Top 5 Affiliate Marketing Tools

Few things are more frustrating than having a powerful force that lifts your business to the Olympus of success, yet not knowing who deserves credit for the journey. If you have a bunch of content creators, bloggers, or influencers bringing you new leads and sales, not having a powerful affiliate marketing tool is, well… a goof-up you don’t need. 

Here are a few stats to keep in mind: 

• Big brands get 5% to 25% of their overall online sales from affiliate marketing. 
• Affiliate marketing accounts for 16% of all online orders in the U.S.
• 81% of brands utilize affiliate programs to enhance brand awareness and increase sales. 

Impressive, isn’t it? The numbers don’t lie: one of the best ways to boost your sales metrics is to run an affiliate marketing campaign with the help of easy-to-use affiliate software (aka referral program software). But, how do you choose the perfect affiliate marketing tool for your business? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know! 

What Is An Affiliate Marketing Tool and Does Your Business Need One?

Let’s start with the basics. Affiliate marketing tools are designed to monitor and manage your affiliate marketing game. Most importantly, the software should track which affiliates are driving traffic, boosting lead generation, and resulting in sales, giving you clear insights into exactly which affiliate marketers should be paid and how much. 

Why Do You Need An Affiliate Marketing Tool?

Why would you need affiliate software in the first place? Affiliate tools are extremely helpful to: 

Now, when exactly do you need an affiliate marketing tool?

The answer to this question depends entirely on your use case. The list of actual use cases can get really long but most businesses that run affiliate programs will need a tracking tool or software sooner or later. Still, let’s take a look at the main reasons to start using affiliate marketing tools: 

What Industries Are Benefiting The Most From Their Affiliate Programs And Tools?

Affiliates are one of the most powerful forces these days across industries. Content creators and influencers can enlarge any business’s customer base if done properly. However, to give you a clear picture of industries that can particularly benefit from working with affiliate networks, we’ll list the main ones: 

eCommerce businesses

It wouldn’t be a mistake to say that eCommerce businesses are arguably the biggest beneficiaries of affiliate marketing. Many beginner affiliate marketers start by working with these companies. No matter if it works in fashion, consumer electronics, or home and garden niches, any eCommerce platform can benefit from tracking affiliates, and capitalizing on the other advantages of affiliate software. 

In fact, many eCommerce brands work with platforms like Amazon or Shopify, and get to use affiliate possibilities far beyond simply tracking clicks. So, if you have an eCommerce business, don’t hesitate to start your own affiliate marketing journey. If you look at key features on any affiliate marketing tool, you will see that it is designed to work well with eCommerce platforms. 

SaaS companies

Subscription-based software services (whether those are project management tools, marketing automation platforms, or even streaming platforms) can leverage affiliates to spread the word. Tracking software helps ensure those affiliates are bringing in new, paying customers.

Most of the popular affiliate marketing tools integrate really well in the workflow of SaaS businesses. Plus, many software businesses run SaaS referral programs for their customers as well. It’s a 2-for-1 bonus!

Educational services

Online courses and educational resources can benefit from partnerships with educators, tutors and topic-related content creators. Tracking software measures the effectiveness of these collaborations in driving student enrollment.

Do you have an educational business? Then, keep in mind that social media campaigns powered by affiliate marketing business integrations can drive exceptional results in this niche. Affiliates, including educators, bloggers, and niche websites that promote your courses and resources to their audiences could be one of the best driving forces for enrollments. And tracking software will help you measure your results and the input of each affiliate.

B2B Businesses

Business-to-business companies can also make a great use of affiliate tracking software. For example, they can partner with industry publications or consultants to reach potential clients. Here, tracking tools will help measure the effectiveness of these collaborations.

Affiliate tools help B2B companies manage complex sales cycles, track lead generation, and optimize their marketing strategies. The high-value nature of B2B transactions means that even a few successful referrals can result in significant revenue. But without a proper tracking and reward system it will be hard to recruit new affiliates. That’s why good affiliate or referral software is so important.

