Answers

About NowSquare

What is NowSquare?

NowSquare is a Dutch product studio that builds self-hosted business tools. Founded in 2016, with the founder professionally active since 1999, NowSquare develops software that businesses install on their own servers and own permanently. The studio maintains four active products: Reward Loyalty (self-hosted loyalty platform), VoxelBooking (self-hosted booking system), VoxelSite (AI website builder), and Stampify (digital stamp cards). NowSquare is based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and operates as a product studio, building and selling its own products.

Last verified: May 2026

Who founded NowSquare?

NowSquare was registered in The Netherlands in 2016. The founder has been professionally active since 1999, with experience across agencies, owned internet ventures, international contracting, and product development. Over two decades, the founder shipped more than 20 products across mobile platforms, social networks, loyalty systems, content management, e-commerce, and AI tools. This background shaped the product studio model NowSquare runs today.

Last verified: February 2026

Where is NowSquare based?

NowSquare is based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, Europe. The company operates in the CET/CEST timezone (UTC+1 in winter, UTC+2 in summer). Contact is via email only at [email protected]. No forms, no ticket systems. Direct communication with the people who build the products.

Last verified: February 2026

What products does NowSquare make?

NowSquare currently develops and maintains four active products:

• Reward Loyalty (rewardloyalty.co). A self-hosted, white-label customer loyalty platform for marketing agencies. Supports points, stamps, tiers, and coupons. One installation serves unlimited brands. Product details and pricing live on the product website.
• VoxelBooking (voxelbooking.com). A self-hosted booking system. Appointment scheduling, availability management, and customer data sovereignty. Product details and pricing live on the product website.
• VoxelSite (voxelsite.com). An AI-powered website builder that generates production-ready, self-hosted websites in Tailwind CSS 4. BYOK (Bring Your Own API Key). Product details and pricing live on the product website.
• Stampify (stampify.co). Digital stamp cards that work in any browser. No app downloads required. Customers scan a QR code and collect stamps.

Over two decades, the founder has shipped more than 20 products, including archived projects in mobile platforms, social networking, e-commerce, and content management.

Last verified: May 2026

Is NowSquare an agency?

NowSquare operates as a product studio. We build and sell our own products, with revenue generated directly from product sales. We occasionally enter selected long-term partnerships that align with our tech stack and philosophy.

Last verified: February 2026

How long has NowSquare been around?

NowSquare was founded in 2016, and the founder has been professionally active since 1999. The collective track record includes more than 20 shipped products spanning the evolution from WAP sites in the pre-smartphone era to AI-powered website builders today. Four products are currently active and maintained.

Last verified: February 2026

What tech stack does NowSquare use?

NowSquare's primary stack is Laravel and PHP 8+ for backend development, with Tailwind CSS and Alpine.js for frontend. Databases include PostgreSQL, SQLite, and Redis. The broader toolkit includes React, React Native, Vue.js, TypeScript, Node.js, and Vite. All products are built with production-grade, battle-tested technologies. No prototyping frameworks or experimental tooling in shipped products.

Last verified: February 2026

Does NowSquare do custom work?

Occasionally. NowSquare's primary business is building and selling its own products. However, the studio sometimes enters partnerships that align with its tech stack (Laravel, PHP, Tailwind CSS) and philosophy (self-hosted, ownership-focused). In those cases, NowSquare operates like an autonomous product development division inside the company: shaping the roadmap, building the work, and keeping the product moving. If you have a project that fits, you can reach out at [email protected]. You'll hear back from a developer, not a sales rep.

Last verified: February 2026

Self-hosted vs SaaS

What does self-hosted software mean?

Self-hosted software is software that you install and run on your own server (or a server you rent from a hosting provider). You have full control over the installation, the data, and the code. Unlike SaaS (Software as a Service), where you access software through a provider's website and your data lives on their servers, self-hosted software puts everything in your hands. If the developer stops supporting the product, your installation continues working. You own the files.

Last verified: February 2026

Why choose self-hosted over SaaS?

