Affiliate Marketing · alternatives
Alternatives to Friendbuy
21 affiliate marketing tools sit alongside Friendbuy in this directory. Below is what separates each from Friendbuy on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 21
- With a free tier
- 10
- Cheaper to start
- 14
- Friendbuy starts at
- $249/month
Why people look past Friendbuy
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Friendbuy entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Friendbuy starts at $249/month. Across the 10 affiliate marketing tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $74/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Friendbuy carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 10 of the 21 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
Friendbuy publishes a single plan, Starter at $249/month. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Viral and referral marketing made simple
- Can be used without paying; Friendbuy cannot.
- Starts $249 a month cheaper, at Free.
Customer referral program for e-commerce
- Can be used without paying; Friendbuy cannot.
- Starts $210 a month cheaper, at $39/month.
Referral software for tech companies
- Can be used without paying; Friendbuy cannot.
- Starts $249 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
Feature-rich affiliate marketing for Shopify
- Can be used without paying; Friendbuy cannot.
- Starts $200 a month cheaper, at $49/month.
- 3 tiers to Friendbuy's 1.
Digital product affiliate marketplace
- Can be used without paying; Friendbuy cannot.
- Starts $249 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a transaction model rather than subscription.
The world's largest affiliate marketing program
- Can be used without paying; Friendbuy cannot.
Every Friendbuy alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friendbuy (this page) | $249/month | Subscription | 1 | |
| Viral LoopsReferral marketing platform with transparent pricing and no annual contracts; offers similar referral program features with lower entry costs. | Free | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| ReferralCandyReferral program software designed for e-commerce and SaaS; provides published pricing and self-serve setup without mandatory sales calls. | Free, then $39/month | - | - | vs Friendbuy |
| GrowSurfGrowth referral platform for marketers; offers campaign management and analytics with more customization options than Friendbuy. | Free | Freemium | - | vs Friendbuy |
| GoAffPro | Free, then $49/month | - | 3 | vs Friendbuy |
| ClickBank | Free | Transaction | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| Amazon Associates | Free | - | - | vs Friendbuy |
| Crossbeam | Free | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| Awin | Free | Quote | - | vs Friendbuy |
| Affiliatly | Free, then $16/month | - | 5 | vs Friendbuy |
| AnyTrack | Free | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| FlexOffers | On request | Usage-based | - | vs Friendbuy |
| CAKE | Free | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| Affise | $500/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| ClickMagick | $49/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| Ambassador | $800/month | - | - | vs Friendbuy |
| FirstPromoter | $49/month | - | 3 | vs Friendbuy |
| Everflow | $750/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| Alyce | Free | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| CJ Affiliate | Free | Transaction | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| Affluent | $99/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Friendbuy |
| Extole | $999/month | - | - | vs Friendbuy |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Friendbuy badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (10)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Viral Loops , Free
- ReferralCandy , Free, then $39/month
- GrowSurf , Free
- GoAffPro , Free, then $49/month
- ClickBank , Free
- Amazon Associates , Free
- Crossbeam , Free
- Awin , Free
Cheaper than Friendbuy (14)
Entry price under Friendbuy's $249/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Viral Loops , Free
- ReferralCandy , Free, then $39/month
- GrowSurf , Free
- GoAffPro , Free, then $49/month
- ClickBank , Free
- Crossbeam , Free
- Affiliatly , Free, then $16/month
- AnyTrack , Free
What you would be giving up
Friendbuy is most often brought in for affiliate marketing management, workflow automation, reporting. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Friendbuy is broadly right and the question is cost, the Friendbuy pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Affiliate Marketing category lists everything the directory holds, and best affiliate marketing tools ranks them.
Friendbuy runs on web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Friendbuy alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Friendbuy?
- 21 other affiliate marketing tools are listed in this directory, led by Viral Loops, ReferralCandy, GrowSurf, GoAffPro. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Friendbuy?
- 10 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Viral Loops, ReferralCandy, GrowSurf, GoAffPro, ClickBank.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Friendbuy?
- Yes. 14 of the alternatives below start under Friendbuy's $249/month: Viral Loops at Free, ReferralCandy at Free, then $39/month, GrowSurf at Free, GoAffPro at Free, then $49/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Friendbuy?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Friendbuy?
- Friendbuy is most often brought in for affiliate marketing management, workflow automation, reporting. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Friendbuy?
- None of the affiliate marketing tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Friendbuy alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Affiliate Marketing, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored slot runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Friendbuy against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Friendbuy covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every affiliate marketing tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Affiliate Marketing category, 21 tools beside Friendbuy. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.