Affiliate marketing has become one of the most scalable and cost-efficient growth channels for small and mid-sized SaaS companies, e-commerce brands and B2B teams.
When done well, affiliate partnerships can generate consistent revenue without increasing paid ad spend. As programs scale, affiliate marketing software provides the visibility and automation that manual tracking lacks for supporting business growth.
This guide breaks down the best affiliate marketing software for SMBs. You’ll find a comparison of top platforms, guidance on choosing the right tool and a practical look at how to connect affiliate marketing programs directly to revenue.
Key takeaways about affiliate marketing software
The best affiliate marketing software balances accurate tracking, easy onboarding and automation without adding unnecessary complexity.
Small business marketing teams benefit most from strong attribution, reporting and partner engagement features.
Affiliate platforms deliver the most value when connected to a CRM like Pipedrive so teams can easily track leads, deals and revenue.
Sign up for a free 14-day trial of Pipedrive to turn affiliate referrals into a repeatable revenue channel.
Key criteria for evaluating affiliate marketing software
This article evaluates affiliate platforms based on what functionality matters most to SMB marketing and growth teams rather than enterprise-only features.
It considers specific features, including:
Accurate attribution so teams can trust referral data and avoid partner disputes
Simple affiliate onboarding to reduce setup friction and speed up partner activation
Flexible commission structures to support recurring payouts, tiered incentives and custom reward models
CRM, billing and e-commerce integrations to connect referral activity to revenue tracking
Reporting and optimization tools to evaluate partner quality and campaign performance
Price and overall value tailored to small and mid-market business budgets
If you’ve wondered how to get into affiliate marketing, choosing the right software can make the difference between a scattered side project and a scalable growth channel. It can also determine how much time you spend talking to a support team.
Note: Affiliate marketing software helps you track partners, referrals and commissions, but it doesn’t replace a CRM. Most teams still need a system like Pipedrive to manage affiliate-generated leads, automate follow-up and track which partners drive real revenue. We’ll come back to how teams connect these tools to their CRM later.
9 best affiliate marketing software platforms compared
This section compares the best affiliate marketing software platforms for small and mid-sized businesses, focusing on ease of use, scalability and value.
1. PartnerStack
Best for: B2B SaaS companies scaling partner, affiliate and reseller programs
PartnerStack is an all-in-one partner relationship management (PRM) platform designed for SaaS companies, marketing agencies and resellers looking to scale channel-driven growth.
It supports partner marketing efforts, referral and affiliate programs and reseller channels in a single system, making it a strong fit for teams running multi-channel partner strategies rather than simple referral programs.
The platform reduces manual work and makes it easy to track partner performance at a glance, giving affiliates simple tools to submit leads and register deals without friction.
Key features include:
Automated partner onboarding and engagement
Real-time affiliate performance reporting
Affiliate links, lead forms and deal registration
Payout management and compliance automation
Event-based email automation with triggers
CRM, billing and marketing integrations
Pricing: Custom pricing based on company size and usage
2. Refersion
Best for: E-commerce brands running affiliate and influencer programs
Refersion is an affiliate marketing platform designed for e-commerce brands that want to manage and scale affiliate programs with minimal complexity. It offers flexible commission structures, reliable first-party tracking and simple affiliate management so teams can launch and optimize programs quickly.
The platform supports multiple payout methods. It gives both brands and partners visibility into clicks, conversions and sales, while integrations with major platforms keep affiliate data in sync with e-commerce operations.
Key features include:
First-party affiliate tracking and attribution
Custom commission structures
Real-time performance dashboards
Multiple affiliate payout options like PayPal, direct deposit and its Unified Payments system
E-commerce integrations with Shopify, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, etc.
Pricing: Starts at $29 per month with a free marketplace listing available
3. Post Affiliate Pro
Best for: Businesses that need highly customizable affiliate programs
Post Affiliate Pro is a cloud-based affiliate tracking software designed for teams that want granular control over tracking, commissions and campaign setup. It supports multiple affiliate link styles and flexible commission models based on actions such as clicks, registrations, downloads and sales.
The platform includes built-in marketing tools to help affiliates drive conversions. It integrates with popular e-commerce and payment platforms, while mobile use lets teams monitor performance on the go.
Post Affiliate Pro supports teams that value deep customization, though the setup and interface may feel more complex than simpler tools.
Key features include:
Custom affiliate tracking and link formats
Action-based and multi-currency commissions
Affiliate marketing assets like banners and coupons
SmartLinks for optimized tracking
Integrations with Shopify, Stripe, WordPress, Magento, PayPal and others
Mobile apps and 24/7 customer support
Pricing: Plans start at $139 per month with a 30-day free trial and no setup fees
4. Everflow
Best for: Performance marketing teams managing affiliates, content creators and paid partners
Everflow is a partner marketing platform built for teams that want advanced performance tracking, attribution and reporting across multiple partner types. It supports affiliates, influencer marketers, referrals, media buyers and in-app publishers, making it a strong fit for performance-driven growth strategies.
