Quick answer: Referral software pays your customers to bring friends, affiliate software pays outside promoters for sales, and loyalty software rewards repeat purchases. For Shopify stores, ReferralCandy charges $39 to $799 a month plus a success fee, Nector and Smile.io have free plans, and Rewardful or FirstPromoter start at $49 for tracked affiliate programmes. Cuelinks and Amazon Associates cover Indian publishers. Enterprise suites such as Loyalty Juggernaut publish no prices.
How we researched this: We read the pricing pages of ReferralCandy, Rewardful, FirstPromoter, Tapfiliate, GoAffPro, Nector and Smile.io, the product pages of Cuelinks, Amazon Associates India, Xoxoday Plum, Loyalty Juggernaut and Reelo, a Government of India press release on influencer disclosures, and Google's review policy. Prices are as published in October 2026.
Three different jobs that get sold under one name
Vendors blur three programmes, and buying the wrong one is an easy way to waste money.
- Referral programmes reward an existing customer, usually with store credit or a coupon, when a friend makes a first purchase. The referrer already trusts you, and the friend arrives with a code. ReferralCandy, Nector and Smile.io sit here as a referral program SaaS for e-commerce stores.
- Affiliate programmes pay outside promoters, such as bloggers, coupon sites, YouTubers and agencies, a commission on tracked sales or sign-ups. Rewardful, FirstPromoter, Tapfiliate and GoAffPro run your own programme; Cuelinks and Admitad are networks that bring publishers to you. Affiliate marketing software India merchants evaluate falls into those two shapes.
- Loyalty programmes reward repeat behaviour with points, tiers or stamps. Nector, Smile.io, Reelo Loyalty and enterprise suites such as Loyalty Juggernaut sit here.
A Surat saree brand with 3,000 repeat buyers wants referral and loyalty. A Pune accounting-SaaS company with a free trial wants affiliates. A Chennai multi-store chain wants loyalty tied to its billing system. The prices below make more sense once you know which group you are in.
Referral and affiliate tools: prices side by side
All figures are per the vendors' pricing pages (checked October 2026). Most show a dollar sign; whether they will invoice in rupees, and how GST applies, is for you to ask.
| Tool | Monthly price | Limits that decide your tier | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| ReferralCandy | Basic $39 + 10.5% success fee; Grow $79 + 3.5%; Scale $249 + 1.5%; Enterprise $799 + 0.25% | Fee applies to net-new customers' first three orders only, on subtotal after discounts and before tax and shipping | 7 days; no success fee during trial |
| Rewardful | Starter $49; Growth $99; Enterprise from $149 (taxes extra) | Affiliate-attributed revenue up to $7,500, $15,000 and $30,000 a month; Starter has 1 campaign and 2 team members | 14 days, every plan |
| FirstPromoter | Starter $49; Business $99; Enterprise $149 | Affiliate-driven revenue up to $5,000 and $15,000 a month; Starter has up to 1,000 affiliates and 3 campaigns | 14 days, no card |
| Tapfiliate | Launch $89 ($74 billed annually); Scale $179 ($149 annually) | Launch: 50 affiliates, 5,000 clicks and 500 conversions a month; overage $15 per 1,000 conversions | 7 days (Launch), 14 days (Scale) |
| GoAffPro | Hobby free; Premium $49; Business from $99 | Hobby suits under 100 daily orders; Shopify app and WooCommerce plugin listed | Not mentioned |
Three things hide in that table.
ReferralCandy is a fee-plus-share model, so the right tier depends on revenue. Using only the published numbers, the Basic and Grow plans cost the same at about $571 of monthly first-order revenue from referred customers, since $39 + 10.5% of $571 equals $79 + 3.5% of $571. Grow and Scale cross at $8,500 and Scale and Enterprise at $44,000. A brand whose referral programme brings $2,000 of first-order revenue a month would pay $249 on Basic, $149 on Grow and $279 on Scale, so Grow is the cheapest. These totals ignore the rewards you pay your advocates; ReferralCandy says it charges no fee on those.
