Shopify gift card apps compared 2026: which app fits which shop
Shopify gift card apps solve four different jobs: a designed card that is printed and handed over, store credit and loyalty, gifting of products and subscriptions, and issuing many cards at once. Before any of them, there is Shopify itself, which sells gift cards without an app. Which Shopify gift card app fits depends on the job, not on a ranking. So you will not find one here. Instead, each app comes with what its Shopify App Store listing actually says, with source, as of 7 October 2026.
Kartuu is our product: KYTH. Systems builds one of the apps in this overview. Statements about all other apps come from their own Shopify App Store listings, statements about Shopify’s gift cards from the Shopify Help Center, each with a link and retrieval date. We do not quote other providers’ prices or percentages. They change, and the current figures are in each listing.
How to choose a Shopify gift card app
Five questions sort the field.
- What is the gift card for? A present for someone else, a reward in a loyalty programme, a refund as store credit or a campaign with hundreds of codes are four different products.
- How does it reach the recipient? By email, on a chosen date, as a plastic card at the till or as a printed card in an envelope.
- Who designs the card? Some apps list “custom design” as a feature, others describe templates or an editor. Read what the listing says about the card itself, not only about the email.
- How is the app billed? A monthly fee, a fee per order or a percentage of the gift card value, often combined. A percentage is cheaper if you sell few gift cards, a flat fee if you sell many.
- Language of interface and support. The listings name the app’s languages. Most apps on this list are English only.
Shopify’s built-in gift cards: what works without an app
According to the Help Center, gift cards are available on all Shopify subscription plans. When an order with a gift card product is fulfilled, the buyer or the recipient gets an email with a digital gift card and a unique code that is redeemed at checkout (Shopify Help Center, gift cards overview, as of 7 October 2026).
The buyer can send the gift card to someone else with a message, at once or on a scheduled date, if the theme supports the recipient fields. Shopify states that the feature came with version 9.0.0 of its free Online Store 2.0 themes and does not apply to vintage themes (Shopify Help Center, gift card recipient fields, as of 7 October 2026).
Design happens in two places, the theme and the email. The gift card page is part of the theme and is styled there. The image in the gift card email can be replaced by editing the notification template; Shopify notes that you need to be familiar with HTML, CSS and Liquid to do so. The redemption codes are random and cannot be customised, and customers cannot enter an amount of their own in the online shop (Shopify Help Center, customising gift cards and adding gift card products, as of 7 October 2026).
Shopify POS adds two formats: physical gift cards, which are plastic cards with pre-assigned codes in a premade design or one you upload, and a paper copy of a digital gift card from the receipt printer. According to Shopify, an online order for a gift card product produces a digital gift card, not a pre-printed physical card (Shopify Help Center, gift cards in Shopify POS and selling gift cards with POS, as of 7 October 2026). The Help Center pages we read mention neither a PDF to print nor a folded card for the online shop.
Fits if a code by email is enough and your theme includes the recipient fields. Limits: the Help Center pages we read describe no visual editor for the digital card and no print layout for the online shop; design changes run through the theme and the notification template code. The details are in our guide How to create a Shopify gift card.
Kartuu: the gift card as a printed card
Kartuu is our own app, and it does one thing: it turns a gift card bought in your shop into a card that can be printed, folded and handed over. You design the card yourself, and every purchase becomes a print-ready PDF in that design. That is the gap in this field: none of the five listings further down mentions a PDF for the buyer or an editor for the card itself (Shopify App Store, as of 7 October 2026). Details are on the pages printable Shopify gift cards and Shopify gift card templates.
- Six templates as a starting point, or design freely in the editor: move, resize and rotate elements, swap pictures, add text, shapes and your logo, with eight handwriting typefaces among the fonts.
- Every gift card bought becomes a PDF with fold marks on A4, or US Letter for shops in the US and Canada, folded once as a card or twice as a cross fold. The buyer downloads it on the thank-you page.
- A live preview on the product page shows recipient, sender and greeting while the buyer types. It is approximate; in print, lines can break differently.
- You can offer up to four pictures per gift card for the buyer to choose from.
- An amount voucher is a real Shopify gift card and stays valid if you cancel Kartuu.
- Two plans with the same features: Kartuu Free with no monthly fee and 2.9% of the value of each gift card issued, and Kartuu Standard at 19 USD a month or 199 USD a year plus VAT, with no revenue share and a 30-day trial. Billed through your Shopify invoice.
- Server and database in Berlin.
What Kartuu leaves to others:
- Loyalty, store credit and cashback. Kartuu keeps no credit account of its own; for that, look at the apps below.
- Plastic cards. Kartuu’s card is a PDF that the buyer or you print.
- Sending email for you. Email delivery is optional and runs through your own mailbox (SMTP), which you connect in the app.
- Photo uploads by the buyer. The buyer chooses one of the pictures you offer.
- Languages beyond German and English. The interface, the card, the email and the Kartuu blocks in your shop are available in those two.
