How to Switch from Loox to BetterReviews
Thinking about switching from Loox? What the migration looks like — CSV export, photo URL preservation, referral migration, and the cutover sequence.
The cost math
Loox tiers at $9.99/mo (Beginner), $34.99/mo (Scale), and $69.99/mo (Unlimited) — pricing scales with order volume. BetterReviews is $19/mo flat regardless of volume.
| Scenario | Loox cost | BetterReviews cost | Annual difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner ($9.99/mo) | $10/mo | $19/mo | -$108/year |
| Scale ($34.99/mo) | $35/mo | $19/mo | $192/year saved |
| Unlimited ($69.99/mo) | $70/mo | $19/mo | $612/year saved |
BetterReviews wins on cost for high-volume stores. For low-volume stores happy with Loox’s photo-centric workflow, the math doesn’t favor switching unless review quality (longer text, AI-elicited detail) is more valuable than the per-month delta.
Common fears addressed
”I’ll lose my photo reviews”
You won’t. Loox’s CSV export includes photo URLs, and BetterReviews preserves them through import. Your existing photo reviews keep their images and continue to display in the widget after migration.
That said: Loox’s storefront widget is heavily photo-first by design — masonry photo grids, video tiles, etc. BetterReviews’ widget shows photos but isn’t built around them the same way. If your storefront identity depends on a Loox-style photo wall, the visual change post-migration will be noticeable.
”What about my referral program?”
Loox bundles a referral program with reviews. BetterReviews doesn’t have a referral product — we focus exclusively on reviews. If you use Loox referrals, you’ll need a separate referral app (Smile.io, ReferralCandy, Friendbuy) after migrating reviews to BetterReviews.
The referral migration is independent from the reviews migration. Plan them as two projects.
”Loox emails customers to upload photos. Does BetterReviews?”
BetterReviews collects reviews through AI chat conversations. The chat asks for photos naturally when it makes sense — “did you take any photos of it in use?” — and the customer either uploads or skips. We don’t have a dedicated “upload your photo” email flow the way Loox does.
For most product categories, the AI chat surfaces photos for ~10-20% of reviews (vs Loox’s typical 30-50% photo rate). If photo-rich reviews are core to your brand, this is a real tradeoff.
”Will I lose my reviews?”
No. Loox supports CSV export including photo URLs. BetterReviews imports reviews with original dates, star ratings, text, photos, and product associations preserved.
What you keep, what changes
You keep:
- All your existing reviews with original dates, ratings, text, and photo URLs
- Verified-buyer badges (when present in Loox’s export)
- Rich snippets for SEO — Google re-indexes within 2-4 weeks
You change:
- Widget layout. BetterReviews ships our own widget — less photo-first than Loox, but customizable.
- Star rating placement. Loox’s star-rating widget is a separate block from the review list. BetterReviews ships both as composable theme blocks; you’ll need to swap them in the theme editor.
- Collection mechanism. Loox’s photo-request emails get replaced with BetterReviews’ AI chat conversations.
- Referral program. Goes away — migrate to a dedicated referral app separately.
You keep (consent behavior is identical): Loox sends review-request emails as transactional post-purchase messages by default — to every customer, not just marketing-opted-in ones — under their Transactional mode. BetterReviews uses the same default classification. Switching from Loox to BetterReviews doesn’t change your send volume because of consent gating; if Loox was reaching your customers, BetterReviews will too. (For the rare merchant whose legal team requires the stricter explicit-opt-in rule, BetterReviews has a Require marketing consent setting in Collect → Marketing-consent gate — see Marketing consent.)
You lose:
- Loox’s referral program (move to Smile.io, ReferralCandy, etc.)
- Loox’s photo-upload incentive flow (BetterReviews asks for photos in chat instead, with lower opt-in rates)
- Loox’s photo-wall widget aesthetic
Before-you-switch checklist
- Decide if photo-first identity matters. If your storefront’s hero element is a Loox photo wall, the post-migration look is noticeably different.
- Export your reviews from Loox with photo URLs included. Settings > Export.
- Plan referral migration separately. Pick a referral app (Smile.io, ReferralCandy, Friendbuy) and migrate that workflow independently.
- Document your current widget setup. Screenshot photo grid placement, star rating positions, and any custom CSS.
- Audit your theme for Loox snippets. Plan 15 minutes for cleanup after uninstall.
The migration process
1. Export from Loox, upload CSV through onboarding
Go to Settings > Export in Loox. The CSV includes review text, ratings, dates, customer info, photo URLs, and product associations. Then install BetterReviews — onboarding step 1 (/onboarding/connect) accepts the Loox CSV directly via the “Yotpo, Loox, or other” card.
Photo URLs come through the importer and continue serving from Loox’s CDN initially. We rehost to BetterReviews’ own R2 storage in the background so photos keep working even if you uninstall Loox later.
2. Review your library audit
After import, BetterReviews surfaces what’s been latent in your Loox library — how many reviews are detailed enough to feature, how many are ad-ready with photos, and which support cases could route away. Concrete numbers from your own data within a few minutes.
3. Pick a test product
Onboarding step 3 (/onboarding/test-product) lets our team swap your widget on a single product and validate end-to-end before you commit to a full cutover. About one business day. This is where you’ll see the BetterReviews widget aesthetic side-by-side with the Loox aesthetic — useful for catching brand-identity issues before they go store-wide.
4. Keep new collection off until cutover
Don’t enable BetterReviews collection while Loox is still collecting. Run a single product on BetterReviews first, validate it, and only then flip collection at the /cutover surface. This avoids dual-sending review requests to your customers.
When you’re ready, the cutover surface flips collection_enabled and digest_enabled atomically. Before that, BetterReviews stays in observe-only mode on the imported library.
5. Swap widgets and remove Loox
Add the BetterReviews widget (and star rating block) in your theme editor. Verify your product pages look right, then uninstall Loox. Grep your theme for loox references and remove any leftover snippets.
If you use Loox’s referral program, do NOT uninstall the Loox app yet — switch the Reviews-specific configuration off but keep the app installed until your replacement referral app is wired up.
Note: The BetterReviews team handles the import and assists with widget setup.
Auto-moderation and your imported reviews
Imported reviews keep the status they had in Loox (approved stays approved; pending stays pending). They are not put through BetterReviews’ auto-moderation preset — even if you later switch from Manual to a non-manual preset, the retroactive re-scoring only touches reviews collected through BetterReviews’ AI chat or public form. Imported pending reviews stay in your queue until you approve or reject them by hand.
Related
- BetterReviews vs Loox — full feature and pricing comparison
- Loox vs Judge.me — how Loox compares to the free alternative
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