When considering marketing strategies for your online business, you might think of social media marketing, paid ads, and email campaigns. But have you considered affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing involves partnering with bloggers, publishers, or influencers who promote your products to their audience. They earn a commission for each sale, while you gain access to new potential customers.
Growing in popularity year over year, affiliate marketing now accounts for 16% of online sales in the US. It’s a low-risk, low-effort way to grow revenue, made even easier with affiliate marketing software. Below, explore software options for affiliate programs to find the right tool for your business.
What is affiliate marketing software?
Affiliate marketing software (or affiliate management software) is a tool brands use to support their affiliate marketing programs and streamline operations. Depending on the software, it can track sale referral methods (such as coupon codes or affiliate links), earnings by affiliate marketer, commission rates, and payments. You can also use it to market to, recruit, and manage affiliates.
The best affiliate software integrates with ecommerce platforms like Shopify. Software costs vary, but typically range from $25 to $750 per month.
To create your own affiliate marketing program, you need a tool to generate custom links, track commissions, and pay affiliates. Using affiliate management software can free up time to spend on higher-impact tasks.
Now that you understand the basics of affiliate marketing, let’s explore the criteria for choosing affiliate management software, and review eight recommendations to get you started.
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The best affiliate marketing software for brands
Shopify Collabs
Affiliatly
Everflow
Refersion
Tapfiliate
Post Affiliate Pro
LeadDyno
UpPromote
Rewardful
Referral Rock
Awin
Referral Factory
AffiliateWP
PartnerStack
Affise
Social Snowball
1. Shopify Collabs
Shopify Collabs is an integrated influencer marketing and affiliate program tool for Shopify merchants. It allows businesses to connect with creators, manage collaborations, and drive sales through influencer partnerships, all within the Shopify admin interface.
Some of Shopify Collabs’ best features include:
Creator recruitment: Create custom application pages, search millions of creator profiles, and invite existing partners to join your program.
Gift and sample management: Simplify sending products to creators.
Affiliate link and code generation: Easily create unique affiliate links and discount codes for creators to share with their followers.
Automated payments: Streamline commission payments through the Shopify Billing system, saving time on manual calculations and payouts.
Collabs Network: Gain instant access to a pool of qualified creators who can immediately start promoting your products.
Shopify Flow integration: Automate repetitive tasks and workflows related to your affiliate program.
Pricing: Free to install for Shopify merchants on Shopify, Advanced, or Shopify Plus plans. A 2.9% commission processing fee applies to automatic payments.
2. Affiliatly
Affiliatly is an affiliate marketing tool that helps you manage partners from one dashboard. It integrates with your Shopify store or other platform, tracking sales on your website and connecting them to the affiliate that directed the traffic. Track affiliate sales by email, SKU, coupon code, link, and more.
Some of Affiliatly’s best features include:
Affiliate portal: Partners can log into their own dashboard to create custom affiliate links, view previous sales, and track commission payouts.
Custom commission settings: Reward your top affiliates with generous commissions or offer different payouts for different products. For example, you might tie your commission percentage to an item’s profit margin: an item with a 50% profit margin could earn an affiliate a 10% commission, while one with a 20% profit margin might only earn 5%. You can even offer store credit or gift cards to incentivize affiliates to purchase their own products using their payout.
Checkout affiliate pop-up: Finding new partnership opportunities can be challenging. There’s no better affiliate than an existing customer who knows your products inside out. Use Affiliatly to add a pop-up box to your Shopify checkout page that invites new customers to join the referral program.
Pricing: Starts at $16 per month, including a 90-day trial.
3. Everflow
Everflow is a partner marketing program that tracks sales data from various sources, including referrals and affiliates. Designed for established or scaling online stores, Everflow’s best features include:
Coupon code tracking: Instead of having affiliate partners divert traffic through custom links, create coupon codes for their audience. Not only is it an incentive to buy, but Everflow tracks coupon code usage and attributes sales to the affiliate marketer who shared it.
