EZ Affiliate comparison
UpPromote alternative: EZ Affiliate compared
EZ Affiliate and UpPromote both run an affiliate program inside your Shopify store, with links, discount codes and commissions tracked for you. EZ Affiliate does it for a flat $19 a month and takes no share of what your affiliates sell, where UpPromote’s paid plans run from $29.99 to $199.99 a month plus 1% to 2% of approved referral sales. Automatic PayPal payouts are part of that $19, against $89.99 a month on UpPromote, and a refer a friend program and loyalty points come in the same app. UpPromote goes further on recruiting, with a marketplace and a creator database, which matters if you need to find affiliates you do not already know.
The short version
Choose EZ Affiliate when
- You want one flat price. EZ Affiliate Pro is $19 a month. UpPromote’s paid plans are $29.99, $89.99 and $199.99 a month, plus 2%, 1.5% and 1% of approved referral sales.
- You do not want to pay a percentage of what your affiliates sell. Neither EZ Affiliate plan adds a fee on referral sales.
- You want PayPal payouts sent automatically. They are part of Pro ($19). UpPromote puts PayPal auto-payout on Professional ($89.99).
- You want a refer a friend program from day one. EZ Affiliate includes it on Free, with store credit sent to referrers automatically. UpPromote puts customer referral on Growth ($29.99).
- You want loyalty points and VIP tiers without a second app. EZ Affiliate includes points on Free and VIP tiers on Pro. UpPromote’s pricing page lists neither.
- You want affiliates to log in on your own store. The EZ Affiliate dashboard sits in your store’s customer accounts on every plan. UpPromote’s affiliate login is on af.uppromote.com, with your own domain on Professional ($89.99).
- You want it live quickly. One setup wizard turns on affiliates, referrers and loyalty together.
UpPromote may suit you better if
- You want more than five affiliates without paying. UpPromote’s free plan includes unlimited affiliates, with referral review capped at $3,000 in referral sales a month. EZ Affiliate Free covers 5 affiliates, and Pro lifts the limit for $19.
- You need to find affiliates you do not know yet. UpPromote lists your offer in its marketplace from Growth ($29.99) and sells a Creator Discovery add-on from $39 a month.
- You run a multi-level program or need an API. UpPromote includes multi-level marketing, auto-tier commissions, an API and email tool integrations on Professional ($89.99).
At a glance
| EZ Affiliate | UpPromote | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid plans, per month | One plan: $19 | $29.99, $89.99 and $199.99 |
| Fee on referral sales | None | 2%, 1.5% and 1% of approved referral sales on its paid plans |
| Automatic PayPal payouts from | $19 a month | $89.99 a month |
| Refer a friend program from | Free | $29.99 a month |
| Loyalty points and VIP tiers | Included: points on Free, VIP tiers on Pro | Not listed on its pricing page |
| Where affiliates log in | Your store’s customer accounts | af.uppromote.com. Your own domain from $89.99 a month. |
| Free plan | Up to 5 affiliates, 100 referrers and 100 loyalty members | Unlimited affiliates and 1 program, with referral review up to $3,000 in referral sales a month |
| Yearly billing | Billed monthly | Saves 17% on the plan price |
What you save
EZ Affiliate has one paid plan, and it is a flat $19 a month whatever your affiliates sell. UpPromote’s paid plans combine a monthly price with a performance fee: $29.99 plus 2% on Growth, $89.99 plus 1.5% on Professional and $199.99 plus 1% on Enterprise. The fee is charged on sales from the referrals you approve.
That fee grows with your program. At $5,000 a month in approved referral sales, Growth comes to $129.99 a month and Professional to $164.99, by UpPromote’s published rates. EZ Affiliate Pro is still $19. Over a year that is about $1,330 less than Growth and about $1,750 less than Professional.
The gap is wider once you look at what each plan includes. Automatic PayPal payouts are part of Pro at $19, and of UpPromote’s Professional plan at $89.99. A refer a friend program is on EZ Affiliate’s Free plan, and on UpPromote’s Growth plan at $29.99. Loyalty points and VIP tiers come with EZ Affiliate, where UpPromote’s pricing page lists neither.
One case goes the other way. If you want a large number of affiliates without paying, UpPromote’s free plan includes unlimited affiliates and caps the referral sales you can review at $3,000 a month, where EZ Affiliate Free covers 5 affiliates. UpPromote also takes 17% off its plan prices when you pay yearly.
Three programs for one price
UpPromote describes itself as an affiliate and referral app, and that is where its plans put their weight. EZ Affiliate runs three programs from one setup: an affiliate program for creators and influencers, a refer a friend program for your customers, and a loyalty program that rewards repeat orders.
The referral program fills itself. Customers are invited on the thank you page, on the order status page and by email after they buy, and referrers receive Shopify store credit automatically once a reward clears. The loyalty program gives points on every order and turns them into store credit without the customer redeeming anything. On Pro you can add up to three VIP tiers and birthday points.
All three are on the Free plan up to its limits (5 affiliates, 100 referrers and 100 loyalty members) and without limits on Pro.
Affiliates log in on your own store
EZ Affiliate puts the affiliate dashboard inside your store’s customer accounts. An approved affiliate logs in the way any customer does and sees their earnings, discount codes, a link generator, their orders and their payout history. There is no separate site to send them to, on either plan.
UpPromote’s affiliate registration and login pages sit on af.uppromote.com. Moving them to your own domain is a Professional feature, at $89.99 a month.
