Referral Program Software

Our Ranking Criteria for Referral Program Software

Evaluating the best products goes beyond listing the most famous brands. Scroll down to learn more about our extensive ranking criteria, and discover the features that earned the software solutions their specific position on our table.

Classification

While not a ranking criterion per se, categorization helps users understand what to expect from a platform. In this case, classification has four cornerstones.

• Industry focus – Crucial for this type of software. Do you sell services and need more subscriptions? Do you sell products and need more sales? Businesses in certain industries need specific functions from their referral platforms. When you’re choosing a product, it’s always best to stick with companies that have already worked with businesses similar to yours.
• Business size – Any platform you invest in must be scalable and powerful to handle operations of any size. Small and growing businesses deal with tens to hundreds of referrals per month. Enterprises, in contrast, get many more leads and conversions. This means they can’t afford to go for budget-friendly solutions incapable of processing such a workload.
• Deployment – Referral marketing tools come in various packages, web-based being the most common. These are hosted on the cloud, simple to set up, and easy to use. Their only drawback is that they require a strong connection to work. On-premise solutions are another albeit less common option for this type of software. There are also iOS and Android native apps, although those tend to be just additions to online systems rather than separate products.

Essential Features of the Best Referral Software

If you’re not sure which are the critical functions of this type of platform, scroll down. In addition to being must-have features, these also earn better rankings for the brands listed in our table.

Affiliate Management

This is the core of all leading online referral programs. This feature makes the entire referral process possible. Here, we have affiliate link styles, custom tracking codes, and direct links tracking. All these functionalities help you and your collaborators reach more leads.

The affiliate management capabilities of your referral marketing platform allow you to set various commission types. The more of these, the better. Here are the most popular and standard options:

• Commissions Per Action CPA
• Commission Groups
• Lifetime Commissions
• Multi-Tier Commissions
• Performance Rewards
• Recurring Commissions
• SplitCommissions (Unique for Post Affiliate Pro).

Another crucial aspect here is automation. Namely, you want to be able to streamline your workflows and minimize human errors. Automated processes are triggered using pre-set rules that suit your operations. This means you do the manual work only once, and then the system does the rest, including referral campaign, conversion, and performance tracking.

Campaign Management

This is another must-have of the best referral software. The first thing to analyze here is the campaign creator. It should be simple to use and customizable, preferably with no coding. With a user-friendly campaign editor, you can create various campaign types like giveaways, contests, etc. The system should also support private campaigns for specific contacts.

White labeling meanwhile ensures that all your campaigns go under your branding. Both your contacts and their referrals will access branded links, pages, and forms.

Promotion Materials

Banner rotators, discount coupons, widgets, flash banners, HTML banners, image banners, lightbox banners, peel banners, SmartLinks, PDF banners — all these are essential promotion materials for referral programs software. They simplify your work and make your website referral program easily visible and appealing.

User Management

Regardless of whether you have a small business or an enterprise referral program, you must be able to manage your users. This includes having a customizable interface that supports mass payments. Multi-language and multi-currency support meanwhile helps with international clients.

Rewards Management

Would you like to reward referrers and referrals? Does granting unique vouchers and other perks sound useful? What about having the option to create automatic workflows or manually approve any rewards? That’s what rewards management can do for your business.
With this feature, you can also set multi-level rewards for subscriptions, installs, sales, and registrations. The referral tracking system should support one-way or two-way gratification, whichever suits your working model.

Loyalty Program

Related to the previous feature, a good loyalty program will help you identify and track contacts that constantly deliver results.

A loyalty program also provides appropriate incentives and rewards for such users. You get to create the tiers once, and the system does the rest. It will track referrals, conversions, and assign loyalty status accordingly.

Reporting and Analytics

These two are cornerstones of any software, really, and referral marketing software is no exception. All the information in the world won’t mean anything unless you analyze it properly. A system with robust reporting capabilities should therefore identify influential referrers and provide regular updates and reports. Tracking KPIs like sharing, clicks, conversions, export data, map overlays, and user reports is another functionality we welcome.

