EZ Affiliate comparison
Smile.io alternative: EZ Affiliate compared
Smile is a loyalty app: points, VIP tiers and referrals. EZ Affiliate runs a loyalty program too, and adds refer a friend rewards and a full affiliate program in the same app. Its paid plan is a flat $19 a month with VIP tiers included and no order limits, where Smile includes VIP tiers from $199 a month and sizes each plan by monthly orders. Points turn into store credit by themselves, so customers have nothing to redeem. Smile offers more ways to earn and more kinds of reward, and works with Shopify POS, which matters if you sell in person.
The short version
Choose EZ Affiliate when
- You want VIP tiers without a $199 plan. EZ Affiliate includes up to three VIP tiers on Pro ($19). Smile includes its VIP program from Growth ($199).
- You do not want your bill tied to order volume. Pro is $19 a month at any volume. Smile’s plans include 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,500 monthly orders.
- You want rewards that need no redeeming. Points turn into store credit by themselves, and Shopify offers it at checkout. With Smile, customers redeem points for a reward such as a discount code.
- You want store credit rewards on any plan. EZ Affiliate pays every reward as Shopify store credit, on Free and Pro. Smile lists store credit rewards from Standard ($79).
- You want an affiliate program in the same app. EZ Affiliate tracks affiliate links and codes and pays commissions by PayPal or bank transfer. Smile’s plans cover points, VIP tiers and referrals.
- You want loyalty inside customer accounts on any plan. EZ Affiliate adds a Rewards page and a points banner to customer accounts on Free and Pro. Smile’s Loyalty Hub for signed-in members is on Growth ($199).
- You want it live quickly. One setup wizard turns on loyalty, referrers and affiliates together.
Smile may suit you better if
- You want customers to earn points for more than orders, such as social follows, and to pick rewards such as free shipping or free products. EZ Affiliate gives points for orders, a welcome bonus and birthdays, and pays rewards as store credit.
- You sell in person. Smile lets customers earn and redeem points through Shopify POS on every plan.
- You want loyalty data in your other tools. Smile connects to Klaviyo, Judge.me, Gorgias and more, from 1 integration on Essential ($15) to unlimited on Growth ($199).
At a glance
| EZ Affiliate | Smile | |
|---|---|---|
| VIP tiers from | $19 a month | $199 a month |
| Monthly order limit | None on either plan | 200 on Free, then 500, 1,000 and 2,500 on its paid plans |
| How rewards are used | Points turn into store credit automatically, offered at checkout | Customers redeem points for a reward, such as a discount code |
| Store credit rewards from | Free | $79 a month |
| Affiliate program | Included | Not listed. Its plans cover points, VIP tiers and referrals. |
| Refer a friend program | Included on Free | Included on Free |
| Plans, per month | Free and $19 | Free, $15, $79 and $199. Smile Plus is $999, billed annually. |
| Shopify POS | Not listed. Built for the online store. | Earn and redeem in store on every plan |
What you save
EZ Affiliate has two plans: Free, and Pro at a flat $19 a month. Smile has a free plan and paid plans at $15, $79 and $199 a month, with Smile Plus above them at $999 a month on annual billing. What separates the two apps is what each price includes and what it is limited by.
Start with VIP tiers. They are part of EZ Affiliate Pro at $19, and part of Smile from its Growth plan at $199. That is $180 a month, or $2,160 a year, for the same idea: customers who spend more earn more. Store credit follows the same pattern. Every EZ Affiliate reward is store credit, on both plans, and Smile lists store credit rewards from Standard at $79.
Then order volume. Smile sizes its plans by monthly orders: up to 200 on Free, 500 on Essential, 1,000 on Standard and 2,500 on Growth, with $20 for each additional 100 orders after that. A store taking 1,200 orders a month is past the limits of Free, Essential and Standard. EZ Affiliate has no order limit on either plan. Free is limited to 5 affiliates, 100 referrers and 100 loyalty members, and Pro has no limits at all.
Two cases go the other way. Smile’s Essential plan is $15 a month, $4 less than Pro, for stores under 500 monthly orders that do not need VIP tiers or store credit rewards. And a store with more than 100 loyalty members and fewer than 200 orders a month can stay on Smile’s free plan, where EZ Affiliate would need Pro.
