UpPromote is a beginner-friendly affiliate management tool. But it’s not without its faults – the cost rises exponentially as your referral sales grow, there’s a performance fee in all paid plans, and the usage limits can feel constricting for a rapidly scaling affiliate program.

If these drawbacks are holding you back, continue reading to discover the top 10 UpPromote alternatives.

Why consider UpPromote alternatives?

UpPromote is a great affiliate management tool, especially when you’re just starting out. But as your affiliate program grows, the faults start to emerge:

• UpPromote is Shopify-only: UpPromote is exclusively built for Shopify stores. If your store is elsewhere or if you’re an agency working with diverse clients, you can’t use UpPromote to manage your affiliate program.
  
• Cost rises exponentially as your referral sales grow: UpPromote’s pricing seems cost-effective on the surface. But as soon as your referral sales grow, the fee jumps dramatically. If you expect to get even 200 referrals in a month and your AOV is $50, your cheapest option will be $230/month. For brands running large affiliate programs, this cost might be too much compared to other tools.

• Limited influencer discovery: UpPromote has a marketplace for recruiting affiliates, but it’s quite limited. “Our Marketplace Listings have limited affiliates, and it is just one way to find affiliates. We recommend you explore other options/features rather than relying on this feature alone,” says the company. Its Creator Discovery add-on (from $39/month on top of your plan) searches Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, but it limits profile views by plan and doesn’t include outreach yet. So you’ll still need other influencer discovery tools or an email tool to recruit affiliates at scale, aka more cost and more software to juggle.
  
• Lack of bulk emails: you can send a maximum of 500 emails per day using UpPromote, even in the Enterprise plan. For brands using mass outreach to reach affiliates, this can be restrictive.
  
• Lack of support for brand awareness campaigns: UpPromote is a standalone affiliate management tool. You’ll need a separate software for running your brand awareness campaigns and manage influencer collabs that don’t follow the affiliate payment model. Even if you aren’t running various types of collaborations today, you’ll outgrow UpPromote quickly when your strategy expands.
  

The reasons above highlight why UpPromote may not be a good fit for many brands in the long run. Continue reading to find alternatives that can scale with you.

UpPromote alternatives at a glance

Here’s how the 10 alternatives compare on price and trials. For reference, UpPromote has a free plan, and paid plans from $29.99/month plus 2% of referral sales, with a 14-day free trial.

1. Modash

Best for: Shopify brands looking for an all-in-one tool to manage their creator relationships

‍Modash is your complete influencer marketing solution. You can use it to find relevant influencers or affiliates, vet their profiles to ensure they’re the right fit, find their emails and outreach, track and collect their content, and measure their performance. All under one tab.

Modash vs. UpPromote:

• Modash makes it possible to run all types of collaborations: with Modash, you aren’t limited to affiliate programs. You can run paid, gifting, brand ambassador, and affiliate campaigns. Instead of stitching together multiple tools, you have everything in one tab. This also makes it easy-peasy to transfer a creator from one type of partnership to another – such as promoting an affiliate to a brand ambassador.
  
• Modash offers a large influencer database and AI discovery: Modash has a database of 380M+ creators across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube – every creator with 1k+ followers. You can use it to find brand fit affiliates and vet their analytics to ensure they meet your criteria. The filters help a lot in giving you a list of creators who already meet your non-negotiables.

UpPromote’s marketplace isn’t just short of creators, it also lacks advanced discovery features like AI search. In Modash, you can type the kind of creators you’re looking for in natural language and layer filters to find creators who match your requirements to a T. You can even upload an image to do a visual AI search.

• Modash collects influencer and affiliate-generated content: one of the biggest flaws of UpPromote is that it doesn’t show you the content your creator partners have posted. This means you can’t see how different types of posts perform, which ones are worth repurposing, and what to double down on. Modash automates collecting all influencer and affiliate content about your brand. You can see how each individual post performed in addition to gaining insights about overall campaign performance.

• Modash charges on payouts, not sales: UpPromote takes 1–2% of every referral sale on its paid plans. Modash’s fee is based on what you pay creators, not what they sell. On the Performance plan, the first $10,000 of payouts each year is fee-free, then a 5% fee applies only to the amount above that.
  So if an affiliate drives $100 in sales at a 10% commission, you pay UpPromote an extra $2 on the Growth plan. In Modash, you pay $0 on that $10 payout until you pass the yearly limit, and $0.50 after. These costs seem meagre, but they rack up quickly – especially in large affiliate programs.

