# Affiliate network or recruit affiliates directly? A founder's guide | RecruitAffiliates.ai Source: https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-network-vs-direct-recruiting [Blog](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog) # Affiliate network or recruit affiliates directly? A founder's guide Jimi Barkway · 20 October 2026 · 6 min read Recruit directly if you sell software, or if you want affiliates who fit your product. Join a network if you sell physical goods and want a large pool of shopper-focused sites to apply to you. An **affiliate network** is a middleman. It tracks sales, holds a marketplace of publishers, and pays them for you. A **publisher** is the network's word for an affiliate. Direct recruiting means you track sales with your own software and find the people yourself. ## What is an affiliate network? A network sits between you and the people promoting you. You list your offer. Publishers browse and apply. The network tracks the sale, takes its fee, and pays the publisher. The big names are Awin, CJ, Impact and PartnerStack. ShareASale is gone as a separate network. Awin said all active ShareASale customers moved to Awin by 15 August 2025 ([Hello Partner](https://hellopartner.com/shareasale-to-sunset-in-us-as-awin-migration-wraps-up/), checked 20 October 2026), so new merchants sign up with Awin. ## What does an affiliate network cost? It depends on the network, and several don't publish prices. Here's what each shows publicly. | Network | What it publishes | Source (checked 20 October 2026) | |---|---|---| | Awin | Access plan £99 + VAT a month, plus 3.5% per transaction. Accelerate from £199 + VAT a month, plus 2.5%. Advanced is custom. | [Awin pricing](https://www.awin.com/gb/pricing/advertisers) | | Impact | Starter $30 a month plus 2.5% of revenue, limited to some shop platforms. Essentials $500, Pro $2,500, Enterprise $10,000 a month. Setup on paid tiers is $250 an hour. 12-month contract. | [Impact pricing](https://impact.com/pricing/) | | CJ | No advertiser pricing published. | [CJ for advertisers](https://www.cj.com/advertiser) | | PartnerStack | Three plans, Launch to Enterprise. No prices shown. Marketplace access comes with Launch. | [PartnerStack pricing](https://www.partnerstack.com/pricing) | These are fees to the network. You also pay the commission you promise each publisher. A **commission** is the cut of each sale you pay out. Plan for both. ## What do you get from a network? You get a ready-made pool. Publishers already use the network, so some will find your offer without you lifting a finger. There's one contract and one tracking setup. Payouts go through one system too. That helps if you sell products to shoppers. Many network publishers are built for shoppers, not for software buyers. ## What don't you get? The network doesn't recruit the best fits for you. It lists your offer and waits. The people who apply are the people who browse the marketplace. Many of those people run coupon sites or cashback sites. The Performance Marketing Association's 2025 study put cashback, loyalty and rewards publishers at 35% of US affiliate spend in 2024, as reported by [EMARKETER](https://www.emarketer.com/content/coupons-surge-key-sales-driver-affiliate-marketing) and the [PMA whitepaper](https://thepma.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Beyond-the-Affiliate-Coupon-Code-Whitepaper.pdf) (checked 20 October 2026). That's share of spend, not proof those sites add new sales. But it shows who the network crowd is. A coupon site often catches a buyer at checkout, after they've already decided. You pay commission on a sale you'd have had anyway. For software, the person who explains why your tool beats the rest is usually a blogger, reviewer, newsletter writer or YouTuber. They rarely wait on a marketplace for you. ## What does direct recruiting look like? Direct has two jobs. One is tracking and paying. The other is finding people. For tracking, you use your own software. A few options, with prices from their own pages (checked 20 October 2026): - **AffiliateRail** ([affiliaterail.com](https://affiliaterail.com)) tracks sales and pays commission. Same founder as this site. - **Rewardful** has plans from $49 a month and a 14-day trial. It lists a 0% transaction fee ([Rewardful pricing](https://www.rewardful.com/pricing)). - **FirstPromoter** has plans from $49 a month and a 14-day trial with no card ([FirstPromoter pricing](https://firstpromoter.com/pricing)). - **Tapfiliate** has plans from $89 a month and a 7-day trial on its entry plan ([Tapfiliate pricing](https://tapfiliate.com/pricing/)). None of these hand you affiliates. They count and pay. For finding people, [read how to find affiliates for SaaS](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/how-to-find-affiliates-for-saas) or