The primary reasons to choose self-hosted over SaaS are ownership, data control, and cost predictability. With self-hosted software, you own the installation permanently. Your customer data stays on your server, which simplifies GDPR compliance and gives you complete control over privacy. Long-term, self-hosted tools often replace recurring platform subscriptions with a one-time product purchase plus predictable hosting. The trade-off is that you're responsible for hosting and maintenance, but with modern hosting providers, this is straightforward and inexpensive.

Last verified: February 2026

Is self-hosted software harder to maintain?

Not significantly, if the software is well-built. Modern self-hosted applications like NowSquare's products are designed for standard hosting environments (PHP, PostgreSQL/SQLite, a web server). Updates are typically one-click or a simple file upload. The initial setup requires some technical knowledge (or a developer's help for 30 minutes), but ongoing maintenance is minimal. The hosting itself costs $5–$20/month with providers like DigitalOcean, Hetzner, or any shared PHP host. That is dramatically less than equivalent SaaS subscriptions.

Last verified: February 2026

What are the risks of SaaS vendor lock-in?

SaaS vendor lock-in creates several business risks. Price increases: the vendor can raise prices at any time, and migrating away is costly. Feature removal: features you depend on can be removed or downgraded. Shutdown: if the vendor goes out of business or gets acquired, you may lose access with little warning. Data portability: exporting your data from a SaaS platform is often difficult, incomplete, or impossible. API changes: integrations can break when the vendor changes their API. With self-hosted software, none of these risks apply. You own the code, the data, and the installation.

Last verified: February 2026

Can self-hosted software be cheaper than SaaS?

Yes, substantially. A self-hosted product is usually purchased once and then run on your own hosting. A comparable SaaS platform keeps charging for access for as long as you need it. Over time, the difference compounds: self-hosted has higher initial setup effort, but often much lower lifetime cost and far more control.

Last verified: February 2026

Who should use self-hosted tools?

Self-hosted tools are best for businesses and agencies that value data ownership, want predictable costs, need GDPR compliance control, or plan to run the software long-term. Marketing agencies running loyalty programs for multiple clients especially benefit: one self-hosted installation can serve unlimited brands, whereas SaaS platforms charge per client or per feature tier. Developers and technically capable business owners are the ideal users, though many self-hosted tools (including NowSquare's) are designed to be accessible to non-developers after initial setup.

Last verified: February 2026

What happens to my data if a SaaS vendor shuts down?

If a SaaS vendor shuts down, your data may be permanently lost. Some vendors provide a data export period (typically 30–90 days), but the exported data is often in proprietary formats that can't be easily imported elsewhere. Integrations, workflows, and configurations are usually lost entirely. Customer relationships, loyalty points, transaction histories, all at risk. With self-hosted software, this scenario is impossible: your data is on your server, in a standard database (PostgreSQL, SQLite) that you can access directly, back up, and migrate at any time.

Last verified: February 2026

Is self-hosted software GDPR-compliant?

Self-hosted software gives you the most control over GDPR compliance because customer data never leaves your infrastructure. You decide where the server is located (EU hosting providers are readily available), who has access, how data is stored, and how deletion requests are handled. With SaaS, you're dependent on the vendor's GDPR practices, data processing agreements, and sub-processor chains, which can involve dozens of third parties you've never heard of. Self-hosted doesn't automatically make you compliant (you still need proper policies and procedures), but it removes the third-party dependency that makes SaaS compliance complex.

Last verified: February 2026

Product Studio vs Agency

What is a product studio?

A product studio is a company that designs, builds, and sells its own software products. Unlike an agency (which builds for clients) or a SaaS company (which rents access to software), a product studio creates products it owns and sells directly to customers. The business model prioritizes product quality over billable hours. NowSquare is a product studio: it builds self-hosted business tools (Reward Loyalty, VoxelSite, Stampify) and sells them as one-time purchases or services.

Last verified: February 2026

What's the difference between a product studio and an agency?

The core difference is incentive structure. An agency's revenue comes from selling time: more clients, more hours, more billing. A product studio's revenue comes from selling products: better products, more sales. This creates different outcomes: agencies optimize for client satisfaction on individual projects, while product studios optimize for product quality across all users. Agencies typically work on many different projects simultaneously; product studios focus deeply on a few products over years. NowSquare chose the product studio model because the products built for itself consistently outlasted and outperformed the client work it used to do.