• Modash limits how many creators you can track in its plans: because you can do a lot more in Modash, the plans limit how many creators’ content you can track in each tier – 100 on Essentials and 250 on Performance. With UpPromote, you can’t find creators or track their content, but you can add unlimited affiliates.
  

Price: Modash offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card required. Paid plans start at $299/month, or $199/month billed annually. Affiliate management is included on the Performance (annual) and Enterprise plans.

2. LeadDyno

Best for: agencies or subscription-based businesses

What is it: LeadDyno is a standalone affiliate management software, just like UpPromote, but it’s better suited for agencies or subscription-based businesses. It has features that are agency-friendly and cater to a wide range of industries from ecommerce to SaaS.

LeadDyno vs. UpPromote:

• LeadDyno integrates with diverse tools: LeadDyno integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Discord, Substack, WordPress, and a lot more. If you need more diverse integrations, LeadDyno is the better choice.
  
• LeadDyno lets you create multiple affiliate dashboards: you can create different kinds of dashboards with custom URL paths in LeadDyno. This is perfect for agencies catering to various clients or brands running various affiliate programs simultaneously.
  
• LeadDyno doesn’t have in-app chat for communicating with affiliates: UpPromote offers both email and in-app chat (embedded in the software) to communicate with affiliates. LeadDyno only offers email.
  

Price: LeadDyno doesn’t have a free plan, but it has a 30-day free trial for all of its paid plans. Prices start at $49/month

3. GoAffPro

Best for: brands looking to experiment with affiliate marketing

What is it: GoAffPro is a basic affiliate management tool that’s perfect for brands looking to test whether affiliate marketing works for them. It’s easy to use, pocket-friendly, and sets up fast.

GoAffPro vs. UpPromote:

• GoAffPro doesn’t charge any performance fee: unlike UpPromote, GoAffPro doesn’t take a cut of affiliate sales from any of its plans. Instead, the flat fee keeps rising based on your affiliate sales.
  
• GoAffPro integrates with more ecommerce platforms: UpPromote is built exclusively for Shopify. GoAffPro, on the other hand, integrates with BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, and more, in addition to Shopify.
  
• GoAffPro only offers email communication: UpPromote has an in-built in-app chat to communicate with affiliates more seamlessly. GoAffPro only has email communication for now.
  

Price: GoAffPro has a free plan that allows you to add an unlimited number of affiliates. Paid plans begin at $49/month

Related reading: 10 GoAffPro Alternatives That Scale With Your Affiliate Program

4. Aspire

Best for: brands looking for agency support to run their affiliate programs

What is it: Aspire is an influencer marketing tool that can help you manage your creator and affiliate marketing efforts from one platform. Their standout feature is agency support – you can hire experts on their team to outsource implementing your strategy.

Aspire vs. UpPromote:

• Aspire offers agency support: if you’re a small team or a large team looking for some guidance, Aspire’s agency services can come in handy. Their experts manage influencer programs of any size and guide you to maximize ROI.
  
• Aspire has a mobile experience for creators: Aspire has a mobile-first creator portal that allows your partners to view briefs and get content approval on-the-go. UpPromote doesn’t offer a mobile app for its affiliate portal.
  
• Aspire is one of the costliest influencer marketing tools: while Aspire doesn’t list its pricing publicly, Capterra says its plans cost around $2,499/month. UpPromote’s pricing is much more beginner-friendly and scalable in comparison.
  

Price: Not publicly available, but according to Capterra, Aspire costs $2,499/month

Related reading: 10 Aspire.io Alternatives For Better Influencer Marketing

5. ReferralCandy

Best for: ecommerce subscription-based businesses

What is it: ReferralCandy helps you set up flexible affiliate and customer referral programs. Its strength lies in its varied integrations – especially for ecommerce subscription-based businesses.

ReferralCandy vs. UpPromote:

• ReferralCandy offers more subscription-based integrations: ReferralCandy integrates with 20+ Shopify subscription apps like Recharge, Skio, Appstle, Awtomic, Loop, and more. This is excellent news for ecommerce businesses that sell subscriptions. UpPromote doesn’t have many integrations to support subscription-based brands.
  
