Tolt vs FirstPromoter: FirstPromoter under $5,000, Tolt from $5,000 to $10,000 and $15,000 to $20,000, and two managed payout routes

By Jimi Barkway · Published 7 September 2026 · Part of the comparison pages

Tolt or FirstPromoter: what is the short answer?

In shortFirstPromoter starts at $49, Tolt at $69. Both step to $99, and Tolt's $99 plan covers more revenue. Both read Stripe, Paddle and Chargebee. FirstPromoter reads Braintree and Recurly too. Both can pay your affiliates for you. Tolt from its $99 plan for 2% plus an invoice fee, with tax forms bundled. FirstPromoter on Enterprise 2 and above with no fee to you, after a review.

The research method was simple. I read both pricing pages, both homepages or feature pages, and both help centres on 6 and 7 September 2026. I put the same questions to each. Price and ceiling. Who pays the affiliates and what it costs. Which billing systems it reads. How tracking works. Tax forms. The API. The links are in the sources. AffiliateRail appears once, at the end, as a third option with its own trade-offs.

Three words first. A revenue band is the range of monthly affiliate revenue a plan covers before the next plan applies. A payout fee is a cut the tool takes from the money on its way to the affiliate, on top of the monthly price. A payout term is how long after the month ends the batch goes out. A webhook is a message your billing system sends to the tool when something happens, such as a paid invoice. And a first-party cookie is a cookie set on your own domain, which browsers treat as yours. Those decide most of this comparison.

What does each one cost as you grow?

In shortFirstPromoter is cheaper at the bottom. Tolt is cheaper in the middle. FirstPromoter's Starter is $49 to $5,000 a month. Tolt's Basic is $69 to $10,000. Both second plans are $99. Tolt's covers $20,000 and FirstPromoter's $15,000. Above that FirstPromoter is Enterprise from $149. Tolt's Pro is $199 to $50,000.

Let's say your affiliates bring in $6,000 a month. FirstPromoter passed $5,000 and is on Business at $99. Tolt is on Basic at $69. At $12,000 both are $99. At $18,000 Tolt is still $99 on Growth. FirstPromoter is Enterprise from $149. So FirstPromoter wins on price only under $5,000. From $5,000 to $10,000 Tolt is $30 cheaper. From $15,000 to $20,000 Tolt is at least $50 cheaper. Between $10,000 and $15,000 they match.

Both give 14 days free with no card. Tolt's page says "No credit card required" on every plan button. FirstPromoter's says "14-days free trial. No credit card required". Tolt refunds within 30 days, "no questions asked". FirstPromoter has a yearly toggle on its pricing page.

Who pays the affiliates, and what does it cost?

In shortOn both you can export a file and pay from your own PayPal or Wise. FirstPromoter adds one-click sends through PayPal, from its Business plan, or Stripe Payouts. The managed routes differ on price and on the gate. Tolt's starts on its $99 plan and costs 2% plus an invoice fee. FirstPromoter's starts on Enterprise 2, after a review, and costs the merchant nothing.

Tolt's auto payouts, on Growth and above: "Auto payouts (fast global payouts with 2% processing fee)". Then the invoice. "A fixed $8 processing fee applies to each bank transfer payment." Or "A 4% processing fee applies to card payments." Before each payout date you get a draft invoice. You pay it, and "Tolt will begin processing your partner payouts". On $2,500 of monthly payouts that is $50 plus $8 by bank. By card it is $50 plus $100, about $150. Growth bundles "Collecting W-9/W-8 forms and filing 1099s" and "Invoices for affiliates".

FirstPromoter's managed auto payouts: "This feature is activated after we review your account." The conditions start with "Your account plan is Enterprise 2 or higher" and "You are a SaaS company". You pay one invoice by bank and FirstPromoter pays through Dots.dev. "There is no additional fees for you right now"; affiliates pay withdrawal fees, "ex. fixed $0.75 bank withdrawal for US". Its plan table lists "W-9/W-8BEN tax form collection" without naming a tier.

FirstPromoter writes out its schedule. "For our default payout terms, NET-30, payout for the current month will be paid next month on 30th." You can set NET-15, NET-45, NET-60 or custom, and a minimum. Tolt's manual payouts export the CSV "if the payout term has passed and the minimum payout threshold is met", so it has both settings too. Neither page read prints Tolt's default term.

What about the API?

