Fraud waits before payout
A sale that trips one of the 12 rules can't reach a payout until you release it. Most tools flag a suspicious sale and leave the rest to you.
What the 12 rules catchAffiliate tracking software comparison, with sources.
This affiliate tracking software comparison puts AffiliateTracking next to Rewardful, FirstPromoter, Tolt and Tapfiliate. Every cell comes from the vendor's own pricing or help pages, checked on . Where they're ahead, we say so.
The short version5 tools
Run it on your own serverOnly AffiliateTracking
Pay once instead of monthlyOnly AffiliateTracking
Lemon Squeezy built inOnly AffiliateTracking
Sends payouts for youThe other four
Multi-level payoutsFirstPromoter, Tapfiliate
Side by side
Five tools, the same eleven questions
Entry plans and what they include. Scroll sideways on a phone.
| Question | AffiliateTracking | Rewardful | FirstPromoter | Tolt | Tapfiliate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $99 once, or $49/mo cloud | $49/mo | $49/mo | $69/mo | $89/mo |
| Limit on the entry plan | No revenue or affiliate caps | $7,500/mo affiliate revenue | $5,000/mo affiliate revenue, 1,000 affiliates | $10,000/mo affiliate revenue | 50 affiliates, 5,000 clicks, 500 conversions a month |
| Extra fees | None | 3% on managed payouts | None stated | 2% on auto payouts | Overage per 1,000 clicks and conversions |
| Free trial | 14 days, card needed | 14 days | 14 days, no card | 14 days, no card | 7 days on Launch |
| Self-host | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Fraud checks | 12 rules on every sale | Self-referral | Self-referral, paid-ad traffic, sign-up captcha | Self-referral, ad traffic, a partner network check | Self-referral, IP and domain blocklists, duplicate conversions |
| A flagged sale | Held with the evidence until you release it | Flags it and emails you to review | Flags it. You can set ad traffic to pending | Blocks or flags it. Their pages don't say how | Flags it for you to approve or reject |
| Sends payouts for you | ✗ No, you pay from your own account | PayPal or Wise by CSV, or managed | One-click PayPal and Stripe | Yes, from Growth up | Through Trolley, billed separately |
| Billing tools | Stripe, Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly, Lemon Squeezy | Stripe, Paddle | Stripe, Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly, Braintree | Stripe, Paddle, Chargebee | Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly |
| Multi-level payouts | Tracks the tree. Payouts not built | Not listed | Up to 3 levels | Not listed | From Scale |
| A ledger affiliates can check | ✓ Yes, every journal sums to 0 | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Where they're ahead
If one of these matters most to you, one of them may suit you better. That's fine.
They send the money
All four can pay affiliates for you, some for a fee. AffiliateTracking works out who's owed what, and you send it yourself.
Multi-level payouts
FirstPromoter pays sub-affiliates up to 3 levels deep, and Tapfiliate has multi-level from Scale. We track the tree but don't pay on it yet.
Braintree
FirstPromoter connects to Braintree. We don't.
No card to try
FirstPromoter and Tolt start a trial without a card. Our cloud trial asks for one up front.
Where AffiliateTracking is different
Four things none of the other four offer the same way.
Pay once, run it yourself
Self-host costs $99 once and runs on your server as one file. No monthly bill, and your data never leaves your box.
What self-host includesNo caps as you grow
Rewardful, FirstPromoter and Tolt move you up a plan as affiliate revenue grows. Tapfiliate counts clicks and conversions. We don't count either.
Plans and pricesBooks that balance
Every sale, refund and payout is a journal whose lines sum to zero. Affiliates see the same proof in their portal.
Why the books always balanceTool by tool
What each one is good at, and what changes if you move.
Rewardful
Simple and Stripe-first, with 0% transaction fees. Plans step up at $7,500, $15,000 and $30,000 a month in affiliate revenue. It flags self-referrals and emails you.
- Moving over: import your affiliates, and old ?via= links keep working
FirstPromoter
The widest feature list of the four, with 3-level sub-affiliates and one-click PayPal payouts. The entry plan stops at $5,000 a month and 1,000 affiliates.
- Moving over: import your affiliates, and old ?fpr= links keep working
Tolt
Sends the money for you from Growth up, for a 2% fee. Plans step up at $10,000, $20,000 and $50,000 a month. Fraud protection runs under the name Tolt Radar.
- Moving over: import your affiliates, and old ?ref= links keep working
Tapfiliate
Priced on usage rather than revenue, with overage fees past the plan's clicks and conversions. Automated payouts go through Trolley, which bills you on top.
- Moving over: import your affiliates, and old ?ref= links keep working
Switching takes an afternoon
Export your affiliates from your old tool as a CSV. The import shows you a dry run first: how many affiliates, which codes clash, and anything that looks off.
Then add one attribute to the tracking script, and your affiliates' old links keep working. Balances stay in your old tool, so pay those out there before you switch.
# 1. See what would change, then import affiliate-engine import -from rewardful \ -csv affiliates.csv --dry-run # 2. Keep old ?via= links working <script src="https://yourbrand.affiliatetracking.co/t.js" data-param="via" async></script>
Sources
Each vendor's own pages, read on . Prices change, so check before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Email support@affiliatetracking.co.
Rewardful
FirstPromoter
Compare FAQ
What's the best affiliate tracking software for SaaS?
It depends on what hurts most. If you want payouts sent for you, look at Tolt or FirstPromoter. If fraud, fixed costs or owning your data matter more, we built AffiliateTracking for that.
Is AffiliateTracking a Rewardful alternative?
Yes. It covers the same Stripe and Paddle setups, with no cap on affiliate revenue and a self-host option. You'll send payouts yourself, the same way Rewardful's non-managed plans work.
Why is the starting price $99 once?
That's self-host: you run it on your own server and pay once. Cloud, where we run it, starts at $49 a month.
Can I move my affiliates over?
Yes. Import from Rewardful, FirstPromoter, Tolt or Tapfiliate with a dry run first. Old links keep working through the script's data-param setting.
How often is this page checked?
By hand, with the date at the top. If a vendor changes their pricing and we miss it, email us and we'll fix it.
Seen enough tables?
Try it on real sales.
Try cloud free for 14 days. Or buy self-host for $99 once.