Fintech industry

If you are wondering why and how fintech may use tracking tools, just try to remember your first contact with this industry. Very likely someone recommended you some services, and you joined by clicking on some sort of referral link.

The truth is that credit cards, loans, insurance, and fintech products benefit greatly from affiliate marketing software. Personal finance bloggers and investment advisors can be valuable partners, and tracking tools help you identify those generating qualified leads for your financial products or services. This is another industry where your very own customers make excellent affiliates!

Travel businesses

This industry is perfectly positioned for using affiliate marketing tools. How? Airlines, hotels, travel agencies, and tour operators can all work with affiliate marketers to reach a broader audience. Affiliates in this sector include travel bloggers, influencers, and comparison websites that provide valuable insights and reviews.

With the help of paid or free affiliate marketing tools, travel businesses can manage partnerships, track bookings, and optimize their marketing efforts to boost occupancy rates and travel reservations.

Top 5 Affiliate Marketing Tools

If you think about it, affiliate marketing is a great way to turn your existing customers into your brand marketers. No kidding! By incentivizing your loyal customers and partners to promote your products or services, you can tap into their networks and extend your reach in a highly cost-effective manner.

No matter who your affiliate marketers are, to make an affiliate strategy really work, you need a reliable, feature-rich, and simply tried-and-true tool. Choosing the right affiliate marketing tools is crucial for the success of your program.

Yet, affiliate and referral software varies widely in terms of features, pricing, and user reviews. To help you navigate this landscape, we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 affiliate marketing tools. Read on to learn about your best options!

1. Referral Factory

🎯 Average review score: 4.88

• Capterra Rating – 4.9
• G2 Rating – 4.8
• GetApp Rating – 4.9
• Software Advice Rating – 4.9
• TrustRadius Rating – 9.3 out of 10

💰 Price range

• Starter – $95 / month
• Basic – $200 / month
• Pro – $400 / month
• Enterprise – custom pricing

✅ Description

Referral Factory is one of the most versatile, up-to-date, and easy-to-use affiliate management software programs. All the plans offer a wide range of features, including CRM integrations, thousands of templates, 200+ reward options, customizable affiliate dashboards, powerful tracking and analytics, etc. Referral Factory is known for it’s flexibility and suits businesses of all industries and sizes. 

You don’t need any technical knowledge to run an affiliate program with Referral Factory: it’s plug-and-play software built by marketers for marketers. There is no need for you to hire a developer or have any previous affiliate marketing experience to build successful affiliate marketing campaigns. Still, if you feel you need someone to walk you through this affiliate marketing platform, you can book a call with the support team.

The best thing about Referral Factory is that it’s versatile enough to use for affiliate programs as well as customer refer-a-friend programs and influencer programs! From the Basic plan and higher, you can run and track unlimited campaigns. Referral Factory is your one-stop-shop for everything related to tracking referrals.

🔥 Most popular features 

• A variety of CRM integrations; 
• Customizable affiliate dashboards where affiliates can track their performance; 
• Giant library of templates, which simplifies your content creation; 
• Clear and comprehensive analytics; 
• Automated commission-calculation and payouts; 
• High-level of customization. 

📌 Limitations

Limited number of participants on each plan. 

⚡ Free trial without demo: 15 days. 

2. PartnerStack

🎯 Average review score: 4.78

• Capterra Rating –  4.8
• G2 Rating – 4.7 
• GetApp Rating – 4.8
• Software Advice Rating – 4.8

💰 Price range

• Custom Pricing

✅ Description

PartnerStack is a versatile affiliate tracking tool tailored for mid-level B2B SaaS companies. It provides essential features like automated partner onboarding, real-time analytics, and integrations with popular CRM and marketing tools. The intuitive dashboard allows businesses to manage and incentivize their affiliates efficiently, promoting better performance and growth.

PartnerStack’s ability to support complex partner ecosystems makes it an excellent choice for SaaS businesses aiming to enhance their affiliate marketing efforts and drive revenue through partnerships.

🔥 Most popular features 

• Automated partner onboarding; 
• Real-time analytics; 
• Seamless integrations. 

