FirstPromoter Alternative
Twice the headroom, and the store it can't track
FirstPromoter's $49 stops at $5,000/mo from affiliates. Referly's $75 runs to $10,000, and reads Shopify.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Free migration, including a direct import from FirstPromoter
Your current tool
FirstPromoter- Affiliates
- Links
- Commissions
Referly
Referly's direct FirstPromoter importer maps affiliates, referral links and commission rates. Free on every plan.
Referly is a FirstPromoter alternative that tracks Stripe and Shopify. FirstPromoter supports Stripe, Chargebee and Paddle only, and its $49 Starter plan stops at $5,000/mo in affiliate revenue, half of Referly's $10,000, so a $10,000/mo program costs $99 there and $75 here. Starter also gates managed auto payouts, SSO and "Powered by" removal.
Credit where due
Where FirstPromoter is the right answer
We say what they do well before we say what they do not. That is the reason you can believe the rest of the page.
FirstPromoter's entry plan is $49 to Referly's $75, and it knows its market unusually well, the biggest and clearest feature-comparison table in the category, and nineteen comparison pages, ten of which it isn't even in. The built-in affiliate email automation is the feature its buyers cite most and it is genuinely good: sequences to promoters without a third-party tool.
For a Stripe-billed SaaS under $5,000/mo in affiliate revenue, $49 beats $75 and FirstPromoter is a rational default. The catch is where that ceiling sits. $5,000/mo is the lowest entry cap of any vendor on this list and half of Referly's, so the plan you are comparing runs out twice as fast. At $10,000/mo you are on their $99 Business plan while the same program is still on Referly's $75.
What you actually pay
The same program, priced by both
At this size FirstPromoter costs 1.3× what Referly does. The gap comes from the percentages and the plan cliffs, not the sticker price.
Referly
- Startup plan
- $75
Startup, up to 200 active affiliates
FirstPromoter
- Business plan
- $99
Business, covers up to $15,000/mo
FirstPromoter's $49 covers the least revenue of anyone here, $5,000/mo, half of Referly's cap. So the same $10,000/mo program is $99 on FirstPromoter and $75 on Referly, and the tool charging less at the door is the one that asks for more first.
Assumes the program Referly's $75 plan is sized for: $10,000/mo in affiliate revenue, 200 active affiliates, 20% commission ($2,000/mo in payouts), 100 referred orders and 5,000 tracked clicks. The same program, priced by each vendor's own published rates.
The other side
Where FirstPromoter stops
Three real limitations, each one traceable to a sentence on their own website.
Stores
Stripe, Chargebee and Paddle are the integration list. No Shopify at any plan. Revenue through a storefront is revenue the tool never sees.
Source: firstpromoter.com/pricing
The Starter gate list
The $49 plan caps at 1,000 affiliates, 3 campaigns and 2 websites, and holds back SSO, custom roles, activity logs, managed auto payouts, post-back URLs, "Powered by" removal, dashboard embedding and custom CSS.
Source: firstpromoter.com/pricing
Recruitment
No marketplace and no discovery. FirstPromoter automates the affiliates you bring; it never brings you one. The supply side of the program stays entirely yours to build.
Source: firstpromoter.com
Referly vs FirstPromoter, full comparison table
Compiled from real research into both platforms. The same rows appear on every alternatives page, so you can compare any two of them.
| Comparison | Referly | FirstPromoter |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price / month | $75 (Startup) | $49/mo (Starter) |
| Real cost at $10,000/mo | $75/mo on Startup | $99/mo on Business |
| What the price meters on | Affiliate revenue | Affiliate revenue |
| Revenue cap, entry plan | $10,000/mo | Up to $5,000/mo revenue from affiliates |
| Next tier | $149 (Business), $30,000/mo cap | $99 (Business), Up to $15,000/mo |
| Transaction or payout fee | 0% transaction fee | Transaction fee: not stated |
| Stripe | ||
| Shopify | ||
| WooCommerce | ||
| Paddle | ||
| Chargebee, Polar, Zylvie | Chargebee only | |
| Coupon-code tracking | Every plan, including Startup | Stripe coupons |
| Cookie window | 60 days default, configurable | Not stated |
| W-9 / W-8 collection | Business and above, TIN encrypted at rest | |
| EU self-billing invoices | Business and above, with VIES VAT validation | |
| Automated payouts | Business and above, through PayPal and Wise with no percentage fee | Managed auto payouts gated above Starter |
| Affiliate marketplace | Built in | |
| Influencer Discovery | $199/mo add-on, 500 invitations/mo | |
| Branded portal on your domain | Business and above | Not stated |
| Portal languages | 15 + custom languages you define | Not stated |
| Sub-affiliate tiers | 2 levels, Business and above | Not stated |
| Free tier | Referly has none | |
| Trial | 14 days, no card | 14 days, no card |
| Refund policy | Standard | Not stated |
| Direct import into Referly | n/a | Direct importer |
| Bulk approve, decline and edit | Bulk approve and decline affiliates | Not stated |
| Cancel without contacting support | Self-serve in billing settings; billed via Stripe | Not stated |
| Per-link and per-affiliate reporting | Link-level and per-affiliate, every plan | Not stated |
| Payout proof and audit trail | Proof required on manual payouts, with an audit trail. Business and above for automation | Managed auto payouts above Starter |
| New-sale and new-affiliate alerts | Email alerts to program owners | Not stated |
Which one should you choose?
