Referral and partner programs · November 2026 Edition
PartnerStack vs Referral Factory
Five of fourteen models named PartnerStack first on the direct prompt; six named Referral Factory. PartnerStack was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Referral Factory by twelve and PartnerStack carries 28 labels and Referral Factory 29, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in five categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share35%12%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate11%7%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 13; printed, not drawn.
Labels2829A 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 twelve of the fourteen direct answers. PartnerStack vs Referral Rock · PartnerStack vs Smile.io · PartnerStack vs Viral Loops
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.
PartnerStackFirst choices, of fourteen modelsReferral Factory
Direct56
Paraphrase130
Comparative00
Budget-constrained001 against Referral Factory
Scale-constrained00
Negative003 against PartnerStack · 1 against Referral Factory
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.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where PartnerStack and Referral Factory 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 | | | |
PartnerStack Referral Factory first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, PartnerStack on the left and Referral Factory on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where PartnerStack and Referral Factory stood in it.
Both were the first choice
1 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.GLM 4.7 FlashXPartnerStack, Referral Factory alternatives: Ambassador, FirstPromoter, Referral Rock
PartnerStack first, Referral Factory an alternative
4 of 14 modelsReferral Factory was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniPartnerStack alternatives: Friendbuy, Referral Rock
Gemini 3.5 FlashPartnerStack alternatives: Influitive, Referral Factory, Referral Rock, SaaSquatch
Mistral SmallPartnerStack alternatives: GrowSurf, Referral Factory, Referral Rock
Qwen 3.7 FlashPartnerStack alternatives: Ambassador, FirstPromoter, Referral Factory
Referral Factory first, PartnerStack an alternative
5 of 14 modelsPartnerStack was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Grok 4.20Referral Factory alternatives: Cello, FirstPromoter, GrowSurf, PartnerStack, Referral Rock
DeepSeek V4 FlashReferral Factory alternatives: Cello, Friendbuy, PartnerStack, Referral Rock
Llama 4 MaverickReferral Factory, Referral Rock
MiniMax M2.5Ambassador, Referral Factory alternatives: UpPromote
Muse Glimmer 30BReferral Factory, Referral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, PartnerStack
Neither was the first choice, one was named
4 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Referral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, Cello, Referral Factory
Perplexity SonarReferral Rock alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf, Referral Factory
Kimi K2Referral Rock alternatives: FirstPromoter, PartnerStack, Referral Factory
GPT-6 LunaReferral Rock alternatives: PartnerStack, impact.com Advocate
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 eight points.
PartnerStack12%#2 of 9Referral Factory3%#8 of 9Mid-marketThe figures above
PartnerStack leads by twenty-four points.
PartnerStack35%#1 of 13Referral Factory12%#3 of 13Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
PartnerStack12%#2 of 14Referral Factory12%#3 of 14What the models said about PartnerStack
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.
“Frequent Trustpilot complaints (overall ~1.8/5 rating) about delayed or missing payouts... Some users label it a "scam" for advertisers.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · hard negative
“PartnerStack is built specifically for B2B... Best For: Mid-market B2B SaaS and tech companies scaling customer, affiliate, and channel partner programs in one ecosystem.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“PartnerStack is my top recommendation for a mid-sized B2B company looking for a partner ecosystem and referral tracking tool.” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Referral Factory
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.
“Referral credits may not always update, and there's no manual option to correct referral records” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Predictable flat pricing and templates, though generally more expensive than Smile.io.” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · soft negative
“Referral Factory stands out as the best overall referral program software for a mid-market B2B company” Grok 4.20 · direct prompt · first choice
“The best referral program software for a mid-market B2B company is Referral Rock or Referral Factory.” Llama 4 Maverick · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared
PartnerStack vs Referral RockPartnerStack vs Smile.ioPartnerStack vs Viral LoopsPartnerStack vs ReferralCandyPartnerStack vs FirstPromoterPartnerStack vs AmbassadorReferral Rock vs Referral FactoryReferral Factory vs Smile.ioReferral Factory vs Viral LoopsReferral Factory vs ReferralCandyReferral Factory vs FirstPromoterReferral Factory 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.