Shopify merchants can choose among six affiliate tools based on how they recruit partners, track referrals, set commissions, and pay affiliates. Shopify Collabs suits stores seeking creator workflows inside Shopify; GoAffPro Hobby and UpPromote Free offer free entry tiers, while Shopjar’s affiliate features start at $12 per month. ReferralCandy and Refersion offer different combinations of referral programs, affiliate tracking, and fees, so the right fit depends on the program and fee structure you need.
What affiliate software needs to manage
An affiliate program connects partners with trackable links or discount codes, records attributed sales, applies commission rules, and supports payouts. A referral-only plan may not include the affiliate tools a merchant needs: Shopjar’s free plan, for example, covers referrals, while its affiliate program starts on the paid Starter plan.
Compare the six Shopify options
| Software | Affiliate-program entry point | Notable functions | Key plan condition |
| Shopify Collabs | Available on Shopify plans other than Starter and Retail | Creator invitations, commission offers, applications, gifts or discount codes, sales tracking, and creator payments | Automatic commission payments carry a 2.9% processing fee and a holding period |
| GoAffPro | Free Hobby plan | Basic affiliate portal and tracking; paid plans add management features | Branded portal, targets, bonuses, and payout scheduling are on paid plans |
| UpPromote | Free plan with one program | Link and coupon tracking; higher plans add commission controls, subscription commissions, and automated payouts | Paid plans add percentage fees to approved successful referral sales tracked in the app |
| ReferralCandy | Basic plan at $39 per month | Referral and affiliate campaigns, coupon codes, and cash or store-credit rewards | Subscription and success fee both apply; the success fee has a defined new-customer order basis |
| Refersion | Launch at $39 per month; free Marketplace Listing is for discovery | Paid plans provide affiliate tracking and commission management; Launch includes a first-party tracking domain | The free listing does not include tracking, commission management, or payouts |
| Shopjar | Starter at $12 per month | Affiliate links and codes, sign-up forms, a member portal, and referral tracking | Free is referral-only; Growth adds cash-payout features |
Creator recruitment and Shopify payout workflow
Shopify Collabs handles creator invitations, open commission offers, applications, gifting, discount codes, affiliate tracking, and payments. It is available on Shopify plans other than Starter and Retail. For automatic commission payments, Shopify applies a 2.9% processing fee to the commission payment itself. In Shopify’s example, a $10 commission on a $100 sale incurs a $0.29 fee. The default holding period is 30 days and can be adjusted from 1 to 90 days; creators must activate their payout method on their side.
GoAffPro offers another route for merchants who want a free affiliate portal. Its Hobby plan lists unlimited affiliates, sales, and revenue. Premium costs $49 per month and adds a branded portal, targets, bonuses, and a payout scheduler. Business starts at $99 per month, with additional management features.
Free and lower-cost entry plans
UpPromote Free allows one affiliate program. Its Growth plan costs $29.99 per month plus 2% of approved successful referral sales tracked in the app. Professional costs $89.99 per month plus 1.5% and lists PayPal auto-payouts, custom affiliate links, and subscription commissions. Enterprise is $199.99 per month plus 1%. UpPromote also lists annual billing: Growth at $299.90 per year, Professional at $899.90, and Enterprise at $1,999.90.
Shopjar’s free plan supports referrals, not an affiliate program. Its Essential plan is $7 per month, Starter is $12, and Growth is $29. Starter is the first listed tier with affiliate features; Growth adds cash-payout options and scheduled mass PayPal payouts. The Shopify App Store listing states that Shopjar charges in US dollars every 30 days.
Referral campaigns and affiliate management
ReferralCandy combines referral and affiliate campaigns. Its listed plans are Basic at $39 per month plus a 10.5% success fee, Grow at $79 plus 3.5%, Scale at $249 plus 1.5%, and Enterprise at $799 plus 0.25%. The fee applies to qualifying new customers’ first three referred orders, calculated on the purchase subtotal after discounts and before taxes and shipping. It is separate from the affiliate reward, and payout-provider charges may also apply.
Refersion’s free Marketplace Listing lets affiliates view and apply, but it does not provide tracking, commission management, or payouts. Launch costs $39 per month plus 3% of affiliate-driven sales, or $29 per month with annual billing plus the same 3% fee. Growth costs $199 monthly plus 2%, or $159 per month with annual billing plus 2%. Refersion lists subscription commissions on Launch and Growth; product and SKU tracking and broader commission controls require Growth or higher.
Compare fees on the right basis
Monthly subscription prices alone do not show the total platform cost. UpPromote’s percentage fee applies to approved successful referral sales tracked in the app. ReferralCandy calculates its success fee on eligible new-customer order subtotals. Refersion charges a percentage of affiliate-driven sales. Those bases differ, so a 2% fee at one provider cannot be treated as equivalent to 2% at another. Affiliate rewards are an additional program cost.
ReferralCandy’s published example uses $12,000 in eligible referred new-customer sales for a month. On Grow, the platform charge is $79 + (3.5% × $12,000) = $499. On Scale, it is $249 + (1.5% × $12,000) = $429. The example excludes affiliate rewards and payment-provider charges. For that stated fee base, the higher monthly plan produces the lower platform charge.
Match commission rules and payouts to your program
If product margins or promotion priorities differ, product-specific commission rates may be more useful than one rate for every item. UpPromote lists special product commissions, with broader product-level controls on higher tiers. Check the plan’s exact rules and compare the commission against the product’s margin before setting a higher rate.
Subscription commissions are available on plans that list them: UpPromote Professional and Enterprise, and Refersion Launch and Growth. Payout options also vary by plan. GoAffPro lists a scheduler on Premium; UpPromote lists PayPal auto-payouts on Professional and Enterprise; Shopjar lists cash payouts on Growth. Shopify Collabs processes automatic commission payments through the Shopify bill after the holding period, with payout activation required from the creator.
A sponsored Tutorial Stack screencast walks through creating an UpPromote program, setting percentage commissions, configuring discount controls, and testing referral tracking. The steps can help merchants identify which setup actions they want their chosen plan to support.
