GrowSurf
GrowSurf is referral and affiliate program software for marketing and product teams, enabling plug-and-play launch of referral programs with minimal engineering lift, sold via SaaS subscription with a self-serve PLG motion.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersNewark, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What GrowSurf does
GrowSurf is a referral and affiliate program software company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Newark, Delaware (GrowSurf, Inc.). The platform enables marketing and product teams at growth-stage companies to launch referral and affiliate programs in days with minimal engineering involvement, built around a referral engine that auto-generates unique referral links per user and supports both one-off referral rewards (gift cards, credits, cash, swag) and recurring affiliate commissions. The technical architecture spans a JavaScript SDK for web, native iOS and Android SDKs, a REST API for server-side cookieless tracking (unaffected by Safari ITP and ad blockers), webhooks for real-time events, and 50+ native integrations with CRM, billing, payments, marketing automation, and analytics platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot, Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly, PayPal, Tango Card, Zapier, Klaviyo, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Segment, Adjust, AppsFlyer, Branch).
The business runs on a SaaS subscription model tiered by participant volume, sold primarily through a product-led growth motion with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required, complemented by a sales-assisted "Book Demo" CTA for enterprise buyers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed but a dedicated startup program offers up to 50% off the first year plus usage bonuses for Seed and Series A companies. Customers span B2C, SaaS, FinTech, AI, HealthTech, Education, and InsurTech verticals, with named logos including SurveyMonkey, Givebutter, MainStreet, EvenFi, Willful, Volumio, Draftbit, Emma Life Insurance, and AI Camp. Aggregate platform metrics reported by the company include 7.4M referral participants, 17.2M referral link impressions, 2.4M referrals generated, and $355M in annual customer referral revenue, with customers reporting 312% average ROI and 30% of new leads on average coming from referrals. The company also operates LoyaltySurf, a free sub-brand for customer loyalty software. GrowSurf is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds and a 1-10 person team.
GrowSurf firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- GrowSurf
- Legal name
- GrowSurf, Inc
- Website
- https://growsurf.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- GrowSurf is referral and affiliate program software for marketing and product teams, enabling plug-and-play launch of referral programs with minimal engineering lift, sold via SaaS subscription with a self-serve PLG motion.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
GrowSurf industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Referral Marketing Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Affiliate & Performance Creator Programs (BPAFAHAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Social Commerce & Affiliate Influencer Programs (MPAAAHAE)
Keywords
Where GrowSurf is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Newark
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
GrowSurf business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription (Platform Fees): GrowSurf charges subscription fees for access to its referral and affiliate program software platform. Pricing is tiered by participant volume, with a free 14-day trial and a special 50% discount for startups that have raised Seed or Series A funding.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Startup Discount Program |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels11 records
GrowSurf product offering
Product offeringCore offering
GrowSurf is referral and affiliate program software that enables marketing and product teams to embed referral and affiliate programs into their products without significant engineering involvement. The platform auto-generates unique referral links per user, supports copy-paste installation, fully white-labels to match the customer's product UI, and automates reward fulfillment (gift cards, cash, account credits) with one-off referral rewards or recurring affiliate commissions. It is delivered via a JavaScript SDK, REST API, native iOS and Android SDKs, webhooks, and an MCP server for AI agent integration.
Product overview
GrowSurf is a referral and affiliate program software platform designed for marketing and product teams. The platform consists of the core GrowSurf software with automatic link generation that creates a unique referral link for each user, a REST API for full flexibility and customization capabilities, JavaScript SDK for web integration, iOS SDK and Android SDK for native mobile app integration, webhooks for receiving data from program events, embeddable elements for adding program elements to web UI, dynamic rewards capability to give different rewards to different users, metadata support for saving custom data to objects, and MCP server for connecting AI agents directly to GrowSurf programs. AI-powered optimization features provide tailored reward suggestions, generate promotional copy, and optimize sharing links. The platform also includes a suite of free tools including a referral program idea generator, rewards library, code/link generators, checklist, templates, FAQ template, terms and conditions template, share link generator, and ROI calculator.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LoyaltySurf: Free loyalty software that rewards customers when they leave reviews, share on social media, and mention your brand.
Products and services
- GrowSurf Referral and Affiliate Program Software SaaS platform that enables marketing and product teams to launch referral and affiliate programs without significant engineering involvement, featuring automatic referral link generation, copy-paste installation, full white-labeling, automated reward fulfillment (gift cards, cash, credits), AI-powered optimization, and integrations with 50+ tools. Supports both one-off referral rewards and recurring affiliate commissions across web (JavaScript SDK), iOS, and Android platforms.
- LoyaltySurf Free loyalty software sub-brand that rewards customers when they leave reviews, share on social media, and mention the brand. Operates as a separate product from the core GrowSurf referral platform under the GrowSurf corporate umbrella.
Quantifiable outcome
- 312% average return on investment reported by GrowSurf customers
- +11 more outcomes
Companies that use GrowSurf
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments12 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
GrowSurf technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration51 records
AI capability3 records
Feature14 records
GrowSurf partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- SalesforcecoreNative Salesforce integration allows triggering referrals with no-code workflows and syncing referral data (share links, referral status, referrer details) to Salesforce contacts. GrowSurf is listed as a Salesforce Partner.