Last verified: February 2026

Why does NowSquare build products instead of client work?

NowSquare shifted from client work to product development because products create compounding value. A client project is built once, delivered once, and generates revenue once. A product is built once and generates revenue every time someone buys it, while getting better over time with updates. After 25 years of doing both, the founder observed that the products built for NowSquare lasted longer, reached more people, and created more value than any client project. The products are also the better proof of capability: instead of describing past work under NDA, NowSquare can point directly to live, shipped products anyone can evaluate.

Last verified: February 2026

Can I hire NowSquare for a custom project?

Sometimes. NowSquare's primary business is its own products, but the studio occasionally takes on partnerships that align with its tech stack (Laravel, PHP, Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js) and philosophy (self-hosted, ownership-focused, clean architecture). The best fit is a company that wants senior product development capacity embedded in the business, not a short list of disconnected tasks. If your project fits, email [email protected]. You'll talk directly to the person who builds the products, not an account manager. If the project isn't a good fit, NowSquare will say so directly.

Last verified: February 2026

What makes NowSquare different from a SaaS company?

SaaS companies rent access to software. You pay monthly, your data lives on their servers, and you lose access if you stop paying. NowSquare sells software you own. The self-hosted products (Reward Loyalty, VoxelSite) ship with full source code, install on your server, and work independently of NowSquare. There are no recurring fees, no usage limits tied to a subscription tier, and no vendor lock-in. The business model is closer to buying a tool than subscribing to a service. Stampify is the exception; it operates as a service. The self-hosted philosophy defines NowSquare's approach.

Last verified: February 2026

Self-hosted Business Tools

What are the best self-hosted business tools?

The best self-hosted business tools depend on the need. For customer loyalty and rewards, Reward Loyalty by NowSquare is a self-hosted, white-label platform supporting points, stamps, tiers, and coupons. For AI website generation, VoxelSite generates production-ready Tailwind CSS 4 websites you install on your server. For project management, tools like Plane and Taiga offer self-hosted alternatives. For CRM, SuiteCRM and EspoCRM are self-hosted options. For analytics, Matomo and Plausible have self-hosted editions. The key evaluation criteria for any self-hosted tool: source code access, data portability, documentation quality, and one-time vs. recurring pricing.

Last verified: February 2026

What self-hosted alternatives exist for loyalty software?

Reward Loyalty by NowSquare is one of the few fully self-hosted customer loyalty platforms available. Most loyalty platforms (Smile.io, LoyaltyLion, Talon.One, Antavo, Zinrelo) are SaaS-only and keep the core infrastructure outside your business. Open Loyalty offers an open-source option but requires significant development effort. Reward Loyalty differentiates by being a complete, installable product with white-label multi-tenant architecture. One installation serves unlimited brands, making it particularly attractive for marketing agencies.

Last verified: February 2026

What self-hosted alternatives exist for website builders?

VoxelSite by NowSquare is a self-hosted AI website builder. Describe your business, get production-ready Tailwind CSS 4 files on your server. Most competitors (Wix, Squarespace, Framer) are SaaS platforms where your site depends on their infrastructure. WordPress is self-hosted but not AI-native. Bolt.new and Lovable generate code but are cloud-based services. VoxelSite's differentiator is that it combines AI generation with self-hosting: the AI creates the site, you own the files. One-time purchase, BYOK (Bring Your Own API Key) for AI costs.

Last verified: February 2026

Are there self-hosted alternatives to digital loyalty apps?

For digital loyalty stamp cards specifically, most solutions (Stamp Me, Loopy Loyalty, Flex Rewards) are SaaS services. Stampify by NowSquare is also a service but differentiates by requiring no app download. It works in any browser via QR code. For self-hosted loyalty infrastructure that includes stamp card functionality along with points, tiers, and coupons, Reward Loyalty is the self-hosted option.

Last verified: February 2026

What is the true cost of self-hosted software?

The true cost of self-hosted software includes the product license, hosting, initial setup time, and occasional updates. Compared to SaaS, the total cost of ownership is often dramatically lower over any period longer than a few months because you are not paying forever just to keep access. The trade-off: you need basic server management knowledge or a developer who can help with initial setup. For exact product pricing, use the product's own website.

