As a store owner, you’re looking for an affiliate app because you already know which content creators you want to work with. You’ve seen them in action, you’ve reached out to them and a few are ready to promote your Shopify store. You’re happy to pay them a commission when they bring in a sale.
Now comes the app decision.
I’ve had this conversation with hundreds of merchants over the last few years (almost 500 and counting), and if I were you, I’d start by prioritizing the work you want it to take off your plate.
What is the task that you find the most tedious? That might be inviting partners and getting their links ready, or it might be replacing the monthly routine of counting sales, updating a spreadsheet and working out what everyone is owed.
Then, follow that process all the way through. Your affiliates need to join, find their link or code, see what they’ve earned and understand when they’ll get paid, so you need to keep the program running without chasing the same details every month.
Here are five apps I’d put on a Shopify shortlist. Your commission rules, the administration you want to automate and the cost at your expected sales volume should drive the choice.
Shopify affiliate apps to put on your shortlist
| App | When I’d consider it | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| ReferralCandy | You want partner onboarding, commission tracking, an affiliate portal and payout management, with hundreds of payout options through Tremendous, including cash, prepaid cards, gift cards and charity donations. The same features are available across plans. | Basic: $39/month + 10.5% success fee. Higher monthly plans have lower success-fee rates. |
| UpPromote | You want to start with one affiliate program on a free plan, then choose a paid tier as you add programs or automation. | Free plan available. Growth: $29.99/month + 2% of successful referral sales. |
| GoAffPro | Your starting program needs unlimited affiliates and a basic affiliate portal on a free plan. | Hobby is free. Premium is $49/month and adds a branded portal, targets, bonuses and a payout scheduler. |
| Refersion | A first-party tracking domain matters to your program, or you want to evaluate product- and customer-based tracking on its Growth plan. | Launch: $39/month + 3% of affiliate-driven sales when billed monthly. |
| Social Snowball | You want automated payouts, tiered rewards and controls for affiliate code leaks in its starting paid plan. | Snow Day starts at $249/month + 3% of affiliate revenue. |
Prices are in USD. Each app defines its percentage fee differently; compare the sales it charges on as well as the rate. Commissions paid to your affiliates are a separate cost.
Already using GoAffPro? Compare GoAffPro alternatives for Shopify around the work you want to simplify and the program you need to move.
ReferralCandy: manage your Shopify affiliate program from signup to payout
ReferralCandy is where I’d start if you have creators, instructors or ambassadors ready to work with you and want to bring their links, commissions and payouts into one system. You can run a dedicated affiliate campaign for those partners. ReferralCandy’s affiliate tools cover onboarding, tracked links and codes, commission rewards and partner reporting.
Think about how someone gets started. For a partner you’ve already agreed to work with, you can send a direct invitation, individually or through a CSV upload. If you want people to apply through your join page, you can switch on an approval step for that application route, and both options are managed inside the affiliate campaign. Here’s how affiliate enrollment works.
The partner’s view deserves a proper look, too. ReferralCandy gives affiliates a branded, hosted portal where they can get their link, see clicks and sales, and check total, pending and paid earnings. They access private information through an emailed sign-in link, and you can also enable an Assets page for product images, captions and talking points. That gives you a specific place to send someone who asks, “Where’s my link, and how much have I earned?” See the affiliate portal.
For cash commissions, you can choose a fixed amount or a percentage of a qualifying purchase. Shopify affiliate campaigns offer PayPal, Tremendous or self-managed payouts. With an automated payout method, rewards move to payment after the purchase qualifies, the review period ends and funding is confirmed. With self-managed payouts, you export a CSV, pay partners yourself and upload the updated file to record payment. Choose the method around how you actually intend to pay your partners. Cash reward and payout details.
Tremendous is also what gives you the wider payout choice: cash, prepaid cards, gift cards and charity donations. The options you offer depend on your campaign template and the recipient’s country. How the Tremendous integration works.
What does ReferralCandy cost?
ReferralCandy’s plans include the same features, with different monthly prices and success-fee rates:
- Basic: $39/month + 10.5%.
- Grow: $79/month + 3.5%.
- Scale: $249/month + 1.5%.
- Enterprise: $799/month + 0.25%.
The success fee applies to each new customer’s first three referred orders, using the purchase subtotal after discounts and before taxes and shipping. It’s separate from the commission you offer your affiliate. How the fee is calculated.
Bring a realistic sales estimate when choosing a plan. A higher monthly price can make sense when the lower percentage fee saves you more than the difference.
For the demo, I’d ask to follow one of your existing partners through the process: the invitation, the welcome email, the portal on their phone, a qualifying order and the resulting commission. Then look at when that commission becomes payable. Seeing that sequence will tell you far more about running your program than a screenshot of the admin dashboard.
