Awin vs Post Affiliate Pro

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 Former ShareASale accounts closed on October 6, 2025, so ShareASale-era guides are out of date.

Post Affiliate Pro is affiliate management software from Quality Unit, a Bratislava, Slovakia company founded in 2004 that also makes the LiveAgent help desk. It was the company's first product, and two decades of added tracking methods and commission rules make it one of the most configurable platforms for merchants running their own program instead of joining a marketplace.

Tracking covers cookies, IP fallback, server-to-server postbacks, coupon codes, direct links without referral URLs, SubIDs and offline sales. Commissions can be per sale, lead, click or impression, recurring, lifetime or multi-tier, plus bonuses and performance rewards. Fraud protection, mass payments, a branded affiliate portal, mobile apps, an AI assistant and over 220 integrations round it out. Cloud plans are priced by tracking requests: Starter $89 per month for 10,000 requests and one campaign, Pro $139 for one million, Ultimate $269 for six million with MLM features, and Network $649 for multi-merchant networks. Annual billing saves 7 to 11%; every plan includes a 30-day free trial and setup help.

It fits e-commerce stores, SaaS and digital product sellers that want full control over commission logic, though the interface feels dated. Rewardful and FirstPromoter are faster to set up for Stripe-based SaaS, while Impact and PartnerStack add partner marketplaces and enterprise partnership workflows.

Buying tip: Starter was marked as a limited 2026 offer with only 10,000 tracking requests, so most growing programs land on Pro. Compare overage pricing per 10,000 requests before choosing.