Referly vs UpPromote

UpPromote is free to start and Shopify-native. Referly is $75 flat. The fee decides it.
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Referly
Startup
$75/mo
- Covers
- $10,000/mo affiliate revenue
- Fee
- 0% transaction fee
- Tracks
- Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, Paddle, Chargebee, Polar, Zylvie

UpPromote
Free
Free + 1-2%
- Covers
- Up to $3,000/mo referral revenue
- Fee
- 1-2% of successful referral sales
- Tracks
- Shopify
UpPromote is a Shopify-native affiliate app with a genuine free tier up to $3,000/mo in referral revenue; its paid plans take 1-2% of every successful referral sale. Referly is $75/mo flat, takes 0% of sales on every plan, and tracks Stripe subscriptions, WooCommerce and coupon codes as well as Shopify. Referly has no free tier.
The case
Why choose Referly over UpPromote?
The three differences that decide it against UpPromote, with the plan each one is on.
A flat bill, not a percentage forever.
UpPromote's paid plans take 2% (Growth), 1.5% (Professional) or 1% (Enterprise) of every successful referral sale, with no upper bound. Referly's plans are flat, $75 or $149, and take 0% of your sales on every plan.
Subscriptions, not just orders.
UpPromote tracks Shopify orders. Referly also tracks Stripe subscriptions through their whole lifecycle, renewals, upgrades, refunds and churn all recompute commissions automatically. If you ever sell anything recurring, only one of these tools can follow it.
Tax forms and real payout rails.
Referly collects W-9, W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E in the portal with the TIN encrypted, and runs PayPal and Wise batch payouts, from Business up. UpPromote leaves US tax paperwork and payout batching outside the product.
Referly or UpPromote: which should you pick?
Choose Referly if
- You sell subscriptions on Stripe as well as (or instead of) Shopify orders
- Your referred sales are past $3,000/mo, where the required paid plan plus its percentage outgrows a flat $75
- You need W-9s and W-8s collected, or payouts batched through PayPal or Wise
- You want one program across Shopify, Stripe, WooCommerce and coupon codes