📌 Limitations

• Expensive;  
• Limited payout scheduling options;
• No free trial. 

⚡ Free trial without demo: No. 

3. Post Affiliate Pro

🎯 Average review score: 4.58

• Capterra Rating –  4.6
• G2 Rating – 4.5
• GetApp Rating – 4.6
• Software Advice Rating – 4.6
• TrustRadius Rating – 6.5 out of 10

💰 Price range

• Pro – $139 / month
• Ultimate – $269 / month
• Network – $649 / month

✅ Description

Those who have worked in the affiliate marketing industry for a long time know well that Post Affiliate Pro has been on the market for a long time. And if you have a vast experience in affiliate marketing, you will be able to enjoy all its key features. However, if you’re just starting out, you might find a steep learning curve and a high level of complexity. 

🔥 Most popular features

• Robust analytics and reporting;
• Affiliate fraud protection;
• Good customer support.

📌 Limitations 

• Takes time to learn the interface; 
• Complexity issues. 

⚡ Free trial without demo: 14 days.

4. Tapfiliate

🎯 Average review score: 4.28 

• Capterra Rating –  4.5
• G2 Rating – 3.6
• Software Advice Rating – 4.5 
• GetApp Rating – 4.5
• TrustRadius Rating – 6.6 out of 10

💰 Price range

• Essential – $89 / month
• Pro – $149 / month 
• Enterprise – custom ❗️ Watch out for overage fees on out of bundle clicks and conversions

✅ Description

A user-friendly affiliate website and tracking tool with good automation possibilities and extensive customization. Tapfiliate offers detailed analytics and multiple commission models for a variety of businesses.

Many affiliate marketers say it is an excellent option if you already have your affiliate networks. On the other hand, if you are looking for seamless integrations, many users claim that they face some issues with this. So, make sure you double-check how it works for your business workflows.

🔥 Most popular features

• Flexible commissions; 
• Real-time reporting; 
• In-platform communication. 

📌 Limitations

• Limited dashboard functions; 
• Troubles with streamlining affiliate management; 
• Integration issues. 

⚡ Free trial without demo: 14 days.

5. Refersion

🎯 Average review score: 3.98

• Capterra Rating –  4.2
• G2 Rating – 3.5
• Software Advice Rating – 4
• GetApp Rating – 4.2
• TrustRadius Rating – 8.4 out of 10

💰 Price range 

• Professional – $119 / month
• Business – $299 / month
• Enterprise – custom pricing

✅ Description

Unlike other affiliate marketing tools that work across niches, Refersion is focused on eCommerce businesses. They offer pre-built apps that seamlessly integrate with multiple platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, Stripe, and Chargebee.

If you aren’t an eCommerce company, this option might not be for you, since it isn’t their specialization. However, if you are an online store owner, it might be a good fit for you.

🔥 Most popular features

• eCommerce platform integrations; 
• Variety of performance reports; 
• Many ways to structure commissions.

📌 Limitations

• Limited to eCommerce alone;
• Some users report too many notifications; 
• Customer support takes time to answer.

⚡ Free trial without demo: 14 days. 

Feature Comparison of the Best Affiliate Marketing Tools

How do you choose the best affiliate marketing tool for your business’ needs? A good start is to create an affiliate marketing strategy and find the best fit for the key objectives and processes you identify. Then, you can look at which features will be most important for you.

For some businesses, the lack of particular features can be devastating. Luckily, you don’t need to research all that by yourself to find which software is the most feature-rich. We did it for you: 

How to Choose the Right Affiliate Marketing Tools for Your Business

Now, you know who is the best among the best. Yet, answering the question “What tool should I choose?” might take a closer look. Let’s take a look at what you should pay attention to when selecting referral software that will be handling your affiliate marketing campaigns. 

Step 1: Identify Your Current Business Needs

We’ve covered the types of businesses that can really benefit from an affiliate strategy and the tools to make it happen. If your business sounds like one of them, don’t hesitate to dive into one of the tools we’ve already listed. They might just be the game-changer you need! However, if you are still unsure whether software is right for your case, it is time to identify your current business needs. 

