The store under your marketing.
AIQ leads with marketing and does it well. But it sits on top of whatever storefront and POS you pair it with, so inventory sync and promotions depend on your setup, and there's no delivery. Carrot runs the store and the marketing on one data model.
Where Carrot pulls ahead of AIQ
The storefront is native
Carrot's menu, checkout, promotions, and inventory sync are one product, built together from the start.
Delivery included
Routing, dispatch, and GPS tracking ship with Carrot. AIQ has no delivery layer at all.
One data model
Campaigns, loyalty, and sales share the same records, so segments and automations run on live shopping behavior, no sync jobs between vendors.
Carrot vs AIQ, capability by capability
| Capability | Carrot | AIQ |
|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce Storefront | ||
| Real-Time Inventory Sync | Depends on setupAIQ sits on top of your POS and ecommerce rather than running the storefront itself, so inventory freshness depends on which providers you pair it with. | |
| POS-Integrated Promotions | Depends on setupPromotion capabilities vary with the POS and ecommerce combination underneath AIQ. Some setups support them, others don't. | |
| Loyalty & Rewards Program | ||
| Delivery Dispatch & Tracking | — | |
| Native Mobile App | ||
| Marketing Automation | ||
| AI-Powered Live Chat | ||
| Live Human Support | ||
| SEO-Friendly Storefront | ||
| Customer Data Ownership | ||
| Monthly Platform Fee | $0 · order fees only | $599+/mo |
Comparison reflects each platform's publicly advertised offering as of August 2026, verified against their current product pages. "Partial" marks capabilities that exist with limitations. Pricing shows typical list prices or quoted ranges we've seen as of September 2026 and changes often — confirm current pricing with each vendor.
What each one costs
Carrot is order-fee pricing: $1 per pickup order, $3 per delivery, $0 on kiosk — and fees can be passed through to customers, so the platform can cost the store nothing. No onboarding fees, and the full price list is published on our pricing page. See pricing →
Ecommerce lists around $599 per store per month, with loyalty and marketing sold as separate plans, a required messaging-credit plan (from about $100 per month, scaling steeply with volume, plus overages and carrier passthrough), and paid support tiers. With marketing active, a single store typically lands around $900–$1,500+ per month on 12-month auto-renewing terms.
Competitor figures are typical list prices and quoted ranges we've seen as of September 2026 and change often — confirm current pricing with the vendor.
The Carrot platform, next to AIQ
Every product area below ships as part of Carrot. Here's how each one lines up.
An online store synced straight to your POS.
Inventory, pricing, and orders flow between Carrot and your point of sale automatically. No manual entry, no oversold products.
vs AIQAIQ's storefront capabilities depend on the setup underneath it. Carrot's storefront is the platform, AI chat, promotions, and points pricing native to the menu.
Explore Ecommerce →Points and perks that keep customers coming back.
Tiered rewards, refer-a-friend, and fun missions. Points redeem for dollars off or free items, and points pricing shows right on the menu.
vs AIQBoth offer loyalty. Carrot's lives on the menu shoppers already use, with missions and referrals tracked automatically.
Explore Loyalty →Routes, dispatch, and live tracking. No extra vendor.
Route optimization, GPS-tracked drivers, and automated SMS updates. Stress-tested during COVID delivery-only operations.
vs AIQAIQ has no delivery. Carrot ships routing, dispatch, GPS-tracked drivers, and automated SMS updates.
Explore Delivery →Behavior-based campaigns that run themselves.
Automated email campaigns, plus one-time blasts by text or mobile app notification.
vs AIQAIQ's marketing is genuinely strong. Carrot's automations run on the store's own live data, abandoned carts and purchases trigger without a sync between systems.
Explore Marketing →In-store ordering that keeps lines moving.
A touch-order screen synced to the same menu and inventory as everything else.
vs AIQCarrot's kiosk runs the same live menu and loyalty in-store. AIQ doesn't run in-store ordering.
Explore Kiosk →A native app with your name on it.
One login for ordering, rewards, and push notifications. Customers don't need to juggle a separate loyalty app.
vs AIQBoth offer branded apps. Carrot's combines ordering, rewards, and push in one login on the same platform.
Explore Mobile App →
See what's selling, and who's buying.
Sales, product, and customer reporting without exporting a spreadsheet.
vs AIQAIQ reports on marketing. Carrot reports on the whole store, sales, products, and customers in one place.
Coming soonA fast site built for cannabis retail.
Professional design, mobile-responsive, built on best practices for the industry.
vs AIQCarrot builds complete dispensary websites; AIQ doesn't do websites.
Coming soonSEO help from people who know cannabis retail.
Our dispensary SEO program works on the local searches that matter, and a free audit shows you where you stand before you spend anything.
vs AIQCarrot storefronts are crawlable and on-domain by default, with local SEO built in.
Explore 24Carrot →Common questions
Is Carrot a good alternative to AIQ?+
If you're assembling AIQ plus a storefront plus a delivery tool, Carrot replaces the stack: one platform for ecommerce, loyalty, delivery, and marketing, running on one set of customer records.
What does Carrot include that AIQ doesn't?+
A native storefront with real-time POS sync, delivery dispatch and tracking, in-store kiosks, and AI live chat, alongside the loyalty and marketing automation AIQ is known for. Carrot also builds dispensary websites.
How hard is it to switch from AIQ to Carrot?+
Customer and points data import during onboarding, and Carrot connects to the POS you already run. Most stores go live within days, with no onboarding fees.
See Carrot next to AIQ on a real store
15 minutes. We'll walk the same features side by side, on live data.
Book a Demo