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Anyone here running an affiliate program for SaaS? how are you managing it?

i thought this would be simple. give people a link, they bring users, you pay them. done....but it’s turning into a whole thing.

links vs coupon codes, Stripe doing its subscription magic (upgrades, refunds, etc), payouts, people trying to game it… and suddenly it’s not “simple” at all.

i’m seriously debating building something myself just to keep it under control, but also feels like a trap.

how are you guys handling this without it becoming a second product?

on March 24, 2026
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    ended up testing FirstPromoter after this. honestly feels a lot more built for SaaS than trying to force spreadsheets + Stripe exports to work.
    biggest thing so far is that upgrades, downgrades, refunds, etc. don’t completely break commission tracking anymore. still early, but already way less manual fixing than before.

    anyone here been using it longer term? does it keep working once volume grows, or do you eventually outgrow it?

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