Best Shopify Review Apps: Judge.me vs Yotpo vs Loox vs Stamped

Customer reviews are the backbone of e-commerce trust. When shoppers can't physically touch products or speak with sales staff, they rely on reviews from other customers to make purchase decisions. For Shopify store owners, choosing the right review app can mean the difference between browsers who bounce and buyers who convert.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll compare the four most popular Shopify review apps: Judge.me, Yotpo, Loox, and Stamped. We'll break down features, pricing, pros, cons, and ideal use cases to help you make the right choice for your store.

Why Reviews Matter for Your Shopify Store

Before diving into the comparison, let's understand why reviews are non-negotiable for e-commerce success.

The Conversion Impact of Reviews

The numbers tell a compelling story:

• 270% higher conversion rate - Products with reviews convert nearly 4x better than those without
• 12.5% lift in conversions - Even moving from 0 to just 5 reviews creates measurable improvement
• 18% increase in sales - Displaying star ratings in search results drives more clicks
• $62 higher average order value - Shoppers who read reviews spend more per transaction
• 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

Reviews work because they reduce purchase anxiety. When someone is about to spend money on your product, they're asking themselves: "Will this actually work? Is this company legit? Will I regret this purchase?" Reviews from other customers answer these questions in a way your marketing never can.

Types of Social Proof That Convert

Modern review apps offer multiple forms of social proof:

Written Reviews - Traditional text feedback covering product quality, shipping, customer service, and overall experience.

Star Ratings - Quick visual indicators that help shoppers scan and compare options.

Photo Reviews - Customer-submitted images showing products in real-world use. These are particularly powerful for apparel, home goods, and beauty products.

Video Reviews - Recorded testimonials providing authentic, detailed feedback. Higher trust factor but lower submission rates.

Q&A Sections - Pre-purchase questions answered by previous buyers or your team.

Trust Badges - Aggregate ratings displayed prominently on product pages and throughout checkout.

The Four Major Shopify Review Apps

Let's break down each app in detail.

Judge.me: Best Free Option

Judge.me has become the go-to review app for budget-conscious Shopify store owners, and for good reason. It offers a remarkably full-featured free plan that rivals competitors' paid tiers.

Judge.me Features

Review Collection

• Automatic post-purchase review request emails
• In-email review forms (customers don't need to click through)
• Photo and video review support
• Custom review request timing
• Multi-language support (38+ languages)

Display Options

• Customizable review widgets
• Star ratings in Google search results (rich snippets)
• Review carousels and badges
• Floating review tab
• All Reviews page

Social & Syndication

• Share reviews on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
• Syndicate reviews across product variants
• Import reviews from other platforms (AliExpress, Amazon, etc.)
• Export reviews anytime

Integration

• Works with all Shopify themes
• Google Shopping integration
• Klaviyo, Omnisend, and email platform connections
• Pushowl for push notifications

Judge.me Pricing

Judge.me Pros

• Unbeatable free tier - Most features available without paying
• Simple setup - Install and configure in under 30 minutes
• Fast customer support - Responsive team even for free users
• Lightweight code - Minimal impact on site speed
• Review importing - Bring reviews from any platform
• In-email reviews - Higher completion rates vs redirect-based systems

Judge.me Cons

• Basic design options - Less visual customization than premium competitors
• Limited analytics - Basic reporting compared to Yotpo or Stamped
• No loyalty program - Focused purely on reviews
• Simpler branding - Design may feel less polished for premium brands

Best For

Judge.me is ideal for new stores, budget-conscious merchants, dropshippers importing reviews, and anyone who wants robust review functionality without monthly fees.

Yotpo: Enterprise-Grade Solution

Yotpo is the heavyweight champion of review apps, offering a comprehensive suite that extends far beyond reviews into loyalty, referrals, SMS marketing, and subscriptions.

