GTM AI Index
Index Partner and channel Referrals › PartnerStack vs ReferralCandy
Referral and partner programs · September 2026 Edition

PartnerStack vs ReferralCandy

One of twelve models named PartnerStack first on the direct prompt; zero named ReferralCandy. PartnerStack was named by eleven of the twelve models and ReferralCandy by twelve and PartnerStack carries 21 labels and ReferralCandy 31, so the shares are not directly comparable.

PartnerStack

accepted challenger

Named in six categories this edition.

ReferralCandy

accepted challenger

Named in four categories this edition.

First-choice share19%10%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate10%10%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels2131A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, PartnerStack reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Referral Rock was named alongside these two in eleven of the twelve direct answers. PartnerStack vs Referral Rock · Referral Rock vs ReferralCandy

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the referral and partner programs page.

By framing

How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
PartnerStackFirst choices, of twelve modelsReferralCandy
Direct101 against ReferralCandy
Paraphrase80
Comparative041 against PartnerStack
Budget-constrained051 against PartnerStack
Scale-constrained00
Negative012 against ReferralCandy
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where PartnerStack and ReferralCandy stood in it.

PartnerStack first, ReferralCandy not the choice

1 of 12 modelsReferralCandy was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GLM 4.7 FlashXAmbassador, PartnerStack alternatives: GrowSurf, Referral Rock, impact.com

Neither was the first choice, one was named

1 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashReferral Rock alternatives: GrowSurf, PartnerStack, impact.com Advocate

Neither was named

10 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5Cello alternatives: Friendbuy, Influitive, Partnero, Referral Rock
GPT-5.4 miniReferral Rock alternatives: Friendbuy, Referral Factory
Perplexity SonarAmbassador alternatives: CustomerGauge, GrowSurf, Referral Rock
Grok 4.1 FastReferral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf, Influitive
Mistral SmallReferral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, Cello, GrowSurf
DeepSeek V4 FlashReferral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Qwen 3.7 FlashCello alternatives: Friendbuy, GrowSurf, Referral Rock
Kimi K2Referral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf, Influitive
MiniMax M2.5Referral Rock alternatives: Mention Me, impact.com

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
PartnerStack leads by seven points.
PartnerStack15%#2 of 12
ReferralCandy9%#4 of 12
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
PartnerStack leads by eight points.
PartnerStack19%#1 of 11
ReferralCandy10%#3 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
PartnerStack leads by fourteen points.
PartnerStack14%#2 of 13
ReferralCandy0%#13 of 13
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about PartnerStack

No label in this category carried a quote.

What the models said about ReferralCandy

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“What to avoid for mid-market B2B” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · hard negative
“it historically charges a 1.5% to 10.5% "success fee" on e-commerce sales generated through referrals... it becomes incredibly expensive as your brand grows.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“*Cautious approach to pricing model* While generally well-reviewed (4.9/5 on Shopify), be aware of: Success fees” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Most budget-constrained companies find ReferralCandy or ReferralHero provide the best balance of features versus cost” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“If you can spend ~$40-50/month: ReferralCandy offers the best balance of features and ease-of-use for e-commerce” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · first choice
“For most small-to-medium businesses, ReferralCandy or Viral Loops offer the best balance of features and ease of use” MiniMax M2.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top three products in each category. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.