Click-to-conversion reporting: Prevent affiliate fraud and link misuse with this feature. You’ll get an alert when engagements look suspicious.
QR codes: Working with affiliates who have influence in a particular area? Help them make sales in-person with trackable QR codes. Each affiliate can print their own code and get credit when people purchase through it, extending the reach of your affiliate marketing program.
Pricing: Request a quote.
4. Refersion
Refersion is another tool to consider for supporting your affiliate marketing campaigns. It provides real-time insight into your affiliates’ performance and revenue generation, alongside a built-in post-purchase marketing channel that invites customers to become affiliates.
Used by successful online businesses like Magic Spoon and Pura Vida Bracelets, Refersion’s affiliate marketing software offers:
Access to the affiliate marketplace: Find more than 5,000 qualified influencers, content creators, bloggers, and influencers through the Refersion marketplace. Invite them to join your affiliate program in just a few clicks.
Email marketing: Stay in touch with your affiliates through automatic emails for application approvals, sales notifications, and payment processing. Use custom broadcasts to inform them of new products and discounts.
Pay affiliates: Send bulk payments to affiliates at month’s end with Refersion’s PayPal integration. Or, if you prefer to offer gift cards as an incentive for customer referrals, send unique codes via email to qualifying affiliates.
Pricing: From $99 per month (if paid annually). Free 14-day trial available.
5. Tapfiliate
Tapfiliate is an affiliate tracking software that integrates with Shopify. Ecommerce brands use this tool to track commissions earned by referring customers, affiliates, or influencers they’re partnering with.
Some of Tapfiliate’s most popular features include:
Brand asset manager: Make it easier for affiliates to promote products with pre-made brand assets. Upload logos, social media templates, and HTML banners so any marketing they do on behalf of your business stays on brand.
Top affiliate bonuses: Reward top affiliates by issuing bonuses once they reach a certain number of referred customers.
Multi-language support: Looking to expand your audience and reach international customers? Lean on affiliates with audiences in those regions. Tapfiliate supports six languages, including French, Spanish, and German.
Pricing: From $89 per month. Free 14-day trial available.
6. Post Affiliate Pro
Post Affiliate Pro is an affiliate marketing platform that handles every aspect of your program—from inviting influencers to join to monitoring results and sending commission payouts.
Ecommerce brands use Post Affiliate Pro for:
Site replication: Create custom landing pages for each affiliate’s audience. It’s easier to influence a sale if someone a new customer knows, likes, and trusts is visible on the product page.
Top URL reporting: Exclude all non-affiliate sales to find your top-performing products. Share this information with your affiliates, especially new ones—they might find it easier to earn their first commission by promoting bestsellers.
Advanced payment integrations: Many affiliate programs only allow brands to pay commissions via PayPal. Post Affiliate Pro integrates with tools like ReCharge, WorldPay, and Stripe to pay affiliates through their preferred method.
Pricing: From $129 per month. Free trial available.
7. LeadDyno
LeadDyno is a Shopify app designed for software as a service (SaaS) and ecommerce businesses to run their own affiliate program. Use its dashboard to recruit and engage affiliates. Remember: The more products they sell, the more revenue your business generates through affiliate marketing.
As part of the software, LeadDyno customers get:
Branded dashboard: Add your brand name, logo, and custom colors to the affiliate dashboard and attach it to your online store.
Affiliate invitation form: Collect key information about potential affiliates—including their audience size, social media links, and follower count—with an onboarding form. Only accept those who meet your criteria.
Mobile app: Affiliates can check their reports on the go with LeadDyno’s mobile app. This is especially useful if their audience is offline.
Pricing: From $49 per month. Free 30-day trial available.
8. UpPromote
Working with a limited software budget but need a tool to manage your affiliate marketing efforts? UpPromote is designed for small business founders with limited technical knowledge.
UpPromote’s affiliate software features:
Real-time tracking: With real-time reporting, you can instantly see which affiliates are driving sales. No more waiting to see whether the people they referred end up purchasing.