follow the by-hand method on the [by-hand page](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/compare/by-hand). ## Where do direct affiliates come from? You look at who already promotes your competitors. Search for reviews and "best tools" pages in your niche, and note which blogs, newsletters and YouTube channels cover your rivals. Then email them. That's slow by hand. RecruitAffiliates.ai does it for you. It reads your website, suggests your competitors, then finds the websites, blogs, review sites, newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels, and Instagram and TikTok creators already promoting them. Each one comes with the page that shows it, and the best fits sit at the top. It also finds their email and writes a personal first email for you to approve. Three follow-ups come after it, four emails in one thread. Same founder as AffiliateRail: RecruitAffiliates.ai finds and signs, AffiliateRail tracks and pays. The email is the part that wins people. [Write it to one person, with a real offer](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-recruitment-email), and [pick the commission first](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/what-to-offer-affiliates). ## Which should you choose? | Your business | Budget | Start with | |---|---|---| | SaaS or software | Small | Direct. Track in-house, find fits yourself. | | SaaS or software | Larger, with a partnerships hire | Direct first. Add a network later if you want reach. | | Shopify or ecommerce store | Small | Direct, plus a [Shopify-focused plan](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/for/shopify). | | Ecommerce store, high volume | Larger | Hybrid. A network for shopper reach, direct for creators. | | Sells to other businesses with long sales cycles | Any | Direct. A few good partners beat a crowd. | The pattern: networks suit shopper-focused retail with a budget to manage a program. Direct suits anyone who needs people who explain a product. ## What is the hybrid route? Run both, in a set order. Start direct and learn what an affiliate is worth to you. Fix your commission and your offer. Get your first 10 to 20 affiliates in the door. Then, if you sell to shoppers, add a network for reach. Keep your best direct partners off it, or on their own terms, so you don't pay the network's fee on people you found yourself. Check each network's contract before you do this. ## In short ### Should I join an affiliate network or recruit directly? If you sell software, recruit directly. You get affiliates who fit your product, and your tracking software costs about $49 a month at the low end. If you sell physical goods to shoppers, a network can add reach. ### How much does an affiliate network cost? Awin lists £99 a month plus a 3.5% transaction fee on its entry plan. Impact lists $30 to $10,000 a month depending on tier. CJ and PartnerStack don't publish prices. All are checked 20 October 2026. ### Do affiliate networks find affiliates for me? No. They list your offer and publishers apply. You still need to approach the best fits yourself. ### Can I use both? Yes. Start direct, learn what an affiliate is worth, then add a network if you sell to shoppers. ## Start with the direct route Pick the competitors you'd most like to be listed beside. Find who promotes them. Write to ten of those people this week. Want the list and first drafts done for you? [We find your first 20 emails free](https://app.recruitaffiliates.ai/signup?from=blog-affiliate-network-vs-direct-recruiting). It's 14 days free, no card. ## Sources - Awin, advertiser pricing (UK): https://www.awin.com/gb/pricing/advertisers (checked 20 October 2026) - Impact, pricing: https://impact.com/pricing/ (checked 20 October 2026) - CJ, advertiser page: https://www.cj.com/advertiser (checked 20 October 2026) - PartnerStack, pricing: https://www.partnerstack.com/pricing (checked 20 October 2026) - Hello Partner, ShareASale sunset: https://hellopartner.com/shareasale-to-sunset-in-us-as-awin-migration-wraps-up/ (checked 20 October 2026) - EMARKETER, coupons in affiliate marketing: https://www.emarketer.com/content/coupons-surge-key-sales-driver-affiliate-marketing (checked 20 October 2026) - Performance Marketing Association, coupon whitepaper: https://thepma.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Beyond-the-Affiliate-Coupon-Code-Whitepaper.pdf (checked 20 October 2026) - Rewardful pricing: https://www.rewardful.com/pricing (checked 20 October 2026) - FirstPromoter pricing: https://firstpromoter.com/pricing (checked 20 October 2026) - Tapfiliate pricing: https://tapfiliate.com/pricing/ (checked 20 October 2026) ## We find your first 20 emails free [Find my affiliates](https://app.recruitaffiliates.ai/signup?from=blog-affiliate-network-vs-direct-recruiting) 14 days, no card.