- StripecoreStripe integration triggers referrals on new Stripe charges and automates Stripe coupons/credits as rewards. Also supports Stripe subscription referral rewards and Stripe affiliate commission payouts. GrowSurf is listed as a Stripe Partner.
- HubSpotcoreHubSpot integration syncs GrowSurf referral fields to HubSpot contacts, enables referral email workflows, lead scoring with referral data, deal-stage referral triggers, and CRM reporting dashboards.
- ChargebeecoreChargebee integration triggers referrals on new Chargebee charges and automatically applies Chargebee coupons/credits as rewards, including support for higher-value plan upgrades.
- RecurlycoreRecurly integration triggers referrals on new Recurly charges and automatically applies Recurly coupons/credits as rewards for subscription-based referral programs.
- PayPalcoreNative PayPal payouts integration enables automatic cash reward payouts to participants. Also supports PayPal bulk payouts for affiliate commission payments after hold period and payout threshold are met.
- ZapiercoreZapier integration allows GrowSurf to trigger no-code automations across 3,000+ apps. Common use cases include CRM syncing, email triggers, Slack notifications, and Google Sheets tracking for referral activity.
- Webhooks (Generic)coreWebhooks allow receiving real-time notifications for participant events, referral credits, reward unlocks, and payouts, enabling custom reward fulfillment and data syncing to any external system.
- Stripe (Payments)coreAll credit card payments to GrowSurf are processed through Stripe. Stripe is also GrowSurf's payment processor for the platform itself, with full PCI compliance managed by Stripe.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
GrowSurf competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mention Me: Referral marketing platform specializing in name-based refer-a-friend programs for enterprise brands. Direct competitor with similar focus on referral attribution and reward automation.
- Tapfiliate: Affiliate and referral tracking software with multi-language support, integrations, and commission management. Closely comparable to GrowSurf's affiliate program functionality and SaaS integrations.
- Refersion: Affiliate and influencer marketing platform with tracking, payouts, and integration with major ecommerce platforms. Directly comparable to GrowSurf's affiliate program offering.
- Friendbuy: Referral and loyalty platform purpose-built for ecommerce and DTC brands with white-label programs, robust integrations, and enterprise-grade fraud prevention. Competes with GrowSurf in the referral program software market, particularly for larger customers.
- ReferralCandy: Referral and affiliate program software for ecommerce brands, offering similar one-off rewards, integration with Shopify and Stripe, and self-serve onboarding. Direct competitor to GrowSurf in the SMB referral program category.
- SaaSquatch: Referral program platform focused on SaaS and subscription businesses, with APIs, fraud detection, and reward management. Closely comparable to GrowSurf's SaaS customer base and developer-first distribution.
- Viral Loops: Referral marketing platform offering campaign templates, viral giveaways, and embeddable widgets for growth-stage companies. Competes with GrowSurf's plug-and-play PLG motion and similar target customer profile.
Broad incumbents
- Yotpo: Broad commerce marketing platform offering reviews, loyalty, SMS marketing, and referrals as part of an integrated suite. A larger, well-funded incumbent that bundles referral capabilities alongside its core products.
- PartnerStack: Partner ecosystem management platform for SaaS companies offering affiliate, referral, and reseller programs. Comparable to GrowSurf in the SaaS vertical but at a larger, more enterprise-focused scale.
- Impact: Large-scale partnership and affiliate marketing platform serving enterprise brands with global tracking, attribution, and payout infrastructure. A broad incumbent with overlapping capabilities to GrowSurf's affiliate software offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
GrowSurf social profiles
Digital presenceGrowSurf compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
GrowSurf financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
GrowSurf leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
GrowSurf funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
GrowSurf M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about GrowSurf
What does GrowSurf do?
GrowSurf is referral and affiliate program software that enables marketing and product teams to embed referral and affiliate programs into their products without significant engineering involvement. The platform auto-generates unique referral links per user, supports copy-paste installation, fully white-labels to match the customer's product UI, and automates reward fulfillment (gift cards, cash, account credits) with one-off referral rewards or recurring affiliate commissions. It is delivered via a JavaScript SDK, REST API, native iOS and Android SDKs, webhooks, and an MCP server for AI agent integration.
Is GrowSurf a public or private company?
GrowSurf is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was GrowSurf founded?
GrowSurf was founded in 2017. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is GrowSurf based?
GrowSurf is headquartered in Newark, United States, in the North America region.
How does GrowSurf make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription (Platform Fees).
Who are GrowSurf's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mention Me, Tapfiliate, Refersion, Friendbuy, ReferralCandy, SaaSquatch and Viral Loops. Broad incumbents are Yotpo, PartnerStack and Impact.
Does GrowSurf have an API?
Yes. GrowSurf provides a REST API at https://api.growsurf.com/v2 with Bearer token authentication (Authorization: Bearer ). The API enables server-side and cookieless referral tracking, allowing creation of participants with referrer attribution (via email or participant ID), triggering referrals when conversions occur, and listening for events via webhooks (participant added, referral credited, reward unlocked, payout). Official API libraries are available in TypeScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, and Java. An MCP server integration allows AI agents to connect directly to GrowSurf programs. Developer documentation is at docs.growsurf.com.
What industry is GrowSurf in?
GrowSurf's product category is Referral Marketing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAHAG, Affiliate & Performance Creator Programs, with a secondary code of MPAAAHAE, Social Commerce & Affiliate Influencer Programs. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.