Spam and Fraud Prevention

At least one of these should be built inside your campaigns. Spam proof notifications, suspicious behavior identification, and fraud prevention in referral software make sure you pay for real conversions only. These also ensure that potential clients and leads get your emails right into their inbox.

Integrations

We value referral systems that integrate seamlessly with other apps and software, including eCommerce platforms, email marketing software, and CRM products. Especially popular apps for this software are MailChimp, Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Shopify. Needless to say, the process should be smooth and shouldn’t require any special coding skills.

User Experience

User-friendliness is a must regardless of whether you want a platform for tracking referrals, running campaigns, or analyzing best-performing contacts. Without an easy-to-navigate and intuitive UX, nobody will want to use the referral systems. So, we always give better rankings to products that have a quick setup and require no specialized training.

Pricing

Price isn’t as important as one may think. What makes all the difference here is the value you get for the money you paid. You won’t find cheap or overpriced products here; instead, we’ve listed robust solutions that serve their purpose efficiently. We, however, appreciate software that gives a free trial and various pricing models.

Referral Software Reviews

Post Affiliate Pro

At a Glance

An excellent solution for small, medium-sized, and large businesses in any industry. It’s also efficient for individuals and start-ups. Post Affiliate Pro comes with a myriad of functions that streamline any referral program. Web-based and rich in features, the platform makes it easy for everyone in your referral circle.

Pros

• Promotion materials
• Multiple types of commissions
• Advanced tracking methods
• Fraud detection
• 170+ apps

Cons

• Complex for first-time users

Features

The hundreds of features earned Post Affiliate Pro the top position among so many excellent referral program software companies. The platform provides various types of marketing and advanced tracking. It features essentials like different link styles, direct link tracking, custom tracking codes, and private campaigns.

With the platform, businesses can set different types of commissions too, including action, lifetime, and multi-tier. Post Affiliate Pro also boasts an exclusive commission feature named SplitCommissions that lets marketers reward all referrals who played a role in a sale. The brand doesn’t disappoint regarding promotion materials either. From discount coupons and banner rotators to HTML banners and SmartLink, Post Affiliate Pro is a well-equipped referral marketing program.

The intuitive user interface is another top function. It’s customizable and multilingual. It supports mass payments for your collaborators and lets clients create multi-merchant user accounts. In terms of reporting, users can get all kinds of custom and pre-made reports, map overlays, and audit logs. Businesses meanwhile will always have the latest details on their eCommerce, SaaS, B2C, and B2B referral programs.

Pricing

Future customers can subscribe for a 14-day free trial of Post Affiliate Pro to test all its referral tools. Afterward, they can upgrade and pay as they go. There are no contracts or setup fees either.
The company has three plans to choose from:

• Pro – $97 per month/ advanced features/ 1m tracking requests
• Ultimate – $197 per month/ full-scale management/ 5m tracking requests
• Network – $477 per month/ best of the best/ 20m tracking requests.
• All plans support an unlimited number of affiliates. Multi-tier commissions, however, aren’t included in the Pro package. Audit logs, branding free options, and SmartLinks meanwhile come at additional costs in the first two plans.

InviteReferrals

At a Glance

Startups, agencies, and large enterprises can all make the most out of the InviteReferrals referral tracking app. Thousands of companies in different industries use this 360-degree system to manage their referrals. InviteReferrals supports multiple platforms and seamlessly integrates with a plethora of apps like WooCommerce, Zapier, and WordPress.

Pros

• Full automation
• Multiple events and rewards
• Data export
• Custom rewards logic flows
• Spam prevention

Cons

• Overwhelming at first

Features

Users of InviteReferrals gain access to tons of functions. Setting rewards on multiple events (sharing, subscription, sales, etc.) is one of the key benefits. The campaign creator is among the best when compared to other referral marketing platforms. It’s easy to use and highly customizable, and doesn’t require any coding knowledge. Clients get to create and run campaigns without any hassles.

