Referral and partner programs · October 2026 Edition
Referral Rock vs ReferralCandy
Six of fourteen models named Referral Rock first on the direct prompt; zero named ReferralCandy. Referral Rock was named by thirteen of the fourteen models and ReferralCandy by fourteen and Referral Rock carries 36 labels and ReferralCandy 39, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in three categories this edition.
First-choice share13%6%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate17%31%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#5A position in a field of 15; printed, not drawn.
Labels3639A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Referral Rock reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.PartnerStack was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. PartnerStack vs Referral Rock · PartnerStack vs ReferralCandy · Referral Rock vs Smile.io
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen 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 fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Referral RockFirst choices, of fourteen modelsReferralCandy
Direct60
Paraphrase00
Comparative03
Budget-constrained032 against Referral Rock · 1 against ReferralCandy
Scale-constrained10
Negative004 against Referral Rock · 11 against ReferralCandy
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Referral Rock and ReferralCandy were named in the same answer seventy-five times, of the 195 answers naming Referral Rock and the 178 naming ReferralCandy. In those answers ReferralCandy took the first choice eleven times and Referral Rock sixteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Referral Rock and ReferralCandy stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | |||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | | | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | |||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | ||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | ||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
Referral Rock ReferralCandy first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Referral Rock on the left and ReferralCandy on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Referral Rock and ReferralCandy stood in it.
Referral Rock first, ReferralCandy not the choice
6 of 14 modelsReferralCandy was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Gemini 3.5 FlashReferral Rock alternatives: GrowSurf, PartnerStack, Referral Factory, impact.com Advocate
Perplexity SonarReferral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, CustomerGauge, GrowSurf, Referral Factory
Mistral SmallReferral Rock alternatives: SaaSquatch
DeepSeek V4 FlashCello, Referral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf, PartnerStack
Kimi K2Referral Rock alternatives: FirstPromoter, PartnerStack
MiniMax M2.5Referral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, Friendbuy, PartnerStack
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Cello alternatives: Friendbuy, PartnerStack, Referral Rock
GPT-5.4 miniReferral Factory alternatives: Ambassador, PartnerStack, Referral Rock, impact.com
Grok 4.20Ambassador alternatives: PartnerStack, Referral Rock
Llama 4 MaverickFriendbuy alternatives: Partnero, Referral Rock, SaaSquatch
GLM 4.7 FlashXCello alternatives: Ambassador, Extole, Referral Factory, Referral Rock
GPT-6 LunaSaaSquatch alternatives: PartnerStack, Referral Rock
Muse Glimmer 30BAmbassador alternatives: Extole, PartnerStack, Partnerize, Referral Rock
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Qwen 3.7 FlashPartnerStack alternatives: Cello.so, Partnero
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
Referral Rock leads by ten points.
Referral Rock21%#1 of 10ReferralCandy12%#3 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
Referral Rock leads by seven points.
Referral Rock13%#2 of 15ReferralCandy6%#5 of 15Enterprise
Referral Rock leads by seventeen points.
Referral Rock17%#3 of 12ReferralCandy0%#12 of 12What the models said about Referral Rock
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of five in this category shown.
“"starts at $175/month flat rate. There is a mandatory onboarding fee on top of that... The interface has been consistently described by users as dated."” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“Users report cumbersome reward management, dated/clunky admin UI, and manual processes when integrations aren't available” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Locked-In Enterprise Tiers with High Setup Fees: Examples: Referral Rock, SaaSquatch” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Best For: Mid-market B2B service companies and traditional B2B SaaS looking for direct Salesforce/HubSpot integrations and robust workflow automation.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Referral Rock is often the top recommendation due to its B2B focus and proven track record” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
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.
“"Consumer-first tools like ReferralCandy and Viral Loops fail B2B programs because they track by user ID, not org, and have no CRM integration for sales-led funnels."” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“be especially cautious. ReferralCandy records a reward when a transaction is confirmed and stops there—no subscription event model exists” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · hard negative
“ReferralCandy's published plans combine a monthly fee with a success fee, so model the total cost at your expected referral revenue—not just the starting price.” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“the best referral software is usually ReferralCandy if you run an ecommerce store, or GrowSurf if you want a lower-cost, more flexible referral/affiliate option” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · first choice
“If you have an online store (Shopify/WooCommerce): Start with ReferralCandy for simplicity” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“start with ReferralCandy or FirstPromoter for their low monthly costs and free trials” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
PartnerStack vs Referral RockPartnerStack vs ReferralCandyReferral Rock vs Smile.ioReferral Rock vs GrowSurfReferral Rock vs CelloReferral Rock vs FriendbuyReferral Rock vs AmbassadorSmile.io vs ReferralCandyGrowSurf vs ReferralCandyReferralCandy vs CelloReferralCandy vs FriendbuyReferralCandy vs AmbassadorAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full referrals standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.