Last updated October 2026
Roster beats Refersion for ecommerce brands. Refersion charges 3% or 2% of affiliate-driven sales on its published plans and stops at tracking. Roster is one flat price with no cut of sales and runs the whole ambassador, affiliate and creator program.
Refersion tracks links and pays commissions. It does not publish product gifting, UGC rights, social listening, leaderboards, creator discovery on Instagram or TikTok, or Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads. Roster includes them, so the program your affiliates start keeps growing in one platform.
Updated October 2026: Roster is the ambassador and creator marketing platform for DTC and ecommerce brands, with flat pricing and zero cut of your sales. This year it added Creator Discovery on Instagram and TikTok, Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads, cash rewards, leaderboards and anytime product gifting, so social, brand and paid media teams work from one flat-price platform.
Roster vs Refersion at a glance
Of the 11 platforms we compare, Roster is the only one that publishes support for both Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads, alongside ambassador, affiliate and creator programs on one flat price with no cut of your sales.
| Roster | Refersion | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | DTC and ecommerce brands running ambassador, affiliate and creator programs in one platform | Conventional affiliate programs that want tracking and attribution |
| Pricing model | FLAT One flat monthly price | Launch $29 to $39/month; Growth $159 to $199/month; Scale custom |
| Fees on your sales or payouts | ZERO None on any plan | 3% on Launch, 2% on Growth; none on Scale |
| Creator discovery | ✓ Instagram and TikTok, official Meta and TikTok APIs | Affiliate discovery and the Refersion Marketplace |
| Meta partnership ads | ✓ With creator permission tracked in Roster | Not published |
| TikTok Spark Ads | ✓ With authorization codes tracked in Roster | Not published |
| Product gifting | ✓ Anytime, no campaign required | Not published |
| Rewards beyond commission | Cash rewards, points, milestones and leaderboards | Tiered bonus rewards and commissions |
| Ecommerce platforms | Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce | Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce |
Checked October 19, 2026 against each vendor's public pricing and product pages and Shopify App Store listing. Not published means the capability is not described on those public pages, not that the product lacks it.
Why brands switch from Refersion to Roster
- No percentage of affiliate sales, at any revenue level.
- Gifting, UGC rights, social listening and leaderboards that Refersion does not publish.
- Creator discovery plus Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads in the same platform.
How Roster and Refersion differ
What each was built to do
Refersion is transaction infrastructure. It does one job well: attribute a sale to an affiliate and pay them. Roster starts a step earlier and continues a step later. It recruits ambassadors out of your existing customer base, gives them a portal and a community, runs product seeding and milestone-based rewards, captures and licenses the UGC they produce, and then tracks the sales.
The pricing model is the real difference
Refersion publishes pricing as a monthly subscription plus a percentage of affiliate-driven sales: Launch at $29 to $39/month plus 3%, Growth at $159 to $199/month plus 2% (the lower prices with annual billing), with Scale custom-quoted and flat. Roster is flat, and takes no percentage of your sales on any plan.
That gap compounds. On Refersion's Growth plan, $50,000 in monthly affiliate-driven revenue adds $1,000/month in commission on top of the subscription. At $100,000 it adds $2,000/month. At $250,000 it adds $5,000/month. You pay more for the same software precisely because the program is working.
Owned versus rented
Refersion's Marketplace connects you with affiliates who don't know your brand. That is rented reach. Roster is built to activate the audience you already own, the customers who already bought. The relationship, the content, and the first-party data stay yours.
Pricing compared
| Roster | Refersion | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat subscription | Subscription + % of affiliate sales |
| Percentage of your revenue | ZERO | 3% Launch · 2% Growth · custom Scale |
| Added percentage cost per month | ||
| At $50K affiliate revenue | $0 | + $1,000 |
| At $100K affiliate revenue | $0 | + $2,000 |
| At $250K affiliate revenue | $0 | + $5,000 |
| Scope | ||
| Programs included | Ambassador, affiliate, creator, referral | Affiliate |
Refersion pricing per refersion.com, verified August 2026. Percentage figures use the Growth plan rate and exclude the monthly subscription.
