Customer referral softwareViralPayouts vs Referral Program ‑ Shopjar
ViralPayouts has no monthly fee, pays your affiliates for you and pays recruiters on every program. You pay 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3%, and nothing in a month when nobody sells. With Referral Program ‑ Shopjar, paying affiliates for you is optional or extra and has no two-tier recruiting. It costs $0 to $29 a month.
Every figure for Referral Program ‑ Shopjar comes from its own pages or named review sites, checked 12 October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
Why brands pick ViralPayouts over Referral Program ‑ Shopjar
Best fit: A brand wanting partners recruiting partners and payouts handled end to end, including outside Shopify.
- $0 a month
No plan and no setup fee. 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3% at $10,000 a month.
- Payouts done for you
One invoice per program. ViralPayouts sends every partner and recruiter their money and collects tax forms.
- Recruiters built in
Customer links and recruit links on every program, with the override set your way and reversed on refunds.
Side by side
| Referral Program ‑ Shopjar | ViralPayouts | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 to $29 a month | $0 a month. 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3% at $10,000 a month. |
| Setup fee | Not stated | None |
| Fee for paying affiliates | Not stated | Included in the fee above: no charge to the brand for sending payoutsPartners pay Whop's own fee when they withdraw to their bank |
| Pays your affiliates for you | Optionalvia Merchant's own PayPal Business / Wise / Tremendous accounts connected to the app | Yes You fund by bank transfer; we pay every partner |
| Two-tier recruiting | No | Yes Two levels on every program: share of commission, share of sale or fixed. Paid on approved sales, never sign-ups |
| Public program directory | No | Yes Partners browse and join with one account |
| Tracking | Affiliate links; Affiliate coupon codes | First-party links with click IDs, signed server-to-server events, Stripe Checkout webhook |
| Coupon tracking | Yes | Yes A code per partner, per program |
| Mobile app tracking | Not stated | App installs, sign-ups and purchases reported from your server through the signed event API, with bounties on them. No SDK to ship in your app. |
| API, webhooks, MCP | Not stated | REST API for brands and partners with an OpenAPI spec, an MCP server for AI agents, a signed event API and partner postbacks |
| Integrations | Klaviyo, PayPal, Wise, Tremendous, Shopify Flow, Checkout, Customer accounts | Stripe Checkout, Shopify orders, any backend via the event API |
Referral Program ‑ Shopjar plans in full
- Free: $0 a month. Referral program, unlimited members/orders/rewards, links and coupon codes (listed on Shopify App Store)
- Essential: $7 a month. Landing pages, post-purchase popups, self-referral protection, reports
- Starter: $12 a month. Adds affiliate program, links and codes, member portal; discount/store-credit/offline payouts
- Growth: $29 a month. Cash payouts via PayPal (incl. scheduled mass payouts), Wise, Tremendous (ACH, Venmo, 700+ rewards); Klaviyo; advanced fraud protection
Where ViralPayouts comes out ahead of Referral Program ‑ Shopjar
What Referral Program ‑ Shopjar offers
Small Shopify stores wanting a cheap refer-a-friend program plus an affiliate program for influencers, with discount, store-credit or (on Growth) cash payouts.
Customer referral software
Why ViralPayouts is the better choice
- Two-level recruiter override; Shopjar has no multi-level
- ViralPayouts pays partners itself; Shopjar triggers payouts from the merchant's own PayPal/Wise/Tremendous balance
- Public directory where partners discover programs
- Not limited to Shopify: Stripe and event API, plus REST API and MCP server
What Referral Program ‑ Shopjar users say
Paraphrased from public reviews. Follow each link to read the original.
Praise
- Promising feature set for a referral program, with helpful Zoom support (medspartner, Oct 2026). apps.shopify.com
- First-time user got a clear setup walkthrough from support (Uniiqo Studio, Sep 2026). apps.shopify.com
- Very helpful support staff (USA Mystery Box, Sep 2026). apps.shopify.com
Complaints
- Klaviyo integration unreliable, with Shopjar and Klaviyo blaming each other (STRAYE). apps.shopify.com
- Poor for headless/custom stores; manual affiliates get no emails or automations; very manual (Red Dirt and Road Sodas). apps.shopify.com
- Competitor review: serious payouts and integrations only on the $29 plan; Shopify only. wiserreview.com
About Referral Program ‑ Shopjar
- In their words:
- "Turn Your Customers Into Your Best Sales Channel" — homepage H1
- Company:
- Singapore developer address; Shopify listing says "Based in United States" · Shopjar
- Named customers:
- The Aporias, QCOLLECTION, Winewizard by Vinalchemy
- Website:
- shopjar.co
Try ViralPayouts on test money
Set your commission and recruiter override, see what each sale costs you, and run it on the test network before a real partner joins. No monthly fee.
ViralPayouts vs Aklamio
ViralPayouts vs ReferralCandy
ViralPayouts vs Smile.io
ViralPayouts vs Referral Rock
ViralPayouts vs Referral Rocket
ViralPayouts vs ReferralHeroSources for Referral Program ‑ Shopjar (7), checked 12 October 2026
- https://apps.shopify.com/referral-and-affiliates
- https://apps.shopify.com/referral-and-affiliates/reviews?ratings%5B%5D=1&ratings%5B%5D=2&ratings%5B%5D=3
- https://shopjar.co
- https://shopjar.co/pricing
- https://docs.shopjar.co/affiliate/payouts
- https://docs.shopjar.co/affiliate/commissions
- https://wiserreview.com/blog/shopjar-alternatives/
Referral Program ‑ Shopjar is a trademark of its owner. ViralPayouts is not affiliated with Referral Program ‑ Shopjar. Prices and features change: check shopjar.co before you decide. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.