Your refer-a-friend campaign is finally working. Customers are sharing, new orders are landing, and revenue is climbing. Then you open the invoice and notice the bill climbed right along with it, because a slice of every referred sale went back to your software.
That moment is what sends a lot of ecommerce teams hunting for ReferralCandy alternatives. ReferralCandy is a friendly, well-reviewed referral tool, but it charges a monthly fee plus a success fee on referred sales. Once your program takes off, that success fee can become the most expensive line item you did not plan for.
The good news: there are great options. Some run customer referral programs, some run affiliate programs, and a few do both. Many skip the per-sale success fee entirely, and some even handle the parts ReferralCandy leaves to you, like real payouts and tax forms. This guide walks through eight strong ReferralCandy alternatives so you can find the one that fits your store, budget, and goals.
TL;DR: the quick picks
- Rekomi is the best all-in-one ReferralCandy alternative when you want referral and affiliate programs together, with payouts and tax included from $19/mo and a flat 3% only on actual payouts.
- Partnero is a flexible pick if you want affiliate, referral, and newsletter referral programs in one tool with no usage caps.
- Friendbuy is the enterprise route if you want referral, loyalty, and affiliate together with deep testing, and pricing by quote.
What is ReferralCandy?
ReferralCandy is a referral marketing app built mainly for ecommerce brands. It helps existing customers refer their friends, then rewards both sides when a referral turns into a sale. It plugs into Shopify and other ecommerce platforms quickly, which is a big part of why it is so popular with online stores.
It also includes lighter affiliate campaign features, so you can give a handful of partners their own links. The core of the product, though, is the classic refer-a-friend loop: a customer shares, a friend buys, and both get a reward like a coupon, store credit, cash, or a gift card.
A few things ReferralCandy does well:
- Fast setup, especially for Shopify stores
- Strong reviews from ecommerce merchants
- Flexible reward types (coupons, store credit, PayPal cash, gift cards)
- A clean, friendly experience for the customer doing the referring
- Automated emails that nudge customers to share
Now the pricing, because this is the part that drives most of the searching. ReferralCandy charges a monthly base fee plus a success fee on sales from newly referred customers. The Basic plan is $39/mo plus a 10.5% success fee. Grow is $79/mo plus 3.5%. Scale is $249/mo plus 1.5%. Enterprise is $799/mo plus 0.25%. The success fee applies only to a referred customer’s first few orders, and there is a 7-day trial with no free plan.
That two-part model is exactly why people compare alternatives, so let us look at why you might want a different setup.
Why look for a ReferralCandy alternative?
ReferralCandy is a solid tool, and for a quick ecommerce refer-a-friend campaign it is easy to love. Still, there are real reasons brands go looking elsewhere.
The biggest is the success fee. Because you pay a percentage of referred sales on top of the monthly fee, your cost grows as your program grows. On the Basic plan that is 10.5% of those referred sales, which can sting right when your program starts to pay off.
The second reason is scope. ReferralCandy’s affiliate features are light. If you want to recruit real affiliate partners, give them dashboards, set tiered commissions, and run an ongoing affiliate program alongside referrals, you may outgrow it.
The third reason is the back office. ReferralCandy issues rewards like coupons and store credit, but it is not a managed affiliate payout and tax platform. It does not pay your affiliates for you in the full sense, and it does not handle tax forms like the W-9, W-8BEN, or year-end 1099. If you are building an affiliate program, that work lands on your plate.
None of this makes ReferralCandy a bad tool. It just means the right fit depends on what you are trying to build.
What to look for in a ReferralCandy alternative
Before you switch, get clear on what actually matters for your program. Here are the criteria worth weighing:
- Program types. Do you need customer referrals, affiliate partners, or both? Some tools do one well; a few do both in one place.
- Pricing model. Is it a flat monthly fee, a percentage of sales, or a mix? A success fee on referred revenue is the line item that catches people out.
- Payouts. Does the tool actually pay your partners (cash via Stripe or PayPal), or does it just issue store credit and coupons?
- Tax handling. Will it collect W-9 and W-8 forms and generate 1099s, or is that on you?
- Platform fit. Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, a custom store, or a SaaS app? Some tools lean hard into one world.