One platform for every team behind your brand
Refersion is tracking-first affiliate software that adds a percentage of affiliate-driven sales to its subscription. Roster is built for the wider job: one platform where social, brand, paid media and ecommerce teams run ambassadors, affiliates and creators from the same record, instead of buying a point solution each.
Social media teams
Recruit ambassadors and creators, run campaigns and briefs, discover creators on Instagram and TikTok, and see every tagged post through social listening.
Brand teams
Run ambassador programs and a private community, reward loyal customers with cash, points, leaderboards and product, and collect UGC with usage rights.
Paid media teams
Get creator permission in Roster and run the best posts as Meta partnership ads or TikTok Spark Ads, with every agreement on record.
Ecommerce and growth teams
Track referral links and codes, attribute every order, and pay out automatically, on one flat price with no cut of sales.
What Roster added in 2026
If you compared Roster and Refersion before, these are the additions that change the comparison:
Creator Discovery, Instagram and TikTok
Find and evaluate creators through official Meta and TikTok APIs, no scraping. How it works
Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads
Get creator permission in Roster, then launch in Meta or TikTok from the creator's own handle. How it works
Cash rewardsNew
Pay for the work, not only the sale, with flat cash rewards alongside commissions. Cash rewards
LeaderboardsNew
Live, privacy-safe rankings that keep members posting. Leaderboards
Product gifting, anytimeNew
Welcome gifts and one-off drops with no campaign required, fulfilled through Shopify. Product gifting
Flat pricing, zero cut of sales
One monthly price with the full core platform on every plan. We never take a percentage of the sales your program drives. Pricing
Feature comparison
| Roster | Refersion | |
|---|---|---|
| Ambassador management | ||
| Unlimited ambassadors and affiliates | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multiple program types in one account | ✓ | — |
| Custom recruitment forms | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ambassador portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bulk and one-off messaging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automated email messaging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tracking | ||
| Referral link tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Discount code tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recurring order tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom UTM parameters | ✓ | ✓ |
| Commissions and rewards | ||
| Flat rate commissions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Percentage of sale commissions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tiered commissions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Manual commissions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Point-based rewards | ✓ | — |
| Automated commission approvals | ✓ | ✓ |
| PayPal payouts | ✓ | ✓ |
| Venmo payouts | ✓ | — |
| Store credit and custom payouts | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dashboards and reports | ||
| Brand performance dashboards | ✓ | ✓ |
| Program-level dashboards | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sales attribution reporting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Social listening and UGC dashboard | ✓ | — |
| Social campaign reporting | ✓ | — |
| Social listening and UGC | ||
| Instagram campaigns | ✓ | — |
| TikTok campaigns | ✓ | — |
| Facebook campaigns | ✓ | — |
| X (Twitter) campaigns | ✓ | — |
| UGC campaigns | ✓ | — |
| Public hashtag campaigns | ✓ | — |
| UGC rights and content management | ✓ | — |
| Ambassador engagement | ||
| Automated milestone journeys | ✓ | — |
| Automated product seeding | ✓ | — |
| Personal discount codes | ✓ | — |
| 55+ action templates | ✓ | — |
| Private community | ||
| Unlimited community channels | ✓ | — |
| Auto-syncing program channels | ✓ | — |
| Invite-only channels | ✓ | — |
| Text and image-based posts | ✓ | — |
| Community member profiles | ✓ | — |
| Platforms and integrations | ||
| Shopify integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| BigCommerce integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| WooCommerce integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Klaviyo integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Zapier integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Model and access | ||
| Creator discovery | ✓ Instagram and TikTok, official APIs | ✓ |
| Non-ecommerce programs (SaaS, lead generation) | — | — |
| Free or freemium tier | — | — |
Feature comparison last verified October 2026 against Refersion's published help centre and pricing pages. Comparison based on publicly available information. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Refersion may have shipped changes since.
