Jimi Barkway

Founder of AffiliateRail · Published and last updated 1 September 2026 · support@affiliaterail.com

What have I actually done with affiliate programs?

I earned from other people's programs before I ran one. Mostly through email and paid ads.

That side teaches you specific things. Waiting on a payout with no idea when it will land. A dashboard that shows a number going up and never why. A link you published two years ago that quietly stops crediting you because the merchant changed software. Every one of those is a decision inside AffiliateRail now: payout dates an affiliate can see, a commission trace that says what happened and when, and a tracking script that reads the referral parameters other affiliate tools use so old links keep working after a switch.

Then I ran a program from the merchant's side and met the other problem. The software took a percentage of commissions it had nothing to do with earning, and held the money on its way past.

Why did I build AffiliateRail?

Because I got tired of paying a cut of my affiliates' commissions to software that never earned it, and I could not find a tool that took none.

So AffiliateRail never touches the money. You connect your own PayPal or Wise account, AffiliateRail works out who is owed what, and it calls your rail with your credentials. The payout leaves your account and arrives in your affiliate's. There is no cut to take, so none is taken, and AffiliateRail cannot lose your payout money because it never has it.

That decision came first and everything else was built around it, including the parts it made harder. Who holds the money sets out how each approach in this category works and what it means when a platform fails while holding a balance.

Who writes the pages on this site?

I do. The comparison pages, the nine modules of the manual, and this one.

Where a page states a number about another product, that number was read off the other company's own published page, and the date it was checked is printed next to it. Prices change, and when they do our page is wrong until someone fixes it. So corrections go to support@affiliaterail.com, get made, and move the date.

The comparison pages also say what the other product is good at, because a comparison that cannot do that is an advert with a table in it.

What am I not?

An accountant or a lawyer. The manual says so out loud wherever tax or law comes up, and tells you whose job that call is.

This matters more here than at most software companies. Non-custodial means you are the payer of record for your affiliates, which is a real obligation with real forms attached. Module 3 explains the shape of it, names the thresholds with their dates, and stops exactly where an adviser should start. A vendor who answers that question for you is a vendor guessing with your tax return.

How do you reach me?

support@affiliaterail.com. Put "for the founder" in the subject and it comes to me.

Hard questions are the welcome kind, including the ones about what AffiliateRail does not do yet. I would rather answer one of those now than have you find out three weeks into a trial.

Common questions

Who founded AffiliateRail?

Jimi Barkway, a former affiliate and email marketer who has run affiliate programs from both sides of the link. AffiliateRail is built in the UK, and he answers support@affiliaterail.com himself.

Does AffiliateRail hold merchants' payout money?

No. AffiliateRail is non-custodial. The merchant connects their own PayPal or Wise account, the money moves from that account to the affiliate's, and AffiliateRail takes 0% of it.

Who writes AffiliateRail's comparison pages?

Jimi Barkway writes them and his name is on each one. Every claim about another product comes from that company's own published pages, with the date it was checked printed beside it.

How do I get a number on this site corrected?

Email support@affiliaterail.com with the page and the figure you think is wrong. Corrections get made and the checked-on date moves. Every figure on this site carries the date it was last verified.