Everything else is on the product page of the Shopify gift card app Kartuu.
Gift cards as part of loyalty and store credit
Rise Gift Cards & Store Credit
The developer is Rise.ai; the address in the listing is in Miami, Florida. The listing names English as the only language. Rise describes itself as one branded wallet that combines gift cards, store credit, loyalty, cashback, refunds and rewards. It names digital and physical gift cards sold online and at POS, store credit as a reward for sign-ups, referrals and lifetime spend, and delivery by email or SMS, also on a scheduled date. For the card itself the feature list says “Custom design” without further description. The plans are billed monthly or yearly, each with a monthly quota of orders and a fee per order above it (Shopify App Store listing, as of 7 October 2026).
Fits if gift cards are one building block of a retention programme with store credit and rewards.
99minds Gift Card & Loyalty
The developer is 99Minds Inc from New York; the listing names English as the only language. 99minds describes itself as an omnichannel loyalty and gift card platform that syncs the online shop and the physical POS in real time. The listing names digital and physical gift cards with scheduled delivery and reminders, store credit for refunds and exchanges, memberships, and a points-based loyalty programme with VIP tiers and referrals. The app is free to install with a monthly allowance of transactions; the listing adds that further charges may apply and may be billed by the provider outside the Shopify invoice (Shopify App Store listing, as of 7 October 2026).
Fits if you sell online and in a shop with POS and want gift cards, loyalty and store credit from one dashboard.
Gifting of products and subscriptions
Govalo | Gift Card Suite
The developer is Incredible Gifts LLC from Columbus, Ohio; the listing names English as the only language. Govalo offers customisable digital gift cards, corporate gift cards, giftable subscriptions and store credit. For the design the listing names branding options or ready-made templates and up to twelve images on one gift card product. Gift cards can be sent directly to the recipient and scheduled; for personalised gift card emails the listing names integrations with Klaviyo, Omnisend and Drip. Giftable subscriptions work with subscription apps such as Bold and Recharge. Every plan carries a percentage of the gift card value; the two higher plans add a monthly fee. The listing mentions neither printable nor physical cards (Shopify App Store listing, as of 7 October 2026).
Fits if you sell branded digital gift cards and want subscriptions to be giftable as well.
Givy
The developer is Givy from Winnipeg, Canada. The listing names 27 languages, among them English and German. According to the listing, Givy sells gift cards that can be bought and redeemed in several currencies and makes any product, subscription, membership or gift card giftable, with a personal message, gift wrapping and a scheduled delivery. For campaigns the listing names bulk gift cards that are emailed or printed, and gift cards that can be linked to physical cards. The plans are monthly; three of the four add a percentage of the value of the gifts and gift cards created with the app (Shopify App Store listing, as of 7 October 2026).
Fits if you sell in several currencies or want customers to give products and subscriptions as presents.
Many gift cards at once
Gift Card Factory
The developer is Code57 from Wrocław, Poland; the listing names English as the only language. Gift Card Factory creates, imports, updates and sends gift cards in bulk. According to the listing, it generates thousands of gift cards in a few clicks, imports existing gift cards from other platforms, changes balance and expiry date of existing cards and refunds orders onto gift cards. Customers can send and schedule a gift card from the product page. The listing shows a free plan limited to a 14-day trial and three monthly plans with quotas. It mentions neither printable nor physical cards (Shopify App Store listing, as of 7 October 2026).
Fits if you move to Shopify with existing gift cards or issue codes by the hundred for campaigns.
The Shopify gift card apps at a glance
The table sums up what the listings and the Shopify Help Center state. It contains no prices and no rating. All rows as of 7 October 2026, sources as in the sections above.
| App and provider | App languages | Focus per listing | Design of the card | Print and physical cards | Billing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify gift cardsShopify, part of the admin | Part of the Shopify admin | Digital gift card with a code by email, recipient and send date if the theme supports it | Through the theme and the code of the email template | Plastic cards and receipt-printer copy through Shopify POS; no print layout for the online shop on the pages read | Available on all Shopify subscription plans |
| KartuuKYTH. Systems, Berg (Germany) | German, English | Designed card to fold, as a print-ready PDF for every gift card bought | Six templates and an editor for the card itself, with eight handwriting typefaces and a preview on the product page | PDF with fold marks on A4 or US Letter; no plastic cards | Kartuu Free: no monthly fee, 2.9% of the value. Kartuu Standard: flat monthly price, no revenue share |
| RiseRise.ai, Miami (USA) | English | Gift cards, store credit, loyalty, cashback and refunds in one wallet | “Custom design” in the feature list, not described further | Physical gift cards online and at POS; printing not mentioned | Plans billed monthly or yearly, with an order quota and a fee per order above it |
| 99minds99Minds Inc, New York (USA) | English | Gift cards, loyalty, memberships and store credit, online and POS | “Custom design” in the feature list, not described further | Physical gift cards; printing not mentioned | Free to install with a monthly transaction allowance; further charges may apply |
| GovaloIncredible Gifts LLC, Columbus, Ohio (USA) | English | Branded digital gift cards, giftable subscriptions, corporate gift cards | Branding options or ready-made templates, up to twelve images per product; an editor is not mentioned | Not mentioned | Percentage of the gift card value on every plan, monthly fee on the higher plans |
| GivyGivy, Winnipeg (Canada) | 27 languages, among them English and German | Gift cards in several currencies, gifting of products and subscriptions, bulk gift cards | “Custom design” in the feature list, not described further | Print gift cards in bulk or link them to physical cards | Monthly plans, three of four with a percentage of the value |
| Gift Card FactoryCode57, Wrocław (Poland) | English | Create, import, update and send gift cards in bulk; refunds onto gift cards | “Custom design” in the feature list, not described further | Not mentioned | Free plan limited to a 14-day trial, then monthly plans with quotas |
Which gift card app fits which shop?