Feature comparison last verified October 2026 against Refersion's published help centre and pricing pages. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Is Refersion ever enough?
Refersion is enough for a conventional publisher and coupon program that only needs attribution. For customers and creators who post, it leaves most of the work outside the tool, and charges a percentage while it does.
Wondering what your program would cost without the percentage?
Get a demoSwitching from Refersion to Roster
Most brands move for one of two reasons: the percentage fee started outrunning the value, or they realised their best affiliates were customers who needed more than a tracking link.
Your affiliate list, commission structures, and historical performance data export from Refersion and import into Roster. Referral links and discount codes are reissued through Roster, and both platforms can run in parallel during the transition so no sale goes untracked. Typical migration runs one to two weeks depending on program size, with Roster's team doing the setup.
Export your Refersion data before you cancel. Reporting access ends with the subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Is Roster cheaper than Refersion?
It depends on your affiliate revenue. Refersion charges a monthly subscription plus 2 to 3 percent of affiliate-driven sales. Roster charges a flat subscription and takes no percentage. The more revenue your program drives, the wider the gap.
Does Roster do everything Refersion does?
Roster covers affiliate tracking, discount code attribution, commission structures, and automated payouts. It adds ambassador recruitment, product seeding, UGC licensing, private community, and milestone rewards, which Refersion does not offer.
Can I use both at the same time?
Brands sometimes run both during migration. Long term, most consolidate, since running two attribution systems creates reporting conflicts.
What happens to my affiliates when I switch?
They get new links and codes and a new portal. Roster's onboarding includes a communication sequence so no one is left with a dead link.
Which integrates better with Shopify?
Both integrate natively with Shopify. Refersion also supports WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Adobe Commerce. Roster supports Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and others.
Is Roster better than Refersion?
Yes, for DTC and ecommerce brands. No percentage of affiliate sales, at any revenue level. Gifting, UGC rights, social listening and leaderboards that Refersion does not publish. Creator discovery plus Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads in the same platform.
Does Roster have creator discovery and paid ads?
Yes. Creator Discovery on Instagram and TikTok is built on official Meta and TikTok APIs. Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads, with creator permission tracked in Roster, are built in.
Does Roster take a percentage of my sales?
No. Every Roster plan is one flat monthly price. We never take a cut of the sales your ambassadors, affiliates and creators drive. See pricing.
What are the best Refersion alternatives?
Roster is the strongest Refersion alternative for DTC and ecommerce brands: one flat price with no cut of your sales, ambassadors, affiliates and creators in one platform, creator discovery on Instagram and TikTok, and Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads. See pricing or book a demo.
How Roster works
- Turn customers into ambassadors with email list recruiting, an online recruiting form, and social listening
- Creator Discovery on Instagram and TikTok, built on official Meta and TikTok APIs
- Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads, with creator permission tracked in Roster
- Commissions and cash rewards, points, milestones and leaderboards, and product gifting anytime, no campaign required
- UGC capture with usage rights, so you can run what advocates create
- Leak-resistant codes and links, sales attribution, fraud protection, and Venmo and PayPal payouts
- The Roster MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT, included on every plan
- See plans and pricing, the full feature set, or a case study
Comparing other tools? Roster vs Aspire, Trybe, Upfluence, CreatorIQ, ShopMy, Archive, GRIN, Brandbassador, Superfiliate, Social Snowball, UpPromote, Shopify Collabs, GoAffPro, impact.com, Awin and LeadDyno. Or see Roster as a Shopify ambassador app, the best brand ambassador software, the best Shopify affiliate apps, and what an ambassador program costs to run.
Comparison based on publicly available information as of October 2026. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Competitor pricing and features are subject to change, so verify directly with the vendor.