Yotpo Features

Review Collection

• Smart review request timing
• Photo and video reviews
• Customizable review forms with custom questions
• AI-powered review analysis
• Review response management

Display & Customization

• Visual UGC galleries
• Shoppable Instagram feeds
• Product page widgets
• Category and site-wide displays
• Full design customization

Loyalty & Referrals (Higher Tiers)

• Points-based loyalty program
• VIP tier systems
• Referral campaigns
• Rewards for reviews, social shares, purchases

Marketing Integrations

• SMS marketing platform
• Email marketing connections
• Google and Facebook integrations
• Shopify Flow compatibility

Advanced Features

• AI sentiment analysis
• Review syndication across retailers
• Multi-location support
• Custom reporting dashboards

Yotpo Pricing

Yotpo uses custom pricing for most features, but here's the general structure:

Note: Yotpo pricing varies based on order volume and selected products.

Yotpo Pros

• All-in-one platform - Reviews, loyalty, SMS, referrals in one dashboard
• Enterprise features - Built for scaling brands
• Visual UGC galleries - Beautiful photo displays
• AI-powered insights - Sentiment analysis and smart recommendations
• Retail syndication - Push reviews to Google, Facebook, retail partners
• Dedicated support - Account managers for larger clients

Yotpo Cons

• Complex pricing - Hard to predict costs as you scale
• Feature overload - Can be overwhelming for small stores
• Free tier limitations - Very restricted compared to Judge.me
• Implementation time - Full setup requires more effort
• Cost at scale - Premium features get expensive quickly

Best For

Yotpo is ideal for established brands doing $1M+ annually, companies wanting unified reviews + loyalty + SMS, enterprise stores needing retail syndication, and brands with resources for implementation.

Loox: Visual Reviews Specialist

Loox has carved out a niche as the photo-first review app. If your products are visually driven (fashion, home decor, beauty), Loox's focus on beautiful UGC displays makes it a strong contender.

Loox Features

Visual Review Collection

• Photo-focused review requests
• Discount incentives for photo reviews
• Video review support
• One-click in-email reviews

Display Options

• Grid, carousel, and popup widgets
• Instagram-style photo galleries
• Sidebar photo displays
• Happy Customers page
• Product page integration

Customization

• Fully customizable widgets
• Multiple layout options
• Brand color matching
• Mobile-optimized displays

Integrations

• Google Shopping rich snippets
• Meta (Facebook/Instagram) sync
• Klaviyo integration
• Multi-language support

Additional Features

• Referral program (higher tiers)
• Review importing
• Post-purchase upsells
• Analytics dashboard

Loox Pricing

Loox Pros

• Visual-first approach - Designed for photo reviews from the ground up
• Beautiful displays - Instagram-style galleries look premium
• Discount incentives - Automatically offer discounts for photo submissions
• Easy setup - Straightforward configuration
• Good mid-tier pricing - Scale plan offers strong value
• Referral included - Built-in referral program at higher tiers

Loox Cons

• No free tier - Starts at $9.99/month
• Photo-centric - Written reviews feel secondary
• Limited advanced features - Fewer analytics and AI tools than Yotpo
• Request limits - Lower tiers cap monthly review requests
• Less flexibility - Fewer customization options than Stamped

Best For

Loox is ideal for fashion and apparel brands, home goods and decor stores, beauty and cosmetics, any visually-driven product category, and stores wanting Instagram-style social proof.

Stamped: Balanced All-Rounder

Stamped (formerly Stamped.io) positions itself as the balanced choice offering strong reviews, loyalty, and marketing features without enterprise pricing.

Stamped Features

Review Collection

• Photo and video reviews
• Smart request timing
• In-email review submission
• NPS (Net Promoter Score) surveys
• Custom review questions

Display Options

• Multiple widget styles
• Review carousels
• Trust badges
• Side drawer displays
• All Reviews page
• Instagram-style galleries

Loyalty Program

• Points system
• VIP tiers
• Reward redemption
• Birthday rewards
• Referral program

Marketing & Integrations

• Google Shopping integration
• Rich snippets
• Klaviyo, Attentive, Postscript
• Checkout upsells
• Multi-language (20+ languages)

Advanced Features

• AI review assistant
• Sentiment analysis
• Community Q&A
• Review analytics
• Shoppable galleries

Stamped Pricing

Loyalty features require separate Stamped Loyalty subscription.

