FirstPromoter alternatives (2026): what Rewardful, Tolt and Dub cost

My FirstPromoter trial's billing page has a Usage box with two meters: Revenue $0 / $2,000 and Promoters 1 / 20. That's a research trial account, seen Nov 10, 2026. After the 14 days, the public price list takes over: $49 a month for up to $5,000 in revenue from affiliates. Pass that and your account moves to Business at $99.

FirstPromoter trial account, billing page, Nov 10, 2026

If that $49 to $99 step, sending payouts yourself every month, or wanting something under $49 is what's pushing you, here's what Rewardful, Tolt, Dub and PartnerStack Spark cost instead, from each vendor's own pages, read Nov 13, 2026.

Of the four alternatives I priced, none beats FirstPromoter's $49 Starter on a flat fee: Rewardful is also $49, Dub $90 and Tolt $99, and only PartnerStack Spark ($0 plus 10% of payouts) costs less, while payouts stay under $490 a month. The real saving is Rewardful's higher first cap, $7,500 a month against FirstPromoter's $5,000, which keeps you at $49 where FirstPromoter charges $99. Leave FirstPromoter for payouts instead: Tolt (2%), Rewardful (3%) and Dub (5% by ACH) will pay your affiliates on their entry plans, and FirstPromoter's managed payouts need Enterprise 2 or higher.

I haven't run these in production. I'm a Dub affiliate, so I quote each vendor only about itself, and anything I couldn't find on a vendor's own site is marked UNKNOWN.

What FirstPromoter charges

firstpromoter.com/pricing, Monthly plans, captured Nov 10, 2026. The live page showed the same prices and caps on Nov 13.

From firstpromoter.com/pricing:

• Starter: $49 a month, up to $5,000 a month in revenue from affiliates, 1,000 affiliates, 3 campaigns.
• Business: $99, up to $15,000, unlimited affiliates and campaigns.
• Enterprise: $149, "above $15,000/month," behind a "Let's talk" button.
• Yearly: $490, $990 and $1,490.
• Team members are unlimited on every plan, and every plan starts with a 14-day trial with no credit card.
• Billing providers: "Stripe, Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly and Braintree."
• Pass a cap and "Your account moves to the next plan tier so tracking and commissions continue without interruption."
• The pricing page lists no transaction or payout fee. I count that as UNKNOWN, not zero.

The public page stops at $149. In the trial account the billing screen listed two Enterprise tiers, $149 up to $30,000 and $299 up to $75,000 a month (seen in a trial account, Nov 10, 2026). The public page shows neither cap, so ask before you plan around them. If managed payouts are why you'd stay, note that in that trial account Enterprise 2 was the $299 tier.

Payouts are where FirstPromoter asks the most of you. Its help article on paying promoters lists three ways: one-click through PayPal or Stripe Payouts, a CSV you upload to your provider, or one by one, and one-click PayPal needs "a Business plan or higher" plus a PayPal Business account. Either way the money leaves your account. The option where FirstPromoter pays affiliates for you, Managed Auto Payouts, needs "Enterprise 2 or higher," a SaaS company, and "a US-registered company, invoiced and paid through a US bank account." FirstPromoter says "There is no additional fees for you right now."

Two lines matter before you leave. The terms (last updated 25.06.2026) say "Our plans are monthly or annually, and they are non-refundable," and a cancellation takes effect "exclusively at the end of your active subscription." So time the move to your renewal date.

What each alternative costs as your program grows

One program at a 20% commission, on monthly prices, so payouts are a fifth of affiliate revenue. My arithmetic from published prices.

How each cell is built:

• FirstPromoter: the plan for that revenue. Fee on payouts you send yourself: UNKNOWN. The "you send" columns leave out PayPal, Wise or bank fees and your time.
• Rewardful: Starter $49 up to $7,500, Growth $99 up to $15,000, Enterprise $149 up to $30,000 and $299 up to $75,000 (pricing, schedule). Managed Payouts adds 3% of payouts.
• Tolt: Growth $99 up to $20k a month in partner revenue, Pro $199 up to $50k, plus "2% of what's paid out" (pricing).
• Dub: Business $90 covers up to $2,500 a month in partner payouts, Advanced $300 up to $15,000, plus 5% by ACH (pricing, payouts help). Fund by card and it's 8%.
• Spark: "$0 per month subscription fee" plus a "10% processing fee on commissions you pay out" (Spark).