First things first – what exactly do you need? Are you looking to track affiliate performance, manage payouts, or perhaps both? Would your business benefit from a specialized affiliate program or should you start by targeting customer referrals? Understanding your specific requirements will save time and help you avoid unnecessary confusion when picking the right option.

Step 2: Evaluate User-Friendly Interfaces

Nobody likes clunky software. Choose tools that have intuitive, user-friendly interfaces. If it feels like you need a Ph.D. to navigate the dashboard, it’s probably not worth your time. Look for tools that make your life easier, not harder. For example, with Referral Factory, both your business and your affiliates can easily track their progress with little effort. This is what you call an intuitive interface. 

Step 3: Check Integration Capabilities

A lack of integrations can add hours of unnecessary work, even when performing simple actions to manage your affiliate sales. Your affiliate tool should play well with others. So, ensure they integrate seamlessly with your existing e-commerce platform, payment gateway, or CRM systems.

Integrations with affiliate marketing tools are particularly important when it comes to two key functions: managing conversion tracking and capturing leads. With effective conversion tracking, you can precisely measure the success of your marketing strategies, optimizing for higher ROI by understanding which efforts drive the most conversions. Additionally, capturing leads from multiple sources into a single system allows for streamlined communication and nurtures potential customers more efficiently.

Pro tip: If your tool of choice doesn’t integrate directly with your existing tech stack, check if they integrate with middleware like Zapier.

Step 4: Analyze Reporting Features

Data is king. That’s why the right tools should provide comprehensive reporting and analytics features. It is one of the primary reasons you need this affiliate tool in the first place! You want to be able to track clicks and conversions without needing a magnifying glass. Clear, actionable insights are your best friend. No successful business can track affiliate sales well without proper built-in analytics. 

However, beware of overly detailed, fluffy analytics that don’t translate into your bottom line. The most important metrics you need are clicks, leads and conversions.

Step 5: Review Pricing Plans

A lot of what is possible depends on your budget. If you’re ready to pay more, don’t rush. Some top affiliate marketing tools might offer free trials or tiered pricing, which can be a great way to test the waters without diving into a commitment. Be sure to check out scalability options as moving software at a later stage can be a tracking nightmare.

Also, watch out for out-of-bundle overage charges. These can quickly add up and blow your budget if your campaigns perform better than expected. Understanding the full cost structure, including potential hidden fees, is crucial to avoid unpleasant surprises. Look for tools that offer transparent pricing and consider how costs might evolve as your affiliate program grows.

Step 6: Test Drive Before You Buy

Whenever possible, take advantage of free trials or demo versions of the software. This hands-on experience can give you a real sense of whether the tool fits your workflow and the needs of your own campaigns. Don’t just rely on reviews and recommendations. Experiencing the tool firsthand can reveal strengths and weaknesses you might not have anticipated. 

When Should You Start Using Tracking Software for Your Affiliate Program?

It may be unclear when exactly you should start the actual tracking. Well, if you ask most affiliate marketers, they would probably say something like “from your very first affiliate campaign”. That is the right answer, but it isn’t quite complete when it comes to real-life business processes. Let’s see what else you should know: 

1️⃣ At the Beginning of Your Affiliate Program

Yes, starting to track your affiliate programs from day one is a strategic move. It allows you to establish a solid foundation for your program. You can make sure that you have all the necessary data to make informed decisions right from the start. With tracking software, you can monitor which affiliates are driving the organic traffic, which products are performing best, and what improvements you need. 

2️⃣ If You Have More Than One Affiliate

If you decide to leverage multiple affiliate networks (which is completely normal for the affiliate marketing industry), then you need a proper affiliate tool to avoid chaos. It is actually simple: if your affiliate marketing program involves different affiliate networks, manual tracking becomes impractical and prone to errors. 