• ReferralCandy has Moments Engine: along with affiliate and referral marketing, ReferralCandy also offers a feature where you can reach customers in very specific moments in their customer journey and analyze their behavior. For example, you can nudge regular subscribers who buy consistently to purchase an adjacent, useful product that they don’t usually consider. UpPromote has no such feature.
  
• ReferralCandy charges a larger performance fee: UpPromote’s performance fees begin at 2% and keep decreasing as you go. While the diminishing is similar in ReferralCandy, the tool takes a much larger performance cut – a whopping 10.5% in the Basic plan and 3.5% in the Grow plan. It’s only when you reach the Scale plan that the fee reduces to 1.5% of the total affiliate sales.
  

Price: ReferralCandy doesn’t have a free plan, but its paid plans have a seven-day free trial. Prices start at $9/month plus a 10.5% success fee, charged on net-new customers’ first three orders.

6. Social Snowball

Best for: managing TikTok Shop affiliates

What is it: Social Snowball is an affiliate management tool that can help you scale your affiliate revenue with creators, brand ambassadors, and customers. It can also help you run a gifting program for your affiliates.

Social Snowball vs. UpPromote:

• Social Snowball allows you to manage TikTok Shop affiliates: if your brand is big on TikTok Shop, Social Snowball is the no-brainer choice. You can integrate TikTok Shop affiliates into your DTC affiliate dashboard and not only manage all affiliates from one tab but also get unified data. UpPromote doesn’t work with TikTok Shop.
  
• Social Snowball lets you run product seeding campaigns: you can use Social Snowball to send gifts to your affiliates and run gifting campaigns. For example, you can gift an affiliate one of your products when they’re onboarded or complete a milestone. Affiliates can pick which products they want, place an order, and that order automatically updates on your Shopify store. UpPromote doesn’t have thorough, milestone-driven influencer gifting features.
  
  
• Social Snowball doesn’t have beginner-friendly pricing: Social Snowball is designed for medium-sized and large businesses. UpPromote’s pricing is more beginner-friendly and scalable as you grow.
  

Price: Social Snowball doesn’t have a free plan or trial. Its self-serve plan costs $249/month plus 3% of affiliate revenue. The larger Blizzard plan is a custom flat fee with no commission fees.

Related reading: 10 Best Social Snowball Alternatives for Affiliate & Influencer Marketing

7. GrowthHero

Best for: small affiliate programs

What is it: GrowthHero allows you to work with customers, creators, and affiliates in one tool. The cap on partner sales in each plan makes GrowthHero a good fit for smaller affiliate programs.

GrowthHero vs. UpPromote:

• GrowthHero doesn’t charge any commission: unlike UpPromote, GrowthHero doesn’t charge any commission on affiliate sales. The subscription is a flat fee cost – and it’s the same charge every month.
  
• GrowthHero integrates with BigCommerce: in addition to Shopify, GrowthHero also integrates with BigCommerce. If your brand hosts its store in BigCommerce or you’re an agency with both Shopify and BigCommerce clients, GrowthHero is a better fit.
  
• GrowthHero limits affiliate sales in its plans: GrowthHero’s pricing model allows you to add unlimited affiliates and add infinite programs, but the cap is on the partner sales. Your sales tracking stops once you hit that ceiling. UpPromote doesn’t place this limitation in any of its plans.
  

Price: GrowthHero doesn’t have a free plan, but its paid plans have a 30-day free trial. Prices start at $49/month

8. Refersion

Best for: first-party tracking of affiliate impact

What is it: Refersion is a beginner-friendly tool, just like UpPromote. But I find its user experience to be much better. Its standout feature is first-party tracking instead of relying on cookies.

Refersion vs. UpPromote:

• Refersion offers first-party tracking: Refersion’s first-party attribution engine means you aren’t relying on cookies to track an affiliate’s impact. UpPromote uses cookies to trace customers who use a referral’s link but don’t make a purchase right away. Cookies can be slightly inaccurate compared to first-party data.
  
• Refersion integrates with more ecommerce platforms: while UpPromote is Shopify-only, Refersion integrates with BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento in addition to Shopify.
  
• Refersion doesn’t support multi-level marketing: on UpPromote, you can recruit your top affiliates to hire affiliates of their own and expand your program. Refersion doesn’t offer MLM features.
  

Price: you can list your affiliate program for free in the Refersion marketplace. Paid plans begin at $39/month (discounted to $29/month at the time of writing) plus 3% of affiliate-driven sales.