Stamped Pros

• Balanced feature set - Strong across reviews, loyalty, and marketing
• Reasonable pricing - Good value compared to Yotpo
• Modern interface - Clean, intuitive dashboard
• NPS surveys - Built-in customer satisfaction tracking
• Checkout upsells - Revenue-generating feature included
• Strong integrations - Works well with major marketing tools

Stamped Cons

• Separate loyalty pricing - Reviews and loyalty billed separately
• Order limits - Plans capped by monthly order volume
• Free tier very limited - Only 50 orders/month
• Learning curve - More features mean more configuration
• Support varies - Priority support reserved for higher tiers

Best For

Stamped is ideal for growing DTC brands, stores wanting reviews + loyalty without Yotpo pricing, merchants who value NPS tracking, and businesses planning to scale with a single platform.

Head-to-Head Comparison

How to Choose the Right Review App

Choose Judge.me If:

• You're just starting out or have limited budget
• You want powerful features without monthly fees
• You're dropshipping and need to import reviews
• Simple setup is a priority
• You don't need loyalty/referral programs

Choose Yotpo If:

• You're an established brand with significant revenue
• You want reviews, loyalty, SMS, and referrals unified
• You need enterprise features like retail syndication
• You have resources for proper implementation
• Brand prestige matters and budget is flexible

Choose Loox If:

• Your products are visually driven (fashion, home, beauty)
• Photo reviews are your top priority
• You want Instagram-style social proof galleries
• You appreciate clean, beautiful design
• You don't need complex analytics

Choose Stamped If:

• You want balanced features without enterprise pricing
• NPS and customer satisfaction tracking matter
• You plan to add loyalty features later
• You value modern UX and reasonable costs
• You're growing but not yet enterprise-scale

Setup Recommendations

Once you've chosen your review app, follow these setup best practices to maximize impact.

Timing Your Review Requests

The timing of review request emails significantly impacts response rates:

• Physical products: 7-14 days after delivery (allows usage time)
• Digital products: 2-3 days after purchase
• Consumables: 5-7 days (enough time to try, before product runs out)
• Complex products: 14-21 days (learning curve needed)

Most apps let you customize timing based on product tags or collections.

Incentivizing Photo Reviews

Photo reviews are worth more than text reviews. Offer small incentives:

• 10-15% off next order for photo reviews
• Free shipping on next purchase
• Loyalty points (if using a points system)
• Entry into monthly giveaways

The cost of these incentives is far outweighed by the conversion lift photo reviews provide.

Optimizing Review Display

Where and how you display reviews matters:

1. Product pages: Show aggregate rating at top, full reviews below description
2. Collection pages: Display star ratings on product cards
3. Homepage: Feature a reviews carousel or trust badge
4. Cart/Checkout: Show overall store rating to reduce abandonment
5. Dedicated reviews page: Create an "All Reviews" page for SEO

Responding to Reviews

Responding to reviews (especially negative ones) shows future customers you care:

• Thank positive reviewers personally
• Address negative reviews publicly, then take resolution private
• Ask follow-up questions on detailed reviews
• Use responses to highlight additional product benefits

Enabling Rich Snippets

All four apps support Google rich snippets (star ratings in search results). Enable these features:

1. Go to your app's SEO or Google settings
2. Enable structured data / schema markup
3. Verify implementation with Google's Rich Results Test
4. Monitor appearance in Google Search Console

Integrating Reviews with Your Tech Stack

Reviews work best when integrated with your broader marketing stack.

