How we ranked these apps
Shopify Collabs is first because it comes with Shopify, so a store can start there before it installs an app. Ranks 2 to 7 are not a quality score: each app is the best fit for a different workflow. Picks 5 to 7 fit narrower jobs, and their entries give the plan prices and the modeled cost from each pricing page and Shopify App Store listing. We compared the four main picks on the same five points, the columns of the table above, from the same sources:
- Where affiliates sign in: on your store, or in a portal of the app.
- How you find affiliates: a marketplace of new creators, or people you already know.
- How payouts run, and who pays the payout fees.
- Whether the app takes a percentage of your sales.
- Monthly cost at $10,000 of affiliate-attributed GMV with a 10% commission, with any percentage of sales included.
Simple Affiliate wrote this page and is pick 2. The links to the other apps are plain links, and we earn nothing when you install one. Other affiliate apps have their own comparison pages.
Use Claude or ChatGPT with Simple Affiliate
Connect Claude or ChatGPT on every Simple Affiliate plan, including the free Starter plan. Ask it to review results, explain missing referral credit, create groups, set product commissions, build group automations, or update signup, email, and dashboard settings. You approve every change, and plan limits apply. Your AI cannot send payouts.
Other apps also offer AI connections. UpPromote lists Sidekick on Free and API/MCP on Professional. GoAffPro has a third-party MCP connection from viaSocket. Compare the tasks, plan terms, and provider requirements before you choose.
See the AI affiliate assistant features · Read the setup guide · UpPromote AI access · GoAffPro through viaSocket
Each pick
Picks 1 to 4, by how they work: where affiliates sign in, how payouts run and who pays the fees, and whether you recruit new people or work with people you already know. Picks 5 to 7 fit narrower jobs, so their entries give the job, the plan prices, and the modeled cost. Costs are modeled at $10,000 of affiliate-attributed GMV a month with a 10% commission ($1,000), from each vendor’s pricing page and App Store listing. ReferralCandy’s model counts only sales to net-new referred customers, because its success fee applies only to those.
1
Shopify Collabs
Included creator marketplace — start here
Before you install anything, open the creator marketplace that comes with Shopify. Creators apply through your Collabs application page or accept a direct invite, and an open access program offers commission to Collabs creators. Commissions are paid automatically through your Shopify bill. Nothing on this list replaces it: a third-party app adds your own affiliate program on your store, next to Collabs.
Cost at $10,000 GMV. Free to install, with no subscription. Its App Store listing says a 2.9% commission processing fee on automatic payments may apply: up to $29 on $1,000 of commission.
2
Simple Affiliate
A roster you already know, on your store
The pick when you already know the people: customers, creators, and partners. They sign in with your store’s Shopify customer accounts, so there is no separate affiliate portal. Autopay pays the full commission through Stripe on a monthly schedule or when you click Pay now, and you pay the processing fee. PayPal and store credit payouts have no Simple Affiliate fee. On every plan, including Starter, you can connect Claude or ChatGPT to review results and update groups and commissions. Plan limits apply, and you approve every change. There is no marketplace, so you bring your own affiliates.
Cost at $10,000 GMV. Pro is $39/month with no percentage of referred sales. With Autopay by bank (3.9% of $1,000 of commission) it models to $78; pay by PayPal or store credit and it stays $39. Starter is $0 for up to 10 affiliates.
3
UpPromote
Recruiting strangers, plus a sales percentage
Built for recruiting publishers you have never met: from Growth your offer is listed on the UpPromote marketplace, and a Creator Discovery add-on starts at $39/month. Affiliates work in an UpPromote affiliate account; Professional adds a custom domain for its sign-up and login links and syncs affiliate profiles to your Shopify customer list. Store-credit payouts start on Growth, PayPal and store-credit auto-payout and multi-level marketing on Professional, and refer-a-friend is in the same product.
Cost at $10,000 GMV. Growth is $29.99/month plus 2% of successful referral sales: $229.99 at $10,000. Professional is $89.99 plus 1.5%. Free costs $0 for up to $3,000 of referral sales reviewed a month, without the marketplace listing.
4
GoAffPro
Free plan with no sales fee, or MLM
Affiliates register in a GoAffPro portal, which runs on your own domain from Premium. Premium also adds multi-level marketing and, per its pricing page, a payout scheduler and tax plugin, and the listing names PayPal, bank, ACH, card, and gift-card payouts. The listing does not mention a publisher marketplace, so it suits a roster you recruit yourself.
Cost at $10,000 GMV. Hobby is $0 with unlimited affiliates and revenue; GoAffPro recommends it below 100 daily orders, about 3,000 a month. Premium is $49/month and Business starts at $99/month. Neither goaffpro.com/pricing nor the listing shows a percentage of sales.
5
ReferralCandy
Refer-a-friend and affiliate programs in one app
ReferralCandy runs customer referral, where shoppers earn a reward when they bring in friends, and affiliate programs from one app, with every feature on every plan. On top of the monthly plan, it charges a success fee on the first three orders of net-new referred customers.
Pricing. Basic $39/month plus a 10.5% success fee on net-new customers; Grow $79 plus 3.5%; Scale $249 plus 1.5%; Enterprise $799 plus 0.25% (referralcandy.com/pricing, re-checked October 24, 2026). Modeled at $10,000 of sales to net-new referred customers: $399 on Scale; less when referred customers buy again after their third order.
6
Social Snowball
High-volume DTC customer-to-affiliate conversion
For high-volume DTC brands that want checkout itself to do the recruiting: buyers get affiliate links automatically after purchase. The floor is $249/month plus 3% of affiliate revenue, a price that only makes sense at real scale.
Pricing. Snow Day from $249/month plus 3% of affiliate revenue; Blizzard from $899/month with no usage charges (Social Snowball’s App Store listing, re-checked November 8, 2026). Modeled at $10,000 GMV: $549 on Snow Day.
7
Refersion
Marketplace discovery, first-party tracking, or MLM
Refersion lists your program in its marketplace, where affiliates can find your offer and apply. Launch includes a first-party tracking domain, and Refersion covers traditional and MLM programs. Launch and Growth charge a percentage of affiliate-generated sales, and Scale is priced by quote.
Pricing. Marketplace Listing free; Launch $39/month plus 3% of affiliate-generated sales; Growth $199/month plus 2%; Scale by quote (refersion.com/pricing and the App Store listing, checked November 8, 2026). Modeled at $10,000 GMV: $339 on Launch.
Who should pick what
Shopify CollabsYou want creators to find you through Shopify and can pay commissions through your Shopify bill. Keep it either way.
Simple AffiliateYou already know your affiliates, want them on your store’s customer accounts, and want a flat bill with no percentage of sales.
UpPromoteRecruiting publishers you have never met is worth 2% of referral sales on Growth.
GoAffProA free plan with no sales fee covers you, or you need multi-level commissions for $49/month.
ReferralCandyYou want refer-a-friend and affiliate programs in one app and accept a success fee on net-new customers.
Social SnowballYou run high-volume DTC and want checkout converting buyers into affiliates.
RefersionMarketplace discovery, first-party tracking, or MLM is the job, and a percentage of sales on Launch or Growth is acceptable.