Friendbuy vs UpPromote
We give Friendbuy a 2.0 GPA and UpPromote a 2.6, out of 4.0. UpPromote grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
UpPromote
Affiliate, influencer and referral programs for Shopify stores
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAFriendbuyFair | 2.6GPAUpPromoteGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo prices are published: the pricing address leads to the homepage, and Friendbuy asks you to book a demo. So there's no monthly figure for a business whose affiliates bring in $5,000, and with nothing to compare, it sits at C. | CFree stops at $3,000 of referral sales a month, so a store at $5,000 needs Growth: $24.99 a month on yearly billing plus 2% of sales ($100), $124.99 a month in all. That's on the dear side of this category, where several tools take no cut at all. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no free plan, no free trial and no self-serve sign-up on the website. | BA free plan with link and coupon tracking, analytics, fraud detection and manual payouts, and no fee on sales, up to $3,000 of referral sales a month. A new store could live on it a good while; one at $5,000 a month is past it. |
| Features | BReferrals with rewards held until checks pass, loyalty with VIP tiers, receipt scanning and wallet passes, and creator programs with tracked links, codes and automatic commissions. Benchmarks and an MCP server too. It covers the whole job. | BLink and coupon tracking, commissions by product, collection or order value, lifetime and multi-level rates, customer referrals, a marketplace, payouts in store credit, PayPal or Wise, and 1099 forms. Anti-leak codes come on Professional. The whole job. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Shopify is a one-click install, but it's sold through a demo, and Adobe Commerce and commercetools stores connect by script, tag manager or API. | CNo rating on record. It installs on Shopify and the free plan gets you going, but there are programs, commission rules and payouts to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Shopify, Adobe Commerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Klaviyo, Attentive, Braze, Recharge and Segment, plus an API. No desktop or phone app, which an A needs. | BWeb, built for Shopify, with PayPal, Wise, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend, Recharge and Appstle. The API and MCP start on Professional. No desktop or phone app, so B is the ceiling. |
| Best for | referral and loyalty programs for big brands | Shopify affiliate programs that start free |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Friendbuy and UpPromote. How we grade
Where they differ
- UpPromote has a free plan. Friendbuy does not.
At a glance
| Friendbuy | UpPromote | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $24.99 per month, billed annually ($29.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | One affiliate program with link and coupon tracking, analytics, fraud detection and manual payouts, reviewing up to $3,000 of referral sales a month. No performance fee. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial on Growth, Professional and Enterprise |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Friendbuy | UpPromote |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | uppromote.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Friendbuy
- Consumer brands running referral, loyalty and creator programs together
- Subscription, finance and hospitality businesses with custom reward rules
- Larger Shopify Plus stores with several stores, languages or currencies
UpPromote
- Shopify stores starting an affiliate or ambassador program for free
- Brands paying affiliates in store credit instead of cash
- Stores fighting coupon-code leaks from influencer codes
Worth knowing
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.
UpPromote
- Paid plans add a fee of 2%, 1.5% or 1% of successful referral sales to the monthly price, charged monthly.
- It is built for Shopify; pages off Shopify need the third-party tracking integration.
- PayPal auto-payouts, anti-leak discounts, 1099 forms and the API start on Professional; unlimited staff accounts need Enterprise.
- Creator Discovery is a separate add-on starting at $39 a month on any plan.
Key features
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.
UpPromote
- Link and coupon tracking
- Credit affiliates by link or coupon, with auto-generated coupons, custom affiliate links and anti-leak discount links on higher plans, and third-party tracking for pages not on Shopify.
- Commission rules
- Rates by order value, product or collection, lifetime and subscription commissions, new-customer rates, automatic tiers between programs and multi-level marketing.
- Customer referrals and recruiting
- Turn customers into ambassadors, list your offer in the UpPromote marketplace, and find creators with the Creator Discovery add-on from $39 a month.
- Payouts and tax forms
- Pay as store credit, through PayPal or with Wise bank transfers, schedule automatic payouts, export invoices and generate 1099-NEC forms.
- Affiliate engagement
- A customizable affiliate account in 8 languages, in-app chat, bulk emails, a media gallery for brand assets, and gifts or bonuses.
Plans
Friendbuy
Pricing could not be confirmed. See friendbuy.com.
UpPromote
Free$0
One program, one coupon per affiliate, up to $3,000 of referral sales reviewed a month, manual payouts and 24/7 live chat support.
Growth$24.99
per month, billed annually ($29.99 billed monthly)
Plus 2% of successful referral sales. Unlimited programs, 300 referral orders reviewed a month, customer referrals, marketplace listing and store credit.
Professional$74.99
per month, billed annually ($89.99 billed monthly)
Plus 1.5% of referral sales. 600 referrals a month, anti-leak discounts, PayPal auto-payouts, multi-level commissions, 1099 forms, API and MCP.
Enterprise$166.66
per month, billed annually ($199.99 billed monthly)
Plus 1% of referral sales. Unlimited referral reviews and staff accounts, multi-store sync and coupon code commissions. Shopify Plus pricing is custom.
Ways to pay less
Friendbuy
No public discounts listed.
UpPromote
- Annual discount
Save 17% with yearly billing
Yearly billing saves 17%: Growth is $299.90 a year, Professional $899.90 and Enterprise $1,999.90, against $29.99, $89.99 and $199.99 a month.