Professional email templates: Get your affiliate program up and running with pre-made templates to email new affiliates, confirm payouts, and motivate partners to continue promoting your products.
Affiliate marketplace: Search for influencers in your industry through the UpPromote marketplace. It’s a great way for beginners, including new brands without a loyal customer base, to start their first affiliate program.
Pricing: From $29.99 per month. Free plan available.
9. Rewardful
Rewardful is an all-in-one affiliate management software designed specifically for SaaS companies. It integrates seamlessly with Stripe and Paddle to track referrals, discounts, and commissions. Rewardful is praised for its simplicity and deep integration with payment platforms.
Some of Rewardful’s features include:
Comprehensive tracking: Monitor free trials, upgrades, downgrades, cancellations, prorated changes, and refunds to ensure accurate commission calculations.
Two-way Stripe sync: View and manage affiliate data directly from your Stripe dashboard, offering the deepest integration available.
Customizable affiliate portal: Provide affiliates with their own branded dashboard to generate referral links and track their performance.
Fraud detection: Automatically identify and deactivate suspected self-referrals to maintain program integrity.
Pricing: Starts at $49 per month for the Starter plan, with a Growth plan at $99 per month and custom Enterprise plans starting at $149 per month. All plans come with a 14-day free trial.
10. Referral Rock
Referral Rock is a referral program software designed for service-based, ecommerce, B2B, and tech businesses of all sizes. It offers end-to-end referral programs with frictionless sharing, nudge reminders, and customizable rewards to help businesses automate customer acquisition through word-of-mouth marketing.
ReferralRock features include:
Dedicated referral website portal: Provides an on-brand member portal where customers can easily share and track their referrals, increasing engagement and repeat sharing.
Advanced reward management: Offers flexible reward structures including two-sided rewards, milestone/tiered rewards, and various payout options like coupons, cash, and gift cards.
Multiple program types: Supports customer referral programs, affiliate and partner marketing programs, and brand ambassador programs to suit different business needs.
Extensive integrations: Connects with popular platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, Shopify, and WooCommerce for seamless referral tracking and automation.
Pricing: Varies by business type. For ecommerce,it starts at $200 per month for the Engage plan, which includes up to 15,000 members and one program. The Engage+ plan is available at $400 per month, with additional features. Custom Enterprise plans are also available.
11. Awin
Awin is a global affiliate marketing platform that connects advertisers with more than one million publishers to drive online sales and reach new customers. The Awin platform has three different plans: Access, Accelerate, and Advanced to provide solutions for businesses of all sizes, from small ecommerce stores to large enterprises.
Awin’s features include:
Extensive partner network: Access to more than one million vetted affiliate partners across various industries, including content creators, influencers, and technology partners.
Flexible commission structures: Customize how you reward partners based on desired outcomes, with options for product-specific, category-based, and multi-tiered commission rules.
Automation capabilities: Streamline affiliate program management with features like automated welcome emails, transaction approvals, and API integrations.
Pricing: Awin Access is $59 monthly, plus a 3.5% tracking fee and a $549 joining fee. Awin Accelerate and Awin Advanced both have custom pricing and are available upon request.
12. Referral Factory
Referral Factory is a referral program software that helps businesses of all sizes launch and manage customer referral programs without needing developers or experience. It offers a user-friendly platform with drag-and-drop builders and customizable templates.
Referral Factory program features include:
Customizable referral program templates: Access more than 100 pre-built templates designed by marketing experts for various industries and referral program types.
Tracking and analytics: Built-in referral tracking system with detailed analytics, so you can easily monitor program performance and ROI.
Multiple reward options: Ability to offer various rewards, including cash, gift cards, custom coupons, and more, with support for rewards in more than 50 countries.
Excellent business integrations: Connects with popular CRMs, ecommerce platforms, and other tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, Stripe, and Zapier for seamless workflow automation.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $95 per month. All plans come with a 15-day free trial, and annual billing offers a 20% discount compared to monthly billing.