What I take from it:

• Between $5,000 and $7,500, Rewardful is $50 a month cheaper than FirstPromoter for the same job. Even with Rewardful paying your affiliates for 3%, it's $94 against FirstPromoter's $99 at $7,500.
• From $7,500 to $30,000, Rewardful and FirstPromoter list the same price. Switching saves nothing on the plan.
• If you want someone else to send the money, Tolt is the cheapest payer at $15,000 and $50,000, and ties Rewardful's Managed Payouts at $25,000.
• Dub is the biggest bill in every row except $50,000, where Spark's 10% passes it. I'm the one with the Dub link.

Is anything cheaper than $49?

Only Spark, and only while you're small. $0 plus 10% beats $49 while payouts stay under $490 a month, which at 20% is about $2,450 in affiliate revenue. Spark is a single user, and it "does not include access to the PartnerStack Network." At $50,000 it's the biggest cell in the table.

Dub beats FirstPromoter in two narrow cases. Against the $99 Business plan, only if payouts are under $180 a month. Against the $149 Enterprise floor, once revenue is above $15,000, if payouts stay under $1,180 a month, a commission under about 7.9% at $15,000 or 2.4% at $50,000. My arithmetic: $90 plus 5% against FirstPromoter's public prices.

Tolt has a similar window. Between $15,000 and $20,000 in revenue, Growth at $99 plus 2% stays under $149 while payouts are under $2,500, a commission up to 16.7% at $15,000 or 12.5% at $20,000, and Tolt sends the money.

Rewardful

The closest swap. Same $49 entry, a higher first cap ($7,500), unlimited affiliates on every plan, and "a 0% transaction fee on affiliate-attributed revenue." Managed Payouts is optional on every plan for 3%. Starter has 1 campaign and a maximum of 2 team members, against FirstPromoter Starter's 3 campaigns and unlimited team members. The trial is 14 days.

Two things to check first. Rewardful's Paddle page says "Rewardful only integrates with Paddle Classic, not Paddle Billing," and FirstPromoter's Paddle page says "Whether you use Paddle Billing or Classic, our integration with Paddle will have you sorted." If you bill on Paddle Billing, Rewardful is out. And Rewardful's terms say "You will not be provided any refunds for unused time on your service period." The full Rewardful picture is in Rewardful alternatives.

Tolt

The pick if you want affiliates paid for you on every plan for the smallest cut among the alternatives. Growth is $99 up to $20k a month in partner revenue, Pro $199 up to $50k, and "Tolt charges 2% of what's paid out." Every plan lists "W-9 and W-8 forms, 1099 filing." Billing is "Stripe, Paddle and Chargebee"; which Paddle version isn't stated, so ask. The trial is 14 days with no credit card, and the FAQ says "ask within 30 days and we'll refund you in full." The catch is the $99 floor, double FirstPromoter Starter. More in Tolt alternatives.

Dub

dub.co/pricing, Monthly view, Nov 13, 2026

Dub Partners is $90 a month on Business or $300 on Advanced (pricing). Business covers up to $2,500 a month in partner payouts and 500 partners. Advanced covers up to $15,000 a month with unlimited partners. Enterprise is custom. "All plans include a 14-day trial," and Business and Advanced both have a "Start 14-day trial" button; Enterprise is "Get a demo."

Dub sends the money. Its payouts help lists ACH at 5% on Business and Advanced (3% on Enterprise) and card at 8% (6%). It collects W-9s, sends a 1099-NEC to US partners paid $600 or more in a year, and collects W-8s from non-US partners. Commissions sit in a holding period, 30 days by default.

Where Dub loses, from its own pages:

• Price: at 20% it's the biggest bill in the table at every size.
• Caps: go over your payout limit and "you won't be able to send payouts until the next billing period." FirstPromoter moves you up a tier instead.
• Fraud tooling: risk monitoring is "only available on Advanced plans and above" (risk monitoring). FirstPromoter lists self-referral detection and reCAPTCHA on every plan.
• Billing: dub.co/integrations lists Stripe, Shopify and Polar. No Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly or Braintree, so those are UNKNOWN.
• Trial: payouts are capped at $500 a month, and when it ends "your card will be automatically charged for the first month of your paid plan" (free trial help).

On your own subscription, Dub's FAQ says "we offer full refunds" and asks you to reach out. The head-to-head numbers are in Dub Partners vs FirstPromoter.

PartnerStack, briefly

Launch, Growth and Enterprise have no public price: "Your final plan and pricing are confirmed during your demo." Spark is the self-serve plan in the table, "no contracts." I ran PartnerStack's numbers in PartnerStack alternatives.

