Running a subscription business is a unique challenge. Customers frequently upgrade, downgrade, cancel, or sign up, often through your affiliate or referral programs.
That means if you're using referral marketing software, you need a tool that goes beyond tracking the initial sale. It needs to follow every sales event to ensure referral partners are accurately credited.
If you're unsure which referral platform can handle this complexity, you're in the right place. We've analyzed the best referral marketing software for SaaS and stacked them up against Rewardful to help you make a confident choice.
Here's what to look for in a referral marketing tool that truly supports subscription-based businesses.
TL;DR of 5 Top Referral Marketing Software
See how some of the most popular referral management tools stack up against each other, looking at what they do well, where they might fall short, and, of course, what they cost.
Rewardful: The Best Overall Referral Marketing Tool for Subscription Businesses
Let's look at why Rewardful’s referral program tool consistently wins with subscription-based businesses across all the metrics that matter.
Rewardful is Everything You Need for Seamless Referral Management
Every feature in Rewardful was designed with subscription businesses in mind, because SaaS businesses are often based on this model. While other referral and affiliate tools retrofitted subscription support onto ecommerce foundations, Rewardful started with the assumption that your customers have ongoing relationships with your business, not one-time transactions. And it shows.
Designed for Recurring Revenue from Day One. Set up subscription referral tracking in under 15 minutes (on average) with Rewardful. Simply sign up, connect Rewardful to your Stripe account, set up your first campaign, and your referral marketing program is ready to launch. See our setup guide.
Stripe Integration. True two-way sync means Rewardful receives data from Stripe and sends it back, creating seamless subscription lifecycle management. When a customer upgrades their plan, referral commissions automatically adjust without any manual intervention.
Flexible Commission Structures. Decide the best referral commission models for you, including flexible recurring commissions that can run indefinitely, end after a specific number of payments, or be based on customer lifetime value. Unlike platforms that think in terms of "orders," Rewardful thinks in terms of customer relationships. Because we know you do, too.
Subscription Workflows. Rewardful automatically handles subscription events, such as voluntary cancellations, involuntary churn, plan changes, billing failures, and reactivations, and recalculates the referral rewards. This ensures your referrals are always paid fairly.
ROI for Subscriptions. Transparent pricing that scales with your referral program's success. No hidden fees or commission fees.
That being said, we're obviously not the only choice on the market. Here are some of the top referral tracking software for SaaS businesses.
FirstPromoter: Flexible Integrations for Multi-Platform SaaS Billing
FirstPromoter positions itself specifically for SaaS businesses, making it an excellent tool for subscription-focused referral marketing.
Pros of FirstPromoter
- Payment gateway coverage: FirstPromoter supports more subscription billing platforms out of the box than most competitors—Stripe, Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly, and Braintree are all natively integrated. This is valuable if you're using a billing platform other than Stripe.
- Advanced analytics: If your business thrives on detailed data analysis, FirstPromoter provides deeper insights into affiliate-driven customer behavior over time.
- Two-sided rewards: Built-in support for giving discounts to both the referrer and the referred customer, which can be effective for subscription acquisition.
Cons of FirstPromoter
- Webhook configuration required: You must set up webhooks manually for event notifications; no full automation (e.g., integrate Braintree/Chargebee via webhook configuration).
- Tracking issues: one G2 reviewer had a problem with their tracking codes, and needed customer support to solve it.
Reditus: Built-In Marketplace for B2B SaaS Partner Discovery
Reditus specifically targets B2B SaaS businesses with a unique approach that includes automatic marketplace listing for partner recruitment.
Pros of Reditus
- MRR-based pricing: Reditus prices based on Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) generated through affiliates, which can work well for some subscription businesses.
- Marketplace exposure: Automatic listing in their affiliate marketplace can help you with partner recruitment, which can be valuable for B2B SaaS businesses who want to expand their affiliate and referral network quickly.
- Custom landing pages: Tailor the look and feel of your referral program landing pages to match your company’s style and partners you want to recruit.
Cons of Reditus
- Improvable interface: some G2 reviewers reported lag issues when using Reditus and hoped to get a better user interface.