13. AffiliateWP
AffiliateWP is a popular WordPress plug-in that helps businesses create and manage affiliate programs within their websites. Tailored specifically for WordPress and WooCommerce users, it offers a suite of advanced and beginner affiliate marketing tools to make management easier.
Standout Affiliate WP features include:
Easy setup and integration: Offers one-click integration with WooCommerce and more than 28 other ecommerce and form plug-ins, streamlining setup.
Customizable affiliate management: Provides tools to customize affiliate registration, onboarding, approval processes, and payouts, making program management effortless.
Detailed reporting: Offers detailed affiliate reports to help users analyze program performance and optimize for better results.
Flexible commission structures: Supports various commission types, including one-time, recurring, tiered, lifetime, and personalized commissions to accommodate different business models.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $149.60 per year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. (Note: The price reflects a current promotional discount.)
14. PartnerStack
PartnerStack is a robust partner ecosystem platform designed to help B2B SaaS companies build, manage, and scale their partner programs. It streamlines the entire partnership lifecycle, from recruitment to optimization, with a focus on driving revenue through diverse partnership types.
PartnerStack’s key features include:
Targeted partner recruitment: Promotes programs to more than 80,000 active partners and offers tools to identify and invite ideal partners based on specific criteria.
Customizable partner activation: Provides tailored onboarding journeys, resource management, and training tools to set partners up for success.
Advanced tracking and attribution: Offers in-depth insights into partner performance, including lead and deal tracking, with seamless CRM integration.
Streamlined commission management: Simplifies partner payments through automatic commission calculations and consolidated monthly invoicing.
Actionable reporting and optimization: Delivers comprehensive analytics on revenue, partner performance, and program ROI to both vendors and partners.
Pricing: Contact for a custom quote.
15. Affise
Affise is a versatile performance marketing platform offering solutions for affiliate networks, advertisers, and mobile app developers. While its core strength lies in mobile attribution, allowing mobile marketers to measure and analyze app performance, it also provides a marketplace for connecting with publishers and influencers, along with tools for campaign management and optimization.
Affise’s features include:
Real-time analytics and reporting: Delivers immediate insights into market trends and consumer behavior for quick campaign adjustments.
Automated optimization: Streamlines marketing efforts with tools like A/B testing to refine campaign strategies and maximize ROI.
Multi-solution platform: Offers specialized solutions including Affise Performance for affiliate networks, Affise Reach for brand affiliate programs, and Affise Mobile Attribution for app marketers.
Advanced security and compliance: Ensures data protection with GDPR and CCPA compliance, SOC2 and ePrivacy certifications, and robust security measures.
Customizable automation: Users can automate repetitive tasks, including conversion tracking, invoice generation, and offer scheduling.
Pricing: Request a quote.
16. Social Snowball
Social Snowball is a comprehensive solution for ecommerce brands, covering affiliate, influencer, referral, and ambassador programs. As a Shopify App, it automates work-of-mouth marketing initiatives, letting businesses scale customer acquisition through various partnership channels.
Social Snowball features include:
Frictionless referral programs: Treats customers as affiliates and provides strong incentives to drive referrals, moving beyond simple “Give $10, Get $10” offers.
Sophisticated influencer management: Simplifies influencer partnerships with features like automated product seeding, branded sign-up pages, multichannel communication, and streamlined payouts across various payment providers.
Innovative Safelinks technology: Offers a unique solution to prevent affiliate code leaks and coupon abuse by generating single-use discount codes for each customer click.
Seamless affiliate onboarding: Instantly creates affiliate accounts for new customers post-purchase, displaying unique codes/links on the thank you page to encourage immediate referrals.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $199 per month plus 2% of affiliate-generated revenue. All plans include a free trial option, and the platform offers demo bookings for interested clients.