Rewards customers do not have to redeem
In Smile, a customer logs in, opens the rewards panel, picks a reward and redeems points for it, then applies the discount code they receive. Redeeming in the cart is listed from Standard ($79), and redeeming at checkout from Growth ($199) for stores on Shopify Plus.
EZ Affiliate skips that step. Customers earn 1 point for every $1 they spend on products, and each time their points reach a reward’s worth, the app adds store credit to their Shopify customer account and emails them. Shopify then offers the credit at checkout whenever they are signed in. There is no code and nothing to redeem, on either plan.
You choose how generous it is: customers get back between 1% and 20% of what they spend, in rewards of the size you set. Points wait out a pending period, 14 days by default, so refunds are caught before points become credit.
Referrals and affiliates in the same app
Smile includes a referral program alongside points on every plan. EZ Affiliate does too: customers are invited to refer friends on the thank you page, on the order status page and by email, the friend gets a discount, and the referrer gets store credit automatically.
EZ Affiliate then adds the program Smile’s plans do not list: affiliates. Creators and influencers apply through a signup form on your store, get a link and a discount code, and follow their earnings in a dashboard inside your store’s customer accounts. You pay their commissions by PayPal or bank transfer, or on Pro let the app send PayPal payouts automatically. A referrer who keeps driving sales can be invited to become an affiliate automatically.
Where each feature sits
The lowest plan, and its monthly price, on which each app includes a feature. Smile’s column follows its own pricing page and help center.
| Feature | EZ Affiliate | Smile |
|---|---|---|
| VIP tiers | Pro ($19): up to three tiers with points multipliers | Growth ($199) |
| Store credit rewards | Every plan, added automatically | Standard ($79) |
| Using rewards at checkout | Store credit is offered at checkout to signed-in customers, on every plan | Redeem at checkout on Growth ($199), for stores on Shopify Plus |
| Loyalty in customer accounts | Rewards page and points banner, on every plan | Loyalty Hub and points on the account page on Growth ($199) |
| Points on the thank you page | Every plan | Standard ($79) |
| Expiry | Unused store credit can expire after 3, 6 or 12 months, on Pro ($19) | Points expiration on Growth ($199) |
| Affiliate program | Free, for up to 5 affiliates. Unlimited on Pro. | Not listed |
| Refer a friend program | Free, for up to 100 referrers. Unlimited on Pro. | Every plan |
| Monthly order limit | None | 200 on Free, 500 on Essential ($15), 1,000 on Standard ($79) and 2,500 on Growth ($199) |
| Loyalty member limit | 100 on Free. None on Pro. | None listed |
| Ways to earn points | Orders, a welcome bonus and, on Pro, birthdays | 10+ ways to earn, including social follows |
| Kinds of reward | Store credit | Discounts and free shipping on Free. Free products on Essential ($15). Gift cards and store credit on Standard ($79). |
| Shopify POS | Not listed | Every plan |
| Integrations | Not listed | 1 on Essential ($15), 2 on Standard ($79), unlimited on Growth ($199) |
EZ Affiliate plans
Free covers small programs, and Pro removes the limits for one flat price. Plans are billed in USD every 30 days through Shopify.
| Plan | Price | What it includes or adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Up to 5 affiliates, 100 referrers and 100 loyalty members. The affiliate signup form and in-store dashboard, tracking by link and discount code, automatic store credit for referrers, loyalty points that turn into store credit, and manual affiliate payouts by PayPal or bank transfer. |
| Pro | $19 / month | Unlimited affiliates, referrers and loyalty members. Automatic PayPal payouts, multiple commission levels, custom discount codes for affiliates, a customizable signup form and emails, bulk customer invites, VIP tiers, birthday points and store credit expiry. |
How EZ Affiliate works
- Three programs from one setup. A setup wizard turns on affiliates, referrers and loyalty in any combination and walks you through each one. Nothing is locked in: every choice can be changed later in Settings.
- Tracked by link and by code. Every partner gets a referral link and a discount code. A link click is remembered in the shopper’s browser for 30 days, and a discount code credits the order on any device. The tracker embed in your theme does the work, so switch it on first.