As your program scales, the complexity of managing and tracking each affiliate’s performance increases exponentially. Implementing tracking software helps you keep everything organized, automates the tracking process, and ensures accuracy in reporting. 

3️⃣ When You Need Detailed Insights

When you reach the point where you need more than basic metrics, such as clicks and sales, it’s time to invest in tracking software. If your affiliate revenue is growing and you have successful affiliate sites, you definitely need detailed insights. 

Advanced tracking tools provide in-depth data about customer behavior, conversion rates, and the overall effectiveness of your affiliate marketing campaigns. This granular data is essential for optimizing your strategy and making data-driven decisions.

4️⃣ When You Integrate Multiple Marketing Channels

If your affiliate program is part of a broader marketing strategy that includes multiple channels, tracking software is indispensable. This is a clear sign you need to use an affiliate marketing platform, and it should be a good one. 

A good affiliate marketing tool will help you attribute conversions accurately and ultimately understand which channels and affiliates are contributing the most to your sales. This holistic view enables you to allocate your marketing budget more effectively and fine-tune your campaigns for better results. 

5️⃣ When You Want to Improve Transparency and Trust

Trust is crucial in affiliate marketing. Affiliates need to trust that they are being credited for the traffic and sales they generate. By using tracking software, you provide a transparent and reliable system that affiliates can count on. 

This transparency can help attract and retain high-quality affiliate marketers who are confident in the accuracy of your tracking and reporting. Besides, if you show that you work with the best affiliate marketing tools, your affiliate network will grow naturally. 

For example, in Referral Factory, every affiliate can check their results by simply clicking on their unique link. When they see their progress and reward, they become more interested in getting even more sales for your business.

Can You Use Affiliate Marketing Tools to Run Referral & Partner Programs?

The short answer is “yes”. But if you are looking for a more detailed one, here goes: affiliate marketing, referral programs, and partner programs all share a common goal – to drive sales and grow your business through third-party promotions. 

While the mechanisms might differ slightly (e.g., affiliates typically receive a commission for sales, while referral programs might offer discounts or rewards for recommendations), the underlying principles are similar. 

This means that the tools designed for affiliate marketing often have features that can be easily adapted to other types of programs. Generally speaking, the best referral software offers a 360-degree experience for businesses and affiliate marketers who want to use the power of referral, partner, and affiliate marketing programs. That’s why a comprehensive referral tool tends to be much more flexible than even some of the best affiliate marketing tools out there. 

Using affiliate software for partner and referral programs can result in the following benefits for your business: 

⭐ Efficiency: You can manage all types of promotional programs from a single platform, reducing complexity and saving time.

⭐ Scalability: As your business grows, these tools can scale with you, handling more affiliates, referrers, and partners without missing a beat.

⭐ Data-driven approach: Access to comprehensive analytics helps you make informed decisions, optimize your strategies, and maximize ROI.

⭐ More effective collaborations: Automated payouts and clear communication channels help build trust and foster strong relationships with your affiliates, referrers, and partners.

FAQs At A Glance: Affiliate Marketing Tools

Which Tool Is the Best for Affiliate Marketing?

Choosing the best tool for affiliate marketing depends on your specific needs, budget, and business goals. But if you are looking for the best-reviewed solution, choose Referral Factory. It’s one of the best affiliate tools on all review platforms. 

Which Is the Best Platform for Affiliate Marketing?

There are many quality platforms but the best choice now is Referral Factory. It’s a cost-effective option that offers robust affiliate and referral tracking. The platform is very easy to use and integrates with a variety of CRMs, payment gateways and eCom tools.

How Do I Start Affiliate Marketing?

You can start an affiliate program for your business in 4 easy steps:

1. Create your campaign. Formulate your campaigns conditions, commissions, target audience, and other essential details.
2. Pick affiliate software. Choose a tracking tool that will help you manage and analyze your campaigns. Consider looking into Referral Factory, Tapfiliate, or PartnerStack.
3. Promote. Promote your affiliate program and recruit potential affiliates. Create dedicated landing pages to announce your campaign, add pop-ups to your website, announce it on your social media and in your newsletter – go all in to find as many relevant affiliates as possible. 
4. Monitor & adjust. Use your affiliate software to track and reward your affiliates. If something isn’t working that well, consider tweaking your affiliate strategy. 

