Genius Referrals vs GrowSurf (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Genius Referrals if

• Fits if you run a SaaS or store with a few hundred referrers a month and want payouts handled
• Works for teams that want tiered or multi-level rewards on a higher plan

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if your advocate count grows, as extra advocates cost $0.06 to $0.20 each
• Skip it on Starter if you want Automated Payouts, which is an add-on there
• Watch out: full white-label branding and multi-level rewards need Platinum at $679
• Tight if you need more than one program, as Starter and Silver include one program and one campaign

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

Genius Referrals

• Pricing follows new advocates per month; extra advocates are billed at $0.06 to $0.20 each depending on plan.
• Starter has no Automated Payouts, which is an add-on there.
• Starter and Silver include one referral program and one reward campaign each.
• Full white-label branding and multi-level rewards need Platinum.

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.

Genius Referrals

Tracking and automation

Tracks links, referrals and conversions end to end, then automates rewards and notifications with rules the customer controls.

Global payouts

Pays advocates in cash, gift cards or credits in several currencies through PayPal, Wise or Tango Card; Automated Payouts is an add-on on Starter.

Fraud protection

Rules, limits and identity checks aim to stop duplicate sign-ups, self-referrals and suspicious patterns.

Several program types

Customer referral, affiliate, influencer, partner, employee and newsletter referral programs, with templates by industry.

SDKs, REST API and Zapier

Connects through SDKs, webhooks, a REST API or Zapier, with an integration hub for ecommerce, CRM and payment tools.

Reward campaign types

Single and double-sided rewards on every plan, tiered campaigns from Silver and multi-level campaigns on Platinum.

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.

Genius Referrals

• Starter$119

  per month, 250 new advocates, billed annually ($149 monthly)

  1 referral program and 1 reward campaign, single and double-sided rewards, basic branding, email support. $0.20 per extra advocate.

• Silver$175

  per month, 1,000 new advocates, billed annually ($219 monthly)

  1 program, tiered reward campaigns, Automated Payouts, branded program domain, priority email support. $0.15 per extra advocate.

• Gold$343

  per month, 2,500 new advocates, billed annually ($429 monthly)

  2 programs and 2 reward campaigns, branded domain and sender, dedicated customer success manager. $0.10 per extra advocate.

• Platinum$679

  per month, 5,000 new advocates, billed annually ($849 monthly)

  3 programs and 5 reward campaigns, multi-level reward campaigns, full white-label branding. Bought through a demo. $0.06 per extra advocate.

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.

Genius Referrals

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  The pricing page states a 20% saving on annual billing; the plan prices above are the annual-billing rates.

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.