Do I even need a plugin for this?
There are four routes: use the Shopware standard, buy a third-party plugin, join an affiliate network, or use this plugin. They cost different things and can do different things. This overview shows both, including the two rows where we are not ahead.
What Shopware brings and where it stops.
The standard is better than its reputation and worse than its name suggests. It knows two fields, but nobody they belong to.
What it can do
The parameters affiliateCode and campaignCode on the address are recognised,
held in the session, stored on the customer at registration and on the order at checkout.
On top of that come a Rule Builder condition and two flow actions with which you can set the codes.
Where it stops
There is no partner as an entity, no sign-up, no partner account. There is no commission calculation, no rate, no entry, no balance. There is no payout and no receipt.
The code also lives only in the session, not in a cookie: whoever closes the tab and comes back later is assigned to nobody.
38 rows side by side.
| Feature | Shopware standard | Third-party plugin | External network | This plugin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment | ||||
| Code arrives through a link | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Where the code is held | session only | cookie | the network cookie | cookie, lifetime configurable |
| Assignment without a link, code typed into the cart | no | no | no | yes |
| A discount code of their own per partner | no | yes | varies by network | yes |
| Poaching lock | no | not documented | network rules | active out of the box |
| Who refers | ||||
| Partner as an entity of its own | a text field only | yes | at the network | yes |
| Sign-up in the customer account | no | yes | no | yes |
| Application reviewed by you | no | yes | the network checks | yes |
| Partners without a customer account | no | not documented | yes | yes |
| Small referrers practicable | no | yes | hardly | yes |
| Commission | ||||
| A commission is calculated at all | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Percentage | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Fixed amount per order | no | no | varies by network | yes |
| Fixed amount per item | no | no | varies by network | yes |
| Rate per product or product group | no | yes | varies by network | yes |
| Rate per category | no | via product group | varies by network | yes |
| Rate per dynamic product group | no | no | no | yes |
| Rate per referred customer | no | no | no | yes |
| Separate rate for follow-up orders | no | no | varies by network | yes |
| Rule for which rate wins when several apply | no | no | no | 3 rules to choose |
| Control | ||||
| Minimum age of the order | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Order status as a condition | no | not documented | varies by network | yes |
| Exclude the partner own orders | no | not documented | yes | yes |
| Cancellation books back automatically | no | not documented | yes | yes |
| Manual entry with a comment | no | not documented | no | yes |
| Calculation log per order | no | no | no | yes |
| Payout | ||||
| Voucher for your shop | no | yes | no | yes |
| Bonus that only raises the voucher | no | no | no | yes |
| Bank transfer to the partner | no | yes | the network pays | yes |
| Receipt with a consecutive number | no | yes | credit note | yes |
| SEPA batch file for the bank | no | yes | not applicable | no |
| Order for the warehouse system | no | no | no | yes |
| Net calculation with a VAT ID | no | no | the network settles | yes |
| The frame | ||||
| Where the partner data lives | in the shop | in the shop | at the network | in the shop |
| A cut on every commission | none | none | yes, to the network | none |
| Running cost | none | €74.92 per month | base fee plus a cut | €58.25 per month |
| Reach from outside | none | none | thousands of publishers | none |
| Commission across several levels | no | no | no | as an add-on plugin |
The details on the Shopware standard are checked against the source of Shopware 6.7. The third-party plugin column reflects the publicly visible store listing of a referral marketing extension for Shopware 6, checked on 3 September 2026; where nothing is stated there, the cell is marked as not documented rather than as missing. The external network column describes the usual model of large affiliate networks, not one particular provider; terms differ considerably. Feature sets change continuously, and the respective listing is always what counts.
Two rows where we are not ahead.
An overview in which the author wins everywhere is not an overview. These two points are worth knowing before you decide.
No SEPA batch file
The third-party plugin produces a SEPA XML file you upload into your banking. Here you get a receipt per payout with a number and the bank details, but you transfer yourself.
When that hurts: from around twenty payouts a month. Below that it hardly shows.
No reach from outside
A network brings thousands of publishers who do not know your shop. Your own program reaches the people who already do: customers, influencers, referrers in your own surroundings.
Which is why the two do not exclude each other. Many shops run a network for the professionals and their own program for their own people.
Common questions
Can Shopware run a partner program out of the box?
No. Shopware knows two fields, affiliateCode and campaignCode. They arrive as parameters on the address, land in the session and are stored on the customer at registration and on the order at checkout. There is also a Rule Builder condition and two flow actions. But there is no partner, no commission calculation and no payout. That is a label, not a program.
Is the Shopware standard enough for customers referring customers?
Only if you build everything else yourself. Through the Rule Builder you can recognise that an order carries a particular code, and react to it with flows. Who gets how much, when it falls due and how it is paid out is written nowhere. On top of that the standard keeps the code only in the session, not in a cookie.
When is an external affiliate network the better choice?
When you want to buy reach you do not have. A network brings thousands of publishers who do not know your shop. In return you pay a base fee and a cut on every commission, the partner data belongs to the network, and small referrers such as a vet practice or a regular customer are practically impossible to onboard there.
Can I run both at the same time?
Yes, and many do. The network serves the professional publishers, your own program serves your own customers, influencers and referrers. The two do not get in each other's way, because they address different people.
What can this plugin not do?
Two things, and both are in the table. It produces no SEPA batch file for the bank, so you transfer each payout individually. And it brings no reach of its own: it organises the recommendations of people who already know your shop, it does not procure new referrers for you.
Where do the details about the third-party plugin come from?
From the publicly visible store listing of a referral marketing extension for Shopware 6, checked on 3 September 2026. Where nothing is stated there, the cell is marked as not documented rather than as missing. The respective listing is always what counts.
Other ways to turn customers into partners.
Customers refer customers
The regular customer spreads the word and takes a voucher instead of money. The balance stays in the shop.
Read on → A vet with business cardsA referral without a link
The code sits on a card, not in a link. The customer types it into the cart.
Read on → Instagram, 40,000 followersAn influencer with a discount code
A voucher of their own as advertising material, paid out to the bank account instead of credit in the shop.
Read on →The standard recognises the code. The rest you have to build.
Or you try in the demo shop what it looks like finished.