# Shopify Collabs alternatives (2026): a dated comparison Source: https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs/alternatives Shopify Collabs # Shopify Collabs alternatives for finding creators and affiliates (2026) By the RecruitAffiliates.ai team · Published 22 October 2026 · Checked on 22 October 2026 · 7 min read Facts about other tools come from their own sites, with the date we checked. We make RecruitAffiliates.ai, one of the tools named here. [Editorial policy](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/editorial-policy) · [About us](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/about). In short Four apps can replace Collabs for tracking and paying: UpPromote, GoAffPro, Social Snowball and Refersion. Two finding tools we compared help you fill whichever app you use: Modash for creators, RecruitAffiliates.ai for anyone who promotes your rivals. Shopify Collabs guides 1. [Start here: Collabs for brands](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs) 2. Collabs alternatives 3. [Invite limit and paused sign-ups](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs/limits) 4. [How to find creators for Collabs](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs/find-creators) 5. [Collabs vs UpPromote](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs/vs-uppromote) The main Shopify Collabs alternatives are UpPromote, GoAffPro, Social Snowball and Refersion for running the programme, and Modash or RecruitAffiliates.ai for finding people to join it. Pick by the job you need done. Do you need to track and pay, or to fill the programme? **Shopify Collabs** is Shopify's free app for working with creators. A **creator** is someone with an audience on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. An **affiliate** is anyone who sends you buyers for a cut of each sale, and that cut is the **commission**. ## Why do brands look for a Collabs alternative? Two limits matter most here. Both are on Shopify's own help pages. - **Open sign-ups are paused.** Shopify's Collabs page says "Collabs isn't accepting new creator signups at this time." ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs), checked 22 October 2026.) A new creator can still make an account, but only if a brand invites them or they apply to one ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs/creators/setup), checked 22 October 2026). So the pool in the Collabs search can't grow through open sign-ups. - **Invites are capped.** You can invite up to 100 creators in any 7-day period, and each invite expires after 30 days ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs/merchants/recruiting-creators), checked 22 October 2026). The app is rated 4.2 from 440 reviews on the App Store ([Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/collabs), checked 22 October 2026). Our guide to [what to do when Collabs caps invites or pauses sign-ups](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs/limits) covers the limits in detail. ## Shopify Collabs alternatives, side by side The table splits the tools into two jobs. **Run** means it tracks sales and pays commission. **Find** means it helps you find new people to invite. | Tool | Job | What it finds | Starting price | Free trial | Best for | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Shopify Collabs | Run, some find | Creators already on Collabs | Free, plus 2.9% on each automatic payout | Free app | Brands starting with gifts and codes | | UpPromote | Run, some find | Marketplace applicants, plus a paid creator search | Free plan, Growth $29.99 a month plus 2% of referral sales | 14 days on paid plans | Brands that want a marketplace listing, from the $29.99 plan | | GoAffPro | Run, some find | Its docs list invites, a marketplace listing and a Recruit Influencers tool | Free plan, Premium $49 a month | 15 days, per its listing | Brands on a tight budget | | Social Snowball | Run, some find | Your own customers, plus creator search on the top plan | $249 a month plus 3% of affiliate revenue | Not found on its App Store page, checked 22 October | Brands that turn customers into affiliates | | Refersion | Run, some find | Marketplace applicants and suggested affiliates | Free listing, Launch $39 a month plus 3% of affiliate sales | Not found on its pricing page, checked 22 October | Brands that want a marketplace listing | | Modash | Find | Instagram, TikTok and YouTube creators | $199 a month, billed yearly | 14 days, no card | Brands running creator campaigns | | RecruitAffiliates.ai | Find | Sites, blogs, newsletters, podcasts and creators who promote your rivals, with an email where one is found (31% of people in our scan had one on record, none checked) | Launch $79 a month | 7 days, no card | Brands that want people found and emailed for them | Sources for every row are listed at the foot of this page, all checked on 22 October 2026. Prices change, so check the tool's own page before you buy. We make RecruitAffiliates.ai. ## Which alternatives replace Collabs? UpPromote, GoAffPro, Social Snowball and Refersion all replace Collabs. Each one tracks sales and pays affiliates. **UpPromote** has a free plan. Growth is $29.99 a month plus 2% of referral sales, and that's the lowest plan with a marketplace listing ([UpPromote pricing](https://uppromote.com/pricing), checked 22 October 2026). A **marketplace** is a directory where affiliates browse brands and apply. UpPromote also sells Creator Discovery, a creator search, from $39 a month. It's rated 4.9 from 3,904 reviews ([Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/affliate-by-secomapp), checked 22 October 2026). Our [UpPromote guides](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/uppromote) cover its marketplace and applicant screening. **GoAffPro** has a free plan, and Premium costs $49 a month. Its listing mentions a 15-day free trial and a portal where "customers/influencers" register as affiliates. Its docs list three ways to recruit: inviting affiliates, a marketplace listing and recruiting influencers ([GoAffPro docs](https://docs.goaffpro.com/how-tos/recruiting-affiliates), checked 23 October 2026). It's rated 4.6 from 952 reviews ([Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/goaffpro), checked 22 October 2026). **Social Snowball** starts at $249 a month plus 3% of affiliate revenue. Its $899 plan adds "Creator Search & Outreach". It's rated 4.6 from 211 reviews ([Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/social-snowball), checked 22 October 2026). Our [Social Snowball guides](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/social-snowball) go deeper. **Refersion** offers a free marketplace listing. Launch costs $39 a month plus 3% of affiliate-driven sales and adds "personalized affiliate discovery" ([Refersion