| If you … | Start by looking at |
|---|---|
| … are happy with a code by email and your theme includes the recipient fields | Shopify’s built-in gift cards |
| … want a card in your own design that is printed, folded and handed over | Kartuu |
| … run gift cards together with store credit, cashback and rewards | Rise |
| … sell online and at a till and want loyalty and gift cards from one dashboard | 99minds |
| … sell branded digital gift cards and want subscriptions to be giftable | Govalo |
| … sell in several currencies or want products to be given as presents | Givy |
| … import existing gift cards or issue codes by the hundred | Gift Card Factory |
The table is a starting point, not a verdict. Read the app’s listing before you decide and try it with a test order.
How this overview was put together
On 7 October 2026 we read the Shopify App Store listings of the apps named here in their English version and the Shopify Help Center, and used only what is stated there. The Shopify App Store lists many more gift card apps; we picked five that stand for the different jobs. Star ratings and review counts are left out on purpose: they are daily figures and say little about whether an app fits your shop. We have not tested the third-party apps ourselves. Where a listing says nothing on a point, we write “not mentioned”, which does not mean the app cannot do it. For Kartuu, the statements come from our own product. If a provider changes its listing, the listing applies.
Frequently asked questions about Shopify gift card apps
What is the best Shopify gift card app?
There is no single best app for every shop. It depends on what the gift card is for. If a code by email is enough, Shopify’s built-in gift cards do the job without an app. For a card in your own design that is printed and handed over, Kartuu, which is our own app: none of the other five listings mentions an editor for the card or a PDF for the buyer. If gift cards are part of a loyalty or store credit programme, look at Rise or 99minds. For gifting products and subscriptions, Govalo and Givy address that in their listings. For issuing many cards at once, Gift Card Factory.
Do I need an app to sell gift cards on Shopify?
No. According to the Shopify Help Center, gift cards are available on all Shopify subscription plans. The buyer or the recipient gets an email with a digital gift card and a unique code that is redeemed at checkout (as of 7 October 2026). An app is worth it when you need something the gift card pages of the Help Center do not describe: a print-ready card for the online shop, a design editor, a loyalty programme, bulk issuing or gifting of products.
Can Shopify send a gift card to a recipient on a chosen date?
Yes, if the theme supports it. The Help Center describes recipient fields for gift card products: recipient email, name, message and a send-on date. The feature came with version 9.0.0 of Shopify’s free Online Store 2.0 themes and does not apply to vintage themes (Shopify Help Center, as of 7 October 2026).
Can I change the design of a Shopify gift card without an app?
Within limits. The gift card page belongs to the theme and is styled there. The image in the gift card email can be replaced by editing the notification template, for which, according to Shopify, you need to be familiar with HTML, CSS and Liquid. For the digital gift card, the Help Center pages we read describe no visual editor and no templates to choose from. For plastic cards used with Shopify POS, Shopify describes premade designs or uploading your own design (as of 7 October 2026).
Which of these apps produces a card you can print?
Of the apps in this overview, Kartuu is built for it: every gift card bought becomes a print-ready PDF with fold marks on A4, or US Letter for shops in the US and Canada, in the shop’s own design. Givy’s listing mentions printing gift cards in bulk or linking them to physical cards. Rise and 99minds name physical gift cards in their listings. The listings of Govalo and Gift Card Factory do not mention printing or physical cards (Shopify App Store, as of 7 October 2026).
Do Shopify gift card apps charge a percentage of gift card sales?
Some do, depending on the plan. According to their listings, Govalo charges a percentage of the gift card value on every plan, and Givy on three of its four plans. Rise bills its plans with a fee per order above a monthly quota. Kartuu has both models: Kartuu Free with no monthly fee and 2.9% of the value of each gift card issued, and Kartuu Standard at a flat monthly price with no revenue share. We do not quote other providers’ amounts; they are in each listing (as of 7 October 2026).
Which of these apps have a German interface?
According to the Shopify App Store listings (as of 7 October 2026), Givy lists German among 27 languages. Kartuu is available in German and English, and support answers in both languages. Rise, Govalo, 99minds and Gift Card Factory list English only.