Side-by-side comparison · 24 data points
Grow your sales with referral, affiliate and influencer marketing, all in one platform.
| Referral Candy & Affiliate | Shortly | |
|---|---|---|
| Tagline | ||
| Description | ||
| Screenshots | images | images |
| Languages | ||
| Platforms | ||
| Developer |
| Metric | Referral Candy & Affiliate | Shortly — Affiliate Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | ★ 4.9 ★ | 4.8 ★ |
| Total reviews | ★ 1.5k | 176 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing | Free trial available | Free to install |
| Built for Shopify | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing tiers | 4 tiers | 4 tiers |
| Listed features | 5 | 5 |
| Featured placements | 1 | 1 |
| Languages | 1 supported | 12 supported |
| Listed since | Sep 2010 | Apr 2021 |
Referral Candy & Affiliate edges out Shortly — Affiliate Marketing on rating (4.9★ vs 4.8★), but the gap is small enough that pricing fit and feature differentiation should drive the decision more than the headline number.
Pricing entry tiers: Referral Candy & Affiliate at Free trial available, Shortly — Affiliate Marketing at Free to install. Check each app's tier structure for the capacity limits you actually need before deciding — the headline number is the same shape, but the gating shape per tier (seats, usage volume, integrations) varies.
Referral Candy & Affiliate has the larger user base (1,487 reviews vs 176), which usually maps to broader integration coverage, faster bug-fix cadence, and a deeper bench of community workflow patterns. Shortly — Affiliate Marketing's smaller cohort can be an advantage for niche workflows where the bigger app has accumulated bloat.
Recommended by size: small/early-stage merchants who need fast install and low risk should default to Referral Candy & Affiliate; mid-market and enterprise merchants with specific feature requirements should evaluate both — Shortly — Affiliate Marketing's 176-review base may include the workflow context that matches your specific use case better than Referral Candy & Affiliate's broader-but-shallower coverage.
This verdict is generated from the live marketplace data on this page — rating, review count, pricing tier, and category position all refresh from the canonical Shopify App Store listing every 24 hours. AppRanks does not accept payment to influence comparison outcomes; the methodology is documented on the About page and applies identically to every pair on the site.
Read each app's audit: Referral Candy & Affiliate audit • Shortly — Affiliate Marketing audit
| Listed |
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| Last updated | — | — |
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| Keyword | Referral Candy & Affiliate | Shortly |
|---|---|---|
| affiliate link shortener | #12 | #1 |
| affiliate links | #11 | #2 |
| affiliate programs | #9 | #53 |
| affiliate program | #81 | #62 |
| affiliate | #6 | #10 |
Both Referral Candy & Affiliate and Shortly — Affiliate Marketing offer paid plans only. Referral Candy & Affiliate starts at Free trial available; Shortly — Affiliate Marketing starts at Free to install. Compare the per-tier features in the Pricing section above before committing.
Referral Candy & Affiliate has the higher average rating (4.9★ from 1,487 reviews) compared to Shortly — Affiliate Marketing (4.8★ from 176 reviews). Both are tracked daily by AppRanks, so the figures here update each refresh cycle.
Referral Candy & Affiliate holds the higher average rating (4.9★ vs 4.8★). That is the one dimension AppRanks can separate them on here — read both apps' detail pages for the feature breakdown and recent listing changes.
Both apps are one-click installs from the Shopify App Store. Referral Candy & Affiliate has the deeper published review base (1,487 vs 176), which often — though not always — accompanies better-tested setup docs. AppRanks doesn't measure setup time directly: read the recent reviews on each app's detail page for user-reported install experience.
Referral Candy & Affiliate typically suits early-stage and growth-mode teams based on its published review base (1,487 reviews). Shortly — Affiliate Marketing typically suits early-stage and growth-mode teams based on its published review base (176 reviews). A larger review base generally means the app has been exercised at scale — relevant if you are processing high volume or handling enterprise compliance requirements.
Migration support varies by app and category. Referral Candy & Affiliate and Shortly — Affiliate Marketing both publish their export options on their marketplace listing pages (or in their support docs); some apps offer one-click import from competitors, others require CSV. The fastest check: search "import from Shortly — Affiliate Marketing" in each app's help center. AppRanks does not track migration tooling directly — this is a category-specific capability worth verifying before commitment.