How Do I Track My Affiliate Commissions?

Most affiliate tools provide a dashboard where you can track your commissions, clicks, conversions, and other relevant metrics. The best tools will have this functionality for both businesses and affiliates. 

For example, a business can check every affiliate’s progress through one dashboard, while every affiliate can track their own affiliate earnings thanks to their unique link. This is something Referral Factory offers.

How Do I Track My Affiliate Traffic?

There are two best options that you have – affiliate tracking tools and Google Analytics. Use dedicated affiliate tracking tools like Referral Factory for advanced tracking capabilities with a dedicated dashboard. 

If you decide to use Google Analytics, set up UTM parameters on your affiliate links to track. This helps you see where your website visitors are coming from and what they do on your site. Still, keep in mind that you won’t be able to track affiliate income and automatically handle payouts. Your affiliates also won’t be able to track their own progress.

How Do Affiliate Marketing Tools Work?

Affiliate marketing tools allow you to generate unique affiliate links that track lead generation back to your site. They monitor clicks, impressions, affiliate conversions, and sales to provide detailed analytics.

They also generate reports to analyze performance, helping you understand what’s working and what’s not. Some tools help your business to manage relationships with affiliates, handle payouts, and automate marketing tasks.

How Do I Create an Affiliate Tracking Link?

The best and easiest way to create an affiliate tracking link that works is to use an affiliate tool. First, select reliable affiliate software that suits your needs. Then, set up your affiliate campaign. Usually, once you do that, the creation of affiliate links takes a couple of seconds. Every link will contain a unique affiliate ID and tracking parameters by default. 

How Is Affiliates Performance Tracked?

There are several systems that help accurately track performance of your affiliates. The best method os to generate unique affiliate links for each affiliate. When a potential customer clicks an affiliate link, their activity can be tracked and any resulting sale can be attributed to the affiliate.

What Features Should I Look for in an Affiliate Marketing Tool? 

It depends on your specific business needs. However, there are some crucial features that indicate the quality of an affiliate marketing tool: 

• Comprehensive tracking: Ability to track clicks, conversions, sales, and commissions accurately.
• Analytics: Detailed reports and analytics to understand performance and optimize campaigns, as well as track affiliate income and campaign spendings. 
• Affiliate link management: Tools for creating, managing, and optimizing affiliate links or any internal links you need to manage. 
• Automation: This includes features like automated payouts, email marketing campaigns, and task automation to save time.
• Integration: Compatibility with other tools and platforms you use, such as your CRM, eCommerce platform, and/or payment gateway.
• Fraud detection: Tools to detect and prevent click fraud and other malicious activities.

Can Affiliate Marketing Tools Integrate With Other Marketing Platforms? 

Of course. In fact, you should consider this as a sign of an advanced affiliate tool. Here’s a list of possible integrations: 

• CRM: Integration with CRM platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho helps manage affiliate relationships and track interactions with leads and customers.
• E-commerce platforms: Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Amazon can be integrated to track sales, manage product links, and automate payouts.
• Payment gateways: Integration with payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, or other financial services ensures smooth and automated affiliate payouts.

How Can I Measure the ROI from my Affiliate Marketing Program? 

There are several ways to measure your affiliate program ROI. You can start by calculating the total revenue generated from your affiliate marketing efforts. This includes all sales directly attributed to your affiliates.

Then, account for all costs associated with running your affiliate program. This includes commissions paid to affiliates, the cost of affiliate software, administrative expenses, and any other related costs.

Finally, look at key performance indicators – conversion rates, average order value, customer lifetime value, and click-through rates. 

Can Affiliate Marketing Tools Provide Analytical Data? 

Not only can it, but a good affiliate marketing tool should provide your business with proper data based on your campaigns. Besides conversion tracking, it should convey performance insights, customer behavior, and commission tracking. 

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