Affiliate code vs referral code: which one did the brand hand you?

The three questions

1. What do you receive? Money is the affiliate signature; store or service credit is the referral signature. Dropbox's referral program, a canonical example, pays extra storage space, never cash.
2. Who can the code convert? Affiliate codes pay on sales to anyone, strangers included. Referral programs are usually framed as friends-and-family and sometimes restricted to new customers only.
3. Did you have to be a customer? Referral programs generally require an account with the brand; affiliate programs recruit promoters regardless.

• Typical payout

  Affiliate code

  Cash commission per sale

  Referral code

  Account credit or perks

• Audience

  Affiliate code

  Anyone

  Referral code

  Often new customers only

• Scale

  Affiliate code

  Unlimited in principle

  Referral code

  Frequently capped

• Relationship

  Affiliate code

  Marketing partner

  Referral code

  Happy customer

• Terms live in

  Affiliate code

  Affiliate or partner agreement

  Referral code

  Program terms on the brand site

Why the label on the email does not settle it

Industry vocabulary blurs: affiliate-network glossaries themselves call commissions "referral fees", and "creator code" is marketing language with no fixed payment meaning. Classify by the mechanics above, not the noun in the subject line. If the answer is cash-per-redemption to anyone, treat it as an affiliate deal, including the attribution questions that come with one.

One thing that does not change either way

Disclosure. The FTC's material-connection rule covers monetary payment AND other benefits, so a credit-paid referral code shared with an audience is disclosable just like a cash-paid affiliate code. The specifics are in how to disclose affiliate codes.