Looking for Ambassador alternatives? Find a referral marketing solution that best fits your business needs.
If you’ve ever considered referral programs, you may have come across Ambassador. Ambassador was a well-known vendor in the referral marketing and affiliate marketing space. However, with some repeated announcements of its closure, many businesses and marketers are likely looking for Ambassador alternatives.
Fortunately, there are many great alternatives to Ambassador. If you were a previous Ambassador customer or just looking for referral marketing software, we put together a list of the top Ambassador competitors to help you make the switch.
Below, you’ll find a list of referral marketing companies with features comparable to – or even better than! – Ambassador, providing all the functionality your business needs to transition its referral program.
The 5 best Ambassador alternatives to consider
- Referral Rock
- Extole
- ReferralCandy
- Influitive
- Talkable
Referral Rock
Referral Rock has been steadily rising in the referral marketing space since it began. Founded in 2014, the company has become known for its dedicated customer success and customizable referral software features. It’s since expanded to affiliate programs and partner programs, and is trusted by over 1,000 businesses.
Overview of services: Referral Rock is focused on getting you more referrals and new customers. With a user-friendly interface, the platform allows you to automate routine processes (i.e., customer payouts, follow up notifications), email marketing campaigns, and even integrates with any existing CRM or software. As one of the best Ambassador alternatives, Referral Rock also has flexible plans and pricing, and a personalized onboarding service. Every plan includes a dedicated success manager to guide you through the entire platform.
| Referral Rock Plans | Referral Rock Pricing |
| Starter: The perfect intro to referral marketing, with everything you need to get your first program in place. Includes one active program for 500 members, unlimited referrals, and all standard features. | $200 per month |
| Growth: For businesses ready to scale, and need more advanced features and automation. Includes three programs and 5,000 members, unlimited referrals, and advanced features. | $400 per month |
| Established Business: Businesses that require a most personal touch, and are looking for increased flexibility and customizations in their referral program. Includes five active programs and 10,000 members, unlimited referrals, advanced rewards, and premium features. | $800 per month |
Good for: Businesses of all industries and sizes that want a reliable, scalable referral platform. With robust features and flexible plans, Referral Rock makes it an easy Ambassador competitor to migrate referral programs and continue growing customers.
Not so good for: Businesses looking for an all-in-one marketing agency to handle more than referral campaigns.
Extole
Extole is a referral SaaS company that offers customers a marketing agency experience. With a dedicated team to keep your campaign in motion, Extole is focused on the enterprise retail and financial sector. Its turnkey platform offers customized, branded programs that turn customers into advocates.
Overview of services: Extole offers five different referral programs: refer-a-friend, influencer and ambassador, friends and family, nominate-a-friend, and drop-a-hint campaigns. Each program comes with a set of advanced functionality, from targeting audience segments to sending instant rewards.
Plans and pricing: None listed. Contact company for more information.
Good for: Larger established corporations with a significant customer base. Also a good option for companies looking to run multiple, various programs, and want a marketing agency to help handle all the details.
Not so good for: Businesses looking for an Ambassador competitor that are still growing. Small- to mid-sized businesses may find Extole to be relatively expensive and offer services beyond their current needs.
ReferralCandy
ReferralCandy is best known within the ecommerce space. Connecting with popular platforms, like Shopify, Woocommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento, the company specializes in online referrals and transactions. It also integrates with email services, subscription apps, and custom APIs to make it a complete ecommerce marketing tool.
Overview of services: ReferralCandy’s services are targeted toward ecommerce businesses. Easy to use and easy to set up, its built-in integrations can connect instantly to your online shop, social media, analytics, and other building blocks. Businesses who are looking for an Ambassador competitor can customize the platform to create a single solution that meets their needs.
Plans and pricing:
| ReferralCandy Plans | ReferralCandy Pricing |
| Premium: The starting plan includes unlimited customers, dashboard and data reports, live chat support, and automatic fraud protection. | A base fee of $49/month + tiered commission* |
| Enterprise: For large-scale businesses with a high volume of sales. Includes unlimited customers, dashboard and data reports, live chat support, automatic fraud protection, an account management, and priority support. | $3,999 a month |
* Commission is based on the referral’s first three purchases: 5% on the first $1,000, 3.5% on the next $10,000, 1.5% on the next $100,000, and 0.25% for anything above.
