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Comparison

AffiliateRail vs PromoteKit

Both track referrals through Stripe and neither takes a cut of payouts. PromoteKit is free to three referrals, then $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, to $10,000 a month of affiliate revenue. You pay affiliates by downloading a CSV and uploading it to your own PayPal or Wise. AffiliateRail starts at $29 a month founding, reads Paddle as well as Stripe, and from $59 sends the payout for you from your own account.

Written by Jimi Barkway, who built AffiliateRail. Jimi has run affiliate programs from both sides of the link. Corrections go to support@affiliaterail.com. Published 3 September 2026. Updated 3 September 2026.

The difference

What is the difference between AffiliateRail and PromoteKit?

PromoteKit and AffiliateRail share the same shape: a script, a Stripe connection, a portal, and payouts from your own PayPal or Wise account with nothing taken. They part on automation and reach. PromoteKit's payout is a CSV you upload yourself, on every plan. AffiliateRail runs it on a schedule from the $59 plan. PromoteKit reads Stripe only; AffiliateRail reads Stripe and Paddle. PromoteKit's free tier has no equal here.

Where they differPromoteKitAffiliateRail
Entry priceFree to three referrals, then $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, to $10,000 a month of affiliate revenue$29 a month founding, to $10,000 a month, held for the life of the subscription
Above $10,000 a monthEnterprise, priced by conversation, per their pricing page$59 to $20,000 and $99 to $50,000 a month, published
Paying affiliatesA CSV from the Generate Payouts tab, uploaded to your own PayPal or Wise, per their docsSent for you from your own PayPal or Wise account on a schedule, from the $59 plan
Payout feeNone. Their pricing page says no transaction fees on any plan0%. AffiliateRail never takes a cut of a payout
Billing providersStripe. Their FAQ says a Stripe account is requiredStripe and Paddle
Existing affiliate links on a migrationLinks carry the via parameter, which our tracker readsOld PromoteKit links keep crediting from the day the script goes on

Cost

What does each one cost?

Published plan prices on both sides, from the same verified figures that drive the calculator. Our founding price is held for the life of the subscription. The list price is what a plan costs once the founding places are gone.

PlanCeilingPriceAutomated payouts
AffiliateRail Launchto $10,000 a month$29 founding, $59 afterNo
AffiliateRail Growto $20,000 a month$59 founding, $89 afterYes
AffiliateRail Scaleto $50,000 a month$99 founding, $179 afterYes
PromoteKit Freeto 3 referrals$0 a monthNo
PromoteKit Proto $10,000 a month$39 a month, $29 a month billed yearlyNo

Plan price is not the whole bill. Payout fees and a good month change it. The true-cost calculator does the arithmetic on your own numbers.

01 Custody

Who holds the money when affiliates get paid?

Nobody holds it but you. PromoteKit generates a payouts CSV. You upload it to your own PayPal Business or Wise Business account, and the money goes from you to your affiliate. Their pricing page says no transaction fees on any plan, and their payouts docs describe no other route.

That is the principle AffiliateRail is built on too. The difference is who does the work. On PromoteKit you run the upload every payout. On AffiliateRail the run is scheduled from the $59 plan and you approve it.

Who holds the money in betweenMoney leaves your account and arrives with your affiliate. Between the two there is a gap with a question mark: who is holding it, and for how long.Your PayPal or WiseYour account, your credentialsYour affiliateReceives what you send?Who is holding it in between, and for how long?Almost no vendor says, anywhere on their site.

02 On AffiliateRail

Where does the money go on AffiliateRail?

AffiliateRail never holds it. You connect your own PayPal or Wise account. We work out who is owed what and tell your account to pay. The money goes from you to your affiliate and never passes through us.

So we take 0% of every payout, on every plan. There is no cut to take when the money never arrives. The custody page has every platform's own position, with sources.

How a payout moves on AffiliateRailMoney goes from your PayPal or Wise account straight to your affiliate. AffiliateRail works out the amounts and tells your account to pay; it never receives the money.Your PayPal or WiseYour account, your credentialsYour affiliateReceives what you sendAffiliateRailworks out who is owed whatthe money, all of ittells your account to payAMoney never enters AffiliateRail

03 The product

What does the product look like?

One dashboard for the program: affiliates, referrals, commissions and payouts. Your affiliates get a portal on your own domain, in thirteen languages, from the $29 plan.

Tracking rides the Stripe or Paddle reference field, not a cookie an ad blocker can drop. Payouts run from your own PayPal or Wise account on a schedule. The founder answers support.

The AffiliateRail dashboard: referrals, commissions and payouts for one program

Credit where due

Where PromoteKit is the better choice

No product wins on every axis, and a comparison page that pretends otherwise is not worth reading. PromoteKit is a good fit for a Stripe merchant starting from nothing, and there are honest reasons to pick it.

  • A free tier. Your first three referrals cost nothing, with unlimited affiliates and team members. AffiliateRail has a 14-day trial, not a free plan.

  • A low entry price: $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, with API access, webhooks and a custom portal domain on that plan.

  • Promo-code tracking that needs no script on your site. Create a coupon in Stripe and each affiliate gets a code.

  • Integrations for Webflow, Memberstack, Outseta and MemberSpace, for merchants who sell through those.

Switching

How do you move a program from PromoteKit?

There is no PromoteKit importer yet. Export your affiliates and their history, or pull them through PromoteKit's API, and load the CSV into AffiliateRail's importer, which dry-runs first. The tracking script reads PromoteKit's via parameter from day one, so published links keep converting while both run. The switch guide has the order.

Read the PromoteKit switch guide

Questions

Common questions

Is AffiliateRail cheaper than PromoteKit?

Not at the start. PromoteKit's free tier covers your first three referrals, and its Pro plan is $39 a month, or $29 billed yearly, to $10,000 a month of affiliate revenue. AffiliateRail's founding price is $29 a month to the same ceiling. Above $10,000 PromoteKit is priced by conversation and AffiliateRail publishes $59 and $99. Neither takes a cut of payouts. The true-cost calculator puts the two side by side at your own revenue.

Does PromoteKit hold my money?

No. You download a CSV from PromoteKit and upload it to your own PayPal or Wise account, so the money goes from you to your affiliate. AffiliateRail works on the same principle and adds the schedule: from the $59 plan it tells your own PayPal or Wise account to pay, and you approve the run.

Will my affiliates' PromoteKit links keep working if I move?

Yes. PromoteKit links carry the via parameter, and our tracking script reads via along with ref and aff. A link published a year ago credits the same affiliate from the day the script goes on your site. The switch guide covers running both in parallel.

Which one should a Stripe SaaS choose?

Starting from zero with a handful of affiliates, and happy to upload a payout file each month? PromoteKit's free tier is hard to argue with. Selling through Paddle, paying more than a few affiliates, or wanting the payout to run itself? AffiliateRail is built for that, from $29 a month founding.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Every claim about another product here was read off their own pages on the date shown. Prices change, and then this page is wrong until we fix it. Email support@affiliaterail.com and we will correct it and move the date.

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