With the rewards logic flow, customers can set one-way or two-way gratification. They can also create personalized programs and upload unique coupons. Another great feature of InviteReferrals is its spam-prevention mechanism.

The platform supports full automation and smoothly streamlines any referral-related processes. In-depth analytics and robust reporting meanwhile enable users to track KPIs, get real-time updates, and more.

Pricing

Businesses can test the InviteReferrals referral software by requesting a 15-day free trial, which comes with 100 new referrers.

Once the trial period expires, customers get to choose between three premium packages. All of these come with unlimited sharing and transactions. Scroll down to find their pricing when billed annually.

• Basic – $79 per month/1,000 new referrers/3 campaigns/1 member
• Standard – $199 per month/3,000 new referrers/6 campaigns/5 members
• Enterprise – pricing upon request/10 members/even more referrers and campaigns.

ReferralHero

At a Glance

Startups, growing brands, and large companies can grow their business with the ReferralHero referral marketing system. This platform is customizable, flexible, and smart, meaning it easily adapts to companies and teams of any size. With tons of valuable functionalities, ReferralHero enables clients to run the perfect campaigns for their brand.

Pros

• Social sharing
• SMS verification and ReCaptcha
• Automation emails
• Analytics
• 500+ integrations

Cons

• No loyalty program

Features

ReferralHero prides itself on its uptime of over 99.99%. Still, that’s not even the most impressive aspect of this product. ReferralHero comes equipped with lots of features, multi-language support, and high flexibility.

Users can customize this referral system software as they wish. They can use their own widget or the one provided by ReferralHero. The design is flexible, so clients can change colors as it suits their branding. Plus, this is a white-label product and comes with memorable referral links. Social sharing enables referrers to instantly share their links across 10 different social networks.

Other powerful features of ReferralHero include automated emails, broadcasts, segmentation, and leaderboards. These are accompanied by coupon codes, automatic distribution, and deep analytics. Customers can quickly identify top-performers and reward them accordingly.

Another benefit of using this referral tracking software is its anti-fraud algorithm. This service will discover fraudulent behavior from users. Advanced functions here include the ReCaptcha and SMS verification.

Pricing

The company has a 100% happiness policy and offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. This means clients can subscribe to the desired plan, and get their money back within two weeks if unsatisfied.
ReferralHero has there are three premium plans. Subscribing for a year gets users three months free. The referral program software costs are as follows:

• Basic – $49 per month/up to 2,500 subscribers/essential features
• Pro – $99 per month /up to 15,000 subscribers/advanced features
• Premium – $199 per month/up to 50,000 subscribers/all features.

Besides these plans, customers can request a customized solution. Plus, it’s possible to upgrade the subscriber limit of any plan by 1,000 for an additional $4 per month.

Viral Loops

At a Glance

Companies, agencies, and marketers can use Viral Loops to incorporate proved referral marketing strategies in their business operations. This powerful eCommerce, B2C, and B2B referral program comes with a range of advanced features. Users who want to have best-performing schemes like Airbnb and Dropbox should go for the Viral Loops referral software.

Pros

• Widget customization
• Plethora of templates
• Rewards management
• Coupon codes
• Campaign analytics dashboard

Cons

• White labeling costs extra
• No contact management

Features

Viral Loops leads the way in terms of models. Some of the offered materials from the platform are milestone referrals, refer a friend, messenger bot giveaways, and altruistic referrals. Widgets and landing pages can be fully customized, and some plans include white labeling.

As one of the best referral apps out there, Viral Loops features campaign management. The platform further incorporates a fully functional rewards management system, fraud detection, contact import/export, and coupon codes. Valuable analytics is included, too. Users can track KPIs, generate reports, and more all from the campaign analytics dashboard.

Pricing

Interested users can try the unlimited plan free for 14 days to test how Viral Loops works. Then, they get to choose from three subscription levels – Start-Up, Growing, and Power. The starting price of these packages is $49, $99, and $299 per month, respectively. The exact cost of the referral program software, however, depends on your business size and potential participants.

