Compared on public facts

Howl vs Refersion

Updated Nov 7, 2026

HourlyUGC is our product. Every fact links to its source. Methodology.

Howl and Refersion both list commission on sales. Howl also lists pay per video, which Refersion does not list publicly. Refersion lists flat amount per order and bonuses, which Howl does not list publicly.

4 facts known on both sides. "Not listed publicly" means we did not find it on their public pages on Nov 7, 2026; it does not mean they lack it.

Why brands pick HourlyUGC over Howl and Refersion

HourlyUGC lists 7 ways to pay creators on its public pages: hourly sessions, pay per video, commission on sales, flat amount per order, share of ad spend, pay per 1,000 views and product seeding. A brand can combine them in one campaign. 1 2 3
Howl lists pay per video and commission on sales publicly. HourlyUGC also lists hourly sessions, flat amount per order, share of ad spend, pay per 1,000 views and product seeding, which Howl does not list publicly (checked Nov 7, 2026; not listing is not the same as not offering). 1 2
Refersion lists commission on sales, flat amount per order and bonuses publicly. HourlyUGC also lists hourly sessions, pay per video, share of ad spend, pay per 1,000 views and product seeding, which Refersion does not list publicly (checked Nov 7, 2026; not listing is not the same as not offering). Refersion lists bonuses, which HourlyUGC does not list publicly. 1
Meta Partnership Ads with the creators' videos, launched from inside HourlyUGC: the ad goes out from the creator's handle with the brand's budget. Howl and Refersion do not list this publicly. 1 2
Who counts the sale: Counted either by the ad platform (Meta) or by HourlyUGC: a connected Shopify store or the Hourly Pixel, last touch within 7 days, with creator links and codes. 1 2 3

Start a campaign on HourlyUGCFacts checked Nov 7, 2026. HourlyUGC is held to the same sourcing rule as every other platform here.

Which pay models each one lists

Side by side

Pay model	Howl	Refersion
Hourly sessions	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Pay per video	Content flat fees and licensing paid upfront; brands can also mix in pay per click (CPC) and pay per lead (PPL) offers. 1 2	Not listed publicly
Commission on sales	Commission on sales with flexible structures set by the brand; creators can get higher rates based on results. 1 2	Percent-of-sale commissions, including lifetime commissions on subscriptions, product-level (SKU) rates, and new-versus-returning customer rates. 1
Flat amount per order	Not listed publicly	Flat-rate commissions per sale are an offer type, alongside percentage, SKU-specific, subscription and multi-level offers. 1 2
Share of ad spend	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Pay per 1,000 views	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Retainers	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Bonuses	Not listed publicly	Sign-on bonuses and tiered, incentive-based commission rates; flat-fee or bonus rewards on enterprise plans. 1 2
Product seeding	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Ads launched from the platform	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Money and tracking	Howl	Refersion
How sales are attributed	Engagement, conversion, GMV and ROI tracked in real time, with attribution windows from 1 to 90 days. The tracking method is not described on the page. 1	First-party, cookieless tracking links on the merchant's own domain with no redirects; coupon codes, customer email (for lifetime commissions) and SKU rules on top. Last-touch: the last affiliate link clicked gets credit. Attribution window defaults to 90 days for link conversions (customizable on Growth and Scale); code, email and SKU conversions are not subject to the window. 1 2
Platform fee	Howl handles payment processing with no minimum threshold or hidden fees for creators. A brand-side fee is not stated. 1	Launch: +3 % of affiliate-driven sales; Growth: +2 %; Scale: a flat subscription with no stated percentage. The fee is charged on affiliate-driven sales only, billed monthly. 1
Brand pricing	Not listed publicly	Marketplace Listing: free (listing only). Launch: $39/month, or $29/month billed annually, plus 3 % of affiliate-driven sales. Growth: $199/month, or $159/month annually, plus 2 %. Scale: custom flat subscription. Paid plans include unlimited clicks and conversions. No free trial is mentioned. 1
Creator payout	Earnings are paid in the next payout cycle after a transaction clears, often net 30, 60 or 90 days, straight to the creator's bank account. 1 2	Payouts on approved conversions, monthly or on a schedule the merchant sets, automatic or manual. Methods: PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, ACH or bank transfer, Shopify gift cards, Trolley ('Restrictions apply'). 1099 forms for eligible U.S. affiliates. Minimums and currencies are not published. 1 2
Regions	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Scale they publish	They say: They say thousands of creators; no brand or sales totals are given. 1	Not listed publicly

What the facts say

Where they overlap

Commission on sales

Howl lists, Refersion does not

Pay per video: Content flat fees and licensing paid upfront; brands can also mix in pay per click (CPC) and pay per lead (PPL) offers.

Checked Nov 7, 2026

Refersion lists, Howl does not

Flat amount per order: Flat-rate commissions per sale are an offer type, alongside percentage, SKU-specific, subscription and multi-level offers.
Bonuses: Sign-on bonuses and tiered, incentive-based commission rates; flat-fee or bonus rewards on enterprise plans.

Checked Nov 7, 2026

Which brand each one fits

From the models each lists, nothing else.

Howl

brands that can attribute sales and want to pay on orders
brands that budget per approved video

Refersion

brands that can attribute sales and want to pay on orders
brands running longer creator programs with retainers or bonuses

Questions people ask

What do Howl and Refersion have in common?

Both list commission on sales on their public pages (checked Nov 7, 2026).

What does Howl list that Refersion does not?

Howl lists pay per video. Refersion does not list it publicly; that is not the same as not offering it.

What does Refersion list that Howl does not?

Refersion lists flat amount per order and bonuses. Howl does not list them publicly.

Where do these facts come from?

From each platform's public pages, linked next to every fact with the date we checked. A fact without a public source is not shown.

Sources

Each fact above links to one of these. Checked Nov 7, 2026.

Howl: howl.link, home (creators), read 2026-11-07 · howl.link, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Get paid upfront for what you create.”
Howl: howl.link: For brands, read 2026-11-07 · howl.link, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “mix and match CPC, PPL, or Flat Fee offers to fit your strategy.”
Refersion: Refersion pricing page · refersion.com, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “% of Sale or Subscription commissions”
Refersion: Refersion home page · refersion.com, checked Nov 7, 2026
Refersion: Refersion platform page · refersion.com, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “flat-fee or bonus rewards for enterprise plans”
Refersion: Refersion help center, what is the attribution window · support.refersion.com, checked Jul 22, 2026 · “Refersion does not technically rely on browser cookies for link tracking”
Refersion: Refersion, unified payments page · refersion.com, checked Nov 7, 2026