Simple Affiliate vs UpPromote

App comparison

Simple Affiliate vs UpPromote

Search the App Store for “Shopify affiliate app” and UpPromote is usually the first result. It bundles a merchant dashboard, an UpPromote-hosted affiliate portal, and a marketplace for recruiting publishers, and its published pricing pairs a monthly subscription with a percentage of successful referral sales.

Modeled at $10,000 affiliate-attributed GMV / month: Simple Affiliate Pro $78 vs UpPromote $229.99 on published list prices. Autopay math assumes a 10% commission ($1,000).

Simple Affiliate: Pro $39/mo UpPromote: App Store listing Updated August 18, 2026

Checked August 18, 2026 against the public App Store listing and vendor pricing page. List prices move; reread them before you buy.

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UpPromote is stronger when

You need to find affiliates, not just manage them. The UpPromote marketplace puts your program in front of publishers you’ve never met.
One vendor covers affiliate and refer-a-friend together, and uppromote.com shows a public review graph you can inspect yourself.
The Free plan, capped at $3,000/month of referral review, lets you test the product before paying anything.
At higher volume, Professional and Enterprise cut the sales percentage to 1.5% and 1%.

Simple Affiliate is stronger when

We don’t take 2% of your sales. At $10,000 of affiliate-attributed GMV, Growth works out to $229.99 ($29.99 plus 2% of sales), while Pro works out to $78: a $39 subscription plus 3.9% Autopay on $1,000 of commission, not on GMV.
Affiliates never leave your store. They sign in with your Shopify customer accounts; there is no UpPromote portal in the middle.
Autopay sends commissions through Stripe, and eligible U.S. affiliates get 1099-K / 1099-NEC facilitation when IRS thresholds apply.
Unique discount codes and per-product commissions on Pro and up, Klaviyo from Basic, and no GMV meter attached to any of it.

Who each one is for

The real question is whether you need the marketplace. If you’re recruiting publishers you’ve never met, or you want one vendor for affiliate plus refer-a-friend, pay for UpPromote. If you already know your partners and just want the program to live on your own store without a cut of referred sales, that’s us.

Pricing

Four tiers on uppromote.com/pricing: Free at $0 with a $3,000/month referral-review cap, Growth at $29.99/month plus 2% of successful referral sales, Professional at $89.99 plus 1.5%, and Enterprise at $199.99 plus 1%. The percentage is the part that grows with your revenue. Our plans are Starter $0, Basic $19, Pro $39, and Premium $69, and the only usage-based charge is Autopay, billed on commission payouts rather than GMV.

Line item	UpPromote	Simple Affiliate
Published starting price	Free, or Growth $29.99/mo + 2% of successful referral sales	Starter $0; Pro $39/mo
Revenue share	2% Growth / 1.5% Professional / 1% Enterprise	None
Payout processing	Per UpPromote payout settings (confirm on listing)	PayPal, store credit, and Premium manual 0%; Autopay 3.9% bank / 8.9% card on Pro
Modeled at $10,000 GMV	$229.99 on Growth ($29.99 + 2% of $10,000)	$78 on Pro with Autopay bank (assumes 10% commission = $1,000)

Two different meters, so read the model carefully. UpPromote’s 2% runs on successful referral sales — the full $10,000. Autopay runs on commission payouts: at a 10% commission that is $1,000, so Pro adds $39 of Autopay bank fees to the $39 subscription. Affiliates still receive the full commission. Rates per uppromote.com/pricing as of August 18, 2026.

Features

Capabilities below are for a typical Shopify store. Plan and add-on limits apply. UpPromote features come from its App Store listing and public docs, not from a paid trial of every SKU.

Yes: included for a typical setup Partial: limited, plan-tier, or human-in-the-loop Add-on: extra product or usage cost —: not offered or not the product

Feature	Simple Affiliate	UpPromote
Platform
Shopify Admin embedded app	YesShopify Admin app home	Yes
Shopify App Store listing	Yes	Yes
In-house program on the merchant store	YesProgram stays on the merchant store	Partial
Affiliates use Shopify customer accounts	YesAffiliates use Shopify customer accounts	—
No revenue share	YesFlat monthly Shopify subscription	—2% on Growth
Publisher marketplace	—	Yes
Program tools
Unlimited affiliates	PartialUnlimited on Basic+	PartialPlan limits apply
Unique discount codes	PartialPro+	Yes
Per-product commissions	PartialPro+	Yes
Klaviyo integration	PartialBasic+	Partial
CSV program import	YesPaid Shopify plan and store-age safeguards	Partial
Payouts and tax
Automatic commission payouts	YesStripe; merchant pays the fee	Partial
PayPal, store credit, and manual with no processing fee	YesPayPal and store credit every plan; manual on Premium	Partial
Merchant pays Autopay processing fee	YesStripe; merchant pays the fee	Partial
IRS 1099-K / 1099-NEC facilitation	YesEligible U.S. Autopay affiliates	—

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Simple Affiliate vs UpPromote. Updated August 18, 2026.

What does Simple Affiliate cost next to UpPromote?

Four flat plans: Starter $0, Basic $19, Pro $39, and Premium $69, with a 14-day trial on paid plans. No percentage of referred sales, ever. Turn on Autopay and the processing fee (3.9% bank / 8.9% card on Pro) is charged to you on commission payouts; affiliates get their commission in full. UpPromote’s subscription-plus-percentage model is described on this page from its App Store listing and uppromote.com/pricing; rates change, so treat the numbers here as a snapshot.

Where do my affiliates sign in?

On your store, with your store’s customer accounts. New customer accounts put the dashboard on your domain; classic accounts use a branded theme page such as /pages/simple-affiliate. UpPromote gives affiliates an UpPromote-hosted portal and marketplace instead. More on why we built it in-house: /pages/sc-faq/why-use-simple-affiliate-instead-of-a-network.

Where does Shopify Collabs fit here?

Shopify Collabs is Shopify’s included creator marketplace, so there is no Simple Affiliate vs Shopify Collabs page: we name it in prose and link apps.shopify.com/collabs and shopify.com/collabs instead. These pages do not recommend uninstalling Shopify products such as Shopify Collabs.

Why is UpPromote more expensive in this model?

The 2%. On $10,000 of referral sales, 2% is $200; add the $29.99 subscription and Growth reaches $229.99. Our modeled $78 is the $39 Pro subscription plus 3.9% Autopay on an assumed $1,000 of commission. Skip Autopay and Pro is just $39.

Does UpPromote include a free plan?

Yes: Free, with referral review capped at $3,000/month per uppromote.com/pricing. Ours is Starter: $0/month, up to 10 affiliates, one group, one standard link per affiliate.

Sources and other comparisons

UpPromote is a trademark of its owner. Simple Affiliate is not affiliated with UpPromote. Shopify is a trademark of Shopify Inc. Simple Affiliate is a third-party Shopify App Store app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Shopify. These pages compare independent App Store products and do not recommend uninstalling Shopify products such as Shopify Collabs. See shopify.com. List prices verified August 18, 2026.

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