ReferralCandy Pricing Explained
ReferralCandy pricing: Basic $39, Grow $79, Scale $249. Success fees, crossover math, vs UpPromote.
GrowSurf Pricing Explained
GrowSurf pricing: Startup $179, Business $449. Participant tiers, Affiliate Free+$3%, vs ReferralCandy.
TL;DR: GrowSurf pricing for referral programs is Startup from $179/month (up to 2,500 participants) and Business from $449/month (up to 10,000), then higher participant tiers. Affiliate programs are a separate rail: $0/month plus a 3% success fee. Count engaged participants, not your whole user base, before you buy.
Introduction
Growth teams google GrowSurf pricing for a sticker. They still miss who counts as a participant.
GrowSurf sells referral and affiliate program software. Referral plans meter unique participants. Affiliate plans publish a Free surface plus a success fee (GrowSurf). The trap is the Participant Tier Ladder: the monthly fee climbs with how many people receive a referral link or sign up through one, not with your total registered users. This page is the live ladder from GrowSurf’s published plan JSON and FAQ, with yearly effective rates, the Affiliate Free+3% fork, and a clean comparison to ReferralCandy pricing. For referral versus affiliate definitions, see affiliate vs referral marketing.
- Startup referral starts at $179/month for up to 2,500 participants, or about $125/month when billed yearly on the FAQ line (GrowSurf).
- Startup also publishes $279/month for up to 5,000 participants (GrowSurf).
- Business starts at $449/month for up to 10,000 participants, or about $314/month yearly on the FAQ line (GrowSurf).
- Higher Business tiers list $649, $879, $1,139, and $1,429/month as participant caps climb to 150,000 (GrowSurf).
- Affiliate programs: $0/month plus a 3% success fee on referral revenue (GrowSurf).
- Referral programs get a 14-day free trial with no credit card required (GrowSurf).
What Is GrowSurf Pricing
GrowSurf pricing is the published Startup and Business participant-tier ladder for GrowSurf referral programs, plus a separate Affiliate Free plan with a 3% success fee on referral revenue.
It is a software fee (or software-plus-success fee on affiliates), not the reward you pay advocates, and not an affiliation fee paid to a discovery network. You still fund gift cards, credits, or commissions separately.
Open the live pricing page. Do not treat referral program benchmarks as a substitute for this pricing URL.
Why GrowSurf Pricing Matters
Pricing matters because “participants” is easy to misread as “all users.” Merchants who budget from total MAU overbuy. Merchants who ignore the Affiliate Free+3% rail compare the wrong product.
- The meter is participants, not the whole user base. GrowSurf defines a participant as anyone who receives a unique referral link or signs up through one, counted by unique email (GrowSurf).
- Tiers auto-scale. Exceed a limit and GrowSurf can upgrade you on a prorated basis, with emails at 50%, 90%, and 100% of the cap; you can turn auto-upgrade off (GrowSurf).
- Startup and Business share features inside each family. Business tiers differ by participant count, not by a feature unlock story on the pricing examples (GrowSurf).
- Affiliate is a different bill shape. Referral plans are paid participant tiers. Affiliate programs publish $0/month plus 3% of referral revenue (GrowSurf).
- Competitor meters differ. ReferralCandy pricing uses fixed monthly fees plus success fees on net-new customers’ first three orders, not participant caps.
How GrowSurf Pricing Works
GrowSurf pricing works as a Participant Tier Ladder for referral programs. Climb when engaged participants hit a published ceiling. Treat Affiliate Free+3% as a separate rail.
Source: GrowSurf pricing page plan data and FAQ (accessed 2026-10-26). https://www.growsurf.com/pricing
Published referral plan stickers
| Plan family | Participant cap | Monthly | Yearly total (published) | Effective yearly monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startup | Up to 2,500 | $179 | $1,503.60 | $125.30 |
| Startup | Up to 5,000 | $279 | $2,343.60 | $195.30 |
| Business | Up to 10,000 | $449 | $3,771.60 | $314.30 |
| Business | Up to 25,000 | $649 | $5,451.60 | $454.30 |
| Business | Up to 50,000 | $879 | $7,383.60 | $615.30 |
| Business | Up to 100,000 | $1,139 | $9,567.60 | $797.30 |
| Business | Up to 150,000 | $1,429 | $12,003.60 | $1,000.30 |
Sources: GrowSurf data-referral-plans on pricing (accessed 2026-10-26). FAQ rounds Startup 2,500 yearly to $125/month and Business 10,000 yearly to $314/month. Above 150,000 participants, GrowSurf says to contact them for a custom quote.
Source: GrowSurf pricing plan data; ReferralCandy pricing (accessed 2026-10-26). Bars are fixed monthly floors. ReferralCandy also charges success fees; GrowSurf affiliate rail is separate.
