Overview

Refersion brings partner discovery, referral tracking, commission management, and payments into one platform. Its first-party tracking is designed to work without cookies or redirects, which may suit brands that want affiliate attribution without relying on either. The platform also automates affiliate payments and generates required US tax forms for eligible affiliates.

Optional two-factor authentication can require a verification code for payments over $1,000 USD within 24 hours. Refersion says its reporting and data practices comply with GDPR and CCPA guidelines. Those controls may matter to teams handling affiliate payments and customer data, though the authentication feature is optional.

Key features

Partner discovery and attribution

Discovery uses product categories and a description of the brand’s ideal customer to surface potential partners. That gives a growing program a recruitment path as well as a way to track referrals. The free Marketplace Listing stops at letting affiliates view and apply to an offer; referral tracking, commission management, and payouts require a paid plan.

Commissions, payments, and integrations

Percentage-of-sale and subscription commissions cover two common program models. Growth adds advanced commission options, product and customer email tracking, multi-store management, API access, and chat support. The integrations span commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento, plus tools including Chargebee, Stripe, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Zapier.

Automated payouts reduce manual payment work, and one-click payouts including PayPal are included in Launch. Growth’s API access and Refersion’s GraphQL and REST APIs let teams build custom dashboards from Refersion data, which is more useful to brands with internal reporting needs than to smaller teams looking for a simple offer page.

Pricing

Refersion has a freemium model, but its free Marketplace Listing does not provide the core operating functions of an affiliate program. A 14-day free trial is offered for ambassador, influencer, and affiliate marketing programs. Paid plans also charge a percentage of affiliate-driven sales, so the plan fee is only part of the cost.

Plan	Price	What it includes and who it suits
Marketplace Listing	Custom pricing	A public Refersion Marketplace listing and a percent-of-sale offer affiliates can view and apply to. Useful for publishing an offer, but insufficient for tracking referrals or paying partners.
Launch	39.00 USD per month, plus 3% of affiliate-driven sales	Unlimited affiliates, clicks, and conversions; a first-party tracking domain; and one-click payouts including PayPal. A fit for brands that need core program operations without Growth’s advanced commission options or API access.
Growth	199.00 USD per month, plus 2% of affiliate-driven sales	Advanced commissions, product and customer email tracking, API access, 30+ marketing integrations, chat support, and multi-store management. Better suited to brands with more complex commission, reporting, or storefront needs.
Scale	Custom pricing	For brands doing more than $1 million GMV per year, with premium support and a Slack channel.
Launch, yearly billing	29.00 USD per year, plus 3% of affiliate-driven sales	Includes the Launch features. The price is displayed as $29/mo with yearly billing and 20% off.
Growth, yearly billing	159.00 USD per year, plus 2% of affiliate-driven sales	Includes the Growth features. The price is displayed as $159/mo with yearly billing and 20% off.

Launch and Growth both allow unlimited affiliates, clicks, and conversions, so their main difference is feature depth rather than those quotas. Growth’s monthly fee is higher, but its sales percentage is lower; brands should weigh both charges against their affiliate-driven sales. Yearly billing reduces the displayed monthly rate, while the plan prices are stated per year.

Platforms

Refersion is available on web and through an API. That combination covers browser-based program management and custom connections or dashboards. A partner portal is also available for affiliates.

Who it's for

Refersion is a strong fit for direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands building or running affiliate, influencer, or ambassador programs, especially those that want partner discovery, automated payments, and integrations with their commerce and marketing tools. Launch covers the core operating needs; Growth makes more sense when advanced commissions, multiple stores, API access, or chat support matter. A brand that only wants to publish an offer and collect applications can use the Marketplace Listing, but it will need a paid plan to run the program.

Pros and cons

Pros: Partner discovery sits alongside tracking and payouts, giving brands one platform for recruitment and program operations.
Pros: Launch includes unlimited affiliates, clicks, and conversions, avoiding those caps as a program grows.
Pros: Growth adds advanced commissions, multi-store management, API access, and 30+ marketing integrations for more involved operations.
Cons: The free listing cannot track referrals, manage commissions, or issue payouts, so it is not a free way to operate an affiliate program.
Cons: Launch and Growth both add a percentage charge on affiliate-driven sales, making total cost rise with those sales.
Cons: Scale is aimed at brands above $1 million GMV per year and has custom pricing, so its cost is less predictable.

Alternatives

For a different pricing approach, OpenPartner has a Revshare plan at 3.00 USD per month billed at 3% of GMV, with no monthly fee, and unlimited partners, links, and campaigns. Consider it when that revshare structure and its stated core attribution and payout features suit the program better.

Refport has a free tier capped at 100 links, 5,000 clicks per month, and one seat, making it worth comparing for a small team that can work within those limits. Siren offers a free Lite tier with unlimited programs, affiliates, and conversions, along with basic ecommerce integrations, referral links, coupon tracking, and CSV payout export; it may suit a program that needs those functions without a paid entry tier.

Affilyn has a free plan with five active partners, one VIP storefront, and unlimited product syncing and affiliate features, so it is an option for a brand whose program fits that small partner cap. UpPromote offers a free plan for one affiliate program with a $3,000 referral review per month; consider it when one program and that monthly limit are sufficient.

LinkTrust, Awin, and Jump are also alternatives to compare.

Browse more options in Affiliate Marketing Software or Affiliate Analytics Software.

Verdict

Refersion is best for direct-to-consumer brands that want partner recruitment, first-party tracking, commission management, and automated payouts in one ecommerce-focused platform. Its strongest case is the coverage from discovery through payment, with Growth adding useful tools for more complex operations. Look elsewhere if a free plan must actually run tracking and payouts, or if the added percentage of affiliate-driven sales makes its pricing model a poor fit.

	Affiliates	Refersion
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial		Yes
Paid from	Free
Platforms	api, self-hosted, Web	api, Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Partner portal	Yes	Yes
Fraud prevention	Yes
API access	Yes	Yes
Automated payouts		Yes

Affiliates vs Refersion

Affiliates

Refersion