Friendbuy vs GrowSurf (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Friendbuy if

• Fits if you're a consumer brand running referrals, loyalty and creators together
• Works for larger Shopify Plus brands with several stores, languages or currencies

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to see a price before booking a demo
• Not for you if you want to sign up and start on your own today, as there's no trial or self-serve sign-up
• Skip it if you're on Adobe Commerce or commercetools and want an app to install, as they connect by script or API
• Watch out: the pricing address on record leads to the homepage, not a price page
• Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as it's web only

Pick GrowSurf if

• Fits if you want both referral and affiliate programs from one tool
• Works for developers who'll use the SDKs

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if your program grows: referral pricing follows participants and steps up from $125 to $314 a month
• Watch out: there's no free referral plan, and the free affiliate plan takes 3% of referral revenue with no cap stated
• Skip it if you file 1099 tax forms, which are charged separately
• Tight if you use Marketo or Salesforce, as some integrations need an annual plan

Friendbuy

• No prices are published: the pricing address leads to the homepage, and Friendbuy asks buyers to book a demo or meeting.
• No free trial or self-serve signup is offered on the website.
• Adobe Commerce and commercetools stores connect through JavaScript, a tag manager or the API, not an installed app.

GrowSurf

• Referral pricing follows participants, meaning people who get or use a referral link; the price steps up as the program grows.
• There is no free referral plan, and Business starts at 10,000 participants.
• 1099 tax filings are charged separately, and some integrations such as Marketo and Salesforce need an annual plan.
• The affiliate Free plan takes 3% of the referral revenue you earn, with no cap stated on the page.

Friendbuy

Referral programs

Customers share links to refer friends, and rewards are released only after validation such as a new-customer check, the attribution window or a return period.

Loyalty programs

Rewards for repeat purchases and other actions, VIP and membership tiers, receipt scanning, and wallet passes with notifications.

Influencer and affiliate

Invite and onboard creators with application forms and social checks, track their links and codes, and pay flat, fixed or performance commissions automatically.

Store and subscription integrations

One-click Shopify install with checkout and POS support, plus Adobe Commerce, commercetools and Salesforce Commerce Cloud; Recharge rewards apply to the next renewal.

Messaging and data sync

Referral, loyalty and reward events flow into Klaviyo, Attentive, Braze and Segment for flows and segments.

Analytics and AI

Benchmarks drawn from thousands of programs, incentive testing, AI recommendations, and an MCP server for querying program data with AI tools.

GrowSurf

Referral programs

Reward users with gift cards, credits, cash and other one-time rewards when they refer leads or customers, with dynamic rewards and upfront discounts.

Affiliate programs

Pay partners a fixed commission for a lead, or one-time or recurring commissions on sales, tracked through payment integrations.

Fraud protection

Automatic blocking of fraudulent referrals using server-side and client-side detection, data center IP checks and IP thresholds.

Developer tools

REST API with libraries for TypeScript, Python, PHP, Ruby and Java, SDKs for JavaScript, iOS, Android and React Native, webhooks and an MCP server.

Tax forms and payouts

1099 tax form filing for payouts (filings are charged separately), and reward delivery through PayPal, Wise, Tango Card and Tremendous.

Wide integrations

Connects to email, CRM, analytics and ad tools such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Segment and Google Ads.

Friendbuy

Pricing could not be confirmed. See friendbuy.com.

GrowSurf

• Free (affiliate programs)$0

  No subscription; 3% of the referral revenue you earn. Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly, PayPal and Wise integrations.

• Startup (referral)$125

  per month for up to 2,500 participants, billed yearly ($179 monthly)

  2 referral programs, 2 team members, fraud protection and API. Tiers reach 5,000 participants.

• Business (referral)$314

  per month for up to 10,000 participants, billed yearly ($449 monthly)

  5 programs, 5 team members, custom domain, multi-language. $649 a month at 25,000 participants, billed monthly.

• CustomCustom

  Above 150,000 participants: onboarding program, volume discounts and priority support.

Friendbuy

No public discounts listed.

GrowSurf

• Annual discount

  Save 30% with yearly billing

  The pricing page shows yearly billing as a 30% saving, for example Startup at $125 a month instead of $179.