Find the best MLM Software

What is MLM software?

Multi-level marketing or MLM software helps businesses manage their direct sales and network marketing operations, such as membership tracking, commission calculation, and compensation management. The platform automates complex tasks, such as inventory management, distributor engagement, and reporting while ensuring transparency throughout the organization.

MLM software also provides email marketing features, such as list management and email templates to help businesses reach a larger audience via email, schedule automated email campaigns, and drive sales. Additionally, it offers communication tools, including messaging and notifications to help teams engage with individual members and prospects with ease.

What are the core features of MLM software?

• Commission management: Automatically calculates sales commissions, bonuses, and rewards for multi-level marketing businesses. The feature allows businesses to create different types of commission plans, such as binary, unilevel, and matrix plans to determine how distributors earn money. It also enables customization of these plans based on different parameters, such as commission percentage, qualification criteria, and payout schedules, reducing errors in calculations while ensuring timely payments.

• Distributor management: Enables businesses to oversee, track, and manage the network of distributors engaged in direct selling. This feature offers an overview of the entire distributor network, including their registration details and activity levels, allowing for a better understanding of network growth and identifying top performers. It includes tools for distributor recruitment, training support, and compensation calculation based on their sales performance level or rank within the hierarchy levels.

• Order management: Simplifies the process of handling customer orders within a multi-level marketing business. The feature allows customers and distributors to place orders from within the MLM system and monitor the status of their orders. Users can also leverage this to automate the order fulfillment process and generate invoices, shipping labels, and packing slips as soon as orders are placed.

What are the benefits of MLM software?

• Simplifies sales tracking: MLM software automates the process of capturing sales data whenever a transaction occurs. It offers a centralized platform where all transactions are recorded, eliminating the need for maintaining separate spreadsheets. The software automatically updates the sales data in real time, providing distributors and businesses with immediate insights into sales performance and helping them track overall distributor network activities, identify top performers, and make data-driven decisions.

• Automates commission calculations: MLM software automatically calculates commissions for all members of the network, saving time and reducing the chances of human error. It takes into consideration sales data, distributor information, and pre-defined MLM compensation plan rules to calculate what each distributor is owed. The software updates commissions in real time as sales transactions are recorded and new data becomes available. 

• Facilitates performance analysis: MLM solution offers a centralized dashboard that helps administrators and distributors evaluate various aspects of their business operations. These may include rank advancements, customer acquisition, recruitment rates, and retention rates. The software also facilitates sales performance tracking at individual and team levels. It provides insights into product sales volume, revenue generated, and sales trends over time, enabling businesses to identify top-performing products and distributors.

What are the potential issues with MLM software?

• Limited customization options: In an MLM system, limited customization options may restrict the ability to tailor the software based on the specific needs and preferences of the MLM business. Without adequate customization options, businesses may find it difficult to adapt the software to their unique business processes, MLM compensation plans, and branding requirements. It may also impact scalability, preventing businesses from expanding their operations. 

• Inefficient inventory management: Stockouts and product shortages are just a few examples of how inefficient inventory management in the MLM system can impact business operations. It may cause inconsistencies between actual product availability and system data, which could mislead distributors about available products for sale. This can further lead to customer dissatisfaction and loss of sales opportunities due to delayed deliveries or unavailability of items when they are needed the most.

• Complex implementation of compensation plans: MLM compensation plans can be complex, involving multiple levels, bonuses, and incentives. Implementing these plans within MLM software can be challenging, requiring specialized expertise. Poorly configured algorithms can lead to inaccuracies in commission payouts, causing dissatisfaction among distributors and disputes over earnings.

How much does MLM software cost?

Vendors offering multi-level marketing software offer different pricing models to accommodate the diverse needs of MLM businesses. These may include one-time license fee, subscription-based pricing, tiered pricing, and usage-based pricing. In general, the pricing of the tool is available on quote from the software providers.

What is MLM software used for?

MLM software can have multiple use cases based on the data you feed into the system and the available software features. Some of these use cases could include:

• Downline tracking: MLM software allows businesses to track the hierarchical structure of a distributor’s network. It offers a visual representation of the distributor’s downline, showcasing which member has been recruited by which distributor. Distributors can use the tool to monitor the performance of their downline, including sales volume, recruitment activities, and overall productivity. 

• Financial management: Transaction processing, payment gateway integration, and reporting are features often included in MLM software to help businesses handle payments, manage payouts, and generate financial reports. Several MLM tools also support multiple currencies and currency conversion to facilitate international transactions. Additionally, the tool may include features to assist businesses with tax compliance. 

• Compliance reporting: In addition to the above, MLM software may also offer features, such as documentation and audit trails to ensure adherence to business policies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements. These requirements might be related to income disclosure, product safety and claims, distributor policies, licensing, and tax filings.

Which tools integrate with MLM software?

MLM software often integrates with various tools to enhance its functionality. We looked at thousands of reviews from users of online MLM software to identify products that users frequently mention integrating with their MLM tool:

• authorize.net is an online payment platform that integrates with MLM software to simplify checkout process for distributors and customers. This integration enables MLM businesses to securely accept online payments, ensuring the safety of sensitive payment information.

• OpenCart is an ecommerce platform that integrates with MLM software to help businesses sell products or services directly to customers via an online store. The integration allows businesses to manage product listings, inventory prices, and descriptions within the ecommerce platform. 

• Articulate 360 is a learning management system that integrates with MLM software to help businesses create interactive training content, including online courses, presentations, and quizzes. 

• ServiceM8 is field service software that integrates with MLM tools to assist MLM businesses with job scheduling, dispatching, and invoicing. The integration helps businesses assign specific jobs to their distributors, track their availability, and monitor their performance. 

• WordPress is a content management tool that integrates with MLM software to help MLM businesses create and customize websites as per their brand and marketing needs. It also allows businesses to leverage various lead generation techniques, such as landing pages and contact forms to capture leads directly from their website. 

Note: We identified these integrations mentioned most often in verified reviews of MLM software published on Software Advice within the past two years (as of April 19, 2024).

Considerations when purchasing MLM software

• Consider the scalability aspect: MLM businesses are designed to grow their distributor networks and customer base over time. Scalable MLM software can accommodate this growth without facing limitations or performance issues. Considering this aspect can ensure that your software can handle increasing volumes of data, transactions, and users as the business expands.

• Look for mobile compatibility: With people relying heavily on their smartphones for accessing information and conducting business, mobile compatibility has become an important factor to consider before investing in MLM software. This can help distributors manage their networks, access important data, track sales, and communicate with customers anytime, anywhere. Mobile compatibility also facilitates better engagement with customers with updates, alerts, and reminders about MLM activities.

• Assess the software's reporting and analytics capabilities: While evaluating the best MLM software solutions, consider the software’s reporting and analytics capabilities that can help you gain insights into MLM business operations. The best MLM software often offers automated reports on sales performance, compensation, rank advancements, customer engagement, inventory management, and historical data analysis, allowing businesses to make informed decisions about business growth and adjustments if required.

Source

Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from Software Advice’s MLM software directory. The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in Software Advice’s directory that offer them.

Disclaimer: This MLM software buyers guide was authored by Software Advice’s content team. We develop our guides using the author’s expertise, insights from 2M+ unique user reviews, and our proprietary data science algorithms to identify trends in user sentiment, preferences, and priorities. Some text was generated with assistance from AI tools.