Affiliate Program Software Compared
There are three general ways to run an affiliate program. Here is what each one actually requires.
Option one: build it yourself
You write or install your own link tracking, cookie attribution, a dashboard for affiliates, and a payout process. This gives you full control and no third-party fee, but you are responsible for fraud detection, cookie compliance, and recruiting affiliates yourself since there is no existing pool of them to draw from. It is the most work and usually only worth it once a program is already large.
Option two: a self-hosted plugin
Many storefront platforms have an affiliate plugin that handles tracking and payouts inside your existing store. This is less work than building from scratch, but you are still the one recruiting affiliates, and the plugin itself usually charges a flat subscription whether or not you make any sales through it.
Option three: a two sided network
A network like Decolinker already has affiliates browsing for products to promote, handles tracking and payouts for you, and only takes a fee on sales that actually happen. The trade-off is that the network takes a cut and you have less control over who becomes an affiliate compared to hand-picking partners yourself.
On Decolinker specifically, that cut is 6% of the sale, taken out of the commission rate you set rather than added on top of it, and there is no subscription or setup fee. See how the fee works for the full breakdown.
Which one to pick
- Building it yourself makes sense once you already have a large affiliate base and dedicated engineering time.
- A plugin makes sense if you already have affiliates lined up and just need the tracking infrastructure.
- A network makes sense if you need both the infrastructure and access to affiliates already looking for products to promote.