Affiliate software for e-commerceViralPayouts vs Mad Circle
ViralPayouts has no monthly fee, pays your affiliates for you and pays recruiters on every program. You pay 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3%, and nothing in a month when nobody sells. With Mad Circle, you pay your affiliates yourself and does not say it has two-tier recruiting. It costs $0 a month.
Every figure for Mad Circle comes from its own pages or named review sites, checked 12 October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
Why brands pick ViralPayouts over Mad Circle
Best fit: A brand that wants partners paid for it and a recruiter layer.
- $0 a month
No plan and no setup fee. 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3% at $10,000 a month.
- Payouts done for you
One invoice per program. ViralPayouts sends every partner and recruiter their money and collects tax forms.
- Recruiters built in
Customer links and recruit links on every program, with the override set your way and reversed on refunds.
Side by side
| Mad Circle | ViralPayouts | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 a month | $0 a month. 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3% at $10,000 a month. |
| Setup fee | Not stated | None |
| Fee for paying affiliates | Not stated | Included in the fee above: no charge to the brand for sending payoutsPartners pay Whop's own fee when they withdraw to their bank |
| Pays your affiliates for you | No | Yes You fund by bank transfer; we pay every partner |
| Two-tier recruiting | Not stated | Yes Two levels on every program: share of commission, share of sale or fixed. Paid on approved sales, never sign-ups |
| Public program directory | No | Yes Partners browse and join with one account |
| Tracking | affiliate links; discount codes | First-party links with click IDs, signed server-to-server events, Stripe Checkout webhook |
| Coupon tracking | Yes | Yes A code per partner, per program |
| Mobile app tracking | Not stated | App installs, sign-ups and purchases reported from your server through the signed event API, with bounties on them. No SDK to ship in your app. |
| API, webhooks, MCP | Not stated | REST API for brands and partners with an OpenAPI spec, an MCP server for AI agents, a signed event API and partner postbacks |
| Integrations | Shopify | Stripe Checkout, Shopify orders, any backend via the event API |
Where ViralPayouts comes out ahead of Mad Circle
What Mad Circle offers
Shopify brands wanting an affiliate and trade-partner program with fraud checks.
Affiliate software for e-commerce
Why ViralPayouts is the better choice
- Two-level recruiting (recruiter override) on every program
- Public directory of live programs with one partner account across programs
- REST API, signed server-to-server event API and MCP server
- Pays partners for the brand
About Mad Circle
- In their words:
- "MadCircle helps brands manage affiliates, track sales, commissions, payouts and growth—simply."
- Company:
- Founded App launched 21 Sep 2026 · Hyderabad, India · Brilliant Madness (digital marketing agency, brilliantmadness.in)
- Website:
- apps.shopify.com
Try ViralPayouts on test money
Set your commission and recruiter override, see what each sale costs you, and run it on the test network before a real partner joins. No monthly fee.
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ViralPayouts vs MinwinSources for Mad Circle (1), checked 12 October 2026
Mad Circle is a trademark of its owner. ViralPayouts is not affiliated with Mad Circle. Prices and features change: check apps.shopify.com before you decide. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.