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Dub is the modern link attribution platform for you to create short links, track conversions, and run affiliate programs.
Dub Partners is the only affiliate & referral tracking platform that actually understands link tracking as a core foundational feature. The rest of the platforms our there treat it as just an "add-on feature", when in reality, link tracking is the sole feature that makes an affiliate tracking platform exactly that. When someone clicks your affiliate link, does it track consistently? Not get blocked by adblockers? And do you actually know where the lead was sent from?
Dub started as a link tracking platform, so they understand this at a core. Not a single other affiliate and referral platform on the market gives us the level of data on what content and videos are not only converting, but actually leading to the most recurring revenue for our partner companies.
Unsurprisingly, Dub as a link shortener is the best link shortening alternative you'll find—trust us, we've tried them all. The other tools simply do not come close. With Dub, you get the best user experience all around. Whether you're a marketer or creator, it makes it so easy to create short links, organize them via tags, and even enable features like password protection, expiring links, or geo-targeting.
Not to mention, Dub is the only link-shortening platform that updates your link tracking IN REAL TIME. Save yourself the research here; Dub is hands down the solution you want to go with.
PartnerStack is a partner ecosystem management platform that helps companies build an manage their partnership programs (along with affiliate/referral tracking).
PartnerStack has long been considered one of the leaders in the partnership platform space, offering more than just basic affiliate link tracking and payouts. While they aim to aid with the full partnership go-to-market (GTM) strategies, the competition has caught up fast. And not by who you might think. When compared to newer players like Dub Partners who has building in stealth with some of the most impressive SaaS companies by their side, like Framer, Superhuman, and Granola (as design partners), PartnerStack gets harder and harder to justify.
Dub Partners offers more competitive pricing, a much more modern user-experience, and incredibly deep link-tracking capabilities (because Dub is a link tracking software at the core). And this ultimately leads to much better analytics for you, and your affiliate partners (e.g. what content is leading to the most revenue? Easily answered with Dub Partners, not PartnerStack).
We've tested nearly every major platform out there, from Rewardful, to FirstPromoter, to Impact, and more, and many of these are solid for simple affiliate link tracking, but don't actually give the best experience for the affiliate partner (us), which is also important. PartnerStack has set the gold standard for SaaS-focused partnership platforms (and still has one of the better UI/UX experiences), but Dub Partners has raised the standard when it comes to analytics, usability, and just overall value.
Basic affiliate and referral tracking for SaaS.
FirstPromoter suffers from the same exact core flaws we called out in the Rewardful review. Affiliates, especially your most impactful ones, will literally avoid logging into your program because they are juggling 20 separate FirstPromoter logins (one for each program they join).
Because of that, you will be stuck in a mess of admin work, from chasing invoices, manually sending payments out one by one, collecting W-9s, issuing 1099s (or W-8BENs), for every partner. And after all that, you still won't even have the tracking needed to understand what content is actually converting for your content partners. Thus, everyone is creating totally blind, not learning from prior content, and all it'll lead to is your affiliates not creating content for your software.
That mess, compared to modern affiliate platforms like Dub Partners, who are disrupting the space with unified logins (seriously, this should be table-stakes now-a-days), automated global payouts, and deep tracking. When looking at Dub Partners vs FirstPromoter, FirstPromoter feels incredibly dated and just inconvenient for both sides. When we see a company using FirstPromoter, it just tells us that they aren't actually taking their affiliate program seriously.
An affiliate tracking tool for large B2C eCommerce businesses like GAP and Honey (not for B2B SaaS companies)
If you're a B2B SaaS company, you shouldn't even be considering Impact, but let me guess? You just brought on a new head of partnerships who has experience with Impact, so you're seriously considering it, right?
Just don't. As a content creator, publisher, and influencer who has worked with over 200 software companies via their affiliate programs, Impact has continually been the single worst platform (not even considering its outrageous price), for software companies.
Impact was built as an eCommerce tool helping brands like GAP deal with their 200,000 SKU's, and then they saw the opportunity in the SaaS world. No, your platform was not built for that, just stop.
If you're a software company, you should use one of the best affiliate platforms that was built for B2B SaaS on day one. In-fact, they actively avoid working with eCommerce companies, because it makes sense, right?
Our recommendation? Dub Partners (it's our top pick), as it was built for recurring revenue models (you know, 3–4 "SKU's"), so they actually understand the concept of free trials, extended onboarding, and subscription tracking, with deep analytics, all without trying to retrofit an archaic platform (Impact).
An affiliate tracking tool for large B2C eCommerce businesses like GAP and Honey (not for B2B SaaS companies)
An affiliate tracking tool for large B2C eCommerce businesses like GAP and Honey (not for B2B SaaS companies)
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