The platform centralizes impression tracking and conversion monitoring. Everflow also helps teams detect suspicious activity by flagging coupon abuse or click spam. Its API and third-party integrations make it easier to connect attribution data with broader marketing and detailed analytics stacks.
Everflow works for teams that need deep analytics and partner performance insights, though it can feel complex for smaller teams or those launching their first affiliate program.
Key features include:
Multi-partner tracking for affiliates, influencers and media buyers
Advanced attribution and impression tracking
Filtered reporting by partner, city and placement
Fraud detection with click-to-conversion alerts
Custom destination pages and URL tracking
API access and third-party integrations
Pricing: Monthly subscription with custom pricing and live chat support
5. Tapfiliate
Best for: SMBs launching affiliate, referral and influencer programs
Tapfiliate is a cloud-based affiliate marketing platform designed for e-commerce, SaaS and subscription businesses that want to launch programs quickly without technical complexity. It supports affiliate, referral and influencer marketing in one system.
The platform helps teams manage the full affiliate lifecycle from affiliate recruitment to payout. You can track performance metrics in a centralized dashboard. Thanks to integrations with e-commerce and payment platforms, Tapfiliate makes it easy to connect affiliate activity to billing and e-commerce tools.
Tapfiliate is a good option for small and mid-sized teams that want fast setup and simple affiliate management software. However, it offers fewer advanced analytics and enterprise-level features than more complex platforms.
Key features include:
Affiliate, referral and influencer program management
Custom referral links and white-label branding
Automated commission tracking and payouts
Performance dashboards and reporting
30+ plug-and-play integrations and support for platforms like Stripe, Shopify, PayPal and Wix
REST API and multi-language support
Pricing: Plans start at $74 per month with a seven-day free trial available
6. Trackdesk
Best for: Cost-conscious SaaS and e-commerce teams scaling affiliate and partner programs
Trackdesk is an affiliate tracking platform built for companies that want scalable affiliate, referral and partnership programs without restrictive limits. It supports SaaS, e-commerce and digital service businesses with its flexible program setup.
The platform provides deep connectivity through hundreds of integrations, making it easy to sync affiliate data with billing and e-commerce systems. Automated bulk payouts streamline affiliate payments and its built-in analytics help teams monitor ROI.
While Trackdesk is a strong platform, advanced users may find some enterprise-level features less mature than larger platforms.
Key features include:
Affiliate, referral and partnership program management
Real-time performance tracking and analytics
900+ integrations with e-commerce and payment tools
Automated bulk payouts and partner workflows
Unlimited clicks with transparent pricing
ISO 27001 security certification and migration support
Pricing: Plans start at $249 per month
7. Affise
Best for: Agencies and performance marketing teams running high-volume affiliate and mobile campaigns
Affise is an affiliate marketing and mobile attribution platform built for teams that need advanced tracking across web and mobile marketing channels. It supports affiliate networks, media buyers and performance marketers who want deeper control over attribution and automation.
The platform enables cross-device attribution, flexible conversion logic, real-time analytics and built-in fraud prevention. It also supports full-funnel mobile tracking across iOS and Android, with tools for SKAN and paid media attribution.
While Affise is powerful for large-scale and data-driven teams, its complexity may feel excessive for smaller businesses or beginners.
Key features include:
Cross-device affiliate and performance attribution
Mobile attribution for installs and in-app events
Real-time analytics and customizable conversion logic
Built-in fraud prevention and transparency tools
Media buying dashboards with cost tracking and bulk editing
Automation and scalable partner management
Pricing: Plans start at $499 per month
8. LeadDyno
Best for: Small businesses and beginners launching affiliate, referral and influencer programs
LeadDyno is a user-friendly affiliate marketing platform designed for marketers who want to launch and grow programs without technical complexity. It supports affiliate, influencer and referral campaigns.
The platform offers flexible commission rate structures, branded affiliate portals and personalized dashboards so partners can track sales, payouts and performance in real time. In addition to enabling tens of integrations, LeadDyno also supports bulk and multi-currency payouts.
LeadDyno makes it easy to get started and scale affordably. However, it offers less advanced customization and reporting than more enterprise-focused platforms.
Key features include:
Affiliate, referral and influencer program management
Automated onboarding, email and commission tracking
Custom branding and affiliate dashboards
Flexible tiered and bonus-based commission plans
25+ integrations with e-commerce and marketing tools like Shopify, PayPal, HubSpot and Zapier
Bulk payouts, multi-currency support and real-time reporting
Pricing: Plans start at $49 per month with a 30-day free trial
9. Rewardful
Best for: SaaS companies running Stripe-based referral and affiliate programs
Rewardful is a referral and affiliate marketing platform built for subscription businesses that want to reward partners across free trials, upgrades, downgrades, cancellations and refunds. It supports recurring commissions and flexible reward logic that aligns with SaaS billing models.
The platform allows teams to research and discover affiliates as well as manage referral programs through a hosted portal or a custom in-app experience. Rewardful also supports customizable rewards through its REST API.