- Tracking quality. First-party tracking on your own domain holds up better as browsers tighten cookie rules.
- Ease of switching. Can you import your existing customers or affiliates with a CSV so you are not starting from scratch?
Keep these in mind as you read. The best ReferralCandy alternative is the one that lines up with your answers, not just the one with the most features.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Fees | vs ReferralCandy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rekomi | Affiliate and referral in one, with payouts and tax included | $19/mo | Flat 3% on payouts only (2.5% Enterprise) | Does both programs, real payouts and tax, no success fee on sales |
| Partnero | Affiliate, referral, and newsletter referral with no caps | $10/mo (Newsletter), $59 Starter | Managed payouts optional (7%) | More program types and no usage caps |
| Friendbuy | Enterprise referral, loyalty, and affiliate together | Not public (quote-only) | Quote-based | Adds loyalty and heavy testing, but no public pricing |
| Refersion | Ecommerce and Shopify affiliate programs | $99/mo | 1% over a GMV threshold on Scale | Stronger affiliate side and first-party tracking |
| GoAffPro | Budget Shopify affiliate and referral | $0 (free Hobby plan) | No take-rate | A generous free plan and very low cost |
| Tapfiliate | Multi-channel affiliate programs | $89/mo | Payouts/tax via Trolley | Deeper affiliate flexibility across channels |
| LeadDyno | Easy affiliate setup for SMB ecommerce and SaaS | $49/mo | No take-rate | Built-in PayPal payouts and tax, no success fee |
| Rewardful | Stripe and Paddle subscription affiliate tracking | $49/mo | 0% on subscriptions; +3% for managed payouts | Better for recurring SaaS revenue |
The 8 best ReferralCandy alternatives
1. Rekomi
Rekomi is affiliate and referral software built for brands that want both programs in one place, without stitching tools together or stacking a success fee on every sale. It runs your customer referral program and your affiliate program side by side, then handles the unglamorous back-office work for you.
That back office is where Rekomi stands apart from ReferralCandy. It pays your affiliates and partners through Stripe Express (PayPal is rolling out), and it collects tax forms (W-9, W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E) and generates 1099s. Both are included in the base plan, not sold as an add-on. ReferralCandy, by contrast, issues rewards but leaves managed payouts and tax compliance to you.
The pricing model is the other big difference. Instead of a percentage of referred sales, Rekomi charges a flat 3% only on actual affiliate payouts (2.5% on Enterprise). If a partner does not earn, you do not pay a take-rate. That keeps cost tied to results rather than to your top-line revenue.
Best for: Brands that want referral and affiliate programs together, with payouts and tax done for them, starting cheap.
Pricing: Starter $19/mo, Growth $39/mo, Pro $99/mo, plus custom Enterprise. There is a 14-day trial and no free plan. The only usage-based cost is the flat 3% on affiliate payouts.
Standout features:
- Affiliate and referral programs in one dashboard, so you are not paying for two tools
- Done-for-you payouts (Stripe Express) and tax forms (W-9, W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E, 1099) included in the base
- First-party tracking on your own custom domain, plus recurring commissions, an AI co-pilot, and one-click CSV migration from six platforms
vs ReferralCandy: Rekomi does both referral and affiliate, actually pays your partners and handles tax, and charges only when affiliates earn rather than a success fee on referred sales.
It is fair to name the trade-offs. Rekomi’s cost scales with payout volume, payouts run through Rekomi by design, PayPal is still rolling out (Stripe is live), and it is newer with fewer public reviews than ReferralCandy. If all you want is a fast, pure ecommerce refer-a-friend campaign with no affiliate side, ReferralCandy’s Shopify-first simplicity may get you live a little quicker.
2. Partnero
Partnero is a flexible partnerships platform that runs affiliate programs, customer referral programs, and even newsletter referral programs from one tool. That range makes it a natural ReferralCandy alternative if you want more than a single refer-a-friend loop.
It leans into being generous with limits. Every plan includes unlimited partners and transactions, so your bill does not jump just because your program got popular. Payouts and tax handling are built in, and there is an unusually long 30-day trial to test it properly.