Good for: Ecommerce retailers. With a countless number of integrations and a focus on online sales, ReferralCandy is an expert in ecommerce-only referral programs.
Not so good for: Businesses that also sell offline. The benefit of ReferralCandy is best seen through ecommerce, so if you’re looking for Ambassador alternatives for any operations or sales offline, you may find the functionality limited.
Influitive
Influitive aims to “make customer engagement fun and rewarding for everyone.” Its customer marketing platform helps create the best experience, turning customers into advocates. By discovering, nurturing, and mobilizing advocates, your business can effectively create a community and increase its number of referrals.
Overview of services: Influitive focuses its services on the customer experience. This means gamified features (i.e., points, badges, levels) and other ways to engage customers throughout their journey. As an Ambassador competitor, its solutions range from launch and event services to real-time data measurements and operations.
Plans and pricing:
| Influitive Plans | Influitive Pricing |
| Professional: The starter plan includes advocacy and engagement, discussions and moderation, data collection and reporting, personalization and targeting, and ROI analytics. | Contact company for quote. |
| Corporate: In addition to everything in the Professional plan, this includes journey management, knowledge base, multilingual support, premium branding, and premium pre-built content. | Contact company for quote. |
| Enterprise: In addition to everything in the Corporate plan, this includes multi-program management, premium support, and enterprise security. | Contact company for quote. |
Good for: More established businesses focused on customer engagement. The Influitive platform is geared toward customer journeys and loyalty, and can be a great option for businesses looking to strengthen their customer base.
Not so good for: Although prices aren’t listed, Influitive’s customers include IBM, Oracle, Cisco, and Adobe. Its plans and pricing may be too big of an investment for small- to mid-sized businesses looking for Ambassador alternatives.
Talkable
Talkable is the second referral marketing platform on our list built for ecommerce brands. By quantifying word of mouth, the SaaS platform offers a way to build both customer referral and loyalty programs. Talkable’s target market includes ecommerce companies with over $4 million of annual revenue, providing them with a platform to acquire high-value clients at a low cost.
Overview of services: Talkable’s marketing platform is optimized for referrals and brand ambassador campaigns specifically for ecommerce. It allows you to run A/B tests, customize campaigns and templates, and segment your online customers based on geo-location, previous purchases, and other metrics and on-site behavior.
Plans and pricing:
| Talkable Plans | Talkable Pricing |
| Self-serve: For small businesses in need of a simple referral program solution. Includes multiple campaign templates and on-site placement, A/B testing, a reporting suite, fraud protection, and email support. | Contact company for quote. |
| Managed: The most popular plan and perfect for businesses looking for assistance in building their referral program. Includes advanced campaign templates, on-site placement, managed A/B testing, dedicated customer support team, and more. | Contact company for quote. |
| Enterprise: For companies that require a highly customized referral experience, advanced technical capacity, and a dedicated team of experts. | Contact company for quote. |
Good for: Ecommerce companies with significant annual revenue (at least $4 million). The company lists American Eagle, TOMS, and Wella Professionals as some of its clients. If your business is in a similar category, they may be a great option for your referral programs.
Not so good for: Small- to mid-size ecommerce companies that are looking for alternatives to Ambassador, but aren’t ready to make huge investments to start a customer referral program. Talkative is also focused on the ecommerce space, and won’t be suitable for businesses with any off-line customer interactions.
Which of the Ambassador alternatives is best for you?
| Referral Rock | Extole | ReferralCandy | Influitive | Talkable | |
| Free demo or trial | Yes, free demo and trial available | Yes, demo available | Yes, free trial available | Yes, demo available | Yes, demo available |
| Starting price | $200/month | Contact for pricing | $49/month + tiered commission | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Overall rating* | 4.5/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.6/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Ease of use rating | 4.4/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Customer service rating | 4.8/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.9/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.7/5 |
* From Capterra
If you’re looking for an Ambassador competitor that can provide an easy transition for your referral program, you have a lot of good options to choose from.
ReferralCandy and Talkable are well-known in the ecommerce space and are worth looking into if your customer interactions are purely online. Extole and Influitive are also highly rated, but do come at a bigger cost investment.
Referral Rock provides a flexible, seamless referral program solution, no matter what your business industry or size. Its robust features are built to help you launch faster, increase your referrals, start generating ROI as quickly as possible. Click here for a Referral Rock demo or free 14-day trial.
Read more of our referral software reviews.