ReferralCandy vs Friendbuy (vs Mention Me): Which referral platform fits your brand?
By Dan Barraclough —
Quick summary
ReferralCandy suits ecommerce brands, especially those on Shopify, that want a self-serve referral programme live within days. They pay a monthly fee plus a success fee on referred sales. Friendbuy suits growth-stage and enterprise brands that want referral, loyalty and influencer programmes from one vendor, paid through a flat annual licence.
Mention Me is built for mid-market and enterprise brands that run referral as an acquisition channel. It captures recommendations made without a link, tests every part of the programme and benchmarks results against 500+ brands, with no revenue-share commission.
Category
ReferralCandy
Friendbuy
Mention Me
Best For
Ecommerce brands, especially on Shopify, looking for a self-serve programme
Growth-stage and enterprise consumer brands that want referral, loyalty and influencer programmes
Mid-market and enterprise brands that want referral to work as a measurable acquisition channel
Pricing Model
Monthly fee plus a success fee on sales from referred new customers (as of Nov 2026)
Flat annual licence based on programme requirements, with no per-referral commission (as of Nov 2026)
Custom
Starting Price
$39 a month plus a 10.5% success fee on the Basic plan (as of Nov 2026)
Not published; an estimate is based on monthly order volume (as of Nov 2026)
Both platforms run refer-a-friend programmes for ecommerce brands, and both are well rated on G2. The real differences sit in how you pay, how long launch takes and how much of the programme your own team runs.
Pricing and contract terms
As of November 2026, ReferralCandy publishes four plans, each with a monthly fee and a success fee on purchases by new customers your programme brings in.
Basic at $39 a month plus 10.5%
Grow at $79 a month plus 3.5%
Scale at $249 a month plus 1.5%
Enterprise at $799 a month plus 0.25%
The fee covers each referred customer’s first three orders and is worked out on the subtotal after discounts. Plans run month to month, and a 7-day free trial comes first. Because the percentage drops as the plan rises, the cheapest plan depends on referred revenue. At $10,000 of referred new-customer sales in a month, Basic would cost $1,089, Grow $429 and Scale $399.
It pays to model this before you commit. One 2022 G2 reviewer said they hadn’t spotted the commission billing straight away.
Friendbuy keeps its base prices off its website. Its pricing page builds an estimate from the products you choose and your monthly order volume, and lists add-ons such as a Reward Store at $500 a month and Shopify Cashback at $250 a month (as of Nov 2026). Friendbuy sells a flat annual licence with no per-referral commission.
It comes down to a bill that grows with referral success versus a fixed annual commitment. ReferralCandy is easier to start and leave. Friendbuy’s flat fee becomes the better deal once referral revenue is big enough that a percentage would hurt.
Setup and time to launch
ReferralCandy is self-serve. Its AI agent, REx, proposes rewards, audiences and email copy, and nothing goes live until you approve it. In an October 2026 review, a small-business user called the initial setup friendly and easy despite the technical work involved.
Friendbuy takes a managed route. Its White Glove onboarding runs for four to six weeks, project-managed by its team, while the engineering work typically takes a couple of days. One 2022 reviewer said implementation with their tech team took longer than hoped.
ReferralCandy suits teams that want to launch this week and refine as they go. Friendbuy suits teams that want a guided launch and can plan a month or more ahead.
Programmes, rewards and testing
ReferralCandy runs referral and affiliate programmes from one dashboard, and Shopify merchants can add store-credit loyalty campaigns. Rewards include discounts, store credit, cash and gift cards, and FlexiTiers unlock milestone rewards as customers refer more friends. Every plan can test rewards and friend offers, and its AI tests welcome email copy automatically.
Friendbuy covers referral, loyalty, and influencer and creator programmes. Rewards can be held until a condition is met, like a return window closing or a second subscription payment, which suits subscription brands. Its team runs tests with you on offers, creative, copy and friend welcome pages.
If referral is your main programme, ReferralCandy covers it without paying for loyalty tools you may not use. If you want referral and loyalty under one contract, Friendbuy is the closer fit.
Fraud protection
ReferralCandy blocks clear self-referrals and flags patterns such as similar customer details, repeated IP addresses and unusually high referral volume. Its Fraud Center shows why each referral was flagged, and rewards can be held through a review period.
Friendbuy validates each payout against your own systems before a reward is issued, applies layered rules and sends borderline cases to human review. Velocity controls hold rewards when clicks or conversions spike. Even so, one 2022 reviewer still saw people creating several accounts to game the programme.
Both cover the essentials. Friendbuy’s checks against your own order data give finance teams more control over high-value rewards.
Integrations and platforms
ReferralCandy is a certified Shopify partner and also supports BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento and custom stores. It connects with Klaviyo, Recharge, Omnisend and Mailchimp, and pays out in 20 currencies.
Friendbuy’s integrations lean towards larger stacks, including Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, commercetools and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, alongside Klaviyo, Attentive, Braze, Iterable and Segment. Its Shopify POS integration counts in-store purchases towards referral attribution, and Friendbuy is certified to SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.
Stores on Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce can plug ReferralCandy in with little friction. Brands on headless or enterprise commerce platforms, or with security reviews to pass, will find Friendbuy’s set-up deeper.
