Rakuten LinkShare vs UpPromote

Rakuten LinkShare is an affiliate marketing network for brands seeking customers and publisher partnerships. Advertisers can use partner recommendations, campaign planning, custom promotions, commission rules and performance reports. Partnership Discovery applies AI and machine learning to recommend publishers from product categories and plain-language searches. Advertisers can choose first-touch, last-touch and other attribution or commissioning models. Audience Engine uses existing brand data for partner-based audience segmentation, targeting and personalised offers. Rakuten Advertising says its network has more than 150,000 top-tier partners and launch takes less than one month. The service includes a partner portal and API access and is listed for Android, iOS, web and API. Pricing is on request. Publisher network access is listed at free, though inactivity fees may apply after 12 consecutive months without commissionable activity.

UpPromote is an affiliate marketing platform built for Shopify merchants, including Shopify Plus stores. It tracks referrals through links, coupons, connected customers, and connected products, and supports scheduled affiliate payouts through PayPal or store credit. Fraud detection is included to identify spam signups and suspected referrals. The Free plan costs nothing and supports one affiliate program, one coupon per affiliate, and $3,000 in referral review per month. Growth costs $29.99 a month plus 2% of successful referral sales. Professional is $89.99 a month plus 1.5%, and Enterprise is $199.99 a month plus 1%. Professional and Enterprise list unlimited programs and coupons per affiliate. Integrations include PayPal, Wise, email marketing and subscription apps, Shopify customer accounts, API, and postback URLs. Enterprise includes API and webhook customization and unlimited staff accounts; Professional lists a four-staff maximum. Creator Discovery is an optional add-on starting at $39 a month and searches creators across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The site advertises 24/7 support and lists the company's headquarters in Hanoi, Vietnam.