9. GRIN

Best for: automating your affiliate program

What is it: Grin is an influencer marketing tool that can help you find, vet, and manage affiliates. You can also use it to run influencer gifting campaigns and collect influencer generated content.

GRIN vs. UpPromote:

• GRIN has creator search: GRIN lets you search for creators on every plan, from 1,200 creators a month on Free to 120,000 on Scale. UpPromote’s marketplace includes (a lot!) fewer potential creator partners in comparison.
  
• Grin has an agentic AI assistant: Grin’s agentic assistant, Gia, can help you manage your affiliate program from start to finish. You can ask it to find relevant affiliates, do influencer outreach, and find performance patterns.
  
• GRIN charges a fee on what you spend: every self-serve GRIN plan adds a management fee on wallet deposits – 20% on Free, down to 5% on Scale. UpPromote’s performance fee is 1–2% of referral sales on paid plans.
  

Price: GRIN has a free plan with a 20% management fee on wallet deposits. Paid plans start at $200/month plus a 10% fee, with a 30-day free trial on Starter, and are billed month to month.

10. Impact

Best for: large brands that want comprehensive reporting

What is it: Impact is a partnership management platform that excels in deep reporting. While its lower-tier plans are comparable to UpPromote, its higher-tier plans offer much more extensive data to help you track affiliate impact accurately.

Impact vs. UpPromote:

• Impact offers in-depth reporting data: Impact’s specialty is its data. In the enterprise plan, you can track a customer’s journey across multiple devices to understand if they first discovered you via an affiliate. You can also track a partner’s performance by ad, promo code, SKU, etc. UpPromote’s analytics aren’t so thorough.
  
• Impact is more suited for B2B brands: Impact might be better for B2B brands because it includes LinkedIn creators in its marketplaces, offers to track email newsletter placements, and more. UpPromote is more suited for ecommerce companies.
  
• Impact takes some time to set up: with UpPromote, you can hit the ground running and see the ROI fast. Impact – because of its robust tracking features – takes a little time and patience to set up. The Impact team also charges a setup fee to onboard you – the number depends on how many technical resources you have.
  

Price: Impact doesn’t have a free plan, but its Starter plan has a 30-day free trial. Prices start at $30/month or 2.5% of monthly revenue, whichever is greater.

Which UpPromote alternative is right for you?

All tools on this list offer things that UpPromote doesn’t. But the right alternative for you is the one that fits your needs now and in the future:

• If you run a very small affiliate program, go with GoAffPro
• If you seek agency support, Aspire is the obvious choice
• If you’re big on TikTok Shop, go with Social Snowball
• If you don’t want to pay a percentage of sales, look at GoAffPro or GrowthHero
• If your store isn’t on Shopify, Refersion and GoAffPro support BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento
  

The overall best choice for Shopify stores is Modash primarily because:

• It can help you manage all types of partner-driven campaigns – whether that’s ambassadors, influencers, or affiliates
  
• It’s a complete solution to manage your entire strategy – you can vet profiles, outreach, and track performance all in one tab
  
• The advanced Shopify integration allows you to create promo codes/affiliate links, customize commission tiers, and pay directly using Modash
  

Don’t just take my word for it. Try Modash at no cost yourself for 14 days.

FAQ

What is the best UpPromote alternative?

It depends on why you’re leaving. For a free, simple affiliate tool, GoAffPro is the closest swap. For no performance fees, GrowthHero charges a flat monthly price. For Shopify brands that also want to find creators, track their content, and pay them, Modash covers influencer and affiliate programs in one tool.

Is there a free UpPromote alternative?

Yes. GoAffPro’s free Hobby plan includes unlimited affiliates and unlimited sales, and GRIN has a free plan with a 20% management fee on wallet deposits. Refersion lets you list your program in its marketplace for free, but you need a paid plan to run it.

Does UpPromote work outside Shopify?

UpPromote is built for Shopify stores and bills through Shopify. If you sell on BigCommerce, WooCommerce, or Magento, look at Refersion, GoAffPro, or ReferralCandy.

How does UpPromote pricing compare to alternatives?

UpPromote’s paid plans cost $29.99–$199.99/month plus 1–2% of referral sales. GrowthHero and GoAffPro charge flat fees with no cut of sales. ReferralCandy, Refersion, and Social Snowball all take a bigger percentage than UpPromote on their entry plans. Modash costs $299/month, or $199/month billed annually, and charges on creator payouts rather than sales.