Referly vs Trackdesk
Trackdesk starts at $329. Referly starts at $75, and reaches the same $30,000/mo cap at $149.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Free migration, including a direct import from Trackdesk
Referly
Startup
$75/mo
- Covers
- $10,000/mo affiliate revenue
- Fee
- 0% transaction fee
- Tracks
- Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, Paddle, Chargebee, Polar, Zylvie
Trackdesk
Business
$329/mo
- Covers
- Program revenue up to $30,000/mo
- Fee
- None stated
- Tracks
- Integrations and postbacks across platforms
Trackdesk's cheapest plan is $329/mo, covering program revenue to $30,000/mo with genuinely unlimited affiliates, clicks and conversions. Referly starts at $75/mo to $10,000/mo, and its $149 Business plan covers the same $30,000/mo. Below $30k the comparison is price; above it, Trackdesk's enterprise, network and iGaming stack is the real argument.
The case
Why choose Referly over Trackdesk?
The three differences that decide it against Trackdesk, with the plan each one is on.
An entry plan that exists.
Trackdesk has vacated everything under $329/mo. There is no smaller plan. Referly's Startup is $75 with $10,000/mo of tracked revenue, 200 affiliates and coupon tracking included, which is the difference between starting this quarter and budgeting for next year.
The same headroom at less than half the price.
Both meter on revenue, and both draw the line at $30,000/mo. Trackdesk's Business at $329, Referly's Business at $149. Same cap, $180/mo apart, and Referly's plan includes the white-label portal, tax forms and batch payouts at that price.
A supply side, not just infrastructure.
Referly ships a built-in affiliate marketplace and Influencer Discovery with revenue-backed profiles ($199/mo add-on; listing via Marketplace Licence). Trackdesk's stack is built around tracking infrastructure and enterprise operations, with recruitment left to you.
Referly or Trackdesk: which should you pick?
Choose Referly if
- You're under $30,000/mo in program revenue, the band Trackdesk left behind
- $329/mo is most or all of your tooling budget
- You want recruitment supply: a marketplace and an influencer network built in
- You want tax forms, EU invoices and batch payouts at $149, not enterprise pricing
Choose Trackdesk if
- You're above $30,000/mo and climbing. Their tiers are built for that curve
- You run an affiliate network or an iGaming program. They ship dedicated products for both
- You need truly unlimited affiliates, clicks and conversions on every plan
- You want vendor-led migration and implementation assistance from day one
Referly vs Trackdesk, full comparison table
Compiled from real research into both platforms.
| Comparison | Referly | Trackdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price / month | $75 (Startup) | $329/mo (Business) |
| Real cost at $10,000/mo | $75/mo on Startup | $329/mo on Business |
| What the price meters on | Affiliate revenue | Program revenue |
| Revenue cap, entry plan | $10,000/mo | Program revenue up to $30,000/mo |
| Next tier | $149 (Business), $30,000/mo cap | $499 (Enterprise), Pricing tiers above $30,000/mo |
| Transaction or payout fee | 0% transaction fee | None stated |
| Stripe | Not stated | |
| Shopify | Not stated | |
| WooCommerce | Not stated | |
| Paddle | Not stated | |
| Chargebee, Polar, Zylvie | Not stated | |
| Coupon-code tracking | Every plan, including Startup | 100 tracked coupons on Business, unlimited above |
| Cookie window | 60 days default, configurable | Not stated |
| W-9 / W-8 collection | Business and above, TIN encrypted at rest | Not stated |
| EU self-billing invoices | Business and above, with VIES VAT validation | Not stated |
| Automated payouts | Business and above, through PayPal and Wise with no percentage fee | Not stated |
| 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 | Nothing under $329/mo |
| Trial | 14 days, no card | 14 days |
| 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 | Reporting exports are basic per reviewers |
| Payout proof and audit trail | Proof required on manual payouts, with an audit trail. Business and above for automation | Not stated |
| New-sale and new-affiliate alerts | Email alerts to program owners | None yet, per their own reviewers |
Run your numbers
What each plan would cost you
Both tools meter on monthly revenue. Drag to your number. Below $30,000/mo the gap is $180 to $254 a month, and it never closes until Trackdesk's floor stops being the constraint.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime
Referly
Business
Covers up to $30,000/mo
Trackdesk
Business
Covers up to $30,000/mo
Sticker order holds at this volume. Drag toward a cliff to see it flip.