Start-Up covers the essentials only. Growing comes with additional templates and more integrations. Finally, the Power Plan includes all the functionalities plus white labeling.

Ambassador

At a Glance

Clients can combine affiliate, referral, influencer, and partner marketing with the Ambassador platform. This is a single solution that handles multiple processes, including campaigns, marketing, and rewards management. Ambassador is a multi-functional option for anyone who wants to run referral programs for small businesses, consumer brands, and B2B entities.

Pros

• Multiple campaigns
• Smart segmentation
• Design templates
• Custom branding
• Advanced reporting

Cons

• Lengthy setting up

Features

Ambassador boasts a long list of essential and advanced referral marketing tools. First, the platform has omnichannel capabilities and can support multiple campaigns at the same time. Second, it covers various rewards programs, including referrals, affiliates, and advocacy. Third, the Ambassador has smart segmentation, design templates, and custom branding. All these help customers effortlessly run successful campaigns.

Other top functions include complete white labeling, full email automation, custom rewards, and automated payouts. We also must mention gift cards, points, and voucher codes. As one of the leading referral platforms, Ambassador supports multiple languages and currencies. It also gives users access to a hosted Ambassador Portal.
Salesforce, MailChimp, Shopify, and PayPal are among the system’s supported integrations.

Pricing

Businesses that want to give Ambassador a try can request a product demo. Apart from that, there are three pre-made plans on the menu – Starter, Professional, and Enterprise — whose pricing is provided upon request.

Referrizer

At a Glance

Any business that needs more than a referral tracker could use Referrizer. The product targets small and mid-sized brands as well as local businesses. It provides clients with full marketing automation within various sectors, including referral, affiliate, loyalty, and reputation management. Referrizer is mobile-friendly and integrates with over 1,000 programs through Zapier.

Pros

• Website lead capture widget
• White labeling
• Email marketing
• Reputation management
• SMS campaigns

Cons

• Pricey
• No fraud detection

Features

In addition to referral schemes, Referrizer also covers marketing programs like loyalty, affiliate, and reputation. As a referral marketing program, the platform places customers’ operations on autopilot. The system comes with tracking numbers, website integrations, landing pages, and lead capture pages. It also helps clients grow their revenue and boost customer retention with tools like a loyalty program, email marketing, and 2-way SMS marketing. Referrizer handles all communications through calls, text, email, and even foot traffic.

The platform has a unique Local Business Referral function which promotes local engagement. It enables customers to connect and exchange leads with local companies, and gives users access to fast-growing local referral networks. Referrizer tracks all rewards and referrals automatically. A unique feature of this referral tracker is the Smart Review Technology, which prevents bad reviews from leaking to the web.

Pricing

Interested businesses can request a product demo to test Referrizer. The service also comes with a 100% 7-day money-back guarantee. Plus, getting the essentials only (no referral program) is for free. The Free Plan, however, is very limited and supports only 1,000 contacts for email marketing.
The two other plans include the referral platform and more. Find their monthly pricing below and note that annual billing gets clients discounts.

• Basic – $199 per month/$399 one-time setup fee/5,000 email contacts
• Premium – $299 per month/$499 one-time setup fee/25,000 email contacts.

Referrizer Basic and Premium all support unlimited referrals. The second plan of the referral marketing system, however, has advanced tools. Some of these include SMS campaigns, landing pages, and email automation. Plus, the Premium Plan provides users with phone support and a dedicated manager.

ReferralCandy

At a Glance

This is the best solution for owners running eCommerce stores. The business size and industry of the business as long as it runs on one of the most popular platforms. ReferralCandy is flexible, customizable, and mobile-friendly, meaning it easily adapts to any of its users’ needs.

