Home / Loyalty & referral apps / Influence.io vs ReferralCandy
Loyalty & referral appsComparison2026
Influence.io vs ReferralCandy: which fits your store?
Last verified 2026-10-01
Influence.io and ReferralCandy are both loyalty & referral app tools compared here on pricing verified 2026-10-01, published plans, App Store standing, and themes from recent merchant reviews. Influence.io starts cheaper (free vs $39/mo); Influence.io has a free tier, ReferralCandy does not. On the Shopify App Store, Influence.io holds 4.2 ★ across 28 reviews and ReferralCandy holds 4.9 ★ across 1,409. Influence.io: These reviews suggest the app fits Shopify merchants that want a loyalty and referral program integrated with Reviews.io, Klaviyo, Shopify, or POS workflows and value hands-on support during setup. ReferralCandy: These reviews suggest the app fits Shopify merchants launching or managing referral and affiliate programs who value guided setup and responsive support. — from tracked pricing and recent App Store review analysis.
How do Influence.io and ReferralCandy compare?
|  Influence.io |  ReferralCandy |
|---|
| App Store rating | 4.2 ★ (28 reviews) | 4.9 ★ (1,409 reviews) |
| Price from | free | $39/mo |
| Free tier | ✓ yes | ✗ no |
| Published plans | 4 | 4 |
| Data confidence | high | high |
App Store rating Influence.io 4.2 ★
ReferralCandy 4.9 ★
→ ReferralCandy rates higher Review volume Influence.io 28
ReferralCandy 1,409
→ ReferralCandy has the larger base What would you actually pay?
| Plan | Monthly | Limits / notes |
|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 300 orders per month |
| Starter | $49 | Unlimited orders |
| Plus | $199 | Unlimited orders |
| Enterprise | — | Custom pricing. Contact sales |
Verified 2026-08-08 from vendor pricing page.
| Plan | Monthly | Limits / notes |
|---|
| Basic | $39 | 10.5% success fee on each referred or affiliate net-new customer's first three orders. |
| Grow | $79 | 3.5% success fee on each referred or affiliate net-new customer's first three orders. |
| Scale | $249 | 1.5% success fee on each referred or affiliate net-new customer's first three orders. |
| Enterprise | $799 | 0.25% success fee on each referred or affiliate net-new customer's first three orders. |
Verified 2026-10-01 from vendor pricing page.
What do merchants say about them?
Influence.io
Merchant sentiment in the scraped reviews is mostly positive, with repeated praise for support, onboarding, setup simplicity, and integrations. The negative reviews are fewer but serious, focusing on reliability problems, unresolved support cases, and paid-feature access issues.
- ＋ Responsive support — Merchants most often praise fast, helpful support for setup questions, troubleshooting, onboarding, and account help.
- ＋ Easy setup and use — Several reviewers say the app is straightforward to install, configure, and manage, including for newer users.
- ＋ Useful integrations — Merchants value connections with Shopify, Reviews.io, Klaviyo, Shopify POS, and related workflows.
- ＋ Loyalty feature set — Reviews highlight points, rewards, redemption options, imports, dashboards, omnichannel loyalty, and customization as useful capabilities.
- － Bugs and reliability — A small number of reviews report serious bugs with points balances, slow search, errors, translations, and inconsistent reward text.
- － Support follow-through — Negative reviews describe unresolved issues, repeated handoffs, weak status updates, and slow resolution despite support access.
- － Billing or access issues — One reviewer says paid features were unavailable after upgrading, creating frustration around subscription access.
Watch out: The main caveat is that a minority of merchants report bugs and inconsistent support follow-through when issues become complex.
Synthesized from the 20 most recent App Store
reviews (2026-07-16); themes paraphrased.
ReferralCandy
Recent merchant sentiment is strongly positive, with most reviews centered on customer support rather than detailed performance outcomes. Reviewers commonly credit the team with quick replies, clear guidance, and successful resolution of setup or account problems. Product feedback is favorable but less frequent than support praise.
- ＋ Responsive support — Merchants repeatedly highlight fast, helpful assistance from support agents who answer questions clearly and follow through.
- ＋ Issue resolution — Several reviewers say support quickly resolved account, setup, verification, or campaign problems with little friction.
- ＋ Setup guidance — Many merchants appreciate hands-on help getting referral programs installed, configured, and launched.
- ＋ Ease of use — The platform is described as straightforward to navigate and simple enough for new users to get started quickly.
- － Setup or account issues — A recurring minor caveat is that merchants sometimes run into setup, verification, account, or campaign issues that require support intervention.
- － Early-stage uncertainty — Some positive reviews come from merchants who had only just started using the app and had not yet judged long-term results.
- － Unresolved case — One visible review appears tied to an open support case that was still being worked through.
Watch out: The main caveat is that merchants may need support help during setup or troubleshooting, and several recent reviewers are still early in their usage.
Synthesized from the 19 most recent App Store
reviews (2026-07-16); themes paraphrased.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Influence.io or ReferralCandy?
Influence.io starts lower at free, vs $39/mo for ReferralCandy (verified 2026-10-01).
Does Influence.io or ReferralCandy have a free plan?
Influence.io has a free tier; ReferralCandy does not publish one.
Which is rated higher on the Shopify App Store?
ReferralCandy rates higher at 4.9 ★, vs 4.2 ★ — though both counts matter: Influence.io has 28 reviews and ReferralCandy has 1,409.
How we compare: pricing and plans are collected automatically
from vendor pages on a schedule and shown with verification dates; ratings come
from the Shopify App Store; merchant sentiment is synthesized from the most
recent App Store reviews (paraphrased, never quoted). We currently have no
affiliate relationship with either vendor. Found an error?
The data snapshot behind this page is dated — check the vendor's page for
same-day changes.
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