Rewardful and FirstPromoter limit by affiliate-driven revenue, not total revenue. FirstPromoter's page says "Plans are based on the monthly revenue your affiliates generate, not your total revenue", and moves you up a tier if you exceed the limit. A Pune SaaS firm that gets $6,000 a month through affiliates would sit on Rewardful Starter ($49, limit $7,500) but need FirstPromoter Business ($99, since Starter stops at $5,000) or Tapfiliate Launch ($89) if conversions stay under 500 and affiliates under 50.
Payout rails matter more for foreign affiliates. Rewardful lists PayPal and Wise mass payouts on all plans and says optional Managed Payouts carry a 3% processing fee; FirstPromoter lists PayPal, Wise, Stripe, crypto and bank transfer across 190 currencies. If most of your affiliates are Indian creators, ask each vendor how a payout in rupees works before you sign.
Loyalty platforms: pick by monthly order count
For a store, the loyalty vendors price on orders per month. Here is what Nector and Smile.io publish.
| Orders a month | Nector (billed monthly, USD) | Smile.io (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 200 | Free (up to 300 orders) | Free (200 orders), points and referrals included |
| Up to 500 | Free to 300; Starter $49 to 1,000 | Essential $15 (500 orders) |
| Up to 1,000 | Starter $49 | Standard $79 (VIP programme not included) |
| Up to 2,500 | Growth $179 (to 4,000) | Growth $199 (VIP included, to 2,500) |
| Up to 4,000 | Growth $179 | Growth $199 plus 1,500 extra orders at $20 per 100 = $499, or Smile Plus $999 on annual billing (to 7,500) |
| Up to 12,000 | Premium $349 | Smile Plus $999 on annual billing (to 7,500), then $5 per 100 extra orders |
Nector's extra orders cost $15, $10 or $5 per 100 on Starter, Growth and Premium. Smile.io offers overage only on Growth ($20 per 100) and Smile Plus ($5 per 100); on Free, Essential and Standard there is no extra-order option, so you must upgrade. Nector's Free plan has no overage option and the dashboard locks until the quota resets on the 1st or you upgrade.
For a store doing 1,500 orders a month, Nector Starter plus 500 extra orders is $49 + (5 × $15) = $124, against Nector Growth at $179 and Smile.io Growth at $199. The cheaper route lacks Growth's features, which include removing Nector branding, a dedicated loyalty page and multilingual support, so decide whether you need them. Nector also lists custom pricing for retail with POS integration; its page does not say WhatsApp is available on the online plans.
Offline merchants have different needs, and any customer loyalty software program India retailers adopt must work at the billing counter. Reelo Loyalty says it plugs into your POS without staff training and can send loyalty updates by WhatsApp alone or with SMS and email; its page gives no INR prices, and it says cancelled accounts move to a forever-free plan. Reelo also claims ₹1 crore+ generated via loyalty programmes, a vendor claim we cannot verify. Large coalition and airline programmes use platforms like Loyalty Juggernaut, whose GRAVTY platform page lists 60+ enterprise clients (its own figure) and offers no prices. If you are comparing such enterprise suites with Capillary Technologies, put the same questions to each vendor: the order-volume basis for pricing, what happens when you leave, who owns the member data, and what each costs for a rupee-denominated rewards catalogue.
For B2B loyalty, see our guide to dealer and channel partner loyalty software.
Indian affiliate networks and reward fulfilment
If you want publishers rather than software, join a network. Cuelinks calls itself an award-winning affiliate network in India and states 60K+ publishers, 2,500+ campaigns and 10M+ clicks a month (its own numbers); its page directs advertisers to contact sales and does not state payment terms or advertiser fees. Admitad, vCommission, INRDeals and EarnKaro are other networks listed on App Advisor.
Amazon Associates India works the other way round: you are the publisher. Its page says associates "earn up to 10% in affiliate fees from qualifying purchases and programs", with fees differing by product category; bloggers, publishers and content creators with a qualifying website or app can apply. It suits publishers who already have a site or app, and it does not replace a tool for running your own affiliate programme.
Rewards fulfilment is a separate problem. Xoxoday Plum describes itself as a rewards platform with reward points, codes and links, prepaid cards, bulk sends by CSV or API, and a catalogue it claims at 10M+ options. Its page says Plum earns a margin on redeemed rewards disclosed at contract and that prepaid cards carry a category surcharge; it gives no prices. The page also does not mention India, so ask about rupee redemption.
