Awin vs ReferralCandy

Awin is one of the largest affiliate marketing networks in the world. It traces back to Affiliate Window, founded in the UK in 2000, which merged with Germany's zanox in 2017 to form Awin, headquartered in Berlin and part of the Axel Springer group. Awin also bought the US network ShareASale in 2017 and completed moving ShareASale advertisers onto the Awin platform in August 2025. Its core job is connecting brands with publishers, from cashback sites to creators, and tracking and paying their commissions.

Advertisers get a partner directory and marketplace, campaign and commission management, tracking, reporting and partner payments. Self-serve pricing comes in two tiers, Access for newcomers and Accelerate for growing programs, both with a monthly fee plus a percentage tracking fee on each sale, while Advanced is a custom package with managed services and full feature access. Publishers join for free.

Awin fits retailers and DTC brands that want reach: the company reports about 30,000 advertisers, a million publishers and 1,400 employees. If you want to run your own branded program with only your own partners, software such as Refersion or PartnerStack is simpler, and impact.com is the stronger choice for enterprise partnership automation beyond classic affiliates.

Before you sign, model the total cost: on a $100 sale with a 6 percent commission, the partner earns $6 and Awin takes $3.50 on Access or $2.50 on Accelerate, on top of the monthly fee. Former ShareASale accounts closed on October 6, 2025, so ShareASale-era guides are out of date.

ReferralCandy is a customer referral platform for online stores, founded in Singapore. Its idea is simple: after a purchase, customers receive a personal referral link, friends who use it get a discount, and the referrer earns a reward such as cash, store credit or a discount code once the friend buys.

The platform automates the whole loop. Post-purchase emails and on-site widgets invite customers to share, a referral portal tracks their progress, and fraud detection blocks self-referrals and suspicious orders. Reward rules can be customized by amount, type and conditions, and analytics show referral revenue, top advocates and campaign performance. It integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix and email tools such as Klaviyo and Mailchimp. Pricing combines a monthly subscription with a commission on sales generated through referrals, and there is a free trial.

ReferralCandy fits direct-to-consumer brands with repeat customers and products people like to recommend, such as beauty, fashion, food and subscription boxes. The commission on referral sales adds up as programs succeed, customization is basic, and it is not meant for SaaS or B2B. Friendbuy and Yotpo offer richer loyalty and referral suites for larger brands, Smile.io focuses on points-based loyalty, and SaaS companies are better served by Rewardful or PartnerStack. Turkish stores on local platforms should check integration support before committing.