Pros

• Account fraud protection
• Retargeting
• Templates
• Branded pages and emails
• Rewards management

Cons

• Charges commission
• Could use more rewards types
• Targets eCommerce stores only

Features

The ReferralCandy referral marketing platform is robust and versatile. Users get to set automated custom rewards, send email blasts, and invite new customers. The supported rewards are percentage discounts, dollar discounts, cash, or custom gifts. Other tools include referral widget, embedded signup forms, post-purchase popups. Plus, all these come with the clients’ branding.

ReferralCandy has an automation function that puts the entire online referral scheme on autopilot, from invitations and emailing to reward assigning. Users of the referral program software also get access to data-driven analytics. These provide traffic and sales insights, customer reports, industry benchmarks, and more.

Pricing

ReferralCandy offers a 30-day risk-free trial of its product. Then, the vendor has two plans on the menu. The Premium Plan costs $49 per month plus an additional commission on referral sales. The commission rate ranges from 0.25% to 5%. It supports unlimited customers and automatic fraud protection.

The Enterprise Plan of the referral tracking system is billed annually at $3,999 per month and includes no extra commission. It ups the Premium Plan with an account manager and priority support.

ReferralRock

At a Glance

Built for businesses with a 500-10,000 member range, ReferralRock is a top choice for SMBs, growth marketers, and service providers. Users can set their referral and marketing programs on autopilot thanks to the system’s automation capabilities. The software seamlessly integrates with leading apps, including email marketing, CRM, and eCommerce platforms.

Pros

• Visual editor
• Branding
• Payments
• Automated workflows
• Website referral widget

Cons

• Limited reporting
• Pricey for startups

Features

ReferralRock is a reliable referral programs software with both essential and advanced functions. This platform covers much more than clients’ referral programs and extends to affiliate, influencer, and partner marketing too. Management-wise, ReferralRock comes with team accounts, multiple programs, multi-stage tracking, and member segmentation. Building programs is straightforward with the drag-and-drop builder, automated recommendations, and page templates.

Clients also get access to a member platform with a custom domain, social media sharing, and statistics. ReferralRock is among the referral marketing platforms with white labeling and fraud detection. The service, additionally, provides full email automation, referral tracking, and lots of integrations. In terms of rewards, users can set up single or dual-sided rewards alongside the more complex multiple tiers. Automated gift cards, vouchers, and manual rewards are supported as well.

Pricing

This vendor offers both a free trial and a demo for its product. There are also three plans to choose from, with each featuring unlimited referrals and essential referral marketing tools.

• Starter – $200 per month/500 members/1 active program
• Growth – $400 per month/5,000 members/3 active programs
• Established Business – $800 per month/10,000 members/5 active programs.

Only the Established Business plan, however, supports white labeling.

YotPo

At a Glance

YotPo is an efficient and straightforward eCommerce marketing platform. The product easily meets the needs of companies in any industry, regardless of their number of employees and members. YotPo integrates with tons of popular programs, including Shopify, Magento, and Salesforce. As a referral software, it features a myriad of functionalities for reaching new customers.

Pros

• Loyalty and referral programs
• Tier-based programs
• Custom-designed management
• Multiple campaigns
• Measurable ROI

Cons

• Complaints about price
• No fraud detection

Features

Content generation, on-site widgets, consumer insights and advanced customization are some of the platform’s top features. In terms of rewards management capabilities, it supports multiple campaign choices, custom-designed experiences, and tier-based programs.

YotPo further offers full customer management and measurable ROIs that give deep insights into clients’ performance. With this referral program software, users can provide an incentive for repeat referrals and reward top performers. The platform also boasts multichannel support and multiple sharing options.

Pricing

There are two ways for customers to try out the YotPro program. First, they can request a product demo. Second, they can subscribe to the Freemium Plan which includes 50 monthly orders and basic functions.

Businesses that need advanced features can request the pricing of the Premium Plan. It supports more integrations, provides robust analytics, and includes a dedicated success manager. YotPo’s pricing is based on company size and individual needs.

Tapfiliate

At a Glance

Anyone who needs a multipurpose referral management software should invest in Tapfiliate. While the platform is widely known for its affiliate software, it also provides tools for tracking referrals. Tapfiliate prides itself on its quick setup and long list of advanced features. Its plans offer solutions for companies with any number of affiliates.