Rules to follow before you launch
Disclose paid promotions. The Department of Consumer Affairs' Endorsement Know-hows, released on 20 January 2023 (PIB), say anyone with an audience who can influence purchases must disclose any material connection with the advertiser, including monetary compensation, free products, discounts and gifts. The guide suggests plain terms such as "advertisement", "sponsored" or "paid promotion", shown prominently. Put this in your affiliate agreement and tell your creators.
Do not pay for Google reviews. If a referral reward is tied to posting a Google review, it breaks Google's policy against offering "payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" for reviews. Keep review requests separate; see our guide to Google review and reputation tools.
Watch fraud and self-referral. Rewardful lists self-referral fraud detection on every plan; GoAffPro's Business plan lists fraud management tools. Ask every vendor what it does about fake accounts using one phone number.
Three Indian scenarios worked through
A Jaipur jewellery D2C brand on Shopify, 1,500 orders a month. Run referral and points together. At the numbers above, Nector Starter with overage is $124 a month; ReferralCandy Grow is about $149 if referrals bring $2,000 of first orders. Start with Nector's free tier for 300 orders to test mechanics, then upgrade. See our comparison of Shopify and WooCommerce costs for the store side.
A Pune SaaS company with 500 trial sign-ups a month. Choose an affiliate tool with a recurring-commission feature. Tapfiliate's Launch plan lists recurring commissions and 30+ integrations including Stripe; Rewardful's Starter lists coupon tracking and double-sided incentives; both have trials. Pay affiliates only after the refund window closes.
A Chennai chain with eight stores. Loyalty must work at the billing counter. Use the POS vendor's loyalty module or a connector like Reelo, and keep one member ID across stores. Our guide on growing repeat sales with a CRM covers the follow-ups.
Who should skip which tool
- Skip an affiliate programme until you have a margin that survives the commission and a conversion rate you trust. Test referral first.
- Skip enterprise loyalty suites if you have under a few thousand active members; Nector's and Smile.io's free plans cost nothing to learn on.
- Skip US-dollar tools if your finance team cannot pay foreign SaaS; check influencer marketing platforms or Indian networks instead.
- Skip any programme without a written fraud policy, whatever the tool.
A six-week launch plan
- Week 1: Decide the reward (store credit often protects margins better than cash) and the cap per customer. Write a one-page terms sheet.
- Week 2: Install the app on a test store and trace one referral from share to reward.
- Weeks 3 and 4: Launch to your 200 best customers only. Mention it in post-purchase emails and your WhatsApp order updates; see upsell and cross-sell with CRM automation.
- Week 5: Review referred-customer returns and RTO against normal orders; our guide to reducing RTO and COD losses shows what to track.
- Week 6: Decide whether to widen it, add affiliates or add tiers, and compare options in loyalty program software.
FAQs
What is the best affiliate marketing software in India?
No single winner exists. For your own programme, Rewardful, FirstPromoter and Tapfiliate publish prices from $49 to $89 a month. For a network of Indian publishers, Cuelinks is one of several, and brands usually contact sales to join.
How much does ReferralCandy cost?
Per its pricing page, Basic is $39 a month plus a 10.5% success fee, Grow $79 plus 3.5%, Scale $249 plus 1.5% and Enterprise $799 plus 0.25%. The fee applies to net-new customers' first three orders. It offers a 7-day free trial.
Is there a free loyalty program for a small online store?
Yes. Nector's free plan covers up to 300 orders a month with unlimited members and a referral programme, and Smile.io's free plan covers 200 orders with points and referrals. Both show USD prices on their pages.
Do I need to tell customers about affiliate links in India?
The Department of Consumer Affairs' guide says influencers must disclose material connections, including compensation, free products and discounts, using clear terms like "advertisement" or "sponsored". Consult a lawyer for your specific programme.
What about Capillary Technologies loyalty software?
Capillary Technologies is not one of the vendors whose pages are reviewed in this guide, so we make no claims about its features or price. Put the questions from the loyalty section above to it and ask for a written quote.
How is a referral programme different from an affiliate programme?
Referrals reward existing customers for bringing friends; affiliates are outside promoters paid by commission. Referral suits stores with repeat buyers, and affiliates suit products with a clear conversion funnel.
Next step: get a free matched shortlist, or compare more in loyalty program software.