Choosing affiliate marketing software: 8 considerations
Online store compatibility
Detailed affiliate breakdown
Flexible commission structures
Customizable cookie windows
Streamlined payout options
Robust fraud detection
Integrated CRM functionality
Automation capabilities
When building your affiliate program and attracting partners, it’s crucial to select the right affiliate marketing tool. Here’s a checklist of essential features to look for:
1. Online store compatibility
Ensure the software integrates seamlessly with popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify. This integration provides a holistic view of your affiliate-generated revenue.
2. Detailed affiliate breakdown
Opt for a management tool that offers comprehensive metrics for each affiliate, including sales generated, click-through rates, and traffic conversion rates. This insight is vital for identifying and nurturing your top performers.
3. Flexible commission structures
Choose software that accommodates various reward systems, such as coupon codes, cash bonuses, and percentage commissions. Look for options to implement different models like pay-per-sale, pay-per-action, pay-per-click, and pay-per-lead.
4. Customizable cookie windows
Select tracking software that aligns with your average sales cycle. The ability to set custom cookie window attributions is crucial, especially for high-ticket items with longer purchase processes.
5. Streamlined payout options
Prioritize software that integrates with your business bank account or PayPal for efficient affiliate payments. The goal is to process payments with minimal manual intervention.
6. Robust fraud detection
Protect your program from potential scams by ensuring your chosen software includes strong fraud detection capabilities and reliable customer support.
7. Integrated CRM functionality
Sending seasonal promotions, marketing messaging, and new product launch information helps affiliates create their own campaigns. Look for tools with built-in customer relationship management (CRM) features that seamlessly integrate email marketing and direct messaging. This integration can simplify your tech stack and improve communication with affiliates.
8. Automation capabilities
Choose a platform that automates key processes like affiliate invitations, onboarding, and commission payouts. This automation allows you to allocate resources more efficiently across your business.
Affiliate marketing types
Understanding different affiliate marketing strategies can help you choose the most effective approach for your audience and goals. Here are four common types:
Content marketing affiliates
These partners create informative content (blogs, websites, YouTube channels) that incorporate your affiliate links and promotions. They’re particularly effective for products requiring detailed explanation or with longer buying processes.
Influencer affiliates
Influencers leverage their personal brands and social media following to promote products and services through reviews, demos, and recommendations. They’re ideal for reaching specific target markets and creating engaging content.
Newsletter affiliates
These creators use email marketing to promote products to their engaged subscriber base. By incorporating affiliate links and recommendations into their newsletters, they drive sales while providing value to their audience.
Comparison and review sites
These sites offer detailed, side-by-side evaluations of products or services within specific niches. They’re particularly effective for higher-priced items where consumers conduct extensive research before purchasing.
📚 Learn: 16 Affiliate Marketing Tips and Strategies To Earn More Money (2024)
Choosing the right affiliate marketing tools
When launching an affiliate program, you have numerous software options to choose from. The Shopify App Store is home to several affiliate marketing tools, many with free trials. Experiment with different options to find the best fit for your needs.
Affiliate marketing software FAQ
Can you make $10,000 a month with affiliate marketing?
While possible, achieving this income level requires significant time, effort, and strategy. Success depends on building a large audience, choosing a lucrative niche, and managing multiple marketing channels effectively.
What software do I need for affiliate marketing?
You need a tool designed to manage all aspects of your affiliate program. Look for software that can track sales attributed to affiliate campaigns, integrate with your store and other tools, and help recruit and manage affiliates.
Which software is best for affiliate marketing?
The best software depends on your budget and business goals. Popular options include Shopify Collabs, Everflow, Awin, Affise, and Social Snowball.
What does affiliate marketing software do?
Affiliate marketing software helps you manage partnerships with bloggers, publishers, and influencers who promote your products. It typically assists with creating custom affiliate links, tracking commissions, and processing payments.
How do you automate affiliate marketing?
Use affiliate marketing software to automate processes like affiliate payments, email marketing campaigns, and analytics tracking. The best software integrates seamlessly with your ecommerce platform to streamline operations.
