# Cello review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Referral platform for B2B SaaS, for users and for partners Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Cello is a referral platform with two product lines: user referrals, embedded inside a SaaS product through web and mobile SDKs, and partner referrals for affiliates and influencers. User-referral plans are priced by the referral ARR a program generates; partner plans by campaigns and transacting partners. It includes a Slack support channel and a growth portal. - **Category:** Affiliate & Referral Software - **Made by:** Cello - **Website:** https://cello.so - **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if your referral ARR is above $10K, where the next user plan is $200 a month. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Cello has a free plan, and paid plans start at $65 per month for up to $10K referral ARR. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Partner referrals Free plan: 1 campaign and up to 5 transacting partners, with a 5% transaction cost. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | User referrals Start | $65 per month for up to $10K referral ARR | Unlimited referrals, 1 campaign, all integrations and features, Slack support, 0% transaction costs. Shown with a 32% discount. | | User referrals Grow | $200 per month for up to $50K referral ARR | Unlimited campaigns, priority Slack support and a dedicated success manager. Shown with a 33% discount. | | User referrals Scale | $750 per month for up to $100K referral ARR | Same features as Grow at a higher referral ARR ceiling; Enterprise has unlimited ARR at a custom price. | | Partner referrals Free | $0 | 1 campaign and up to 5 transacting partners, with a 5% transaction cost. | | Partner referrals Plus | $80 per month for up to 25 transacting partners | 3 campaigns, with a 3.5% transaction cost. | | Partner referrals Pro | $280 per month for up to 100 transacting partners | 10 campaigns, 3.5% transaction cost. The Enterprise tier has custom pricing and a 2% transaction cost. | Read from https://cello.so/pricing/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Cello before buying. ## Key features - **In-product referrals:** A web SDK and a mobile SDK for iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native put personal referral links inside the product, with no separate sign-up. - **Sharing and attribution:** Share by email, social, QR code or unique link, with branded landing pages and auto attribution that recovers missed attributions. - **Campaigns and rewards:** Campaigns carry payout rules, and users are notified and rewarded automatically when a referral succeeds. - **Activation sequences:** Automated engagement sequences across in-product and email touchpoints encourage users to share. - **Partner referrals:** A separate line for affiliates and influencers, priced by campaigns and transacting partners, with a growth portal. - **Performance analytics:** Referral performance is tracked in a portal in real time, with text customizable in more than 10 languages. ## Good for - B2B SaaS teams adding referrals inside their own product - Small programs that start on the entry plan or the free partner tier - Companies paying partners internationally ## Worth knowing - User-referral plans are capped by referral ARR: $10K, $50K and $100K, with Enterprise for more. - The page text shows dollars, but its structured pricing data lists euro amounts, so confirm the currency at sign-up. - Partner referrals charge a transaction cost of 5% on Free, 3.5% on Plus and Pro, and 2% on Enterprise. - Dedicated success manager is not on the Start plan. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Cello runs referral programs for SaaS companies, for users inside the product and for partners, with a free partner plan for 1 campaign and 5 partners. But user plans are capped by referral ARR, partner plans take a 2% to 5% cut of transactions, and the page's currency should be checked. - **Value for money: C.** User referrals start at $65 a month for up to $10K referral ARR, which is under the category's middle of $69 but not in its cheapest quarter. - **Free plan and trial: C.** A free partner plan with 1 campaign and up to 5 transacting partners, with a 5% transaction cost. Caps you will reach quickly. - **Features: B.** In-product referrals, sharing, campaigns, rewards, activation sequences and partner programs cover the core job. The listing names no gap. - **Ease of use: C.** A web app with campaigns and rewards to build, and Slack support on paid plans. No store rating is on record. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iOS and Android listed, with a single integration named. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Cello's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among affiliate and referral tools - Cello's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 68 of the 89 other affiliate and referral tools we grade, and level with 12. - It stands best on features (B, above 57 of 89) and worst on ease of use (C, above 2). - Its paid plans start at $65 a month, against a middle price of $65.46 for the category: 24 of the 49 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/affiliate-software ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Cello you would be making payouts to partners in many countries, with their tax forms. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.4 is higher than 68 of the 89 other affiliate and referral tools we grade. It costs $780 a year. - You could make: Reports: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: Payouts to partners in many countries, with their tax forms. - You could not: Every click and sale traced back to the right partner. - You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Slack **Tags:** Affiliate tracking, Partner payouts, Reports, AI features ## Alternatives - [FirstPromoter](https://toolgpa.com/tools/firstpromoter): Affiliate, referral and influencer programs for SaaS subscriptions. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cello-vs-firstpromoter) - [PartnerStack](https://toolgpa.com/tools/partnerstack): B2B partner platform for affiliate, referral and reseller programs. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cello-vs-partnerstack) - [Rewardful](https://toolgpa.com/tools/rewardful): Affiliate and referral tracking for SaaS companies billing on Stripe. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cello-vs-rewardful) - [Referral Factory](https://toolgpa.com/tools/referral-factory): Referral program software for mid-market and enterprise teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cello-vs-referral-factory) - [GrowSurf](https://toolgpa.com/tools/growsurf): Referral and affiliate program software with developer SDKs. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cello-vs-growsurf) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://cello.so/pricing/ - https://cello.so/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/cello Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).