- Limited payout options: Reditus currently only supports PayPal as its payment channel.
- Pricing: Despite the MRR-based pricing model, costs escalate quickly. At $71/month for just $5,000 MRR from affiliates, it's more expensive than other referral tracking software in this list.
Post Affiliate Pro: Enterprise-Level Customization and Control
Post Affiliate Pro offers extensive customization and enterprise-level features, but all this power at your fingertips comes with added complexity (that most subscription businesses might not actually need).
Pros of Post Affiliate Pro
- Rich customization options: If you need highly specific commission structures or unique tracking requirements, Post Affiliate Pro can be configured to handle many scenarios.
- 24/7 customer support: Get the help you need from the team to troubleshoot your affiliate and referral program issues.
- Fraud protection: safeguard your business from referral frauds and unwanted activities.
Cons of Post Affiliate Pro
- Pricing: Recurring commissions are a feature not available in the cheapest plan ($99/month), only in the $199 Ultimate Plan, which makes it more expensive.
- Interface issues: some G2 reviews mention that users aren't exactly thrilled with the UI of Post Affiliate Pro, which could be related to the increased complexity.
Refersion: Best for Ecommerce and Influencer-Driven Subscription Brands
Refersion is popular in the ecommerce space, whether you’re selling one-off or recurring products.
Pros of Refersion
- Influencer integration: Strong features for managing influencer partnerships, which can be valuable if your subscription business relies heavily on influencer marketing.
- Scalability: Built to handle large affiliate programs with thousands of partners, good for established ecommerce subscription businesses with extensive referral networks.
- Marketplace access: Includes access to Refersion's affiliate marketplace for partner recruitment.
Cons of Refersion
- Order-based pricing model: Refersion charges based on affiliate-generated orders, not metrics like MRR or LTV. This makes it harder for subscription businesses to align commission costs with long-term customer value and accurately forecast ROI.
What's The Best Referral Marketing Tool for Subscription Businesses? It’s Rewardful
It's not always the platform with the most features that comes out on top. It's the platform that offers features you will use daily, without friction or steep learning curves, that will help your business (and affiliates!) champions in the subscription field.
For most SaaS, membership, and recurring revenue businesses, that winning combination usually included:
- Seamless subscription lifecycle management
- Automated recurring commission handling
- Transparent, subscription-friendly pricing
- Fast setup that doesn't require technical expertise
- Integration that works with your existing subscription billing workflow
Rewardful delivers this combination consistently, which is why thousands of subscription businesses choose it over more complex alternatives. Our happy users include OpusClip, beehiive, and Podia. Listen to what Podia said about their experience with Rewardful or read their story here.
Ready to try out?
Start your 14-day free trial to experience referral marketing software actually built for recurring revenue businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions about Referral Marketing Software for Subscription-Based Businesses
1. I’m Launching a Referral Program for My Subscription-Based Business. What Features Should I Look For?
We recommend adopting a referral marketing software with the following features to support your subscription-based business:
- Automated recurring commission handling
- Customizable commission structure, cookie duration, and referral dashboard
- Easy to set up and navigate, both for you and your referral
- two-way Stripe data syncs for real-time tracking
2. How Do Recurring Commissions Work for Subscription Referrals?
With subscription-focused referral software, you can set up percentage-based commissions that automatically pay referrers for each renewal payment. For example, if you offer a 30% commission on a $50/month subscription, your referrer earns $15 every month the customer stays subscribed. You can customize the duration (e.g., first 12 months only) or keep it running indefinitely. Learn more about referral and affiliate commission models.
3. What Happens to Referral Commissions When Customers Upgrade or Downgrade Their Subscriptions?
Some referral management software, like Rewardful, automatically adjusts commissions based on subscription changes. If a customer upgrades from a $30/month plan to a $50/month plan, the referrer's 20% commission automatically increases from $6 to $10 per month. Conversely, downgrades reduce the commission accordingly, ensuring payouts always match actual revenue. Get the details of Rewardful’s refund handling feature.