In shortBoth publish one. Tolt's uses a Bearer key and allows 25 requests a second, across programs, partners, customers, clicks, links, commissions, transactions and promotion codes. FirstPromoter's v2 uses a Bearer key and allows 400 requests a minute, with a tracking API for sales, refunds, upgrades and cancellations on a billing provider it does not support, and an experimental MCP server. The API comparison sets both beside nine others.

Which billing systems does each read?

In shortBoth read Stripe, both Paddle versions and Chargebee. FirstPromoter also reads Braintree and Recurly. If you bill through either of those two, FirstPromoter is the one that connects. On the other three the row is a tie.

Tolt's help centre has setup guides for Stripe, Paddle Billing, Paddle Classic and Chargebee. Its homepage: "Integrate Stripe, Paddle or Chargebee within 15 minutes". Its pricing FAQ says only Stripe or Paddle. The comparison block on the same page, and the help centre, add Chargebee. FirstPromoter's integrations page lists Braintree, Chargebee, Paddle and Recurly among its billing providers, beside Stripe.

On Chargebee the two setups look alike. Tolt asks for a custom field named cf_tolt_referral on the customer, or meta_data through the API, plus a webhook with seven events. FirstPromoter asks for a webhook with five events and your Chargebee site name. The Chargebee page walks both. On Stripe, Tolt sends the click as metadata named tolt_referral. FirstPromoter's Stripe page lists seven events and says "Developer Required: No".

How does tracking work on each?

In shortBoth use a script and a cookie on your own domain. Tolt's script is "around 4KB" and leaves the id at window.tolt_referral. FirstPromoter sets two cookies, _fprom_tid and _fprom_ref, for 60 days by default. Tolt's cookie default is not printed on the pages read. Both track coupon codes. Tolt offers client-side and server-side routes; FirstPromoter's table lists a post-back URL and its docs a tracking API.

FirstPromoter's docs: "When a lead visits with a referral link, two cookies, _fprom_tid and _fprom_ref are set in their browser. These cookies have a default lifespan of 60 days (adjustable in the Admin panel)". Its table lists self-referral detection, ad-traffic detection, reCAPTCHA on the affiliate portal, and manual approval for commissions above an amount. Its features page: "Every conversion attributed back to a billing event".

Tolt's homepage: "Client and server side options". Its pricing page lists "Double sided rewards (coupons)" and "Custom affiliate commissions" on every plan. Its FAQ covers cancellations. When Stripe or Paddle reports one, "we stop calculating commissions for the appropriate affiliate". On refunds it deducts. Its plans count programs, partner groups, team members and commission flows. 2, 3, 3 and 3 on Basic. 5 of each on Growth. Unlimited on Pro.

The tables diverge on breadth. FirstPromoter lists email marketing automation, "18 Data Points" of reports, multi-tiered commissions, Stripe historical import, invoicing for EU companies, non-monetary rewards, custom roles, activity logs and SSO. Tolt's lists a branded portal and custom domain on every plan, a resources page, and a dedicated Slack channel on Pro. Tolt's Basic carries a "Powered by" link. FirstPromoter's table has a removal row too.

Which one should you pick?

In shortTolt if you sit between $5,000 and $10,000 or between $15,000 and $20,000 a month, where it is cheaper. Tolt if you want managed payouts at $99 with tax forms bundled. FirstPromoter if you are under $5,000 a month, bill through Braintree or Recurly, or want email automation, 18 report types and multi-tier commissions on the plan table.

The managed routes are mirror images. Tolt's starts at $99 and costs a fee. FirstPromoter's carries no merchant fee right now and needs Enterprise 2 and a review. A program paying $2,500 a month in commissions pays Tolt about $58 a month by bank for the service. On FirstPromoter that program is on Business at $99 and pays its affiliates itself, in one click through PayPal's Payouts API, until it reaches Enterprise 2.

A third option, with its own trade-offs. AffiliateRail is $29 a month founding to $10,000 a month from affiliates, then $59 to $20,000, then $99 to $50,000. It pays affiliates from your own PayPal or Wise on a schedule, at 0% of the payout, from the $59 plan. It reads Stripe and Paddle Billing only. So a Chargebee, Braintree or Recurly merchant should stop at these two. Its script reads the tolt and fpr parameters. So links published on either tool keep converting after a move. The AffiliateRail vs Tolt and AffiliateRail vs FirstPromoter pages set it beside each. The switch from Tolt and switch from FirstPromoter guides cover the export.

Every fact on this page was read off Tolt's or FirstPromoter's own pages on the date beside it in the sources. Plans and fees change. Read both pricing pages before you choose.

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