Shopify Collabs (Formerly Dovetale) vs Influencity vs Influencer Hero: Features, Pricing and Key Differences
The main difference between Shopify Collabs (formerly Dovetale), Influencity, and Influencer Hero lies in how deep each platform goes in managing influencer marketing workflows. Shopify Collabs is ideal for Shopify merchants who want a simple, built-in solution for influencer gifting and affiliate management. Influencity, on the other hand, focuses on large-scale discovery and reporting for brands that want access to over 15 million public creator profiles and advanced campaign forecasting.
Influencer Hero provides the most complete all-in-one setup for scaling influencer operations, combining AI-powered discovery, CRM automation, UGC collection, gifting, affiliate tracking, and storefronts—all integrated with Shopify, WooCommerce, and custom stores—making it the most versatile choice for growing D2C brands.
In this article, we’ll dive deep into the comparison between Shopify Collabs, Influencity, and Influencer Hero, exploring their features, pricing, pros, and use cases to help you decide which platform best fits your brand’s influencer marketing strategy.
Shopify Collabs (Formerly Dovetale) vs Influencity vs Influencer Hero Comparison
Feature
Shopify Collabs (Formerly Dovetale)
Influencity
Influencer Hero
Influencer Discovery / Database
Built into Shopify’s creator marketplace; allows search by niche, engagement rate, follower count, and location, but limited mainly to creators active on Shopify’s ecosystem.
Access to over 15 million public influencer profiles using AI keyword matching, hashtags, and lookalikes; includes Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter (analytics only).
450M+ creator database, plus advanced discovery across 8 major platforms (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, X, Twitch); includes fake follower detection, lookalikes, audience insights, and Chrome extension for live data.
Core Focus
Simplified affiliate and gifting solution for Shopify merchants; best for small to mid-size eCommerce brands seeking quick setup and automated PayPal payouts.
Data-rich campaign management platform focused on large-scale discovery, analytics, and forecasting. Ideal for research-driven teams.
All-in-one influencer marketing platform covering discovery, outreach, CRM, UGC, gifting, affiliate tracking, and storefronts; built for scaling D2C and eCommerce brands.
Best For
Shopify-based startups or small D2C brands that want to launch gifting or affiliate programs quickly without added costs.
Mid to large businesses or agencies needing broad database access, campaign analytics, and segmentation.
Growing and enterprise-level D2C brands managing 100–10,000+ influencers, requiring automation, AI personalization, and cross-platform tracking.
Campaign Management & CRM
Basic; lacks full CRM or lifecycle tracking. Campaigns are managed via Shopify admin.
Strong visual CRM with tagging, segmentation, and Kanban-style campaign boards; however, lacks in-platform negotiation or mobile app.
AI-powered CRM built for high-volume campaigns; includes communication boards, deliverable tracking, automated outreach, and performance dashboards.
Customer Support
Limited; reports mention weak fraud and dispute resolution support.
Standard onboarding support; setup can take 4–6 weeks.
Premium white-glove support with onboarding sessions, live chat, and a dedicated account manager; praised for fast response and training resources.
Pricing
Free for Shopify merchants (2.9% processing fee on payouts via PayPal).
Professional Plan: $3,816/year (150 profile unlocks, 10 campaign boards); Business plan custom.
Starts at $649/month (Standard), $1,049/month (Pro), $2,490/month (Business); custom plans available for large brands.
1. Influencer Discovery
Shopify Collabs relies on its built-in creator marketplace mainly connected to Shopify’s ecosystem, offering limited segmentation beyond niche, engagement, and location. Influencity takes discovery further with a public database of over 15 million profiles and AI-driven filters. Influencer Hero, however, provides multi-platform coverage (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.) with fake follower detection, lookalike creator matching, and real-time Chrome insights, giving D2C brands a deeper and more actionable discovery process.
2. Core Focus
Shopify Collabs focuses on automating affiliate and gifting workflows directly within Shopify, perfect for merchants launching small-scale ambassador programs. Influencity emphasizes analytics, segmentation, and forecasting for teams managing data-heavy campaigns. Influencer Hero bridges both—offering automation across discovery, outreach, CRM, UGC collection, and affiliate tracking—built specifically for scaling eCommerce and D2C operations.
3. Best For
Shopify Collabs suits Shopify-based startups that want to start influencer gifting or affiliate programs without added subscription costs. Influencity is best for mid-to-large agencies or data-focused marketing teams running analytical, multi-market campaigns. Influencer Hero fits fast-growing D2C brands managing hundreds to thousands of creators who need automation, personalization, and platform flexibility.