In depth
Why teams compare Referly and Trackdesk
Six questions answered in full, including what they do better than us.
01What Trackdesk does well
Trackdesk is built deliberately for scale, and its pricing page reads like it: affiliates, clicks and conversions are unlimited on every plan. The only caveat anywhere is that volumes above 10M clicks a month may need a private server. The product ladder keeps going where most of this category stops: Enterprise at $499, Enterprise PLUS from $1,199, plus dedicated Network and iGaming product lines from $499 and $1,249. Migration and implementation assistance is included from the Business plan, annual billing saves two months, and the whole objection stack (SLAs, procurement, compliance reviews) assumes a serious buyer.
If your program is past $30,000/mo and still climbing, that ladder is exactly what you graduate into. That is a real recommendation.
02Where Trackdesk stops
Three facts, all from their own pricing page:
- 1Nothing exists under $329/mo. There is no starter tier and no free plan. The word 'free' appears on their site only as the 14-day trial. A program doing $5,000/mo in revenue pays the same $329 as one doing $30,000.
- 2The real Business-plan limits live in the matrix, not on the cards. 5 seats, 10 active offers and 100 tracked coupons. The plan cards show the unlimited metrics and the expandable matrix shows these.
- 3Fees are not stated. No transaction, payout or overage fee schedule is published. Not stated is a fact, not a zero.
03What Referly adds on top of the tracking
Below the enterprise line, the comparison is mostly about what exists at each price.
Referly's $75 Startup carries what a growing program actually needs on day one: link and coupon tracking, 200 affiliates, fraud checks, a branded portal in 15 languages. Its $149 Business adds the white-label domain, W-9/W-8 collection with encrypted TINs, EU self-billing invoices with VIES validation, PayPal and Wise batch payouts with no percentage, MLM at two levels, and the API. And the supply side (marketplace listing plus Influencer Discovery) recruits while you build, something tracking infrastructure alone never does.
04Pricing: $75 and $149 vs $329
This is the one page in the cluster where Referly is simply the cheaper tool, so here is the arithmetic plainly. Referly: $75/mo to $10,000 in monthly affiliate revenue, $149 to $30,000. Trackdesk: $329 to the same $30,000, then $499 tiers above. Both meter on revenue; both publish their numbers.
Above $30,000/mo the ladders converge. Referly's Enterprise bands start at $399/mo equivalent, Trackdesk's Enterprise at $499, and the decision stops being price and becomes stack shape: Referly's supply-and-payouts depth against Trackdesk's unlimited-usage, network and iGaming infrastructure.
05Who should choose Trackdesk
A program already past $30,000/mo with a finance team in the loop, an affiliate network operator, or an iGaming brand, the two segments Trackdesk builds dedicated products for. At that scale unlimited clicks, seats and offers plus vendor-led implementation are worth the floor price.
06Who should choose Referly
Everyone the $329 floor excludes: programs between zero and $30,000/mo, which is most affiliate programs. You get the same $30,000 of headroom at $149, tax and payout operations included, and a marketplace recruiting for you, with published Enterprise bands to graduate into if you outgrow it.
Free migration
Switching from Trackdesk to Referly
Connect Trackdesk directly and your affiliates, their links and their commission rates come across mapped. Free on every plan, including Startup.
- 1Scope and plan~45 min
- List your campaigns, commission rules and open payouts. Decide what happens to commissions accrued but not yet paid.
- 2Export and map~30 min
- Export affiliates from Trackdesk. Referly's direct Trackdesk importer maps affiliates, their referral links and their commission rates.
- 3Configure and import1 to 2 hours
- Recreate your commission plans in Referly, run the import, and swap the tracking script and the payment connection.
- 4Verify and go live3 to 7 days overlap
- Run both in parallel, compare attributed sales daily, then switch off Trackdesk.
What does not come across
Historic click data and per-click attribution history stay in Trackdesk. Referly imports your affiliates, their links and their commission rates; it does not import Trackdesk's click log. Commissions already accrued in Trackdesk should be paid out from Trackdesk before you switch.
The full Trackdesk migration guideFAQ
Questions you may still have
All are honest, unbiased answers, even when not flattering.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime
The entry point. Trackdesk's cheapest plan is $329/mo covering program revenue to $30,000/mo; Referly starts at $75/mo to $10,000/mo and reaches the same $30,000/mo cap at $149. Trackdesk answers with unlimited affiliates, clicks and conversions on every plan, plus dedicated network and iGaming products above.
