Comparison
Both run affiliate programs for SaaS on top of Stripe. The difference shows up on the invoice. Tolt's pricing page lists auto payouts with a 2% processing fee. Their help centre adds $8 on the bank-invoice method. AffiliateRail takes 0%. The money never passes through us at all.
No card. Your published affiliate links keep working.
The difference
Tolt and AffiliateRail solve the same problem. They part on who touches the money. Tolt's automated payouts route funds through Tolt and carry a published percentage fee. AffiliateRail is non-custodial on every plan: you connect your own PayPal or Wise account and we tell it to pay. We also start lower, at $29 a month founding against Tolt's published $69 entry plan.
| Where they differ | Tolt | AffiliateRail |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $69 a month on their published Basic plan | $29 a month founding, held for the life of the subscription |
| Payout fee | 2% processing fee on auto payouts, in the words of their pricing page, plus $8 on the bank-invoice method per their help centre | 0%. AffiliateRail never takes a cut of a payout |
| Who holds the money | Funds route through Tolt on automated payouts | Non-custodial. Money moves from your own PayPal or Wise account to the affiliate |
| Affiliate portal languages | English | Thirteen languages, on your own domain from the $29 plan |
| Existing affiliate links on a migration | Links carry Tolt's own referral parameter | The tracking script reads other platforms' referral parameters, so published links keep converting |
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.
| Plan | Ceiling | Price | Automated payouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| AffiliateRail Launch | to $10,000 a month | $29 founding, $59 after | No |
| AffiliateRail Grow | to $20,000 a month | $59 founding, $89 after | Yes |
| AffiliateRail Scale | to $50,000 a month | $99 founding, $179 after | Yes |
| Tolt Basic | to $10,000 a month | $69 a month | No |
| Tolt Growth | to $20,000 a month | $99 a month | Yes |
| Tolt Pro | to $50,000 a month | $199 a month | Yes |
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.
14 days free, no card. 0% of every payout.
01 Custody
On automated payouts, your money goes through Tolt. Their pricing page states the 2% processing fee plainly. Their help centre adds $8 on the bank-invoice method.
That is normal in this category, and worth understanding rather than avoiding. It pays for the convenience. It also decides who is holding the money if something goes wrong mid-batch.
02 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.
03 The product
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.
In their words
Affiliates appoint Tolt as their limited authorized agent solely for the purpose of collecting commission payments from Merchants. […] Payment by a Merchant to Tolt for approved commissions constitutes payment to the Affiliate, and the Merchant's obligation to the Affiliate is satisfied upon such payment.
Credit where due
No product wins on every axis. A comparison page that pretends otherwise is not worth reading. Tolt has been at this longer than AffiliateRail has, and there are good reasons founders pick it.
A longer track record and a larger base of live SaaS programs. That matters when you are choosing what to run your revenue through.
A clean, well-known interface. Many founders have already seen it in a demo, so there is less to explain to a team.
Automated payouts on their entry plan. AffiliateRail's begin on the $59 plan.
Switching
The importer brings your affiliates, their referral codes and their balances across. A referral parameter is the tracking code on the end of an affiliate link that says who sent the visitor, and the tracking script reads Tolt's from day one. So links published years ago keep converting while you run both side by side. The switch guide covers what carries, what does not, and the order to do it in.
Questions
On published plan prices, yes at every tier. $29, $59 and $99 a month founding, against $69, $99 and $199. The bigger difference for most programs is the payout fee. Tolt's pricing page lists auto payouts with a 2% processing fee. Their help centre adds $8 on the bank-invoice method. AffiliateRail takes 0% of every payout on every plan. The true-cost calculator does the arithmetic on your own revenue.
No. Our tracking script reads the referral parameters other platforms use, Tolt's included. A link published two years ago still credits that affiliate. It works from the day the script goes on your site. That is what lets you run both platforms in parallel during a cutover.
On automated payouts, yes: funds route through Tolt, and their pricing page states a 2% processing fee on them. AffiliateRail is non-custodial on every plan. You connect your own PayPal or Wise account and the money never passes through us. The custody page has each platform's own published position, with sources.
Want automated payouts on the cheapest plan, with funds routed through the platform? Tolt's entry plan includes them and ours does not. Would you rather pay from your own PayPal or Wise account, with no percentage taken? And give affiliates a portal in their own language? AffiliateRail is built around that.
Sources
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.
Start
No card. Cancel in one click. Full refund within 30 days of your first payment.