Where each feature sits
The lowest plan, and its monthly price, on which each app includes a feature. UpPromote’s paid plans also charge 1% to 2% of approved referral sales. Its column follows its own pricing page and help center.
| Feature | EZ Affiliate | UpPromote |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic PayPal payouts | Pro ($19) | Professional ($89.99) |
| Refer a friend program | Free, for up to 100 referrers. Unlimited on Pro. | Customer referral on Growth ($29.99) |
| Store credit rewards | Shopify store credit, sent to referrers automatically, on every plan | Store credit, paid as store coupons, on Growth ($29.99). Automatic store credit payouts on Professional ($89.99). |
| Loyalty points | Free, for up to 100 members. Unlimited on Pro. | Not listed |
| VIP tiers | Pro ($19) | Not listed |
| Where affiliates log in | Your store’s customer accounts, on every plan | af.uppromote.com. Custom domain on Professional ($89.99). |
| Codes and links for affiliates | A discount code and a link generator on every plan. Affiliates name their own codes on Pro ($19). | 1 coupon per affiliate on Free and Growth. Unlimited coupons, custom links and auto-generated coupons on Professional ($89.99). |
| Commission levels | Multiple levels, with different rates for different affiliates, on Pro ($19) | 2 levels by order value on Free and Growth. Unlimited levels, auto-tier and lifetime commission on Professional ($89.99). |
| Manual payouts | PayPal or bank transfer, on every plan | Every plan |
| Signup form | Standard form on Free. Your own fields and styling on Pro ($19). | Customizable form on every plan. Premium templates on Growth ($29.99). |
| Affiliates on the free plan | 5 | Unlimited, with referral review up to $3,000 in referral sales a month |
| Finding new affiliates | Signup form, customer invites and automatic invites for your best referrers | Marketplace listing on Growth ($29.99). Creator Discovery add-on from $39 a month. |
| Multi-level marketing | Not listed | Professional ($89.99) |
| API and email tool integrations | Not listed | Professional ($89.99) |
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 UpPromote to EZ Affiliate
You can set EZ Affiliate up on the Free plan while UpPromote is still installed, and move your affiliates once it is tested.
- Install EZ Affiliate and run the setup wizard. Turn on the programs you want (affiliates, referrers, loyalty) and the wizard walks you through each one. You can start on the Free plan.
- Set your affiliate terms. Choose the commission rate, the discount an affiliate’s customers receive, PayPal or bank transfer as the payout method, and the payout threshold.
- Import your affiliates. Upload a CSV file with
email,first_name,last_nameandcodecolumns. Each affiliate is created active with their existing Shopify discount code attached, so codes they have already shared keep working. A template is on the import page. - Add the affiliate dashboard to customer accounts. Affiliates log in to your store to see their earnings and add the PayPal email they want to be paid at. Each one gets a new link in the form
yourstore.com?ref=CODE, so ask them to replace any old links. - Switch on the tracker embed. It is the part of your theme that reads referral links and credits each order to the right partner, and it shows the loyalty Rewards button.
- Set up refer a friend. Choose what a referrer earns, for example $10 in store credit, and the discount their friend receives. Then add the post-purchase block to your thank you page and turn on the post-purchase email, so every customer is invited after they buy.
- Place a test order. Open a referral link, place an order and check that it appears on the Orders page under the right partner. Keep an export of your affiliates and their codes before you uninstall UpPromote.
Each step is covered in the EZ Affiliate documentation.
Common questions
Is EZ Affiliate cheaper than UpPromote?
On paid plans, yes. EZ Affiliate Pro is a flat $19 a month. UpPromote’s paid plans are $29.99, $89.99 and $199.99 a month, each with a performance fee of 2%, 1.5% or 1% of approved referral sales. Both apps have a free plan.
Does EZ Affiliate charge a percentage of referral sales?
No. EZ Affiliate has two plans, Free and Pro at $19 a month, and neither adds a fee on the sales your partners bring in. Pro has no limit on affiliates, referrers or loyalty members.
Which plan do I need for automatic PayPal payouts?
EZ Affiliate Pro, at $19 a month. Connect a PayPal Business account once and the app sends each payout from your PayPal balance on the 1st and 16th. UpPromote lists PayPal auto-payout from its Professional plan, at $89.99 a month.
Can I move my affiliates from UpPromote?
Yes. Use Import affiliates on the Partners page and upload a CSV file with email, first_name, last_name and code columns. Each affiliate is created active with their existing Shopify discount code attached, so sales through codes they have already shared keep being tracked.
Do affiliates need a separate login?
No. The affiliate dashboard is a page inside your store’s customer accounts. Approved affiliates log in to your store and see their earnings, discount codes, a link generator, their orders and their payout history.
How many affiliates can I have on the free plan?
EZ Affiliate Free covers up to 5 affiliates, 100 referrers and 100 loyalty members, and Pro removes the limits for $19 a month. UpPromote’s free plan includes unlimited affiliates and one program, with referral review capped at $3,000 in referral sales a month.
Does EZ Affiliate include a customer referral program?
Yes, on every plan. 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 Shopify store credit automatically once the reward clears its 14-day pending period.
How we compared
Details about UpPromote 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 fees change, so check them before you decide. UpPromote is the property of its owner. Casual Ecommerce makes EZ Affiliate and is not affiliated with UpPromote.
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.