Total cost, not list price
Platform fee, percent of revenue, payout fees and seat limits are recorded separately, so you can compare what a program really costs.
Documented facts, not a quality ranking. Pricing and rights depend on the selected plan.
| Decision criteria | Cello | AffiliateWP |
|---|---|---|
| Consider for | B2B or product-led SaaS teams that want both user-initiated referral sharing inside their software and a separately managed affiliate/partner channel. | WordPress stores that want to run an affiliate program within their own installation and need WooCommerce product attribution. |
| Paid entry / monthly | $0/month | Not verified |
| Billing detail | Two different products: Partner Referrals has a $0/month Free tier with 5% transaction cost on partner payouts, and Plus shows $80/month with 3.5%; User Referrals displays Start at $65/month with a 32% promotional discount. Confirm annual versus monthly commitment for discounted rates. | The live pricing page lists introductory first-year ANNUAL licenses: Personal $149.50 (normal $299/year), Plus $199.50 (normal $399/year), Pro $299.50 (normal $599/year). Do not interpret these as monthly rates; promotions and renewal prices differ. |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free plan detail | Partner Referrals Free tier includes one partner campaign and five transacting partners, but the platform charges 5% transaction costs; not an all-in zero-cost affiliate scheme. User Referrals Start is a paid product. | No free version and no free trial; vendor lists a 14-day refund guarantee for new purchases. |
| Commissions | User reward campaigns and partner affiliate campaigns support flexible rule-based commissions, including recurring rewards. Partner-referral transaction fees are tier-specific; the vendor describes automated reward calculations and support for PayPal and Venmo payout methods. | Percentage or fixed commissions for eligible WordPress checkouts; recurring, lifetime and tiered/multi-tier commission workflows are Pro-level features. Validate plugin-level support for refunds and renewals. |
| Tracking method | Cello SDK embeds share and referral experiences inside a SaaS product; referral tokens, user and partner attribution, campaign-based reward logic, performance dashboards and self-referral fraud detection are described. Partner portal and in-product user flow are distinct. | WordPress referral links, coupon codes, WooCommerce order attribution and site-owned affiliate dashboard; not a direct integration with Paddle Billing subscriptions. |
| Payouts | PayPal or Venmo payout features and multi-currency reward options are documented. Supported currencies depend on the provider. Vendor advertises tax/compliance handling; verify actual payout jurisdiction, documentation and FX costs before enrolling international affiliates. | Vendor documents international payouts, Stripe, PayPal and store-credit options with zero platform transaction fees; external processing charges and regional eligibility may still apply. |
| Integrations | Stripe and Chargebee webhooks for signup and purchase events, HubSpot and Salesforce for referred lead conversions, plus mobile SDK support for iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native. Validate the payment event lifecycle for trial conversion, refunds and renewals. | WordPress and WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads and supported membership/course/form plugins. Other hosted ecommerce platforms require a different tool. |
| API available | Yes | No |
| Consider the limitation | Sellers who assume the $0 Partner tier carries no transaction fees, or ecommerce stores expecting a generic coupon-only affiliate app. | Shopify-only merchants and buyers expecting the advanced Pro commission options on the cheapest annual license. |
| Sources checked | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-21 |
| Check the source | ||
| Next step | Visit Cello ↗ | Visit AffiliateWP ↗ |
Platform fee, percent of revenue, payout fees and seat limits are recorded separately, so you can compare what a program really costs.
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