Affilitrak vs Referrly: Which Affiliate App Should Your Shopify Store Choose?

If you're comparing budget-friendly affiliate apps for your Shopify store, Affilitrak and Referrly are both built for the same category of merchants (i.e someone who wants a real affiliate program without enterprise pricing).

They're closer in spirit than most pairings, which makes the differences that do exist worth understanding before you commit.

In this comparison, we'll put Affilitrak and Referrly side by side across pricing, branding, commissions, and recruitment, so you can choose with confidence.

Affilitrak vs Referrly: Overview

What is Affilitrak?

Affilitrak is an affiliate marketing app built for Shopify stores that want a complete, branded affiliate program without complexity.

With Affilitrak, you get:

• Flexible commission structures.
• Automatic affiliate link tracking.
• A branded affiliate portal on your own subdomain.
• An affiliate marketplace that helps new partners discover your program.

What is Referrly?

Referrly is an affiliate and referral marketing app for Shopify, aimed at stores working with social media influencers and customer referrers.

It offers a free plan that includes unlimited affiliates, with low-cost paid tiers, and features like:

• Auto-generated referral links and coupon codes.
• Commission rules by product, collection, and achievement.
• Post-purchase popups that invite customers to become affiliates.

That said, reviewers on their app listing page have noted occasional technical issues affecting usability.

Also, its pricing information can be confusing, which is worth factoring in when you're choosing software that you will depend on every day.

Affilitrak vs Referrly: Pricing and Key Features Comparison

PS: Pricing and plans change, so always check the live Shopify App Store listings before deciding.

With Referrly specifically, reviewers have flagged the published pricing as confusing because it tends to change over time.

So confirm exactly what your plan includes before you build your program on it.

Pricing

Both apps compete on affordability, and both deserve credit for it.

Referrly's free plan includes unlimited affiliates, and its paid tiers are currently among the cheapest on the App Store.

The caveat is the one reviewers raise: the pricing structure has been described as inconsistent and confusing.

Affilitrak on the other hand is completely free with the complete experience included.

That includes everything you'll get a standard affiliate marketing app on Shopify from;

• Commission flexibility
• Referral tracking
• And the Affilitrak marketplace.

There's no tier puzzle to decode, because right now there are no tiers when it comes to these features.

Branding and the Affiliate Experience

Both apps understand that the affiliate-facing side matters.

Referrly supports a custom signup domain, while Affilitrak runs your full affiliate portal for you.

The portal is the part of your program affiliates touch every day, and Referrly reviewers on the Shopify app store have reported occasional technical issues affecting usability.

Commission Flexibility

Both apps are standard affiliate marketing apps and they give you real control here.

Referrly lets you set commission rules by affiliate, product, collection, and achievement, which is flexible for a budget app.

Affilitrak does the same thing and it also covers the structures most programs actually run on, percentage, flat, and tiered, in a setup designed to be configured in minutes.

Both offer more commission control than their price points suggest but the kicker here is the user interface and how easy it is to set up both apps.

Referrly's user interface (i.e the interface that you as a merchant will have to navigate through) is a bit clunky compared, and they have a mini support chat which can be helpful but it also makes the layout look all over the place.

Compare it to Affilitrak's user interface which is clean and only shows what you need to see and that makes the setup process faster and less confusing.

Recruiting Affiliates

This is the most interesting difference between the two.

Referrly's recruitment strength is the post-purchase popup: customers are invited to become affiliates right after they buy, which suits stores that want their own buyers doing the promoting.

Affilitrak's recruitment strength is the marketplace: On the Affilitrak marketplace, your program gets listed where affiliates are actively looking for brands to promote, giving you a discovery channel beyond your existing customer base. So instead of running ads to get affiliates, you can sign up to the Affilitrak marketplace to get more affiliates outside your circle.

If you need to reach affiliates you don't already know, Affilitrak's marketplace is the stronger engine.

Support

Referrly's support team is often praised in reviews as responsive and helpful with setup and troubleshooting, and that's worth acknowledging.

But Affilitrak offers founder-led support.

With this, you can talk directly to the people building the product.

So your feedback turns into fixes quickly.

Affilitrak also offers support all round the clock (24/7) because they have team members located in different timezones and the team responds to all tickets as fast as possible (usually within a minute).

Given that reviewers have flagged technical issues in Referrly, a direct line to the team behind your affiliate software is more than a nice-to-have.

It's insurance for the channel your revenue runs through.

Why Affilitrak Is a Strong Referrly Alternative

No pricing guesswork

Referrly is cheap, but its plan structure has confused reviewers.

Affilitrak is currently free to use.

Recruitment beyond your customer list

The Affilitrak marketplace puts your program in front of affiliates actively searching for brands.

Which matters most when you're growing and don't yet have thousands of buyers to convert into promoters.

Software you can rely on

An affiliate program is a trust system.

Missed tracking or a glitchy dashboard costs you affiliates.

Affilitrak is deliberately focused on doing the core job dependably, with the team a message away.

Conclusion

Referrly is a legitimately affordable way to start, especially if your plan centers on influencer coupon codes and converting customers into referrers, and you're comfortable verifying the plan details up front.

Affilitrak is the better pick for most Shopify stores that want a dependable, branded program with built-in discovery.

The portal, flexible commissions, tracking, and the marketplace are all part of the product and it's currently free for most of its features, and support comes straight from the team building it.

Ready to compare for yourself? Start free with Affilitrak, check Pricing, or browse the Help Center for setup guides.