4. Campaign Management & CRM
Shopify Collabs lacks full CRM capabilities, requiring brands to manage relationships manually. Influencity offers a visual CRM with tagging and campaign boards but misses in-platform messaging or negotiation tools. Influencer Hero includes an AI-powered CRM that automates outreach, tracks deliverables, and visualizes campaign stages—ideal for high-volume influencer operations.
5. Customer Support
Shopify Collabs users often report limited support and slow responses in handling disputes. Influencity offers standard onboarding but has a 4–6 week setup timeline. Influencer Hero, in contrast, provides white-glove onboarding, live chat, and a dedicated account manager from day one, ensuring faster implementation and stronger long-term support.
6. Pricing
Shopify Collabs is free for Shopify merchants, with only a 2.9% payout processing fee via PayPal. Influencity starts at $3,816 per year, with paid add-ons for tracking. Influencer Hero offers flexible plans from $649/month to $2,490/month, with custom options for large brands—pricing that reflects its broader feature set and automation capabilities.
Which Tool Is Best for You? Why Brands Choose Influencer Hero Over Shopify Collabs (Formerly Dovetale) and Influencity
If you’re a Shopify brand just starting with influencer collaborations, Shopify Collabs is the simplest and most budget-friendly option. It integrates directly into your Shopify store, automates gifting and PayPal payouts, and works great for small eCommerce businesses that want to manage affiliate partnerships without the complexity of a separate platform.
Influencity, meanwhile, is built for agencies or data-focused marketing teams managing large-scale, multi-market campaigns. It offers access to over 15 million public profiles, advanced segmentation, and forecasting tools but lacks flexible integrations outside of Shopify and requires a longer setup time.
Influencer Hero strikes the perfect balance between automation, usability, and scalability. It’s built for growing D2C and eCommerce brands that want a full-stack solution—covering discovery, CRM, outreach, UGC collection, gifting, and affiliate tracking—all in one place. With deep Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, AI-powered workflows, and dedicated account support, Influencer Hero stands out as the best all-in-one platform for brands ready to scale their influencer programs efficiently.
Shopify Collabs (Formerly Dovetale) Overview
Shopify Collabs is Shopify’s built-in influencer and affiliate management tool designed for merchants who want to grow through creator partnerships without leaving the Shopify ecosystem. Launched as a rebrand of Dovetale, it helps brands discover influencers, manage gifting, track affiliate performance, and automate payouts — all directly from the Shopify admin.
Its biggest strength lies in seamless integration: everything from inventory management to creator payments happens inside the same dashboard, making it a simple yet powerful entry point for Shopify-based D2C startups.
Shopify Collabs Standout Features
Seamless Shopify Integration: Because it’s built directly into Shopify, Collabs connects with your store’s products, inventory, and checkout. This makes it ideal for Shopify eCommerce startups and small D2C brands that want influencer gifting and affiliate tracking without needing a third-party app or external platform.
Automated PayPal Payouts: Collabs automates commission payments to creators through PayPal, saving hours of manual processing time. It’s especially useful for small teams handling multiple influencer partnerships simultaneously.
Shopify Flow Automation: Brands can use Shopify Flow to automate repetitive influencer tasks, such as onboarding new collaborators or triggering reward workflows when certain sales goals are met. This feature is valuable for growing D2C businesses looking to scale efficiently without increasing admin work.
Open-Access Affiliate Offers: Brands can create public affiliate programs where creators apply directly via a customizable application page — perfect for startups and small eCommerce teams wanting to attract inbound influencers without manual outreach.
Linkpop Integration: Creators can link directly to Shopify products via Linkpop, Shopify’s native link-in-bio tool. This is great for influencers promoting individual products or for brands wanting clear attribution from creator traffic to sales.
Best For
Shopify Collabs is best for Shopify merchants, startups, and small D2C brands that want an easy way to launch and manage influencer gifting or affiliate programs without paying a separate subscription or learning a complex platform.
Pricing & Contract Length
Cost: Free to install for all Shopify merchants on Basic (Grow), Advanced, and Plus plans.
Payout Fee: Merchants only pay a 2.9% processing fee on creator payouts.
Contract Length: No fixed contract — fully included within your Shopify subscription.
Creator Cost: Free for creators to join and collaborate.