Reporting and support
ReferralCandy reports on referred purchases, sales and top referrers, with CSV and PDF exports. Every merchant gets chat support, and Enterprise adds dedicated onboarding and an account manager.
Friendbuy includes implementation help on every plan, and qualifying plans add a dedicated Customer Success Manager with regular performance reviews. In an August 2026 review, a direct marketing manager found some reporting metrics confusing, although the Friendbuy team helped explain them.
Teams happy to run their own programme will find ReferralCandy’s support enough. Teams that want a partner reviewing performance with them will get more from Friendbuy.
Mention Me as an alternative to both
ReferralCandy and Friendbuy both track referrals through links, codes and widgets. Mention Me is built for brands that want referral to work as a measurable acquisition channel, and its track record covers 500+ brands, £4bn+ revenue.
Enterprise depth with no revenue-share commission
Mention Me offers enterprise depth with no revenue-share commission. Unlike ReferralCandy’s success fee, the cost doesn’t rise each time a referred customer buys, so the channel’s economics improve as it grows. Each brand works with a dedicated Client Success Manager who supports launch, testing and regular performance reviews.
NameShare® captures referrals that codes miss
Many recommendations happen in conversation, where nobody shares a link. With NameShare®, the friend enters the name of the person who recommended the brand during checkout, and Mention Me matches, attributes and rewards that referral like any other.
On average, NameShare® accounts for 34% of referrals on Mention Me programmes. At GlassesUSA, it drives 77% of referrals. The patented mechanic runs alongside link sharing in the same programme.
Testing at scale
Mention Me’s testing draws on 45,000+ A/B tests run across its network. Teams set up tests of incentives, placements and messages through guided templates, with the Client Success team on hand to help choose what to test next.
Most brands go live within 30 days on a four-week onboarding plan, with the timeline set at kick-off.
Benchmarks against 500+ brands
Neither ReferralCandy nor Friendbuy lists peer benchmarking as a feature. Mention Me compares your share rate, purchase rate and order growth with brands of a similar sector, market and growth stage, drawn from benchmarking data across 500+ brands.
Only aggregated data is used, so no other brand’s figures are visible to you.
Earned referral
Customers also share product pages on WhatsApp, in DMs and in group chats without any referral prompt. Earned Referral tracks those shared product-page links through to the visits and sales they drive, and sharers can then be invited into the main referral programme.
eLTV and network revenue
eLTV adds the revenue from a customer’s direct referrals to their own spend. A customer who spends £200 and refers two friends who spend £150 each has an eLTV of £500. Network Revenue follows the chain further as those friends bring in customers of their own, so teams can see which customers are worth investing in.
Global readiness
Brands selling in several countries can run one programme across multiple markets, languages and currencies, with reporting by region or combined. New markets launch from the existing setup rather than a rebuild. By comparison, ReferralCandy charges $20 a month for each additional store, and Friendbuy may apply custom pricing for multiple markets or currencies.
How to choose between the three
Start with how much referral needs to deliver and who will run it day to day.
Choose ReferralCandy if you want a self-serve programme live quickly
ReferralCandy fits Shopify and ecommerce stores that want a referral or affiliate programme running this week, with a free trial and no long contract. It works best while referred revenue is modest, because the success fee grows with every referred customer’s first three orders.
Choose Friendbuy if you want referral and loyalty from one vendor
Friendbuy fits growth-stage and enterprise brands that want referral, loyalty and influencer programmes on one platform. It suits teams that can commit to an annual licence, plan a guided launch over several weeks and need recognised security certifications.
Choose Mention Me if referral is a core acquisition channel
Mention Me fits mid-market and enterprise brands with a clear target for acquiring customers through recommendations. It is the stronger choice when you want to count referrals that happen by name, compare results with similar brands, avoid a commission on referred revenue and run one programme across several markets.
Book a demo and benchmark your referral rate
See how your share rate and purchase rate compare with similar brands in your sector. On average, 34% of referrals happen in person, where a referral link can’t track them. Your benchmark will also show how many of those Name Share® could attribute on top of what your current tool records.
Does ReferralCandy Charge Commission on Referral Sales?
Yes. As of November 2026, every plan adds a success fee of between 0.25% and 10.5% on the first three orders from each referred new customer. There is no fee on the reward itself.
Does Friendbuy Publish Its Prices?
Not its base prices. Friendbuy’s pricing page gives an estimate based on your products and monthly order volume, and the final price depends on your programme requirements.
Which Is Better for Shopify Stores, ReferralCandy or Friendbuy?
ReferralCandy suits a single Shopify store that wants a self-serve programme. Friendbuy suits Shopify Plus brands that need loyalty, POS attribution and managed onboarding. Mention Me also works with Shopify and suits mid-market brands that measure referral as an acquisition channel.
Can ReferralCandy or Friendbuy Track In-Person Referrals?
ReferralCandy suggests QR codes on receipts and signage, which still lead to a referral link. Friendbuy’s Shopify POS integration counts in-store purchases from referred friends. Neither lists a way to capture a recommendation by name, which is what NameShare® does at checkout.
Does Mention Me Charge a Revenue-Share Commission?
No. Mention Me pricing is custom and doesn’t take a share of referred revenue, so costs don’t rise with each successful referral.
