Referral system's main goal is to let the existing user invite other people and they will have benefit from it, at the same time, the person they also invited will benefit if they will use the code provided for them. Typically, referral system uses code whereas the person invited will input and then later on, he/she will enjoy the perks in accordance to the terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, signing up as an affiliate at the very beginning will give you the advantage to earn something if someone would sign up using your link. This is usually held by a third party wherein a specific percentage is given to the affiliates that serve as their compensation in spreading about the specific product or services. If referral is through codes, affiliate mostly uses links to be clicked by the person invited. Once their link is clicked and the invited made a purchase or fulfilled what's asked, the affiliate will earn from it.