RefRefvsFirstPromoter
FirstPromoter alternative for referrals & loyalty.
Build around your customer model, with room to grow.
Compare RefRef and FirstPromoter: active-participant pricing, integration ownership, own-domain links, and affiliate operations.
Referrals + loyalty. Open source. Start free.
Example: $10,000 referred revenue and $2,000 commissions per month. Software and platform fees shown below; reward delivery costs are extra.
RefRef
Free · own payout rail
$0/mo
FirstPromoter
Subscription + modeled platform payout fee
$99/mo
Within the 1,000 active-participant allowance.
Higher customer value alone does not change the RefRef bill.
Known monthly subtotal including $2,000 commissions: RefRef $2,000 vs FirstPromoter $2,099. Add operating costs to both.
Scroll sideways to compare both platforms →
| Your decision | RefRef | FirstPromoter |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing meter | Monthly active participants. No percentage of referred revenue. Reward delivery and provider costs are separate. | Affiliate revenue bands, plus an affiliate limit on Starter. Business covers $15,000 monthly affiliate revenue. |
| Program experience | Customer referrals and loyalty with your own brand, product integrations, and open-source customization. | An affiliate-focused toolkit with billing connectors, reporting exports, and own-domain referral links. |
Compare the complete plan, including required features and operating work. FirstPromoter plans and features · RefRef pricing
Built for the way you grow.
Choose the foundation that fits your customers, your stack, and your ambitions.
Shortlist RefRef
Consider RefRef when your referral program belongs inside a product with its own identities and backend events. RefRef models individuals and groups explicitly, with separate referral and loyalty Programs. The appeal is a system that follows your product's facts and a bill tied to participation.
- Your engineering team owns the integration
- Customer referrals and loyalty share one model
- Active participation is the pricing signal you want
Choose FirstPromoter when…
FirstPromoter is a strong fit for teams seeking an affiliate-focused toolkit and its existing billing integrations. Compare the connectors, commission rules, and operator workflow you need alongside the cost of each pricing model.
Explore its current offerCompare the integration boundary, not just the plan
An illustrative buying scenario, not a customer result or a guaranteed saving.
Start with your numbers
A B2B product where one person invites an entire customer Workspace; 500 active participants and $10,000 monthly referred revenue.
What changes the choice?
Decide whether the referral belongs to a person or a company before implementing either product. A company-level referral should not become a second acquisition when another employee joins. Evaluate identity mapping alongside price; an existing billing connector can be worth more than a lower subscription.
Model your program economicsMoving from FirstPromoter? Preserve the promises.
Customers should keep the rewards they earned. Use these checks to plan the transition before changing live traffic.
01
Map what exists
Map customer, company, affiliate, and subscription identifiers explicitly. Decide which entity owns each referral and reward.
02
Preserve the obligations
Export existing reporting and commission obligations, then compare a sample of historical purchases with the new mapping.
03
Verify the new journey
Test two employees joining the same company, a renewal, and a refund. Confirm the intended beneficiary in every case.
This is a planning checklist, not a one-click importer. Test your mapping on a small cohort and reconcile old and new records before switching the full program.
Compare the work behind building and buyingBring them in. Give them a reason to stay.
Referrals start the relationship. Loyalty keeps it growing. Build both with one open-source platform.
One platform. More reasons to return.
A customer brings a friend
Referral · reward the introduction
The relationship keeps growing
Loyalty · reward repeat engagement
Your next advocate is already here
Connect acquisition and retention
Your program, your rules
Make the program fit your product.
Choose who earns, what they earn, and which moments deserve a reward. Build around your customers and the experience they already love.
- Reward introductions and ongoing engagement
- Shape incentives around your business model
- Keep your brand across the customer journey
Customize beyond a settings screen.
Adapt the source, extend the integration, and create the program that fits. Your next idea can become part of the product.
Keep your options open.
Start hosted or run RefRef on your infrastructure. Open-source code gives you more control over your data, hosting, and future, without depending on one vendor to make every change.
Your AI assistant. Your integration.
Use AI-assisted integrations to connect RefRef to your stack. Give your coding assistant the API context, describe your reward flow, and review the implementation before you launch.
Integration brief
“Reward a successful referral. Add loyalty credits when that customer comes back.”
Multiple Reward Types
Choose from multiple reward types to suit your needs. Integrate with your different systems to support your reward types.
Cash Rewards
Automate PayPal, Stripe, or manual payouts.
Cash Payouts
Automated payment processing
Store Credits & Discounts
Drive repeat purchases & engagement.
Store Credits & Discounts
Drive repeat purchases
Discount Code
REFER20Physical Goods
Offer exclusive merchandise or gifts.
Physical Goods
Exclusive merchandise & gifts
01Can I keep my existing billing integration?
02Can I self-host RefRef?
03What counts as an active participant?
Pricing details & sources
The explorer holds one Project, one referral Program, two operators, 100 referrers, $10,000 referred revenue, and $2,000 commissions constant. Only active participants change. No portal, automated payouts, or branded redirect domain is required in the base scenario.
Business · monthly. $10,000 referred revenue needs Business. Uses your own payout rail; its charges are extra. Managed Auto Payouts are outside this scenario and require separate approval and pricing.
Total cost = software + platform payout fees + commissions + payout-rail/FX charges + integration and migration work + monthly operations + tax. The chart excludes commissions and unpriced costs; the subtotal adds commissions. This scenario uses your own payout rail for RefRef. These are not equivalent service packages or guaranteed savings.
RefRef monthly prices: Free $0 through 1,000 active participants; Growth $49 through 5,000 plus $10 per started 1,000; Scale $199 through 20,000 plus $7 per started 1,000. The examples select these plans explicitly; there is no modeled automatic upgrade.
Monthly Starter is $49 up to $5,000 in affiliate revenue; Business is $99 up to $15,000; Enterprise is advertised from $149 above that. Starter allows 1,000 affiliates, while Business removes that limit. Revenue over the plan limit triggers a tier change.
FirstPromoter advertises own-domain referral links without redirects. A custom affiliate-dashboard domain is included from Business. Link branding and portal branding should be evaluated separately.
FirstPromoter documents APIs and CSV/JSON reporting exports. Those are useful portability tools. This review did not verify a self-hostable edition, and makes no claim that migration is impossible.
Written by RefRef. Compare current plans and feature limits in the official sources below.
Make every customer relationship count.
Create your account and build a program around your customers.