Awin vs PartnerStack

Awin is one of the largest affiliate marketing networks in the world. It traces back to Affiliate Window, founded in the UK in 2000, which merged with Germany's zanox in 2017 to form Awin, headquartered in Berlin and part of the Axel Springer group. Awin also bought the US network ShareASale in 2017 and completed moving ShareASale advertisers onto the Awin platform in August 2025. Its core job is connecting brands with publishers, from cashback sites to creators, and tracking and paying their commissions.

Advertisers get a partner directory and marketplace, campaign and commission management, tracking, reporting and partner payments. Self-serve pricing comes in two tiers, Access for newcomers and Accelerate for growing programs, both with a monthly fee plus a percentage tracking fee on each sale, while Advanced is a custom package with managed services and full feature access. Publishers join for free.

Awin fits retailers and DTC brands that want reach: the company reports about 30,000 advertisers, a million publishers and 1,400 employees. If you want to run your own branded program with only your own partners, software such as Refersion or PartnerStack is simpler, and impact.com is the stronger choice for enterprise partnership automation beyond classic affiliates.

Before you sign, model the total cost: on a $100 sale with a 6 percent commission, the partner earns $6 and Awin takes $3.50 on Access or $2.50 on Accelerate, on top of the monthly fee. Former ShareASale accounts closed on October 6, 2025, so ShareASale-era guides are out of date.

PartnerStack is a partner relationship management platform for B2B SaaS companies, based in Toronto and originally launched as GrowSumo. It lets software companies run affiliate, referral, reseller and agency programs in one system, and differs from most affiliate tools through its marketplace: a network of partners actively looking for SaaS products to promote.

Companies recruit partners from the marketplace or invite their own, onboard them with tailored resources and training, and track clicks, leads, deals and subscriptions through integrations with Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly, HubSpot and Salesforce. Commissions can be one-time, recurring or tiered, and PartnerStack pays partners globally in consolidated payouts, taking on the administrative work of tax forms and currencies. Reporting shows partner-sourced revenue, and partners get a single dashboard across every program they join. Pricing is quote-based with annual contracts.

PartnerStack fits growth-stage and established B2B SaaS companies that treat partnerships as a real revenue channel and want access to an existing partner network. Early-stage startups usually find it too expensive and complex for a first affiliate program; Rewardful, Tolt and FirstPromoter launch faster at flat monthly prices. Impact.com covers broader partnership types beyond SaaS, and Crossbeam focuses on account mapping between partners rather than payouts.