Most affiliate software for course creators costs $49 to $199 a month on top of your course platform, and with most of it you still fund and send the affiliate payouts yourself. Rewardful and FirstPromoter start at $49 a month, Tolt at $99, Tapfiliate at $89, and Kajabi only includes affiliates from its $199-a-month Growth plan billed annually. On WithMe the affiliate programme is built into every product, the commission is taken from the sale at checkout, and WithMe pays the affiliate, so there is no separate tool and no payout admin.
WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. More than 8,000 creators use it.
What does affiliate software do?
Affiliate software gives each affiliate a tracked link, records the clicks, credits the sale to the right person when a buyer pays within the cookie window, and works out the commission. Most tools also give affiliates a dashboard where they can see their clicks, sales and earnings.
The part that takes time is not the tracking. It is everything after it: approving commissions, waiting out refunds, collecting payout details, sending the money each month, and answering "when do I get paid?" emails. When you compare tools, compare who does that work, not only the monthly price.
How much do the main affiliate tools cost?
These prices were checked on 11 Nov 2026 on each vendor's own pricing page (Thinkific showed UK prices). Most of the standalone tools are built mainly for software companies that bill through a payment provider such as Stripe, so check that your course platform can connect to them before you sign up.
- Rewardful: Starter $49/month for up to $7,500 a month of affiliate revenue, Growth $99 for up to $15,000, Enterprise from $149. Annual billing is $490, $990 and $1,490+ a year. 0% transaction fee, PayPal and Wise bulk payouts, and optional Managed Payouts at a 3% fee. 14-day trial.
- Tolt: Growth $99/month for up to $20,000 a month of partner revenue, Pro $199 for up to $50,000, Enterprise custom. A 2% fee on payouts, with automatic payouts by PayPal, Wise, bank transfer or wire. 14-day trial with no card.
- FirstPromoter: Starter $49/month for up to $5,000 a month of affiliate revenue and 1,000 affiliates, Business $99 for up to $15,000, Enterprise $149 above that. Annual billing is $490, $990 and $1,490 a year. Mass payouts by PayPal, Wise, Stripe, crypto or bank transfer. 14-day trial.
- Tapfiliate: Launch $89/month ($74 billed annually) for 50 affiliates and 500 conversions a month, Scale $179 ($149 billed annually) for 150 affiliates. Overage fees apply above the click and conversion limits. Automated payouts through Trolley. 14-day trial.
- PartnerStack: no public prices. Launch, Growth and Enterprise plans are quoted on a demo, based on programme size. It is aimed at B2B software partner programmes.
- Kajabi: affiliates are included on Growth, $199/month billed annually ($249 monthly), and Pro, $399 billed annually. Basic, $143 billed annually, does not include them. You pay affiliates manually outside Kajabi, or automatically through PayPal Mass Payouts from your own PayPal Business account.
- Thinkific: affiliate reporting is on every plan, from Start at £69/month billed annually (£92 monthly) on the UK pricing page. Thinkific tracks the sales and commissions, and the payments to affiliates happen outside Thinkific.
Who pays the affiliates?
With a standalone tool or a course platform's built-in affiliates, you do. The tool works out what each affiliate is owed, and the money comes from your PayPal, Wise or bank balance, or through a payout service that adds its own fee. You also need each affiliate's payout details, and you need to keep enough money in that account on payout day.
That is fine when you have three affiliates. With thirty, it becomes a monthly job: check the report, hold back refunded sales, top up the balance, send the batch and deal with the failed ones.
WithMe works the other way round. The commission is taken out of the sale at checkout, so it never sits in your balance waiting to be sent. Each sale is held for 7 days so refunds can be taken into account, and WithMe pays the affiliate around the middle of the month after the purchase. You never send an affiliate payment yourself.
When is a separate tool worth it?
A standalone affiliate tool is the better choice in some cases:
- You sell software or a subscription billed directly through Stripe or Paddle, which is what most of these tools are built around.
- You want a public sign-up page where anyone can apply to become an affiliate, with approval rules.
- You need fixed-amount commissions, commission tiers that rise with sales, or a cookie window longer than 30 days.
