Most founders never launch one because the plumbing feels hard. With the right tool, you can go live in an afternoon.
To start an affiliate program you need four things: a reward structure, reliable tracking from click to sale, a way to recruit partners, and payouts.
Dub covers all four in one place — first-party Stripe attribution, flexible pay-per-lead/click or rev-share rewards, an embeddable dashboard and 1-click global payouts with tax forms. Dub Partners starts on the Business plan (~$75/mo, verify).
Before the tooling, decide the economics: how much a customer is worth, and what you can pay to acquire one. That sets your commission — a percentage of revenue, a flat bounty per conversion, or recurring rev-share.
Then make tracking trustworthy. If partners don't believe the numbers, the program dies. First-party attribution tied to real Stripe revenue (rather than cookie-based guesswork) is what keeps everyone aligned — and makes payouts defensible.
Match the model to your business.
| Model | How it works | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage | % of each payment referred | Most SaaS and e-commerce |
| Flat bounty | Fixed amount per conversion | Predictable CAC targets |
| Recurring rev-share | Ongoing % for subscription life | Sticky subscription products |
| Dual-sided | Reward partner + discount buyer | Boosting conversion rates |
Dub supports pay-per-click/lead and rev-share structures plus dual-sided incentives. Model payouts (and the 3–5% fee) before launch.
Connect Stripe and add Dub's tracking so every partner link ties to real signups and revenue.
Choose your commission model, generate partner links, and invite affiliates — or embed the join flow in your app.
Track EPC, LTV and ROAS per partner, run 1-click global payouts, and double down on your best partners.
The two big ones: weak attribution (cookie-based tracking that under-credits partners and erodes trust) and manual payouts (a reconciliation nightmare that gets worse as you grow). Solve both up front.
Start small, prove the economics with a handful of partners, then scale. A platform that handles attribution, payouts and tax from day one — like Dub — means growth doesn't multiply your admin.
Tracking, recruiting, rewards and global payouts — set up in an afternoon.
Start on Dub freeDefine your commission from real unit economics, set up first-party tracking from click to sale, give partners branded links and a dashboard, then automate payouts. Tools like Dub Partners handle tracking, rewards and global payouts in one place.
With Dub, affiliate features start on the Business plan (~$75/mo) plus a 3–5% payout processing fee. Your main variable cost is the commissions themselves, which you set from your CAC and LTV targets.
It depends on customer value. Common models are a revenue percentage, a flat bounty per conversion, or recurring rev-share for subscriptions. Dub also supports dual-sided incentives (reward the partner and discount the buyer) to lift conversion.
Dub offers 1-click global payouts with automatic US tax compliance (W-9 and 1099-NEC for partners paid $600+). That removes most of the manual reconciliation that makes affiliate programs painful to run.