Affiliate Marketing
Trackdesk
Trackdesk is affiliate and partner tracking software built for SaaS, e-commerce, and digital brands that want to run their own program without paying transaction fees. It offers real-time click and conversion tracking, customizable commission rules, a branded affiliate portal, automated payouts through PayPal and Wise, and native integrations with Stripe, Shopify, and major billing platforms. A genuinely usable free tier makes it a popular starting point for founders launching a first in-house affiliate program.
What it does
Trackdesk gives a brand the infrastructure to run an in-house affiliate or referral program instead of renting space on a marketplace network. You connect your billing system, define commission structures, and hand affiliates a branded dashboard where they grab links and watch earnings update in real time. The platform records every click and conversion, attributes sales with first- or last-click logic, deduplicates fraudulent activity, and queues approved commissions for batch payout through PayPal or Wise. Because pricing is based on a flat subscription rather than a percentage of affiliate-driven revenue, it appeals to companies whose program is growing fast enough that network transaction fees would become the single largest line item.
Where it fits
Trackdesk sits at the setup stage of an affiliate program, replacing a marketplace network with self-hosted tracking that connects directly to your billing stack.
Core features
- Real-time click and conversion tracking with deduplication
- Flexible commission rules including recurring, tiered, and lifetime payouts
- Branded affiliate portal with self-serve link generation
- Automated batch payouts via PayPal and Wise
- Native integrations with Stripe, Shopify, and common billing tools
- Free tier covering early-stage programs before paid upgrades
Best for
- SaaS founders launching a first in-house affiliate program
- E-commerce brands moving off percentage-fee networks
- Teams that want full ownership of affiliate data and payouts
Beginner notes
- Confirm conversion tracking fires correctly with a test purchase before recruiting affiliates; broken attribution is the fastest way to lose partner trust.
- Decide on cookie window and first- versus last-click attribution up front, because changing it later reshuffles who gets paid.
- Start on the free tier to validate that you can actually recruit active affiliates before committing to a paid plan.