- A portal inside your store. Approved affiliates log in to your store’s customer accounts and find their earnings, discount codes, a link generator, orders and payout history. There is no third party login to explain.
- Refunds are caught first. Commissions and rewards stay pending for 14 days after the order and are voided if it is refunded in that time, so you do not pay out on returned orders.
- Payouts on a schedule. Payout bills are generated on the 1st and 16th of each month for affiliates whose cleared balance meets your threshold, $50 by default. Pay them by PayPal or bank transfer and mark each bill paid, or on Pro let the app send PayPal payouts automatically from your PayPal Business account.
- Rewards that spend themselves. Referrers and loyalty members receive Shopify store credit automatically, and Shopify offers it at checkout whenever the customer is signed in. The loyalty program runs on Shopify’s new customer accounts.
Switching from Smile to EZ Affiliate
Your customers keep the value of the points they have already earned. The import converts each balance into EZ Affiliate points.
- Install EZ Affiliate and turn on Loyalty in the setup wizard. You can start on the Free plan. Loyalty runs on Shopify’s new customer accounts, and the launch screen links to the setting if you still need to switch them on.
- Set your three numbers. Choose how much customers get back (1% to 20% of what they spend), the size of each reward and a welcome bonus for new members.
- Switch off your Smile program. Do this before you import, so no customer is rewarded twice.
- Import your points balances. On the Loyalty page, upload a CSV file with an
emailcolumn and apointscolumn, up to 10,000 customers per file, and enter what 100 of your old points were worth. Check the preview, then start the import. Balances that already cover a reward are issued as store credit within the hour. - Add loyalty to your storefront. Add the Rewards page and the points banner to customer accounts, and switch on the theme embed that shows the Rewards button.
- Turn on referrers and affiliates if you want them. Both are in the same wizard, and members are invited to refer a friend from the rewards panel.
- Place a test order. Order as a signed-in customer and check the points on the Loyalty page.
Each step is covered in the EZ Affiliate documentation.
Common questions
Is EZ Affiliate cheaper than Smile?
For most of what Smile charges more for, yes. EZ Affiliate is free or a flat $19 a month, with VIP tiers and store credit rewards included and no order limits. Smile’s plans are free, $15, $79 and $199 a month, with store credit rewards from $79 and VIP tiers from $199. Smile’s $15 plan costs less than Pro for stores under 500 monthly orders.
Does EZ Affiliate have VIP tiers?
Yes, on Pro ($19 a month). You can set up to three tiers, each with a name, a yearly spend and a points multiplier from 1x to 3x. Members who reach a tier earn more points per order and keep the tier for the rest of that year and all of the next.
Does EZ Affiliate limit the number of orders?
No. Neither plan has an order limit. Free is limited to 5 affiliates, 100 referrers and 100 loyalty members, and Pro has no limits.
Do customers have to redeem their points?
No. Customers join automatically with their first paid order, their points turn into store credit by themselves, and Shopify offers the credit at checkout whenever they are signed in. There are no codes and nothing to redeem.
Can I bring my points balances over from Smile?
Yes. Use Import points on the Loyalty page: upload a CSV file with an email column and a points column, up to 10,000 customers per file, and enter what 100 of your old points were worth. The app converts each balance so customers keep the same value.
What do I need to run the loyalty program?
Shopify’s new customer accounts, with sign-in links shown in your store, because customers spend store credit while signed in. You also need the app’s theme embed switched on, which shows the Rewards button.
Does EZ Affiliate include referrals and affiliates as well?
Yes. The same app runs a refer a friend program, which pays referrers in store credit, and an affiliate program, which pays creators a commission by PayPal or bank transfer. The three programs are independent, so you can run any combination.
How we compared
Details about Smile come from its Shopify App Store listing, its own pricing page and its help center as they read on November 11, 2026. Prices, plans and limits change, so check them before you decide. Smile is the property of its owner. Casual Ecommerce makes EZ Affiliate and is not affiliated with Smile.
Start with EZ Affiliate for free
Install EZ Affiliate from the Shopify App Store and launch on the Free plan. Pro is a flat $19 a month when you outgrow it.