Dub Partners vs FirstPromoter: is handing off affiliate payouts worth $351 a month?

On FirstPromoter's default schedule, the 30th of each month is payout day for the month before, and below the Enterprise plan you're the one sending the money, through PayPal, Wise, Stripe or your bank. On Dub Partners you click Confirm payouts and Dub pays everyone, collects W-9s and W-8s, and sends the 1099-NECs. That chore is most of the Dub Partners vs FirstPromoter decision.

Handing it off isn't cheap. A program doing $15,000 a month in affiliate revenue at a 20% commission pays $99 a month on FirstPromoter's list prices. On Dub it's $450, the plan plus a 5% payout fee. That's $351 a month, over $4,000 a year, to stop doing payouts. I priced two more sizes, and FirstPromoter's list price was lower at both: by $91 at $5k, and by up to $451 at $30k. Past $15,000 its public price is $149 and up, behind a "Let's talk" button.

The 20% is my number, not a vendor's. Dub prices on what you pay partners, so a richer commission makes Dub's bill bigger. FirstPromoter prices on revenue and doesn't care.

My pick: FirstPromoter, unless running payouts is the job you hate most. It was cheaper at every size I priced, and its pricing page lists Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly and Braintree, which Dub's integrations page doesn't. Dub is for the founder who never wants to open a payout export or think about a 1099 again, and will put up with a fee that grows every time a partner gets paid.

Every figure below comes from the vendors' own pages, read Nov 10, 2026, plus a FirstPromoter trial account where I say so. Both companies publish comparison pages about each other, and they disagree on things like tax forms, so I only quote each one about itself.

Dub Partners vs FirstPromoter pricing, side by side

FirstPromoter charges by the revenue your affiliates bring in. Dub charges by what you pay out to them.

Dub, from dub.co/pricing:

• Business is $90 a month, or $81 billed yearly. It covers up to $2.5K a month in partner payouts and takes a 5% payout fee.
• Advanced is $300 a month, or $270 billed yearly, for up to $15K a month in payouts, also at 5%.
• Enterprise is custom annual billing, with unlimited payouts and a 3% fee.
• Fund payouts by card instead of ACH and the fee is 8%, or 6% on Enterprise (Dub help: partner payouts).
• The yearly toggle shows the same caps as $30K and $180K a year.

FirstPromoter, from firstpromoter.com/pricing, at list price:

• Starter is $49 a month or $490 a year, for up to $5,000 a month in affiliate revenue.
• Business is $99 a month or $990 a year, for up to $15,000.
• Enterprise is $149 a month or $1,490 a year, for anything "above $15,000". No hard dollar cap is published, and the button says "Let's talk" where the other two say "Get started", which is pricing-page for "it depends".
• No payout fee on any plan.

A FirstPromoter trial account's billing screen, the same day, didn't match. It listed four yearly plans at $499, $999, $1,499 and $2,990, and two Enterprise tiers capped at $30,000 and $75,000 a month in affiliate revenue, at $149 and $299 a month. The public page shows neither cap, and its yearly prices are $9 lower. I treat the public page as the list price and the $30k and $75k tiers as not verified.

Outgrowing a plan works differently too. FirstPromoter's FAQ: "Your account moves to the next plan tier so tracking and commissions continue without interruption." Dub's FAQ: "When you exceed your monthly payouts limits, you won't be able to send payouts until the next billing period." So on Dub you either upgrade or your partners wait a month for money they've already earned. I'd pay for the upgrade. Making your best partners wait is an odd way to thank them.

What each one costs at $5k, $15k and $30k a month

A revenue cap and a payout cap only line up once you pick a commission rate. At my example 20%, payouts are a fifth of affiliate revenue. Monthly list prices, ACH-funded Dub payouts, no discounts or tax.

• $5,000 in affiliate revenue means $1,000 in payouts. FirstPromoter is $49. Dub is $140, the $90 Business plan plus a $50 fee. Dub costs $91 more.
• $15,000 means $3,000 in payouts, which is over Dub's $2.5K Business cap. FirstPromoter is $99. Dub is Advanced at $300 plus $150 in fees, so $450. Dub costs $351 more.
• $30,000 means $6,000 in payouts. FirstPromoter's public page puts you on Enterprise at $149 and up, behind that "Let's talk" button. Dub is $300 plus $300 in fees, so $600. Dub costs up to $451 more.

At 30%, payouts become $1,500, $4,500 and $9,000, and Dub's bill climbs to $165, $525 and $750. FirstPromoter's doesn't move.

Yearly billing narrows the gap a little. FirstPromoter's yearly prices work out to about $41, $83 and $124 a month (the page calls it "2 months free"). Dub's Business and Advanced drop to $81 and $270. The 5% fee gets no discount.

Those FirstPromoter numbers are the plan price only, which flatters them a bit. Below its managed tier you pay affiliates yourself through PayPal, Wise, Stripe, your bank or crypto. Those providers charge their own fees, and the job eats some of your time every month. I didn't put a number on either.

Net-30 or a 30-day hold: when affiliates see their money

FirstPromoter's help center: "For our default payout terms, NET-30, payout for the current month will be paid next month on 30th. For ex March payout (all commissions generated during March) will be paid on 30th of April." You can switch to NET-15, NET-45, NET-60 or Custom, and set a minimum payout (FirstPromoter help: how payouts work). So a commission earned March 1 waits 60 days and one earned March 31 waits 30. The trial account showed the same default on Nov 10: "Monthly / Net-30. This month's commissions will be paid next month on 30th if the payout amount is over $50", with PayPal switched on.

