Waya vs Bonat

Waya vs Bonat: a wallet pass on your phone versus hardware at the till

Bonat is quote-based with a tablet at the till; Waya is a phone-scanned wallet pass, free to 100 customers. Honest September 2026 comparison.

Waya TeamUpdated 6 September 20268 min read
comparisonbonat

The short version

Bonat is a Riyadh-based platform with real scale — 2,000+ stores across Saudi Arabia and 7M+ visits claimed on their homepage — but no public pricing exists as of September 2026. Their own FAQ says subscription details are handled by contacting them directly, with a one-month trial that carries a refundable fee and a one-time setup cost covering a tablet device, stand, training, and installation.

The clearest structural difference is the hardware model. Bonat's language centers on a physical device integrated with payment terminals at the till, while Waya has no hardware at all: staff scan a customer's wallet pass on an ordinary phone they already carry.

A caution worth stating directly: several commonly-cited claims about Bonat (a specific POS integration list, SMS support, and geofencing) could not be verified on the pages we fetched directly — we've marked those unconfirmed rather than asserting them as fact.

Notifications, side by side

Bonat's own fetched pages don't confirm several notification features that a general summary elsewhere claims — we're reporting only what we could verify directly on bonat.io.

Notifications, side by side (as of September 2026)
Notification featureWayaBonat
Lock-screen pushApple Wallet + Google Wallet, named explicitlyAmbiguous — "Apple Pay, Google Pay" and a physical NFC device are named; wallet-pass parity not confirmed
GeofenceApple Wallet, up to 10 branches, 50-500 m radius, zero message quotaUnconfirmed on their own pages, though claimed by a secondary summary
Automatic triggersWelcome, stamp added, reward redeemed, 14-day win-backUnconfirmed on their own pages
Scheduled campaigns (working hours)Yes — a send outside opening hours moves to the next open slotNot listed on their site (Sept 2026)
Audience targetingEveryone, lifecycle segment, program, or hand-picked list"Customer Behavior Analytics" named generically — visit patterns, preferred products
Message pricingFree 100/mo, Growth 5,000, Premium unlimited, 500-message top-up for 5 SARNo pricing page published; figures unavailable (Sept 2026)
SMS / WhatsAppNone — no SMS, no WhatsApp channelNot confirmed on their own site (Sept 2026); a secondary summary claims SMS, unverified directly

Pricing: quote-based, plus real setup costs

Bonat's own FAQ states plainly that subscription pricing is discussed by contacting them, with no public number anywhere we found. What is disclosed: a one-month trial requires a refundable fee (amount undisclosed), a one-time setup cost bundles the tablet device, stand, training, and installation (amount undisclosed), and additional branches cost extra beyond the base subscription.

Waya's pricing needs no phone call to discover: 0 SAR forever to 100 customers, 85 SAR a month for Growth, 149 SAR a month for Premium, with no hardware, no tablet, and no per-branch add-on fee disclosed anywhere hidden. Ask Bonat for their current monthly figure and full setup cost in writing before committing — pricing quotes especially can vary by negotiation.

Pricing as published (SAR, as of September 2026)
PlanMonthlySetup / extrasNotes
Waya Free0 SARNoneForever, up to 100 customers, no credit card, no hardware
Waya Growth85 SARNoneUnlimited customers, up to 10 cards, 3 branches
Waya Premium149 SARNoneUnlimited cards, branches, staff, messages
BonatNot published — quote-basedTablet + stand + training + installation (amount undisclosed); refundable trial fee; per-branch add-on fee2,000+ stores claimed; contact sales for a figure

Where Bonat is the better pick

If you want a physical tablet device at the till rather than relying on staff scanning a card on their own phones, Bonat's model bundles the hardware, training, and installation into one setup — a genuinely different operating model for shops that prefer dedicated hardware over a bring-your-own-phone approach. Their claimed scale, 2,000+ stores and 7M+ visits, is a real signal of market presence in this category.

Waya's limits, stated plainly once: no POS or till integration, no SMS, the Android merchant app is in closed testing, and Free stops at 100 customers and 100 messages a month.

Where Waya wins

These points reflect only what we could verify directly on Bonat's own fetched pages, as of September 2026 — several other claims about the product remain unconfirmed and are excluded here.

  • Public pricing at 0, 85, or 149 SAR a month with no phone call required, versus Bonat's quote-only model
  • No hardware, no tablet, and no setup fee — staff use a phone they already carry
  • A confirmed, published geofence with a stated radius and branch count, where Bonat's own pages leave the feature unconfirmed
  • Four named automatic triggers with a stated 14-day win-back window, unconfirmed on Bonat's fetched pages
  • Free forever for up to 100 customers with no credit card and no per-branch add-on fee

Car washes and care centers: Bonat's named verticals

Bonat maintains dedicated landing pages for car washes and for what it calls "Care Centers" — salons, spas, and barbers grouped together — both citing the same "80% increase in partner registration rate" statistic with largely templated copy across verticals. It's a real vertical commitment, even if the page-level content doesn't differentiate much beyond swapping the industry name.

Waya covers the same ground with separate, numbers-heavy guides: the car-wash loyalty program guide and the salon loyalty program guide, each with worked examples specific to that business rather than one shared template.

How to decide in 5 steps

With Bonat's pricing quote-based and several features unconfirmed on their own site, get specifics in writing before comparing costs.

  1. Request Bonat's full quote in writing

    Ask for the monthly subscription, the one-time setup cost, the trial fee, and any per-branch add-on, since none are published.

  2. Decide on hardware versus phone-based scanning

    If a dedicated tablet at the till fits your operation better than staff using their own phones, Bonat's model is built for that.

  3. Ask Bonat directly about geofencing, SMS, and named POS integrations

    These are unconfirmed on their own fetched pages — get written confirmation rather than relying on secondary summaries.

  4. Compare the total setup cost against a full year of Waya

    Waya Premium at 1,788 SAR a year, paid monthly, has no separate setup or hardware line to add on top.

  5. Test Waya's free plan while you wait on Bonat's quote

    At 0 SAR for up to 100 customers with no hardware to install, you can compare real enrollment numbers immediately.

Frequently asked questions

Is Waya cheaper than Bonat?

It can't be confirmed from public information — Bonat's pricing is quote-based with no published figures, plus an undisclosed one-time setup cost for the tablet, stand, training, and installation. Waya's pricing is fully public: 0 SAR to 100 customers, then 85 or 149 SAR a month, with no hardware or setup fee.

Do customers need an app?

On Waya, no — customers scan a QR code, add a first name and mobile number, and tap once to add the pass to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Bonat's wallet-pass parity is ambiguous on their own site; their language centers more on a physical device and payment-terminal integration than a phone-wallet pass.

What happens after 100 customers on Free?

New enrollments and new messages pause at 100 customers and 100 messages a month on Waya, while everyone already enrolled keeps their card. Growth at 85 SAR a month removes the ceiling. Bonat's customer caps aren't published, so this specific limit isn't comparable.

Does Waya connect to my POS?

No. Waya has no POS or till integration — staff scan the customer's card on an ordinary phone. Bonat's own fetched pages describe a "device integrated with POS systems" generically, without naming specific vendors; a commonly-cited POS list for Bonat could not be verified directly.

Does Bonat require a tablet at the till?

Their setup cost, per Bonat's own FAQ, includes a tablet device, a tablet stand, training, and installation as a one-time cost — suggesting a physical device is part of the standard setup. Waya requires no hardware; staff scan the customer's card on a phone they already carry.

Put Waya on your counter — free forever up to 100 customersStart free at 0 SAR
Start free at 0 SAR