Email Marketing Integration

Connect your review app with Klaviyo, Omnisend, or your email platform to:

• Trigger review requests from email flows (better deliverability)
• Segment customers by review status
• Include review content in marketing emails
• Create flows for reviewers vs non-reviewers

SMS Marketing

If using SMS (Attentive, Postscript, Yotpo SMS), consider:

• SMS review requests for higher response rates
• Sending photo review incentives via text
• Following up on abandoned review requests

Loyalty Program Connection

If running loyalty alongside reviews:

• Award points for reviews (more for photos/videos)
• Create VIP tiers based on review contribution
• Feature top reviewers in community highlights

Building Your Shopify Review Strategy

Choosing an app is just the start. Here's how to build a comprehensive review strategy.

Getting Your First 10 Reviews

New stores face a cold-start problem. Strategies to get initial reviews:

1. Personal outreach: Email your first customers personally asking for reviews
2. Import reviews: If you sold elsewhere (Etsy, Amazon), import those reviews
3. Friends and family: Ask early supporters to leave honest reviews
4. Influencer seeding: Send products to micro-influencers for reviews
5. Post-purchase focus: Make review requests prominent in unboxing experience

Scaling Review Collection

Once you have momentum:

• Automate review request sequences
• A/B test email subject lines and timing
• Offer escalating incentives (better discount for video vs photo vs text)
• Add review requests to transactional emails
• Use SMS for non-responders

Handling Negative Reviews

Negative reviews aren't necessarily bad. Here's how to handle them:

1. Don't delete - Removing negative reviews destroys trust
2. Respond quickly - Shows you care about customer experience
3. Take responsibility - Even if the customer is wrong, apologize for their experience
4. Offer resolution - Refund, replacement, or credit
5. Follow up - Ask if they'd consider updating their review after resolution

Stores with some negative reviews (4.2-4.7 average) often convert better than those with perfect 5.0 ratings, which can seem fake.

Leveraging Reviews for Marketing

Reviews are content gold. Use them across channels:

• Ads: Feature star ratings and review quotes in Facebook/Google ads
• Social media: Share customer photos and testimonials
• Email: Include review snippets in product announcements
• Website: Create case study pages from detailed reviews
• Sales materials: Use reviews in B2B or wholesale outreach

Measuring Review ROI

Track these metrics to measure your review program's impact:

Collection Metrics

• Review request open rate
• Review submission rate
• Photo review percentage
• Average rating score

Conversion Metrics

• Conversion rate with vs without reviews displayed
• Revenue per visitor on reviewed vs non-reviewed products
• Add-to-cart rate correlation with review count

SEO Metrics

• Rich snippet impressions in Search Console
• Click-through rate on snippets vs non-snippet results
• Organic traffic to review-heavy pages

Final Recommendations

After comparing all four apps, here are our recommendations by store type:

New Stores / Tight Budget: Start with Judge.me Free. It's the best free review app available, and you can always upgrade later.

Growing DTC Brands: Stamped Premium offers the best balance of features and price at $59/month.

Visual Products (Fashion/Home/Beauty): Loox Scale at $34.99/month specializes in beautiful photo displays.

Enterprise / Multi-Channel: Yotpo's full suite makes sense for brands doing $5M+ annually with complex needs.

The Safe Choice: Judge.me Awesome at $15/month offers 90% of what most stores need at a fraction of competitor pricing.

Getting Started

Ready to add reviews to your Shopify store? Here's your action plan:

1. Install your chosen app - Start with Judge.me if unsure
2. Import existing reviews - Bring reviews from any previous platform
3. Configure request timing - Set appropriate delay based on product type
4. Customize widgets - Match your store's branding
5. Enable rich snippets - Get star ratings in Google
6. Set up incentives - Offer discounts for photo reviews
7. Integrate with email - Connect to your marketing platform
8. Monitor and optimize - Track submission rates and conversion impact

Social proof isn't optional in modern e-commerce. The stores that systematically collect, display, and leverage customer reviews build trust faster, convert better, and grow more sustainably than those that don't.

Choose your review app, implement it properly, and watch your conversion rates climb.

Want to optimize your Shopify store's visibility in AI shopping assistants? Get a free AI visibility audit to see how your products appear when customers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI tools for recommendations.