Best for: Teams that want several program types (affiliate, referral, newsletter) in one place without usage caps.
Pricing: Newsletter $10/mo, Starter $59/mo ($49 annual), Partner $199/mo, plus custom Enterprise. Optional managed payouts cost 7%.
Standout features:
- Affiliate, referral, and newsletter referral programs under one roof
- Unlimited partners and transactions on every plan, so no surprise overage fees
- A 30-day trial, longer than most rivals offer
vs ReferralCandy: Partnero covers more program types and skips usage caps, though its optional managed payouts carry a 7% fee and a few advanced features are still maturing.
3. Friendbuy
Friendbuy is an enterprise-grade growth suite that brings referral, loyalty, and influencer or affiliate programs together. If your goal is a polished, heavily tested referral experience that ties into loyalty, it sits in a different league from a lightweight app.
It is strong on experimentation and analytics, with built-in A/B testing and integrations into enterprise stacks like Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Braze, and Klaviyo. That power comes with an enterprise posture: it is sales-led, not self-serve.
Best for: Larger brands that want referral, loyalty, and affiliate in one platform with serious testing and analytics.
Pricing: Not public. Friendbuy does not publish prices or tiers; it is quote-based and sales-led, with no public free trial or free plan. We will not invent numbers here, so plan to talk to their team for a quote.
Standout features:
- Referral, loyalty, and influencer or affiliate programs combined
- Strong A/B testing and analytics for optimizing your offers
- Enterprise integrations (Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Braze, Klaviyo)
vs ReferralCandy: Friendbuy adds loyalty and deeper experimentation for bigger brands, but it has no public pricing and, like ReferralCandy, issues rewards rather than running managed affiliate payouts and tax.
4. Refersion
Refersion is an ecommerce-focused affiliate platform with deep roots in the Shopify world. Where ReferralCandy is referral-first with light affiliate tools, Refersion flips that: it is built to run a real affiliate program with proper tracking and partner management.
It offers first-party tracking, SKU-level commissions, and its own affiliate marketplace to help you recruit partners. That makes it a good move if your referral program is growing into a full affiliate operation.
Best for: Ecommerce and Shopify brands building a serious affiliate program.
Pricing: Professional $99/mo, Business $249/mo, Scale $599/mo (plus 1% over a GMV threshold), plus custom Enterprise. There is a 14-day trial.
Standout features:
- Ecommerce-grade first-party tracking that holds up as cookies tighten
- SKU-level commissions, so you can reward specific products
- An affiliate marketplace for discovering new partners
vs ReferralCandy: Refersion gives you a far stronger affiliate side and better tracking, though its lower tiers cap conversions and it is weaker for pure SaaS.
5. GoAffPro
GoAffPro is a budget-friendly, Shopify-first app that handles both affiliate and referral programs. It is best known for an unusually generous permanent free plan, which makes it a popular landing spot for stores that want to start a program without committing budget.
The free Hobby plan covers unlimited affiliates and unlimited sales and revenue tracking with a branded portal, aimed at stores under roughly 100 daily orders. Paid tiers add custom domains, multi-level (MLM) structures, a tax plugin with W-9 collection and 1099 generation, and a payout scheduler.
Best for: Cost-conscious Shopify stores that want to launch an affiliate or referral program cheaply.
Pricing: Free Hobby plan ($0), Premium $49/mo, Business from $99/mo, plus custom Enterprise. There is a 15-day trial on Premium. There is no take-rate, and payouts are automated via PayPal.
Standout features:
- A genuinely free permanent plan with unlimited affiliates and sales tracking
- MLM and multi-level commission support
- Works across Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, and more
vs ReferralCandy: GoAffPro is much cheaper with no success fee, but its interface is basic, it is ecommerce-focused, and key features like tax handling sit behind paid tiers with PayPal-only payouts.
6. Tapfiliate
Tapfiliate is a flexible affiliate tracking platform that works across SaaS, ecommerce, and influencer programs. It is built for teams that want customization and a wide library of integrations rather than a single fixed workflow.
You can run multiple programs, customize the partner experience, and connect it to a lot of tools. Payouts and tax are handled through its Trolley integration rather than natively, which is worth factoring into your plan.
