ReferralCandy vs Social Snowball
We give ReferralCandy a 2.2 GPA and Social Snowball a 1.8, out of 4.0. ReferralCandy 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.
ReferralCandy
Customer referral and affiliate programs for online stores
Social Snowball
Affiliate, influencer and referral programs for Shopify DTC brands
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAReferralCandyFair | 1.8GPASocial SnowballWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DGraded on $5,000 a month of referred sales: Grow is $79 plus a 3.5% success fee ($175), so $254 a month, with no yearly price. Basic's 10.5% fee would make it $534. That's just inside this category's dearest tenth. | DGraded on $5,000 a month of affiliate sales: Snow Day is $249 plus 3% of that revenue ($150), so $399 a month, with no yearly price. That's in this category's dearest tenth. Blizzard drops the usage charge but starts at $899 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 7-day free trial on any plan, and the clock starts when you switch the app on, not when you install it. The listing doesn't say whether it wants a card. | FNothing free on record: no free plan, and no trial on its Shopify App Store listing. |
| Features | BCustomer referrals and affiliates side by side, unlimited campaigns, custom coupon codes, store credit or cash through PayPal, Venmo, bank or virtual cards, a Fraud Center that blocks self-referrals, and full API access. Every plan has every feature. | BSign-up straight after checkout, Safelinks that make a single-use code per shopper, influencer pages, product seeding, cash, gift card or credit payouts, fraud checks and tiers. It covers the whole job. TikTok Shop and creator search are on Blizzard only. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. It's one click on Shopify and a plugin elsewhere, but you'll still set rewards, coupons and fraud rules before friends start referring. | CNo App Store rating on record. Buyers join after checkout with no form to fill in, which helps, but you still set up the programs, tiers and rules that sort them. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Magento, plus Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Recharge and Tremendous, and full API access on every plan. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. | BWeb, as a Shopify app, with Klaviyo, TikTok Shop, Instagram, Tremendous, KnoCommerce and Zapier. It names no other store platform, and there's no desktop or phone app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | refer-a-friend programs for online stores | turning Shopify shoppers into affiliates |
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: ReferralCandy and Social Snowball. How we grade
Price against what you get
ReferralCandy starts at $9 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Social Snowball starts at $249 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and ReferralCandy starts $240 a month lower. Of the other affiliate and referral tools on the chart, none scores higher than ReferralCandy for less, and none scores higher than Social Snowball for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- ReferralCandy starts at $9 per month. Social Snowball starts at $249 per month.
At a glance
| ReferralCandy | Social Snowball | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $9 per month | $249 per month |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on any plan, starting when the app is activated | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Anafore Pte Ltd | Social Snowball |
| Price read from | referralcandy.com | apps.shopify.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ReferralCandy
- Shopify stores that want customers to refer friends for a reward
- Brands running a small affiliate or ambassador program next to referrals
- Stores that prefer month-to-month billing with no contract
Social Snowball
- Shopify DTC brands turning buyers into affiliates after checkout
- Stores whose influencer discount codes keep leaking to coupon sites
- Brands paying creators in gift cards or store credit as well as cash
Worth knowing
ReferralCandy
- Each plan adds a success fee of 10.5%, 3.5%, 1.5% or 0.25% of referred new customers' first three orders, after discounts and before tax and shipping.
- Each extra store costs $20 a month plus the main store's success-fee rate.
- PayPal, Venmo and bank-transfer payouts carry the provider's own fees; Tremendous cards and store credit do not.
- Billing is month to month only; no yearly price is listed.
Social Snowball
- Snow Day adds 3% of affiliate revenue to its $249 monthly fee; Blizzard starts at $899 a month as a custom plan with no usage charges.
- It runs as a Shopify app; no other store platform is named on its listing or site.
- TikTok Shop, creator search, social listening and a dedicated CSM are on Blizzard only.
- Its website publishes no pricing page; the prices are the ones on its Shopify App Store listing.
Key features
ReferralCandy
- Referrals and affiliates in one app
- Run a customer referral program and an affiliate program side by side, with unlimited campaigns and custom coupon codes; a loyalty program is offered on Shopify.
- Store platforms
- One-click install on Shopify, plugins for BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Magento, and an email-based install for custom stores, at the same price.
- Cash or store-credit rewards
- Pay advocates in store credit, or in cash through PayPal, Venmo, bank transfer or Tremendous virtual debit cards, with no transaction fee added.
- Fraud Center
- Exact self-referrals, existing customers and already-referred friends are blocked automatically; close name matches, shared IPs and bursts of referrals are flagged for review.
- Integrations and API
- Connect Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend, Recharge and Tremendous, and build on full API access on every plan.
Social Snowball
- Post-purchase referrals
- Customers become affiliates right after checkout, without a separate sign-up, and are sorted into programs and tiers by rules you set.
- Safelinks
- An affiliate link that creates a unique single-use discount code for every shopper who clicks it, so codes cannot spread to coupon sites.
- Influencer management
- Branded sign-up pages, email and SMS messages, attribution settings you control, and product seeding that influencers redeem from their dashboard.
- Cash, gift card and credit payouts
- Bulk send cash, gift cards or store credit in two clicks, and let affiliates choose how to redeem earnings from a branded payout portal.
- Creator search and TikTok Shop
- On Blizzard, find and recruit verified creators with AI-powered search and outreach sequences, and run TikTok Shop affiliates beside your store program.
Plans
ReferralCandy
Basic$9
per month
Plus a 10.5% success fee on referred new customers' first three orders. Every feature, unlimited campaigns and full API access.
Grow$79
per month
Plus a 3.5% success fee. For brands growing referral and affiliate revenue; the vendor's example puts $12,000 of referred sales at $499 for the month.
Scale$249
per month
Plus a 1.5% success fee, for high-volume brands where margins matter.
Enterprise$799
per month
Plus a 0.25% success fee, with dedicated onboarding and an account manager.
Social Snowball
Snow Day$249
per month
Plus 3% of affiliate revenue. Unlimited affiliates, influencer management, post-purchase referrals, automated payouts, fraud and code-leak protection, tiers.
Blizzard$899
per month and up
A custom plan with no usage charges, adding TikTok Shop, creator search and outreach, social listening, UGC, Instagram DM chat and a dedicated CSM.