Pros
Fully integrated into Shopify — no third-party dashboard required
Free to use with only a 2.9% payout fee
End-to-end affiliate and gifting workflows
Automated PayPal payments save time
Large creator marketplace for easy discovery
Cons
No built-in CRM or content/UGC library
Limited customization for emails and application pages
PayPal-only payout option
Weak customer support for fraud and payout disputes
Mixed creator quality (many apply mainly for free products)
Free Tools
Shopify Collabs does not offer standalone free tools outside the Shopify ecosystem — all features are embedded within your Shopify subscription. The platform is free to use for Shopify merchants on paid plans, with the only costs being related to the 2.9% processing fee on payouts.
Influencity Overview
Influencity is a data-driven influencer marketing platform built to help brands find and collaborate with high ROI influencers through advanced analytics and public data insights. Instead of relying on opt-in databases, it indexes over 15 million public influencer profiles, giving brands access to real-time audience demographics, engagement metrics, and predictive performance data.
It’s designed for marketing teams that want complete control over influencer selection, campaign tracking, and reporting — making it especially suitable for mid-sized and enterprise eCommerce brands that prioritize analytics over automation.
Influencity Standout Features
15M+ Public Influencer Database: Influencity uses public data to index creators across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter (analytics only), with no opt-in required. This makes it a great fit for agencies or enterprise brands managing large databases of creators globally.
AI-Powered Discovery & Keyword Matching: Advanced filters and AI-driven keyword searches help brands find creators by demographics, engagement rate, hashtags, and audience affinity. Ideal for brands that prioritize audience relevance and data accuracy before outreach.
Visual CRM & Campaign Boards: Influencity’s Trello-like campaign boards make it easy to organize influencers by country, campaign, or theme. Teams can track deliverables, deadlines, and approvals in one place — perfect for large marketing teams managing multiple campaigns simultaneously.
Shopify Integration for Gifting & Affiliate Tracking: The platform connects directly with Shopify to manage influencer gifting, assign discount codes, and track affiliate performance — useful for eCommerce brands that already rely on Shopify.
Advanced Reporting & Auto-Tracking: Influencity offers both manual and automated post tracking, pulling metrics like reach, impressions, and engagement from public data. Reports can be exported in PDF, Excel, or CSV, which makes it ideal for agencies and brands that need formal performance documentation.
Best For
Influencity is best for data-focused marketing teams, agencies, and enterprise brands that manage large-scale influencer operations and need in-depth analytics, segmentation, and reporting capabilities to measure ROI precisely.
Pricing & Contract Length
Influencity offers annual pricing plans:
Professional Plan – $3,816/year: Includes 10,000 monthly search results, 150 profile unlocks, 1,200 outreach emails/month, Shopify integration, and access for 5 users.
Business Plan – Custom pricing: Designed for larger teams with advanced analytics and automation needs.
Tracker Add-On – ~$660/year: Tracks 50 influencers (custom pricing available for fewer).
Pros
Access to 15M+ public influencer profiles without opt-in restrictions.
In-depth analytics for discovering high ROI influencers.
Customizable CRM and campaign organization tools.
Strong reporting with both manual and automated tracking options.
Shopify integration for affiliate and gifting workflows.
Cons
No in-platform messaging for influencer negotiation or follow-up.
Shopify is the only eCommerce integration (no WooCommerce support).
Auto-tracking tool requires an additional paid add-on.
Onboarding takes 4–6 weeks.
No mobile app for on-the-go management.
Free Tools
Influencer Search Tool: Allows users to filter through influencers by location, engagement, and more to find suitable partners.
Fake Follower Checker: A tool to help brands evaluate the authenticity of influencers’ followers.
Engagement Rate Calculator: Helps brands measure the effectiveness of influencers by analyzing engagement rates across platforms.
Influencity offers a solid free toolkit for brands to explore before committing to a paid plan, making it ideal for startups or businesses that are just getting into influencer marketing.
Influencer Hero Overview
Influencer Hero is an all-in-one influencer marketing software designed for Shopify and eCommerce brands that want to manage the entire influencer process—from discovery and outreach to tracking and payments—on one platform. Built to help D2C companies scale efficiently, it combines features like influencer search, CRM, automated outreach, gifting, UGC collection, affiliate management, and performance analytics. With direct Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, it simplifies influencer campaigns for brands that want data-driven results without the complexity of managing multiple tools.