Rewardful works well for SaaS teams using subscription billing, but its Stripe-centric focus and limited e-commerce support may reduce flexibility for companies with more complex billing stacks.
Key features include:
Subscription-based affiliate and referral tracking
Flexible rewards for trials, upgrades and cancellations
Affiliate discovery through keyword and competitor search
In-app and portal-based referral program management
Custom reward fulfillment via REST API
Support for cash, credits, swag and feature unlocks
Pricing: Plans start at $49 per month with a 14-day free trial
Crush your manual admin with this sales automation guide
How to choose the right affiliate marketing software
The right platform depends on your business needs and growth goals.
Use the following table to help you determine which software features can work for your SMB.
Business type | What to prioritize |
B2B SaaS teams | CRM integrations, subscription billing compatibility, partner lifecycle tracking |
E-commerce brands | Checkout attribution, Shopify integrations, automated payouts |
Performance marketing teams and agencies | Advanced analytics, fraud prevention, workflow automation |
SMBs launching their first program | Ease of use, quick onboarding, simple affiliate management |
Once you’ve identified the affiliate platform that aligns with your business, the next step is to make sure the data it generates actually drives results.
While tracking clicks and commissions is important, the real value lies in understanding how referrals turn into leads, sales and revenue.
How to manage affiliate marketing with Pipedrive
No matter which affiliate marketing platform you choose, ensure that referral and partner data flows into your CRM so you can manage leads, track revenue and support sales follow-up.
Many affiliate tools focus on tracking clicks and commissions, but fewer address what happens after a referral converts into a lead or customer.
Problems arise when sales teams don’t know which partner sourced a lead, which affiliates drive high-quality prospects or how partner activity influences revenue.
A CRM like Pipedrive helps you close this gap. It gives sales and marketing teams a shared system for centralizing affiliate leads, automating follow-ups and connecting partner-driven traffic to real deals and revenue.
Use Pipedrive to build a repeatable affiliate-to-revenue workflow – here’s how.
Capture and track affiliate leads in Pipedrive
Easily connect your affiliate platform to Pipedrive using native Marketplace integrations, Zapier or APIs.
When a referral comes in, use Pipedrive to create a lead and link it to a specific person or organization. You can add an affiliate source field and lead label so every referral shows the partner and campaign that drove it.
This traceability ensures every affiliate lead enters your pipeline with a clear affiliate marketing description, giving sales teams immediate context about how and where the lead originated.
Segment and prioritize affiliate-sourced leads
Use custom fields and filters to view leads and deals by affiliate source to quickly identify high-intent referrals and top-performing partners.
With automatic assignment rules, Pipedrive can route incoming affiliate leads to the right rep based on region or deal value, helping your team follow up faster while interest is high.
This segmentation and filtering feature makes it easier to focus your sales efforts where affiliate marketing delivers the strongest ROI.
Automate follow-up workflows
Pipedrive’s marketing automation features let you trigger workflows when affiliate leads enter your CRM.
Automatically send confirmation emails, create follow-up tasks and enroll leads in nurture sequences to keep engagement high.
By automating follow-up tasks, email sequences and lead assignment workflows, Pipedrive ensures affiliate-generated leads get fast responses and never fall through the cracks.
Ensuring fast outreach while interest is still high means your leads never sit idle and your affiliate marketing efforts remain profitable.
Attribute revenue to affiliate partners
Pipedrive connects affiliate activity directly to deal outcomes.
Track affiliate-sourced deals, measure conversion rates and analyze revenue contribution by partner. Use reporting dashboards to double down on top affiliates and optimize commission structures based on real sales data, not just clicks.
Pipedrive also makes it easy to attribute closed deals and revenue back to specific affiliate partners, giving you clear insight into which relationships drive the highest ROI.
Build repeatable affiliate playbooks
Pipedrive lets you document and standardize affiliate workflows, so onboarding new affiliates and launching new affiliate marketing campaigns takes hours instead of weeks.
By using pipeline templates, workflow automation templates and automated sequences, teams can scale affiliate workflows without rebuilding processes from scratch.
Pipedrive in action: Pipedrive’s affiliate management team struggled with manual workflows, fragmented tools and inconsistent communication when handling partner applications and outreach.
By integrating PartnerStack and using Pipedrive Automations and Campaigns, the team centralized affiliate data, reduced repetitive admin work by 80% and doubled the number of monthly affiliate applications they could process.
Affiliate marketing works best when referral data connects directly with your sales process so you can tie affiliate activity to real revenue. Pipedrive lets you do exactly that.
Final thoughts
Affiliate marketing software can become a powerful growth multiplier when it aligns with your business model and partner marketing strategy.
The right affiliate platform depends on your business needs, but real value comes from connecting affiliate activity to your CRM. Pipedrive helps teams turn referrals into leads, track partner-driven revenue and scale what works. Start simple and expand as performance proves out.
If you want to turn affiliate referrals into measurable revenue, start a free 14-day Pipedrive trial and connect your affiliate data to your sales pipeline.
