on every plan, Base included, and total customers have no limit. With CityShops the Wallet is listed among Full’s features, and offers, chat and vouchers go through the customer app.
Staff work in the browser with the «Al banco» counter app, each with their own account, roles and permissions, and no limit on users: in the dashboard you see who confirmed each visit. With CityShops the same shop account is used on several phones. You can pay month by month and cancel whenever you like, and you set up the card in the designer before you start the 7-day trial.
In return Iterum costs more, has a shorter trial that asks for a payment card at activation, sends 2, 4 or 8 messages a month per location and has no chat, orders, appointments, gift cards or cashback. If you first need to decide which mechanic to use, read stamps or points loyalty card.
CityShops Card or Iterum: which one for your shop?
How you work matters more than the provider’s name. Here are the most common cases, read against the public information of 18 October 2026; for single sectors there are guides for cafés, hair salons and shops.
| Situation | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want to spend as little as possible | CityShops Card | €59 or €99 plus VAT a year against €299.90 plus VAT for Iterum Base yearly. |
| You want chat, orders, appointments or gift cards | CityShops Card | They are in the CityShops app; Iterum does the loyalty card, messages and, from the Pro plan, prepaid packages. |
| You want cashback as a percentage of the spend | CityShops Card | The app works points out from the amount; with Iterum the staff enter the points. |
| Customers must not install anything | Iterum | Card in the browser or the Wallet on every plan; with CityShops the Wallet is in Full and offers and chat go through the app. |
| Several people work the counter | Iterum | One account per team member with roles and permissions, no user limit; CityShops describes a single shop account. |
| You want to pay month by month | Iterum | Monthly billing you can cancel whenever you like; CityShops sells the yearly subscription only. |
| You want stamps per visit as well as points | Iterum | Stamps or points on every plan; CityShops works with points, with a fixed step for the «a bollini» mode. |
How to switch from CityShops Card to Iterum without losing customers
Iterum’s public pages offer no import of customers from other services: each customer moves to the new card the first time they come back to the counter. Before you close CityShops, give customers time to use the points, vouchers and credit they already hold.
- Check the renewal date: the CityShops subscription is yearly with no obligation to renew, so switching close to the end of the term makes sense.
- Set the collection end date of your CityShops card and keep the points-use end date later, so nobody loses what they have built up.
- If you sold gift cards, prepaid cards or visit-count cards, let customers use them up before you close: Iterum does not handle gift cards or credit in euros, and from the Pro plan you sell new prepaid visits at the counter as Iterum packages.
- From their next visit, customers join Iterum from the QR code at the counter; the sign and the line to say at the till are in how to promote a loyalty card.
- If you announce the change with a voucher or a post in the CityShops app, respect the consent each customer gave; the rules are in loyalty cards and GDPR.
Sources and last check
Last checked: 18 October 2026. Official CityShops Card sources, in Italian: home page, FAQ, service instructions, how to create the points scheme, vouchers for customers, presence QR code and privacy. Iterum sources: pricing, how it works, free trial and the overview page with the plans.
Prices and features can change: check them again before you sign up. CityShops pages sometimes disagree, for example on whether the customer has to download the app: in those cases we report both versions. We do not quote the testimonials CityShops publishes, because we cannot verify them. Iterum is a service of FIDUS S.R.L. and has no relationship with CityShops Card.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does CityShops Card cost?
- On 18 October 2026 there are two yearly subscriptions: Basic at €59 plus VAT a year, with points and chat up to 150 customers, and Full at €99 plus VAT a year, with unlimited customers and every tool, Wallet included. The site states no monthly price. Iterum Base costs €29.99 plus VAT a month, or €299.90 a year.
- Does CityShops Card have a free trial?
- Yes: 15 days with the app fully working. The pages do not ask for a card to start; when the trial ends they offer the yearly subscription, payable through PayPal or by credit card. Iterum offers a 7-day trial with a payment card required to activate: you pay €0 today, then the selected plan starts unless cancelled.
- Do CityShops Card customers have to download an app?
- Not for the card: after the QR code and a short form they can add it to the Wallet, a feature listed on the Full plan, and the free app carries chat, offers and vouchers. The service instructions, though, still tell customers to download it. With Iterum the customer installs nothing, on any plan.
- Does CityShops Card work with Apple Wallet and Google Wallet?
- Yes, according to the FAQ the card in the phone’s Wallet updates with the points on Android and on iPhone; the digital Wallet is listed among the Full plan’s features, not Basic’s. With Iterum, Apple Wallet and Google Wallet are included on every plan, on supported phones.
- What is the main difference between CityShops Card and Iterum?
- CityShops Card costs far less and puts chat, vouchers, orders, appointments and gift cards in one app, but sells yearly plans only and describes a single shop account. Iterum costs more and does the loyalty card, with stamps or points, Wallet and an unlimited team on every plan and no customer app, plus prepaid packages from the Pro plan.