AffiliateBase vs FirstPromoter

Both products serve subscription businesses. Choose around the billing providers and campaign rules you need to keep, then test how each turns a referred payment into a commission.

Test AffiliateBase Compare workflows

FirstPromoter lists Stripe, Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly and Braintree integrations. Its monthly Starter and Business plans list $49 and $99, with $5,000 and $15,000 in monthly affiliate revenue respectively. It also documents subscription lifecycle tracking; describing it as client-side-only is misleading.

Decide from the workflow, not the feature count

Best fit: Choose between AffiliateBase and FirstPromoter based on the checkout, reporting, partner portal, and payout workflow your team will actually operate.
Watch-outs: Verify current plan limits, optional payout services, tax handling, integrations, and support before treating similar feature names as equivalent.
Migration effort: Inventory affiliates, links, recurring attribution, and unpaid commissions. Test the replacement path in parallel and keep a rollback plan before switching production traffic.

Verify the AffiliateBase workflow

Illustrative scenario · fictional values

This sequence describes AffiliateBase's own evidence path. It does not imply how FirstPromoter implements attribution or payouts.

Referred visit

?via=partner

AffiliateBase captures the visit and generates a referral record.
Checkout handoff

referral ID

The checkout must carry the generated identifier into Stripe.
Paid event

$99 paid

A supported Stripe event confirms the attributed payment.
Commission

$19.80 due

An eligible attributed sale creates the commission record.
Payout prep

Payout ready

Review the commission and prepare the next step with your payout provider.

Compare the workflows you need

Decision	AffiliateBase	FirstPromoter
Billing focus	Stripe attribution	Multiple subscription billing providers
Campaign design	Configure campaign rules and recurring limits	Multiple campaigns; check plan limits
Developer evaluation	REST API and scoped MCP tools	Developer docs and billing integrations
Cost model	Review current plan and revenue limits	Monthly tiers based on affiliate revenue

Use these criteria for your evaluation:

Keep your billing architecture

If part of your revenue runs through Paddle, Chargebee or another billing provider, list that as a requirement before considering a Stripe-focused replacement. A separate payment migration changes the project scope.

Rebuild one demanding commission rule

Choose a recurring customer with a trial, renewal and refund. Compare the resulting sale and commission records, including any recurring-payment limit, before copying the rest of the program.

Compare operations beyond the tracking script

Evaluate campaign separation, tax-document needs, portal access and finance exports. A replacement should cover the jobs your team uses today, even when they are not visible on the dashboard home screen.

Plan the move from FirstPromoter

Map each campaign, billing provider and recurring customer before migrating. Confirm which commission rules and historical customer associations can be reproduced in AffiliateBase.

Total time: Depends on your program

Agree on a supported data scope

Scope review

Review affiliate identities, link mappings, recurring customers and outstanding balances with AffiliateBase before transferring records. No automatic, history-preserving importer is established by this comparison.

Validate one complete payment path

Integration test

Configure the campaign and supported Stripe setup. Verify the generated referral ID, attributed sale, commission and refund behavior before changing production traffic.

Reconcile before cutover

Reconciliation

Assign ownership of existing subscriptions and unpaid commissions. Agree on link changes, affiliate communication and rollback so a transition does not leave two systems claiming the same payment.

Review migration requirements

Bring your current setup and the workflow you need to preserve so compatibility can be assessed.

Discuss your setup

Questions about FirstPromoter and AffiliateBase

Is FirstPromoter only a browser-based tracker?

No. Its official product page describes billing integrations and subscription lifecycle tracking. Both products need a valid way to link the original referral to the customer payment; a webhook alone does not recover an unidentified visitor.

What should I verify before choosing AffiliateBase?

Map each campaign, billing provider and recurring customer before migrating. Confirm which commission rules and historical customer associations can be reproduced in AffiliateBase.

Does connecting Stripe prove affiliate tracking works?

No. For link-based setup, verify a tracked click and the generated referral ID reaching checkout. Then confirm a real attributed sale and commission. Promo-code setup has its own provider-backed verification path.

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Evaluate your Stripe affiliate workflow

Review AffiliateBase plans and test the setup your program needs before committing to a switch.

Test AffiliateBase View pricing