How to choose affiliate tracking software: 10 things to check

Changing tracking software later is expensive: links must be replaced, advertisers must update postbacks and affiliates must trust the new numbers. These ten points help you choose well the first time.

1. Tracking methods

The platform must support server-to-server postbacks, which work without cookies, and a pixel for advertisers who cannot send postbacks. Check that it stores a click ID and several sub IDs with every click. See postback vs pixel.

2. Redirect speed and uptime

Every click goes through the tracking server. A slow redirect loses visitors; downtime loses money. Ask where the servers are and how the platform handles traffic spikes.

3. Payment models and goals

Look for CPA, CPL, CPS, revshare and hybrid deals, several goals per offer (registration, first deposit, sale), and payouts by country, device or affiliate.

4. Caps and rules

Caps per day, week or month, per offer and per affiliate, with automatic pausing when the cap is reached. See caps and payout rules.

5. Fraud checks

At minimum: bots, data-centre and VPN traffic, repeated clicks, conversions that are too fast, and repeated devices or IPs. A review queue lets your team confirm or discard each alert. See fraud protection.

6. Affiliate portal and payouts

Affiliates judge your network by the portal: clear earnings, offers, links, reports and payment history. Check how payouts are requested, approved and paid, and whether payment details are stored encrypted.

7. White label

If affiliates should see your brand, check custom domains for the panel and for tracking links, your logo and colours, and branded emails. See white label.

8. Pricing and limits

Compare what is included in each plan: conversions, clicks, offers, affiliates and team accounts. Ask what happens above the limit: an extra charge, or traffic that stops. A platform that is cheap at 1 000 conversions may be expensive at 50 000.

9. Data, security and GDPR

Your data must be isolated from other customers, exportable at any time, and protected with two-factor authentication for administrators. For European traffic, check how IP addresses are handled and whether the provider signs a data processing agreement.

10. Migration and API

Check that you can import offers, affiliates and advertisers from your current platform, and that a REST API exists for anything the panel doesn't do. See migrating to RastroAff.

How RastroAff answers these

RastroAff has postback and pixel tracking, caps and payout rules, fraud checks with a review queue, an affiliate portal with payout requests and SEPA batches, white label from the Growth plan, a REST API and CSV import. Plans list the conversions, clicks, offers and affiliates they include. You can test all of it in the 14-day trial: see getting started.