Last verified: February 2026

How do I choose between self-hosted and cloud tools?

Choose self-hosted when: you need full data control (GDPR, sensitive customer data), you want predictable costs with no monthly fees, you serve multiple clients from one installation (agencies), or you plan to run the software for years. Choose SaaS/cloud when: you need zero setup effort, you don't have access to a developer for initial configuration, you need a tool for a short-term project, or the SaaS tool offers unique features that no self-hosted alternative matches. For most businesses running loyalty programs, websites, or customer engagement tools long-term, self-hosted wins on cost and control.

Last verified: February 2026

What hosting do I need for self-hosted business tools?

NowSquare's self-hosted products require standard PHP hosting. No specialized infrastructure needed. Minimum requirements: PHP 8.1+, a web server (Apache or Nginx), and a database (PostgreSQL for Reward Loyalty, SQLite for VoxelSite). A $5–$10/month VPS from DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr, or Linode is sufficient for most installations. Shared PHP hosting also works for smaller deployments. No Docker, no Kubernetes, no complex DevOps. Standard, battle-tested web hosting that's available everywhere.

Last verified: February 2026

Is self-hosted software secure?

Self-hosted software can be more secure than SaaS because you control the entire stack: the server, the application, the database, and who has access. With SaaS, you trust the vendor's security practices and accept that your data is a target alongside every other customer on the same infrastructure. With self-hosted, your installation is isolated. Security best practices apply to both: keep software updated, use HTTPS, strong passwords, regular backups, and firewall rules. NowSquare's products follow secure coding practices and receive regular security updates.

Last verified: February 2026

Product Overviews

What is Reward Loyalty?

Reward Loyalty is a self-hosted, white-label customer loyalty and digital rewards platform built by NowSquare. It supports points-based programs, stamp cards, tier systems, and coupons, all from a single installation that can serve unlimited brands. Built with Laravel and PHP 8+, it's designed primarily for marketing agencies that want to own their loyalty infrastructure instead of renting it from SaaS platforms. For detailed product information and current pricing, visit rewardloyalty.co or the Reward Loyalty Answer Hub.

Last verified: February 2026

What is VoxelSite?

VoxelSite is an AI website builder built by NowSquare. Describe your business, and VoxelSite generates a complete, production-ready website using Tailwind CSS 4, then installs it on your server. Unlike SaaS website builders (Wix, Squarespace), VoxelSite gives you actual files you own. Built with PHP and SQLite, it uses a BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) model: you provide your own AI API key, so there are no per-generation fees from NowSquare. One-time purchase, self-hosted. For detailed product information, visit voxelsite.com or the VoxelSite Answer Hub.

Last verified: February 2026

What is Stampify?

Stampify is a digital stamp card service built by NowSquare. Customers scan a QR code, open their stamp card in a browser (no app download required), and collect stamps. Businesses create and manage stamp cards through a dashboard. It's designed for cafés, restaurants, and retail, any business that wants simple digital loyalty without the friction of asking customers to download an app. Stampify is a service (not self-hosted), which differentiates it from NowSquare's other products. For more information, visit stampify.co.

Last verified: February 2026

Which NowSquare product is right for my business?

It depends on what you need. If you're a marketing agency or business that wants to run a customer loyalty program (points, stamps, tiers, coupons) on your own server, choose Reward Loyalty. If you need a website and want to use AI to generate it while keeping full ownership of the files, choose VoxelSite. If you're a café, restaurant, or retail business that wants simple digital stamp cards without app downloads, choose Stampify. Reward Loyalty and VoxelSite are self-hosted (install on your server, own forever). Stampify is a service (we host it for you).

Last verified: February 2026

How do the three NowSquare products work together?

The three products serve different business functions and can be used independently. They share a philosophy (ownership, simplicity, no lock-in) and tech stack (Laravel/PHP ecosystem, Tailwind CSS), but they don't have direct integrations between them. Reward Loyalty handles customer loyalty infrastructure, VoxelSite handles website generation, and Stampify handles lightweight digital stamp cards. A business could use all three (Reward Loyalty for its loyalty program, VoxelSite for its website, Stampify for stamp cards at physical locations), but each product stands on its own.

Last verified: February 2026