Softwr

Affiliate Marketing · head to head

Friendbuy vs Gladly

Friendbuy logo

Friendbuy

Affiliate Marketing

Referral and loyalty platform for DTC brands

From
$249/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Gladly logo

Gladly

Customer Support

Radically personal customer service

From
$180/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Friendbuy no public pricing; requires sales call which makes it difficult to compare costs; Gladly no pricing is published at any level, and the pricing page states no per agent cost, per conversation rate, minimum commitment or feature tiers
  • They diverge on capability: Friendbuy covers Referral programs, Gladly covers Lifelong conversation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Friendbuy and Gladly actually diverge.

Attributes where Friendbuy and Gladly differ
AttributeFriendbuyGladly
Starting price$249/month$180/month
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
CategoryAffiliate MarketingCustomer Support
Founded20102014

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Friendbuy

  • Referral programs
  • Loyalty programs
  • A/B testing
  • Fraud detection
  • Attribution tracking
  • Klaviyo
  • Attentive
  • Yotpo

Only in Gladly

  • Lifelong conversation
  • Omnichannel support
  • Customer timeline
  • Task management
  • Knowledge base
  • IVR
  • Salesforce
  • Magento

Both cover

  • Shopify
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Friendbuy

  • affiliate marketing managementnot Gladly
  • Workflow automationnot Gladly
  • Reportingnot Gladly

Gladly

  • Customer service built around a single customer record rather than ticketsnot Friendbuy
  • Handling support conversations across voice, messaging and emailnot Friendbuy

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Friendbuy

  • No public pricing; requires sales call which makes it difficult to compare costs
  • Custom pricing can be expensive, especially for additional currencies or features
  • Low level of customization makes it difficult to implement seamlessly and maintain brand consistency
  • Customer support only available via email with slow response times
  • Rewards require manual processing and approval rather than automatic distribution
  • Tracking accuracy issues where referred customers sometimes marked as existing customers

Gladly

  • No pricing is published at any level, and the pricing page states no per agent cost, per conversation rate, minimum commitment or feature tiers
  • The pricing page presents outcome statistics in place of any cost information
  • Every route to a figure goes through a demo or sales conversation

Pricing, plan by plan

Friendbuy

$249/month
  • Starter$249/month
    • Referral program
    • Basic analytics
    • Email support

Gladly

$180/month
  • Hero$180/month
    • All channels
    • Customer timeline
    • Knowledge base
  • Superhero$210/month
    • Everything in Hero
    • Custom reporting
    • Advanced rules

Which should you pick?

Choose Friendbuy if

  • You need referral programs.
  • You also want loyalty programs.
Friendbuy review

Choose Gladly if

  • You need lifelong conversation.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want omnichannel support.
Gladly review

Questions people ask

Is Friendbuy or Gladly better?
Neither clearly leads. Friendbuy starts at $249/month and Gladly at $180/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Friendbuy or Gladly?
Friendbuy starts at $249/month and Gladly at $180/month.
Does Friendbuy or Gladly run on more platforms?
Friendbuy runs on Web. Gladly runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is Friendbuy best used for?
Friendbuy is most often used for affiliate marketing management, workflow automation, reporting. Of those, affiliate marketing management and workflow automation are not what Gladly is typically brought in for.
What can Friendbuy do that Gladly cannot?
Friendbuy covers Referral programs, Loyalty programs, A/B testing, Fraud detection. Gladly covers Lifelong conversation, Omnichannel support, Customer timeline, Task management. Both handle Shopify, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Friendbuy: What is Friendbuy's pricing model?

Friendbuy uses custom quote-based pricing with no publicly listed rates. Starting point is approximately $3,000 annually, with costs varying based on traffic volume, features needed, and onboarding requirements. Annual contracts are required.

Source
Friendbuy: Does Friendbuy offer a free trial?

Friendbuy does not offer a free trial. Prospective customers must contact sales for a demo and quote. There is no self-serve signup or trial period available.

Source
Friendbuy: Does Friendbuy offer referral and loyalty programs?

Yes. Friendbuy bundles both referral and loyalty program features together. You cannot purchase referral features alone and must pay for the complete suite.

Source
Friendbuy: What integrations does Friendbuy support?

Friendbuy integrates with major e-commerce platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, plus marketing tools like Klaviyo, Braze, and Segment.

Source
Friendbuy: Are rewards processed automatically in Friendbuy?

Activity is tracked automatically, but rewards are processed manually, requiring administrator action to approve and distribute rewards to referrers.

Source
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Related pages

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