Best for: Brands that want a customizable affiliate program spanning more than one channel.
Pricing: Launch $89/mo ($74 annual), Scale $179/mo ($149 annual), plus custom Enterprise. Trials run 7 days on Launch and 14 days on Scale.
Standout features:
- Works across SaaS, ecommerce, and influencer channels
- Support for multiple programs and customizable partner experiences
- A wide range of integrations
vs ReferralCandy: Tapfiliate is a much deeper affiliate tool with cross-channel flexibility, but it starts higher at $89, caps clicks and conversions on lower tiers with overage fees, and needs Trolley for payouts and tax.
7. LeadDyno
LeadDyno is an approachable affiliate platform aimed at small and mid-size ecommerce and SaaS teams. It is built so non-technical folks can get a program running without a developer, a comfortable step up from a referral app.
It includes built-in PayPal payouts and tax handling, with no take-rate on top, so the work ReferralCandy leaves to you is handled here. A long 30-day trial gives you room to test before committing.
Best for: Non-technical SMB teams that want easy affiliate setup with payouts and tax included.
Pricing: Lite $49/mo, Essential $129/mo, Advanced $349/mo, Unlimited $749/mo. There is a 30-day trial.
Standout features:
- Beginner-friendly setup for non-technical teams
- Built-in PayPal payouts and tax handling, with no take-rate
- A generous 30-day trial
vs ReferralCandy: LeadDyno handles real payouts and tax with no success fee, though its lower tiers cap active affiliates and very large programs can feel limited.
8. Rewardful
Rewardful is an affiliate and referral tool built natively on Stripe and Paddle. If your business runs on subscriptions, this is the alternative to look at, because its tracking is tuned for recurring revenue rather than one-off ecommerce orders.
Setup is famously fast and no-code, and it tracks recurring commissions accurately. It charges 0% on subscription revenue, with self-managed payouts via PayPal or Wise, or Managed Payouts (which add tax forms) for an extra 3%.
Best for: SaaS and subscription brands that bill through Stripe or Paddle.
Pricing: Starter $49/mo, Growth $99/mo, Enterprise $149+/mo. There is a 14-day trial.
Standout features:
- Native Stripe and Paddle integration with quick no-code setup
- Accurate recurring commission tracking
- 0% fee on subscription revenue
vs ReferralCandy: Rewardful is the better fit for recurring SaaS revenue with no success fee on sales, though it only works with Stripe and Paddle and charges an extra 3% for done-for-you payouts and tax.
When ReferralCandy is still the right choice
Switching is not always the answer. ReferralCandy remains a strong pick in a few cases:
- You run a Shopify store and want a refer-a-friend campaign live fast, with minimal setup.
- Your focus is pure customer referrals, not building an affiliate partner program.
- You value its strong ecommerce reviews and proven, friendly referral experience.
- You want flexible reward types (coupons, store credit, cash, gift cards) more than managed cash payouts.
- Your referral revenue is modest, so the success fee stays small in absolute terms.
If that sounds like you, ReferralCandy may be exactly right, and that is a perfectly good outcome.
How to switch from ReferralCandy
If you do decide to move, a clean migration keeps your momentum. Here is a simple path:
- Export your data from ReferralCandy. Pull your customers, referrers, and any affiliates, along with their referral links and reward history, into a CSV.
- Pick your new tool based on the criteria above (program types, pricing model, payouts, tax, platform fit).
- Import your list with a CSV. Most alternatives, including Rekomi, support CSV import so your existing referrers and affiliates carry over instead of starting cold.
- Recreate your program rules. Set your commission or reward structure, cookie window, and any tiers to match what worked before.
- Install the new tracking. Add the new snippet or app to your store, and confirm a test conversion tracks correctly on your own domain.
- Tell your referrers. Send a short, warm note about the new portal and any improved rewards, then turn off ReferralCandy once the new program is live and verified.
Run both in parallel for a few days if you can, so nothing slips through during the handoff.
How to pick the right ReferralCandy alternative for you
Match the tool to your situation:
- If you want one tool for both referral and affiliate, with payouts and tax done for you, start with Rekomi. It covers both programs from $19/mo and only takes 3% when affiliates actually earn.