- You already run a large programme with hundreds of affiliates and need fraud checks, tax forms and a dedicated payout service.
How do built-in WithMe affiliates work?
WithMe's affiliate programme is part of each product, not a separate account. Here is what you get:
- Affiliate Sharing is switched on per product: a course, membership tier, 1:1 coaching, coaching call, webinar, community, digital product or custom product.
- The default commission is 20%, and each product can have its own rate. The commission is a percentage of what the buyer actually pays, after any promo code.
- A sale is credited to the affiliate if the buyer purchases within 30 days of clicking the link.
- On membership tiers, 1:1 coaching and communities you can pay commission on renewals, for as long as the member stays or for a set number of payments.
- Affiliates cannot earn on their own purchases, and if a sale is refunded, the commission on it is cancelled.
- Affiliates get an email when they make a sale and can see their clicks, sales and earnings on their affiliate dashboard. You see every affiliate in Customers, on the Affiliates tab.
How do you set up affiliates in WithMe?
- Open the product in My Hub. It must be a paid product: free products and lead capture pages cannot have affiliates.
- Open the Affiliate Share section and switch on Enable Affiliate Sharing.
- Enter a Commission Rate (%), or leave it blank to use the default of 20%.
- On a membership tier, 1:1 coaching or a community, choose Indefinite Commissions or set the number of payment periods that earn commission. Then save.
- Tell your buyers about the Share & Earn button next to the product on your hub, and watch results in Customers, on the Affiliates tab.
What does each option cost a small course creator?
Take a creator with 10 affiliates sending $2,000 of sales a month. Rewardful Starter or FirstPromoter Starter adds $49 a month, $588 a year on monthly billing, on top of the course platform. Tolt adds $99 a month plus 2% of what you pay out. On Kajabi, affiliates mean being on Growth at $199 a month billed annually rather than Basic at $143. In every case, someone still has to send the payouts or fund the balance they come from.
On WithMe the affiliate programme is part of the $25 per month plan, billed annually. Commission comes out of each affiliate sale, so it costs you nothing until an affiliate sells, and WithMe pays the affiliate. Stripe fees still apply to each sale.
What is not included?
WithMe pays commission as a percentage only, not a fixed amount per sale. The 30-day referral window is fixed. Only people with access to a product can get its affiliate link, so there is no public affiliate sign-up page; to bring in a partner who has not bought, add them as a customer of that product first. There are no commission tiers that rise with sales, and promo codes are not linked to affiliates: a sale is credited only through the affiliate's link. WithMe's affiliates do not connect to outside tools such as Rewardful or Tolt.
How much does WithMe cost?
WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. Free migration of up to 10 GB of your courses and members comes with the yearly plan. One plan covers courses, memberships, community, coaching, webinars and digital products, with the affiliate programme, promo codes and order bumps built in.
Affiliate software questions
What is the best affiliate software for course creators?
If your course platform has affiliates built in and handles the payouts, use that. A separate tool such as Rewardful or Tolt makes sense when you bill through Stripe directly and need public sign-ups or fixed-amount commissions.
Do I have to pay affiliates myself on WithMe?
No. The commission is taken from the sale at checkout and WithMe pays the affiliate around the middle of the following month.
Does Kajabi include affiliates on every plan?
No. On 11 Nov 2026 Kajabi's pricing page listed the affiliate programme on Growth and Pro, not on Basic. You pay affiliates manually or through PayPal Mass Payouts from your own PayPal Business account.
How much does Rewardful cost?
From $49 a month for up to $7,500 of monthly affiliate revenue, or $490 a year, checked on 11 Nov 2026. Optional Managed Payouts add a 3% fee.
What does WithMe cost?
$25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial. WithMe takes 0% commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply.
Start your 14-day trial at https://www.withme.so/become-a-creator.
Related reading
- Start your 14-day trial
- How to start an affiliate programme for your course
- How much to pay affiliates
- How to recruit affiliates
- Payment plans and affiliate programmes for creators
- What Kajabi really costs
- Thinkific alternatives
- WithMe vs Kajabi
- Monthly vs annual membership pricing
- The 0% commission creator platform