Influencer Hero Standout Features
Full Influencer CRM & Outreach Automation: Manage influencer relationships, track communication, and send personalized automated outreach emails all in one dashboard. Ideal for Shopify and D2C brands managing dozens or hundreds of influencer collaborations simultaneously.
Shopify & WooCommerce Integrations: Automatically connect your store to manage gifting, discount codes, and affiliate links with real-time sales tracking. Perfect for eCommerce brands that want to measure influencer ROI directly through their store data.
Post & Story Auto-Tracking: Influencer Hero automatically tracks published posts, stories, and reels, pulling engagement metrics in real time—ideal for brands that want precise reporting and performance analytics without manual monitoring.
Creator Dashboard for Transparency: Each influencer gets their own Creator Dashboard where they can track sales, commissions, and payouts. This fosters trust and improves collaboration—particularly valuable for brands running long-term ambassador or affiliate programs.
Affiliate Management & Automated Payouts: Easily generate affiliate links, assign discount codes, and automate commission payouts to influencers. This feature is tailored for brands scaling affiliate or ambassador programs without needing extra accounting tools.
Best For
Influencer Hero is best for D2C brands, eCommerce businesses, and startups seeking an all-in-one solution to discover, manage, and scale their influencer marketing campaigns efficiently.
Pricing & Contract Length
Influencer Hero offers flexible pricing plans to suit growing brands:
Standard Plan: $649/month for up to 1,000 creators
Pro Plan: $1,049/month for up to 5,000 creators
Business Plan: $2,490/month for up to 10,000 creators
Custom & Agency Plans: Custom pricing tailored to brand needs
All plans include core features and can be scaled as your influencer program grows.
Pros
Comprehensive suite of tools for influencer discovery, outreach, and management
Automated content collection and centralized UGC library
Seamless eCommerce integrations with major platforms
AI-powered outreach with personalized messaging
Robust reporting and analytics for campaign performance tracking
Cons
Pricing may be higher compared to platforms targeting smaller businesses
Some advanced features may require a learning curve
Final Thoughts on Shopify Collabs (Formerly Dovetale) vs Influencity vs Influencer Hero
When comparing Shopify Collabs and Influencity, it’s clear both serve very different types of brands. However, both tools have limitations — Collabs lacks a full CRM and automation features, while Influencity can feel complex and pricey for eCommerce-focused teams that want simplicity and real results.
Influencer Hero, bridges the gap perfectly by combining ease of use with powerful automation and tracking. It offers Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, a built-in CRM, automated post tracking, and a Creator Dashboard that helps influencers and brands stay aligned — all in one place. Whether you’re managing a few collaborations or scaling a full affiliate program, Influencer Hero gives D2C and Shopify brands the tools they actually need to grow with clarity and control.
If you’re ready to simplify your influencer marketing process and scale efficiently, book a free demo with Influencer Hero to see how it can transform your brand’s growth.
FAQs
What is the main difference between Shopify Collabs, Influencity, and Influencer Hero?
Shopify Collabs is designed for small Shopify merchants who want to manage simple gifting and affiliate campaigns without external tools. Influencity focuses on data analytics and large-scale campaign tracking for agencies and enterprises. Influencer Hero, meanwhile, brings both power and simplicity together—offering automation, Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, CRM, affiliate tracking, and reporting in one platform.
Which platform is best for Shopify and D2C brands?
Influencer Hero is the best choice for Shopify and D2C brands because it directly integrates with your store to automate gifting, affiliate tracking, and commission payouts. Shopify Collabs is easy to use but limited, while Influencity’s focus on analytics makes it more suitable for agencies than eCommerce businesses.
Does Influencer Hero offer free tools?
Yes, Influencer Hero provides several free tools such as an Influencer Search Preview, Engagement Rate Calculator, and Affiliate ROI Estimator. These tools help brands test the platform’s capabilities and evaluate influencer performance before committing to a paid plan.
Which platform provides the best customer support and onboarding?
Influencer Hero offers personalized onboarding and live support for all plans, ensuring smooth campaign setup and execution. Influencity’s onboarding process can take several weeks, while Shopify Collabs mainly relies on Shopify’s general support resources.
Is there a free version of these platforms?
Shopify Collabs offers a free version limited to Shopify users. Influencity and Influencer Hero do not offer free plans, but Influencer Hero includes free tools and a free demo, allowing brands to explore the platform’s capabilities before subscribing.