Paddle, refunds and tax forms, side by side

• Paddle Billing: FirstPromoter yes. Rewardful no, Classic only. Tolt lists Paddle, version UNKNOWN. Dub UNKNOWN.
• Chargebee, Recurly, Braintree: FirstPromoter lists all three. Tolt lists Chargebee. Rewardful and Dub list none of them on their pricing or integrations pages.
• Refund on your subscription: FirstPromoter non-refundable. Rewardful none for unused time. Tolt in full within 30 days. Dub says full refunds.
• Over the cap: FirstPromoter and Rewardful move you up a tier. Tolt says "nothing stops tracking." Dub holds payouts until the next billing period.
• Tax forms: FirstPromoter lists W-9 / W-8BEN collection on every plan, and its help says "This feature is not enabled by default." On Managed Auto Payouts, "you don't have to worry about collecting W8BEN and W9 forms or filling 1099 for affiliates." Tolt lists W-9, W-8 and 1099 filing. Dub collects W-9 and W-8 and sends 1099-NEC. Rewardful: UNKNOWN on form names.

How refunds, upgrades and coupons hit commissions is in Stripe affiliate tracking: refunds, upgrades and coupons.

Moving off FirstPromoter

1. Cancel near renewal. FirstPromoter's plans are non-refundable and cancellation lands at the end of the paid period.
2. Pay out every open commission in FirstPromoter first, so no affiliate has a balance in two places.
3. Keep ?fp_ref= links working through your cookie window.
4. Run one test customer through click, signup, payment and refund in the new tool before you email affiliates. My checklist is in verify your SaaS referral tracking.

If you're moving to Dub, its FirstPromoter import guide needs Business or higher, a custom domain, conversion tracking, and your FirstPromoter API key and Account ID. It recommends client-side click tracking so existing domain.com?fp_ref=affiliate links keep working. Campaigns map to partner groups, but program terms don't come over: "all partners will be assigned to your program's default reward." It only imports promoters in an "accepted" state with at least 1 referral. I didn't check whether Rewardful or Tolt have a FirstPromoter importer.

When to stay on FirstPromoter

I earn a commission if you sign up for Dub, so here's where I'd tell you not to move.

• Stay if your affiliates bring in under $5,000 or between $7,500 and $30,000 a month, you pay 20% or more, and you don't mind sending payouts. Nothing here is cheaper on published prices. At lower commissions, see "Is anything cheaper than $49?" above.
• Stay if you bill on Paddle Billing, Chargebee, Recurly or Braintree. FirstPromoter lists all of them; the others list fewer.
• Stay if you need unlimited team members or more than one campaign on the entry plan.
• Move to Rewardful if you sit between $5,000 and $7,500, on Stripe or Paddle Classic.
• Move to Tolt if you want affiliates paid and 1099s filed for you on every plan for 2%, and $99 is fine.
• Move to Dub if Stripe is your source of truth and you want payouts and US tax forms run by the tool, and you've priced the 5% at your commission rate.

Affiliate link - I may earn a commission: https://refer.dub.co/shamil

Quick answers

Is there a FirstPromoter alternative cheaper than $49 a month? Only PartnerStack Spark, at $0 plus 10% of payouts, and only while payouts are under $490 a month. Rewardful matches $49 with a $7,500 cap instead of $5,000.

Does FirstPromoter refund unused time? No. Its terms say plans "are non-refundable," and cancellation takes effect at the end of the active subscription.

Which alternative pays affiliates for me on the entry plan? Tolt for 2%, Rewardful Managed Payouts for 3%, Dub for 5% by ACH. FirstPromoter's Managed Auto Payouts needs Enterprise 2 or higher.

Is Dub cheaper than FirstPromoter? Almost never on list prices. Only with payouts under $180 a month, or above $15,000 in revenue with payouts under $1,180 a month.

What I couldn't verify

• FirstPromoter's Enterprise tier prices and caps above $15,000 on a public page, its fee on payouts you send yourself, and its full affiliate withdrawal-fee schedule.
• Which Paddle version Tolt supports, and Tolt's Enterprise price.
• Whether Dub tracks Paddle, Chargebee, Recurly or Braintree sales.
• Rewardful's tax form names.
• PartnerStack Launch, Growth and Enterprise prices.

Prices read Nov 13, 2026 from firstpromoter.com, rewardful.com, tolt.com, partnerstack.com and dub.co (pricing, help and integrations). Vendors change prices often, so check before you buy.