An honest look at which of Referly and FirstPromoter is right for you, including the reasons to stay where you are.
Choose Referly if
- 01You're past $5,000/mo from affiliates. Their cap, where $99 there meets $75 here
- 02Any part of your revenue runs through Shopify or WooCommerce
- 03You want a white-label portal path without a plan upgrade for "Powered by" removal
- 04Tax forms collected in the portal, TIN encrypted, and a marketplace feeding the program
Choose FirstPromoter if
- 01You're a Stripe, Chargebee or Paddle SaaS under their $5,000/mo cap, where $49 beats $75
- 02Built-in email automation to your promoters is a feature you'll actually use
- 03Your affiliate revenue is flat by design and won't outgrow the entry plan
- 04You value a vendor that documents its market this thoroughly, their diligence shows
Free migration
Switch from FirstPromoter without losing your history
A direct FirstPromoter importer carries affiliates, links and commission rates across. Free on every plan, including Startup.
Scope and plan
~30 minList your campaigns, commission rules and open payouts. Decide what happens to commissions accrued but not yet paid.
Export and map
~30 minExport affiliates from FirstPromoter. Referly's direct FirstPromoter importer maps affiliates, their referral links and their commission rates.
Configure and import
~1 hourRecreate your commission plans in Referly, run the import, and swap the tracking script and the payment connection.
Verify and go live
3 to 7 days overlapRun both in parallel, compare attributed sales daily, then switch off FirstPromoter.
What does not come across
Historic click data and per-click attribution history stay in FirstPromoter. Referly imports your affiliates, their links and their commission rates; it does not import FirstPromoter's click log. Commissions already accrued in FirstPromoter should be paid out from FirstPromoter before you switch.
Referly vs FirstPromoter vs everyone else
Five facts on each of the other tools. If you are weighing up a third option, its page is one click away.
| Referly | FirstPromoter |  Rewardful |  Tolt |  UpPromote |  PartnerStack | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $75/mo | $49/mo | $49/mo | $69/mo | Free | Not published |
| Meters on | Affiliate revenue | Affiliate revenue | Affiliate revenue | Affiliate revenue | Referral revenue | Not published |
| Fee on top | 0% transaction fee | Transaction fee: not stated | 0% transaction fee | 2% payout processing fee | 1-2% of successful referral sales | Not published |
| Stripe | Not published | |||||
| Shopify | Not published | |||||
| Tax forms | Business and above | Growth ($99) and above | Not stated |
Fee footnote: Referly's 0% is a transaction fee. The optional agency client-billing fee (5% / 2.5% / 1%) and the opt-in Referly Payouts rail (5% / 8%) are separate, and neither one touches a sale. See all alternatives
Customer stories
Take their word for it
The founders and affiliate managers behind three fast-growing programs, in their own words.
“Affiliates drive a serious share of our revenue across three countries. Since we moved to Referly everything runs from one place, tracking has been spot on, and our partners get paid without me chasing spreadsheets.”
Alexander Koppers
Affiliate Manager, Moov
$6.9M
in total affiliate-driven revenue
- 1,154
- active affiliates
- 19,017
- affiliate sales
- 1,240,030
- clicks tracked
“We have been running affiliate programs for over a decade, and ours is one of the biggest parts of how OptimizePress grows. Referly is the first platform where an operation with thousands of partners actually feels manageable, from recruiting new affiliates to tracking every sale they send.”
James Dyson
Founder & CEO, OptimizePress
- 7 figures
- in affiliate-driven sales
- 4,554
- active affiliates
- 10,536
- referrals
“This platform is quite simple and easy to use, and you can start attracting people to your affiliate program very quickly. A big plus is that the founder, Ayo, is super responsive.”
Ilfat Khayrullin
CMO & Co-founder, Letterly
- 300K+
- app users
- 689
- active affiliates
- 24,114
- clicks tracked
FAQ
You probably have questions
All are honest, unbiased answers, even when not flattering.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime
Coverage and gates. FirstPromoter reads Stripe, Chargebee and Paddle; Referly reads those plus Shopify, WooCommerce, Polar and Zylvie on the same program. FirstPromoter's $49 Starter also carries a long gate list: managed payouts, SSO and removing "Powered by", while Referly's plan gates are fewer and stated.
Other comparisons
Migrate from FirstPromoter
No Shopify at any plan. Direct import, and one feature worth planning to rebuild.
Read the guideReferly vs FirstPromoter
The full comparison for buyers who do not own either tool yet, with every row sourced.
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