Pros

• Affiliate autopilot
• Social media sharing
• Rewards management
• Performance bonuses
• Fraud detection

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Extra fees for overages

Features

With full automation and streamlined processes, Tapfiliate saves users lots of hours of manual work. The platform supports multi-level marketing, affiliate programs, and advanced social sharing. As one of the best referral software out there, the platform offers coupons, banners, and category/item-based commissions.

The system also provides custom fields, branded landing pages, and bonus incentives. Tapfiliate will ensure you pay for top-quality leads only with its automatic fraud detection system. For those who perform, clients can create affiliate tiers, team commissions, and lifetime commissions. There is also similar flexibility in rewards management, with one-time, recurring, and fixed commissions available.

Pricing

This vendor offers a 14-day free trial of its product. Plus, users can test Tapfiliate and return it within 30 days thanks to the money-back guarantee.

The referral tracking app, otherwise, comes in three packages:

• Essential – $69 per month/1,000 affiliates/ 200,000 clicks/1m banner impressions
• Pro – $149 per month/ 10,000 affiliates/500,000 clicks/2.5m banner impressions
• Enterprise – price upon request/unlimited affiliates, clicks, and banner impressions

The Essential Plan is the best option for startups that need an affordable solution. It doesn’t include any team members, premium support, or advanced tools. Businesses that need team access can go for the Pro Plan that supports five team members. The Enterprise Plan includes unlimited team members, premium support, and advanced affiliate marketing tools.

InviteBox

At a Glance

Small businesses that want to get started with their brand-new referral platform immediately should go for InviteBox. This software was designed as a social referral program for reaching new customers. It works for marketers, agencies, eCommerce businesses, and more. InviteBox can handle anything from 100 to an unlimited number of campaign participants.

Pros

• Campaign management
• Flexible rewards
• Quick launch
• Social media integration
• Referrer leaderboard

Cons

• Lacks advanced features
• White labeling pricey
• No multi-role management

Features

InviteBox is as simple as possible. The platform has all the essential referral tools, but nothing more. Clients have access to campaign and rewards management, and get to create beautiful campaigns with a few clicks and share them across social networks. Some useful functions include the referrer leaderboard, the import/export, and the custom email templates.

Users of InviteBox can set tier reward systems, give goal-based incentives, run contests, or start giveaways. The system provides actionable insights too. These, however, aren’t as thorough and detailed as reports of some of the other referral system software.

Pricing

Those interested in trying out InviteBox can go for a product demo or a 14-day free trial. The trial includes 100 participants, which is enough to test the platform entirely. Getting started takes no more than a few minutes and doesn’t require a credit card.

The three premium plans on the menu are priced as follows.

• Startup – $29 per month/ up to 100 campaign participants
• Small Business – $59 per month/ up to 1,000 campaign participants
• Unlimited – $199 per month/ unlimited campaign participants

How to Choose Referral Program Software

When a business wants to invest in a platform, they need expert guidance for finding the best product. Getting the best-rated solution isn’t always the smartest move. All systems come with specific features and target industries. So, you should focus on discovering the one that best aligns with your working style.

Step 1: Weed Out Unsuitable Products

Small businesses have different needs than eCommerce platforms, local services, or SaaS providers. This means you want to invest in referral management software able to handle your operations. Use our classification guidelines and reviews to weed out any products that target companies of different sizes and industries.

Step 2: Define Your Expectations

This step is all about the capabilities of the platform. After you’ve been through all the essential features, make a list of the ones critical for your online referral program. Compare the list against the products shortlisted in Step 1. Any referral program software that meets your minimum criteria survives this elimination round.

Step 3: Determine Your Budget

Lastly, let’s talk about your investment size and other pricing-related preferences. Define your spending budget and stick to products within that limit. Pay attention to free trials, money-back guarantees, and discounts — these can help you pick the winner if more than one solution meets all your requirements.