Choose UpPromote if
- You sell on Shopify only and you're under $3,000/mo in referred sales, it's free
- You want a Shopify-native install with a Built for Shopify badge
- You have no subscription revenue and don't expect any
- A 1-2% fee on referred sales is acceptable to you at your volume
Referly vs UpPromote, full comparison table
Compiled from real research into both platforms.
| Comparison | UpPromote | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price / month | $75 (Startup) | Free |
| Real cost at $10,000/mo | $75/mo on Startup | $230/mo on Growth |
| What the price meters on | Affiliate revenue | Referral revenue |
| Revenue cap, entry plan | $10,000/mo | Up to $3,000/mo referral revenue |
| Next tier | $149 (Business), $30,000/mo cap | $29.99 (Growth), Unlimited programs and referral revenue |
| Transaction or payout fee | 0% transaction fee | 1-2% of successful referral sales |
| Stripe | ||
| Shopify | ||
| WooCommerce | ||
| Paddle | ||
| Chargebee, Polar, Zylvie | ||
| Coupon-code tracking | Every plan, including Startup | Shopify coupons; 1 per affiliate on Free |
| 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 | 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 | Free to $3,000/mo referral revenue |
| Trial | 14 days, no card | No trial |
| Refund policy | Standard | Not stated |
| Direct import into Referly | n/a | CSV import |
| Bulk approve, decline and edit | Bulk approve and decline affiliates | Not stated |
| Cancel without contacting support | Self-serve in billing settings; billed via Stripe | Billed via the Shopify app rail |
| 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 | PayPal auto-payout from Growth |
| New-sale and new-affiliate alerts | Email alerts to program owners | Not stated |
Run your numbers
A flat price against a percentage
UpPromote's paid plans take 1-2% of every referred sale; Referly's bill is flat. Drag your monthly referred sales and watch both bills move, including the range where UpPromote is honestly the cheaper answer.
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UpPromote
Growth, cheapest fit
$29.99 plan + 2% of $6,000 referred
Referly
Startup
Flat, 0% of sales on every plan
Past the free tier the percentage takes over: at $6,000/mo referred, UpPromote's cheapest paid fit bills $150. Unlike a flat plan, that number keeps climbing with your revenue.
In depth
Why teams compare Referly and UpPromote
Six questions answered in full, including what they do better than us.
01What UpPromote does well
UpPromote has the only genuine free tier in this comparison set, and Referly does not have one. Up to $3,000/mo in referral revenue, one program, free. For a small Shopify store that is not a trial, it's a working affiliate program at $0. The install is Shopify-native with a Built for Shopify badge, it lives in the App Store next to your other apps, and the company has published 50 case studies. If you sell only on Shopify and you're small, UpPromote is free and Referly is $75. There is no argument to have at that size.
02Where UpPromote stops
Three limitations, all structural rather than pricing tiers:
- 1Shopify only. No Stripe, no subscription billing, no SaaS lifecycle. A subscription's renewals, upgrades and churn never recompute a commission because the product never sees them.
- 2A percentage of every referred sale, forever. 2% on Growth, 1.5% on Professional, 1% on Enterprise, on top of the plan price, on every successful referral, with no cap.
- 3No tax-form collection. W-9s and W-8s for your affiliates stay your problem, at any plan.
03What Referly adds on top of the tracking
The usual wedge. Stripe and Shopify together, is only half useful here, because UpPromote's buyer often has no Stripe. So the honest comparison is about what happens as the program grows.
Referly's bill is flat: $75 covers $10,000/mo in affiliate revenue, $149 covers $30,000/mo, and 0% of sales on every plan. Commissions follow subscriptions through renewals, refunds and churn if you ever add recurring revenue. Payouts batch through PayPal or Wise, W-9/W-8 collection and EU invoices arrive at Business, and the marketplace plus Influencer Discovery add recruitment supply. The listing needs a Marketplace Licence, Discovery is a $199/mo add-on.
04Pricing: free vs $75
UpPromote starts free and Referly starts at $75/mo. Under $3,000/mo in referred sales there is nothing to compare. UpPromote costs nothing and works.
Past the free tier the shapes diverge. UpPromote Growth is $29.99 + 2% of referred sales: at $5,000/mo referred that's ~$130/mo, at $10,000/mo it's ~$230/mo, and it keeps climbing with your revenue. Referly is $75 flat to $10,000/mo of affiliate revenue, then $149 flat to $30,000/mo. The crossover is effectively the free-tier boundary: at $3,000/mo referred, UpPromote's required Growth plan already bills ~$90 against Referly's flat $75, and the gap only widens from there.
Referly has no free tier. That stays true everywhere on this page.
05Who should choose UpPromote
A Shopify store doing under $3,000/mo in referred sales, it's free, it's native, and it does the job. Or a store past that which values the App Store install and accepts the percentage as the cost of staying native. No subscription revenue, no US tax-form obligations, no multi-platform ambitions.
06Who should choose Referly
A store whose referred sales have outgrown the percentage. At $3,750/mo referred, the 2% fee alone equals Referly's entire $75 plan price. A brand adding a subscription, a membership or any Stripe-billed product next to the store. Or a program whose payout and tax admin has become real work: batch payouts, W-9s and self-billing invoices live inside Referly from Business up.
Free migration
Switching from UpPromote to Referly
Bring a CSV export from UpPromote and your affiliates, their links and their commission rates come across mapped. Free on every plan, including Startup.

- 1Scope and plan~30 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 your affiliates from UpPromote as CSV. Referly's CSV importer maps affiliates, their referral links and their commission rates.
- 3Configure and import~1 hour
- 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 UpPromote.
What does not come across
Historic click data and per-click attribution history stay in UpPromote. Referly imports your affiliates, their links and their commission rates; it does not import UpPromote's click log. Commissions already accrued in UpPromote should be paid out from UpPromote before you switch.
FAQ
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 platform and the fee. UpPromote is Shopify-native and Shopify-only, free to $3,000/mo in referral revenue, then $29.99 to $199.99/mo plus 1-2% of every successful referral sale. Referly is $75/mo flat, takes 0% of sales on every plan, and tracks Stripe subscriptions, Shopify, WooCommerce and coupon codes on one program.
