Affiliate software for e-commerceViralPayouts vs Shortly - Affiliate Marketing
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 Shortly - Affiliate Marketing, you pay your affiliates yourself and has no two-tier recruiting. It costs $0 to $29.99 a month.
Every figure for Shortly - Affiliate Marketing comes from its own pages or named review sites, checked 12 October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
Why brands pick ViralPayouts over Shortly - Affiliate Marketing
Best fit: A brand that wants a full partner program with automatic payouts and recruiter rewards.
- $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
| Shortly - Affiliate Marketing | ViralPayouts | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 to $29.99 a monthTerm: Monthly or annual (save 10%); Shopify Plus stores pay +$10-$20 | $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 | No | 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 | Trackable short links with UTM; Preloaded checkout links; Discount links (auto-apply); Bio links, SMS, email, YouTube links | First-party links with click IDs, signed server-to-server events, Stripe Checkout webhook |
| Coupon tracking | Partly | 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 | Shopify Checkout, Shopify Admin | Stripe Checkout, Shopify orders, any backend via the event API |
Shortly - Affiliate Marketing plans in full
- Free: $0 a month. Development/sandbox stores only
- Basic: $9.99 a month. $108/year. Up to 100 short links, influencer portal, up to 50 influencers
- Premium: $19.99 a month. $215/year. Up to 500 links, 100 influencers, coupon tracking, live chat
- Pro: $29.99 a month. $324/year. Unlimited links, affiliate programs and influencers, branded portal
Where ViralPayouts comes out ahead of Shortly - Affiliate Marketing
What Shortly - Affiliate Marketing offers
Small Shopify stores that want trackable short links (UTM, bio, SMS, checkout and discount links) and a simple influencer portal to see clicks and sales per link.
Affiliate software for e-commerce
Why ViralPayouts is the better choice
- Pays partners for the brand via Whop
- Two-level partner + recruiter overrides
- Public program directory
- Signed S2S event API, Stripe webhook, REST API and MCP
What Shortly - Affiliate Marketing users say
Paraphrased from public reviews. Follow each link to read the original.
Praise
- Timely support that solved the problem (SUPAREE US, almost 3 years using, Aug 2026). apps.shopify.com
- Responsive help getting launched (YoYoSam, Jul 2026). apps.shopify.com
Complaints
- Affiliates couldn't see their orders; team missed a scheduled call (Moonglow Jewelry, Apr 2025). apps.shopify.com
- Order status not properly tracked, no way to get corrections (bixdo shop, Nov 2025). apps.shopify.com
- Billing complaints: not free, could not cancel plan (Nov 2024, Sep 2025). apps.shopify.com
- Slow support and inaccurate tracking (Smartmacroscale, Sep 2025). apps.shopify.com
About Shortly - Affiliate Marketing
- In their words:
- "Create Short Links & Affiliate Links for Influencer Marketing"
- Company:
- Founded Shopify app launched April 28, 2021 · Mississauga, ON, Canada (developer address); listing also says 'Based in United States' · Shortly
- Website:
- apps.shopify.com
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.
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ViralPayouts vs SketchEasy Affiliate MarketingSources for Shortly - Affiliate Marketing (3), checked 12 October 2026
Shortly - Affiliate Marketing is a trademark of its owner. ViralPayouts is not affiliated with Shortly - Affiliate Marketing. Prices and features change: check apps.shopify.com before you decide. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.