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Comparison

AffiliateRail vs refVenue

refVenue is cheaper than AffiliateRail at every volume, and this page says so first. It is free until your affiliates have driven $1,000 of tracked revenue. Then $25 a month for five programs or $45 for unlimited, with no revenue cap. AffiliateRail is $29 to $10,000 a month and $99 to $50,000. Neither takes a cut of payouts. The differences are elsewhere. refVenue pays through Stripe Connect, so each affiliate needs a Stripe account. AffiliateRail pays from your own PayPal or Wise, on a schedule. And refVenue's paid prices live on its comparison page, not its pricing page.

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 6 September 2026. Updated 6 September 2026.

Run AffiliateRail beside refVenue for 14 days and compare the bills

No card. Your published affiliate links keep working.

The difference

What is the difference between AffiliateRail and refVenue?

Price, payout method and reach. refVenue is $25 or $45 flat with no revenue cap, and free to $1,000 of tracked revenue. AffiliateRail is $29 to $99 banded by what affiliates earn you. Neither holds your money or takes a cut. refVenue pays through Stripe Connect: the affiliate opens a Stripe account and you pay them directly. AffiliateRail pays from your own PayPal or Wise, which reach countries Stripe does not, and runs the payout on a schedule. Both read a ref tag, so links survive a move either way. If every affiliate you have can open a Stripe account, refVenue is the cheaper tool.

Where they differrefVenueAffiliateRail
Entry priceFree to $1,000 of tracked revenue. Then $25 a month for five programs, $45 for unlimited$29 a month founding for two programs, kept for as long as you stay. 14 days free, no card
Where the price is printedThe pricing page prints a range, $0 to $45. The $25 and $45 figures are on refVenue's own comparison pageOn the pricing page
Plan bandsBy programs. No revenue cap on paid plansBy monthly affiliate revenue. Launch to $10,000, Grow to $20,000, Scale to $50,000
Fee on payoutsNone. Their page says zero commission and no transaction fee0%. The money never reaches AffiliateRail, so there is nothing to take a cut of
Who holds the moneyYou. The affiliate sets up a Stripe Connect account and you pay them directlyYou. Your own PayPal or Wise pays your partner. AffiliateRail never holds it
The bill at $40,000 a month$25, for five programs or fewer$99
How affiliates get paidTo a Stripe Connect account they set up. They need oneTo their PayPal or Wise, on a schedule you set
Billing systemsStripe, with Paddle and Lemon Squeezy guides, plus manual tracking for anything elseStripe and Paddle

Cost

What does each one cost?

Published plan prices on both sides. They come 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
refVenue Freeto $1,000 of tracked revenuefree to $1,000 of tracked revenue, then $25 a monthNo
refVenue Starterno revenue ceiling; 5 programs$25 a monthNo
refVenue Prono revenue ceiling; unlimited programs, API access$45 a monthNo

Plan price is not the whole bill. A payout fee is a slice the platform takes out of the money you send your partners. It is charged on top of your plan, and a good month changes it. The true-cost calculator does the arithmetic on your own numbers.

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01 Custody

Who holds the money when affiliates get paid?

Here is the part that is the same, and it matters.

refVenue's affiliate docs say an affiliate must "setup your payout account using Stripe Connect" and that this "allows merchants to pay you directly". So the money goes from you to your affiliate's Stripe account. refVenue never holds it, and its pricing page prints zero commission.

AffiliateRail works the same way with a different payout method. It works out who is owed what, then logs into your own PayPal or Wise on a schedule and pays them. The money leaves your account and lands in theirs. The difference is reach and timing. Stripe Connect needs a Stripe account, which not every country can open. PayPal and Wise reach further, and the payout runs when it is due.

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, from the $29 plan. It comes in thirteen languages.

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.

Every screen, from its own menu. Recorded on a demo program.

In their words

What refVenue's own terms say

Before you can receive commission payments, you need to setup your payout account using Stripe Connect. This secure integration allows merchants to pay you directly.

refVenue affiliate docs, Payout Account Setup, checked 6 September 2026

The same custody model as ours, through Stripe Connect. The merchant pays the affiliate directly, which is why refVenue can print zero commission.

Credit where due

Where refVenue is the better choice

No product wins on every axis. A comparison page that pretends otherwise is not worth reading. refVenue is the cheapest paid tool on this list, and for a small Stripe-only program that is most of the argument.

  • The price. $25 for five programs and $45 for unlimited, with no revenue cap, ever. Our list price is $59 to $179.

  • The free plan. Unlimited programs and affiliates, with zero commission, until your affiliates have driven $1,000 of tracked revenue. Our trial ends after 14 days.

  • Coupon codes that attribute without a click. An affiliate on a podcast or a social post needs no link at all.

  • Lemon Squeezy and Paddle guides as well as Stripe, and manual tracking for anything else. We read Stripe and Paddle.

  • API access at $45. refVenue's own comparison makes the point that other tools gate it far higher.

Switching

How do you move a program from refVenue?

There is no refVenue importer yet. So the move runs on CSV. refVenue's docs cover importing by CSV and do not describe an export, so ask their support for your data. The importer does a practice run first. Published links keep working, because our script reads the ref tag refVenue uses. The money takes a different route. Affiliates were paid to a Stripe Connect account. Now your own PayPal or Wise pays them, on a schedule.

Read the refVenue switch guide

Questions

Common questions

Is AffiliateRail cheaper than refVenue?

No. refVenue is $25 or $45 flat with no revenue cap, and free to $1,000 of tracked revenue. AffiliateRail is $29 founding to $10,000 a month, then $59 and $99. Neither takes a cut of payouts. If price alone decides it, refVenue wins at every volume. Run your own numbers on the calculator.

Does refVenue hold my money?

No. Its affiliate docs say the affiliate sets up a Stripe Connect account so that merchants can pay them directly. The money goes from you to them. AffiliateRail works the same way through PayPal or Wise, and adds the schedule.

What does refVenue do that AffiliateRail does not?

Charge less. Run unlimited programs on the free plan. Attribute a coupon code with no click. Read Lemon Squeezy. Offer an API at $45. If any of those decide it for you, refVenue is the better buy.

Will my affiliates' links break if I move?

No. refVenue links carry a ref tag. Our script reads ref, plus eighteen other platforms' tags. Every link your partners published keeps paying them from the day the script goes on. Nothing to re-publish.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Every claim about another product here was read off their own pages. The date shown is the day it was read. 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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