pricing](https://www.refersion.com/pricing), checked 22 October 2026). Our [Shopify Collabs vs UpPromote](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs/vs-uppromote) page compares the two in depth. ## Which alternatives help you find people? Modash and RecruitAffiliates.ai don't replace Collabs. They find people, and you add those people to whatever app you already run. **Modash** searches a database of creators on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Essentials costs $199 a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial and no card ([Modash pricing](https://www.modash.io/pricing), checked 22 October 2026). Its pricing page lists affiliate management on the Performance plan, at $499 a month billed yearly. **RecruitAffiliates.ai** starts from your website and your rivals. It finds websites, blogs, review sites, newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels, and Instagram and TikTok creators who already promote shops like yours. It gets the [email found](https://docs.recruitaffiliates.ai/credits#what-each-result-means) for each person and sends a personal outreach sequence from your inbox. All you do is reply. The email carries your own sign-up link, so people join the programme you already have. It doesn't connect to Collabs, track sales or pay commission. Our [page for Shopify stores](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/for/shopify) shows how a scan works, and the [free competitor checker](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/free-tools/competitor-affiliates) lets you try one rival first. ## What did our scans find? We ran our scanner on 30 public Shopify brands. Here's what it found. We ran this · 22 October 2026 64% of the people shown have a review or roundup page as their best evidence. - **64%** of 2,924 people shown had a review, roundup or comparison page as their best evidence (1,877). - Blog-style pages were 573 (20%). Podcasts were 399 (14%). - TikTok gave 49 people, Instagram 17 and newsletters 9, across all 30 brands. - Median **92** people shown per brand, from 35 to 188. First-search results for a UK natural skincare brand: 124 people found, including TikTok creators, skincare podcasts and a review site, each with a fit score. A first search for a beauty and skincare brand, 22 Oct 2026. This is a larger result than most (median 92). Individual creators' and bloggers' names, handles, sites and email addresses are blurred, and so are rival brand names. Podcast shows and publications are shown. Counts were read on 23 Oct and differ by one or two from the 22 Oct scan. A first search for a brand, 22 Oct 2026, 30 public Shopify brands in all. It stopped at finding addresses and ran no email checks, which the product runs when a campaign starts ([what each result means](https://docs.recruitaffiliates.ai/credits#what-each-result-means)). In a 30-row check, 9 were not promoters (likely 17% to 48%). [Full method and limits](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/research/shopify-affiliate-scan-2026). Most of the people it found have a review or roundup page. Creator search tools list social profiles, so a blog or newsletter is unlikely to appear there. That is our reading, not something we tested. You reach these people by email, then send them an affiliate sign-up link. ## How do I choose? Start with the job that hurts most. 1. **Collabs works, but nobody good joins.** Keep Collabs. Add a finding tool and invite people with your Collabs link. 2. **You need features Collabs lacks,** such as tiers or a marketplace listing. Move to UpPromote, GoAffPro, Social Snowball or Refersion. 3. **You mostly gift products to creators.** Try a creator search such as Modash, and keep tracking in your app. 4. **You've hit the 100-invite limit.** Spread invites across weeks, and recruit outside Collabs too. Our [guide to finding creators for Collabs](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/shopify-collabs/find-creators) shows how. ## Questions people ask ### Is there a free alternative to Shopify Collabs? Yes. UpPromote and GoAffPro both have free plans. Refersion's free listing only puts you in its marketplace. Collabs itself is free to install, with a 2.9% fee on each automatic commission payment. ### Can I use Collabs and another tool together? Yes. A finding tool such as RecruitAffiliates.ai or Modash finds people. You then send them your Collabs invite or application page. We'd avoid running two affiliate apps at once, since both would try to credit the same sales. ### Why can't new creators join Shopify Collabs? Shopify's help page says Collabs "isn't accepting new creator signups at this time." It gives no date for reopening. A new creator can still join when a brand invites them or accepts their application, per Shopify's creator setup page. ### How do the App Store ratings compare? On 22 October 2026, UpPromote had 4.9 stars from 3,904 reviews and GoAffPro 4.6 from 952. Collabs had 4.2 from 440, and Social Snowball 4.6 from 211. ### Is RecruitAffiliates.ai a Shopify app? No. It's a web app that works alongside your affiliate app. It finds people and emails them your own sign-up link. It has no Collabs integration. ## Sources All checked on 22 October 2026, except GoAffPro's docs page, checked 23 October. - [Shopify Help Center, Shopify Collabs](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs), creator sign-ups paused. - [Shopify Help Center, creator setup](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs/creators/setup), new accounts by invite or application only. - [Shopify Help Center, recruiting creators](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs/merchants/recruiting-creators), 100 invites in any 7 days, 30-day expiry. - [Shopify Help Center, Collabs payments](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs/merchants/payments), 2.9% processing fee. - [Shopify App Store, Shopify Collabs](https://apps.shopify.com/collabs), 4.2 from 440 reviews. - [UpPromote, pricing](https://uppromote.com/pricing). - [Shopify App Store, UpPromote](https://apps.shopify.com/affliate-by-secomapp), 4.9 from 3,904 reviews. - [GoAffPro docs, recruiting affiliates](https://docs.goaffpro.com/how-tos/recruiting-affiliates), the three recruiting options. - [Shopify App Store, GoAffPro](https://apps.shopify.com/goaffpro), plans, 15-day trial, 4.6 from 952 reviews. - [Shopify App Store, Social Snowball](https://apps.shopify.com/social-snowball), plans, 4.6 from 211 reviews. - [Refersion, pricing](https://www.refersion.com/pricing). - [Modash, pricing](https://www.modash.io/pricing). ## Find creators and affiliates for your Shopify store [Find my affiliates](https://app.recruitaffiliates.ai/signup?from=lp-hub-shopify-collabs-alternatives) 7 days, no card. Your first 20 emails free.