Participant meter (who counts)
| Rule | Published detail |
|---|---|
| Who | Referrer who receives a unique link, or referred who signs up through one |
| Count | Unique email addresses |
| Not counted | Entire user base that never engages the program |
| Over-cap | Auto-upgrade prorated, or turn auto-upgrade off |
Source: GrowSurf pricing FAQ. There is no public dataset for the median merchant’s participant count.
Source: GrowSurf pricing plan data (accessed 2026-10-26). https://www.growsurf.com/pricing
Affiliate Free+$3% rail
| Seat | Fixed | Variable |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliate program | $0/mo | 3% success fee on referral revenue |
| Referral Startup / Business | Participant tiers above | No success-% on the referral FAQ cost line |
Source: GrowSurf pricing FAQ. GrowSurf also notes success fees for affiliate programs are non-refundable. Do not mash the 3% affiliate rail into ReferralCandy’s first-three-orders success fee without naming the different windows.
Meter fork vs ReferralCandy
| Seat | Primary meter | Entry sticker | Variable rail |
|---|---|---|---|
| GrowSurf Startup | Participants (≤2,500) | $179/mo | None on referral FAQ cost line |
| GrowSurf Business | Participants (≤10,000+) | $449/mo | Higher caps, same Business feature story |
| GrowSurf Affiliate | Referral revenue | $0/mo | 3% success fee |
| ReferralCandy Basic | Fixed + success fee | $39/mo | 10.5% first-three-orders |
| ReferralCandy Grow | Fixed + success fee | $79/mo | 3.5% first-three-orders |
| ReferralCandy Scale | Fixed + success fee | $249/mo | 1.5% first-three-orders |
Sources: GrowSurf; ReferralCandy.
Pick GrowSurf when you want in-product referral embeds metered on engaged participants, or an Affiliate Free+3% seat. Pick ReferralCandy when a commerce fixed-plus-success-fee ladder with a first-three-orders window fits better. None of those seats is a co-branded seller page for creators. That job is feat. / the marketplace. Do not invent a feat. fee to win the table.
Trial and plan changes
Referral programs: 14-day free trial, no credit card, trial lands on Business features so you can test integrations, with the option to downgrade to Startup during the trial (GrowSurf). Affiliate programs: Free plan available; FAQ says paid features and integrations are available for affiliate programs with or without a paid subscription or trial (GrowSurf).
Practical Steps
- Estimate engaged participants, not MAU. Model unique emails that will take a link or arrive through one.
- Place that count on the Startup/Business table. 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, and up.
- Compare monthly vs yearly. Use published yearly totals, not invented discounts.
- Choose the product rail. Customer rewards → referral tiers. Recurring partner commissions → Affiliate Free+3%.
- Watch auto-upgrade. Turn it off if you need a hard budget ceiling.
- Run ReferralCandy crossover math separately if you are Shopify-commerce first (ReferralCandy pricing).
Common Mistakes
- Budgeting from total users instead of participants.
- Ignoring the $279 Startup 5,000 seat and jumping straight to Business.
- Comparing GrowSurf $179 to ReferralCandy $39 without the success-fee rails.
- Applying the Affiliate 3% to a referral-tier quote.
- Leaving auto-upgrade on without a finance alert.
- Expecting GrowSurf to generate co-branded seller pages for creators.
- Using vendor perk totals ($335k+) as your program forecast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much is GrowSurf pricing per month? A: Referral Startup starts at $179 per month for up to 2,500 participants and $279 for up to 5,000. Business starts at $449 per month for up to 10,000 participants and climbs with higher caps. Affiliate programs are $0 per month plus a 3% success fee. Confirm live stickers on GrowSurf’s pricing page.
Q: What is the difference between GrowSurf Startup and Business pricing? A: Both are participant-metered referral plans. Startup covers up to 2,500 or 5,000 participants at $179 or $279 per month. Business starts at $449 for up to 10,000 participants and adds higher caps. GrowSurf’s Business examples state tiers share features and differ by participant count.
Q: Who counts as a GrowSurf participant? A: A participant is anyone who receives a unique referral link or signs up through one, counted by unique email. Your entire user base does not count until people engage the referral or affiliate program.
Q: Does GrowSurf have a free plan? A: For referral programs, no paid-free forever plan; you get a 14-day free trial. For affiliate programs, yes: $0 per month plus a 3% success fee on referral revenue.
Q: Is GrowSurf cheaper than ReferralCandy? A: Not as a single crown. GrowSurf meters referral seats on participants from $179 per month, with an Affiliate Free+$3% rail. ReferralCandy starts paid at $39 plus a 10.5% success fee on net-new customers’ first three orders. Compare meters and your volume, then pick the seat.
Conclusion
GrowSurf pricing is a Participant Tier Ladder for referral programs, from Startup at $179 for 2,500 participants through Business caps up to 150,000, plus a separate Affiliate Free+$3% rail. Count engaged participants before you celebrate any sticker. If you need in-product referral or affiliate tooling on that meter, GrowSurf is built for that seat. If you need creators selling through co-branded storefronts, start on the feat. marketplace.