- If you want several program types with no usage caps, look at Partnero, which adds newsletter referrals and a long 30-day trial.
- If you are an enterprise brand wanting referral plus loyalty and heavy testing, evaluate Friendbuy and ask for a quote.
- If you are a Shopify store building a real affiliate program, Refersion offers ecommerce-grade tracking and a marketplace.
- If budget is tight, GoAffPro has a generous free plan and low paid tiers.
- If you want cross-channel affiliate flexibility, Tapfiliate spans SaaS, ecommerce, and influencer programs.
- If you want an easy, non-technical affiliate setup with payouts included, LeadDyno is friendly and complete.
- If you sell subscriptions through Stripe or Paddle, Rewardful is purpose-built for recurring revenue.
Frequently asked questions
How much does ReferralCandy cost, and how does the success fee work?
ReferralCandy charges a monthly base fee plus a success fee on sales from newly referred customers. Basic is $39/mo plus 10.5%, Grow is $79/mo plus 3.5%, Scale is $249/mo plus 1.5%, and Enterprise is $799/mo plus 0.25%. The success fee applies only to a referred customer’s first few orders, but it stacks on top of the monthly fee, so your total cost grows with referred revenue.
How do I avoid ReferralCandy’s success fee?
Most alternatives here drop the per-sale success fee entirely and charge a flat subscription instead. GoAffPro, LeadDyno, and Refersion take no cut of your sales, so a busy month does not inflate the bill. If you do want done-for-you payouts, Rekomi swaps the success fee for a flat 3% charged only on actual affiliate payouts, not on your top-line revenue.
What is the cheapest ReferralCandy alternative?
GoAffPro is the lowest-cost option overall, with a permanent free plan and paid tiers from $49/mo. Several other tools here, including Rewardful and LeadDyno, start at $49/mo flat. The catch worth weighing is the model: a flat subscription stays predictable, while a per-sale success fee can quietly make a “cheap” tool more expensive as your referral revenue grows.
Is there a free ReferralCandy alternative?
Yes. GoAffPro has a permanent free Hobby plan that covers unlimited affiliates and sales tracking with a branded portal, aimed at smaller stores. Just note that some features, like tax handling and custom domains, sit on its paid tiers.
Does ReferralCandy pay affiliates and handle tax forms?
Not in the full managed sense. ReferralCandy issues rewards like coupons, store credit, PayPal cash, and gift cards, but it is not a managed affiliate payout-and-tax platform and it does not handle 1099 tax forms. If you need real partner payouts plus W-9, W-8, and 1099 handling, LeadDyno and Rekomi both build that in, and GoAffPro adds a tax plugin on its paid tiers.
How do I migrate from ReferralCandy to another tool?
Export your customers, referrers, and affiliates from ReferralCandy as a CSV, choose your new tool, then use CSV import to bring everyone over. Recreate your reward rules, install the new tracking, test a conversion, and run both side by side for a few days before switching off ReferralCandy.
Is ReferralCandy good for affiliate programs?
It can handle light affiliate campaigns, but affiliate features are not its focus. If you want to recruit partners, give them dashboards, set tiered commissions, and pay them properly, a dedicated affiliate tool like Refersion or Tapfiliate will serve you better.
Which ReferralCandy alternative is best for SaaS instead of ecommerce?
Rewardful is purpose-built for Stripe and Paddle subscriptions, and FirstPromoter goes deepest on SaaS metrics like MRR and churn. ReferralCandy and several alternatives here lean ecommerce, so SaaS-native, billing-level tracking matters most if you bill on recurring subscriptions.
Final thoughts
ReferralCandy is a likeable, well-reviewed tool, and for a quick ecommerce refer-a-friend campaign it does its job nicely. The reason so many brands compare alternatives is simple: the success fee stacks on the monthly fee, the affiliate side is light, and you are left to handle payouts and tax yourself.
The right alternative depends on what you are building. If you want both referral and affiliate in one place, with real payouts and tax handled for you, and a cost that only kicks in when affiliates actually earn, Rekomi is a natural place to start. Whichever you choose, pick the model that stays kind to your margins as your program grows.