Dub doesn't say Net-30 anywhere I looked. It has a holding period of 0, 7, 14, 30, 60 or 90 days, defaulting to 30, and each commission gets its own clock. Commissions sit as pending during the hold, so a refund can cancel one before money moves. Dub's own advice: "We don't recommend a 0-day holding period." When the hold ends, nothing goes out until you click Confirm payouts. ACH then takes "up to 4 business days", and card funding is "Instant" (Dub help: partner payouts). There's no minimum unless you set one: "The default payout amount on Dub is $0" (Dub help: commissions and payouts).

So at default settings, your affiliates wait about a month or more on either tool.

Who sends the money, and who handles tax forms

Dub pays partners itself once you click Confirm payouts, for 5% with ACH funding or 8% by card. It collects W-9s from US partners and W-8s from everyone else, and sends a 1099-NEC to US partners paid $600 or more in a year (dub.co/pricing and Dub help: partner payouts).

On FirstPromoter, below Enterprise, you do. Its help article on paying promoters, dated July 13, 2026, says one-by-one PayPal payouts work "on any plan" and one-click or bulk PayPal payouts need "a Business plan or higher" (FirstPromoter help: how to pay your promoters). The same article now lists Stripe Payouts, through Stripe Connect, as a one-click option, without saying which plan it needs.

The pricing table doesn't quite agree. It still shows "One-click direct PayPal payouts" on Business and Enterprise only, and marks "Mass payouts" by PayPal, Wise, Stripe, crypto and bank transfer as included everywhere. My best reading of both pages: every plan can export a bulk payout file, one-click PayPal starts at Business, and Managed Auto Payouts are Enterprise-only, need approval, and carry a fee FirstPromoter doesn't publish.

Tax forms are worse. The pricing table lists W-9 and W-8BEN collection on every plan. The trial account's in-app plan list put bank payouts, one-click PayPal and W-9/W-8BEN collection on Business ($99) and up. One of them is wrong. If you need tax forms on Starter, ask before you buy, and ask about 1099s while you're at it, since the pricing page is silent on them.

The smaller things that might decide it

Dub's payout cap bites earlier than it looks. At 20%, $2.5K in payouts is $12,500 in affiliate revenue, below FirstPromoter's $15,000 Business cap, so Dub's real first price step is $90 to $300. Dub's entry plan also includes 500 partners to FirstPromoter Starter's 1,000 affiliates. And for billing, FirstPromoter's pricing page lists Stripe, Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly and Braintree. Dub's integrations cover Stripe and Shopify for commerce, plus Zapier, Make, Segment, WordPress, Raycast and Slack, and anything else goes through its API (Dub integrations).

FirstPromoter's weak spot is the top end. Past $15k you're on a plan with a public price, no public cap and a sales call.

FirstPromoter's Black Friday code

On Nov 10, FirstPromoter's pricing page carried a banner: "Black Friday is only weeks away. Go live today with 20% off now with code BF2026." The banner doesn't say what the 20% covers. The landing page it links to, firstpromoter.com/lp/prepare-for-black-friday, does: "Start your free trial from this page and apply code when you choose a plan. The discount covers your first paid month." So it's 20% off one month, which on Starter is about the price of a sandwich. I couldn't find an expiry date. Check before you count on it.

FAQ

Is FirstPromoter cheaper than Dub Partners? On list prices, yes, at every size I priced. At a 20% example commission, it's $49 vs $140 at $5k a month in affiliate revenue, $99 vs $450 at $15k, and $149 and up vs $600 at $30k (read Nov 10, 2026).

Does FirstPromoter pay affiliates Net-30? By default. One month's commissions are paid on the 30th of the next. NET-15, NET-45, NET-60 and custom schedules are options.

Does Dub pay affiliates Net-30? It doesn't use the term. Each commission sits in a holding period, 30 days by default and adjustable from 0 to 90, then goes out when you confirm the payout.

Does Dub or FirstPromoter handle 1099s? Dub does. It collects W-9 and W-8 forms, and US partners paid at least $600 a year get a 1099-NEC. FirstPromoter's pricing page lists W-9/W-8BEN collection on every plan, though a trial account showed it on Business and up, and the page says nothing about 1099s.

What I couldn't verify

• FirstPromoter's $30k tier at $149 and $75k tier at $299, seen only in a trial account.
• Which FirstPromoter plan Stripe Payouts needs, and what Managed Auto Payouts cost.
• Whether FirstPromoter sends 1099s.
• When the BF2026 code expires.

Related: what affiliate software costs as your program grows, Dub vs Rewardful vs PartnerStack, Tolt alternatives for very small programs, and, once you've picked, Stripe affiliate tracking: refunds, upgrades and coupons and verify your referral tracking before launch, so you find the bugs before a partner does.

If sending payouts and chasing tax forms is the part you want gone, that's what Dub's extra money pays for.

Try Dub Partners: https://refer.dub.co/shamil (Affiliate link - I may earn a commission)

Prices read Nov 10, 2026 from dub.co/pricing, dub.co/help, firstpromoter.com/pricing, help.firstpromoter.com and firstpromoter.com/lp/prepare-for-black-friday. Vendors change prices often, so check both pages before you buy.