Simple Affiliate's pricing is straightforward, but the details matter when you're scaling. The platform has five tiers—Free, Basic, Pro, Premium, and Enterprise—each with different affiliate limits, autopay fees, and feature access. Understanding the true cost of each tier, including payment processing fees, helps you choose the right plan and forecast your affiliate program budget accurately.
CreatorCommerce is a Shopify-native platform that helps DTC brands build co-branded creator storefronts—personalized shopping pages that live on the brand's own domain, and understanding Simple Affiliate's pricing structure is essential if you're planning to layer storefronts on top of your affiliate tracking infrastructure.
Simple Affiliate Pricing Overview
Here's the full breakdown of all five Simple Affiliate tiers:
| Tier | Monthly Cost | Affiliate Limit | Autopay Enabled | Autopay Fee | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 10 | Manual only | 3.9% (manual pay) | Basic tracking, affiliate dashboard, manual payouts |
| Basic | $19/month | Unlimited | Yes | 3.9% | Unlimited affiliates, autopay via Stripe, affiliate groups, email reports |
| Pro | $39/month | Unlimited | Yes | 2.9% | Tier management, custom commission tiers, 1099 forms, advanced analytics |
| Premium | $69/month | Unlimited | Yes | 2.4% | Priority support, detailed reporting, pixel tracking, webhook access |
| Enterprise | $189/month | Unlimited | Yes | Custom | Dedicated account manager, custom integrations, API access, SLA guarantee |
The key differentiator between tiers is the autopay fee and included features. The Free tier is perpetually free but limits you to 10 affiliates and manual payouts. Once you move to Basic, you unlock unlimited affiliates and automated Stripe payouts—critical features for scaling.
Tier-by-Tier Deep Dive
Free Tier: $0/month
The Free tier is a full-featured trial. You get everything Simple Affiliate offers—tracking, affiliate groups, dashboard access—but capped at 10 affiliates. Autopay is available, but it's manual only; you log in and click "Pay" each time. The processing fee is 3.9% when you do pay out.
Best for: Testing Simple Affiliate with a small pilot group. If you're evaluating whether affiliate marketing makes sense for your brand, start here. You'll know within 2–3 months whether to upgrade.
Honest take: The Free tier is genuinely free. No credit card required, no time limit, no hidden upgrade screen. But the 10-affiliate cap means you'll outgrow it fast. It's designed for learning, not scaling.
Basic Tier: $19/month
This is the inflection point. For $19/month, you unlock unlimited affiliates and true autopay. Instead of manually pushing the "Pay" button, Simple Affiliate automatically initiates payouts to each affiliate's Stripe account once they hit your payout threshold (typically $5–$10).
Features include affiliate groups (for commission tiers), email reports, and basic analytics. The autopay fee is 3.9%.
Best for: Any brand scaling from a handful of affiliates to 50–100+. This tier removes the manual payout burden that kills affiliate program growth. If you have 50 affiliates and each earns $2–$50/month, you'll spend hours manually paying them. Autopay changes the math entirely.
Real cost example: You run $20,000 in affiliate commissions a month at a 10% rate. Autopay fee is 3.9%, so that's $78 in processing costs. Your SA tier cost is $19. Total monthly cost: $97. That's extremely cheap for the infrastructure.
Pro Tier: $39/month
The Pro tier drops the autopay fee from 3.9% to 2.9% and adds advanced commission tier management. You can create complex commission structures—different rates for different affiliate types, seasonal bonuses, milestone-based bonuses. The tier also auto-generates 1099 tax forms, which saves you hours at year-end.
Analytics are more detailed, and you get weekly email reports instead of monthly.
Best for: Programs with 100–300 affiliates and $40,000+ in monthly commissions. The 1% fee drop (3.9% to 2.9%) adds up fast. On $40,000 in commissions, you save $400/month—which more than pays for the tier itself.
Real cost example: $40,000 in commissions, 2.9% fee = $1,160 in processing. SA tier is $39. Total: $1,199. You're saving ~$400/month vs. Basic. If you're not processing at least $30–40k/month, Basic is fine.
Premium Tier: $69/month
Premium drops the fee to 2.4%—a meaningful difference at scale. This tier adds priority email support, pixel tracking (for deeper conversion attribution), and webhook access so you can integrate SA data with your own systems.
Premium is also where you get the most detailed reporting—including attribution windows and multi-touch analysis, if available.
Best for: Brands running $75,000+ in monthly affiliate commissions or those needing custom integrations. The 2.4% fee justifies the tier cost if you're processing $75k+/month. The webhook access is valuable if you're connecting SA to your CRM or analytics stack.
Real cost example: $100,000 in commissions, 2.4% fee = $2,400 in processing. SA tier is $69. Total: $2,469. vs. Pro at 2.9% = $2,900. You save ~$400/month.
Enterprise Tier: $189/month
Enterprise is for high-volume, white-glove situations. The fee is custom—you negotiate directly with Simple Affiliate. A dedicated account manager handles questions and custom feature requests. API access lets you fully automate your affiliate workflow.
Best for: Brands running $500,000+ in annual affiliate revenue (monthly averages of $40,000+) or those with bespoke integration needs. At this volume, the custom fee negotiation usually lands you at 1.5–2.0%, which is a massive savings.
Real cost example: $200,000 in monthly commissions, 1.8% fee (negotiated) = $3,600 in processing. SA tier is $189. Total: $3,789. At Basic's 3.9%, you'd pay $7,800 in fees alone. The upgrade saves you $4,000+/month.
Understanding Autopay Fees
Simple Affiliate's autopay fee is often misunderstood. Here's what it actually is:
Definition: The autopay fee is a payment processing cost taken from each affiliate payout. When an affiliate reaches the payout threshold, SA initiates a Stripe transfer. Stripe charges a small percentage (Simple Affiliate passes it through as the autopay fee).
Example: An affiliate earns $100. The autopay fee is 3.9% (Basic tier). SA pays them $96.10, and $3.90 covers the Stripe transaction cost.
This is not an SA markup—it's the true cost of moving money via Stripe. If you were doing manual payouts (wire transfers, checks), you'd pay bank fees or checks fees instead. SA's fee is actually cheaper than traditional methods.
The fee is always deducted from the payout, not from your account. If you pay an affiliate $100 in commission, the affiliate receives $96.10 (Basic) or $97.60 (Premium), and the fee covers SA's and Stripe's costs.
How Simple Affiliate Compares on Price
Here's how SA stacks up against other popular affiliate platforms:
| Platform | Free Tier | Lowest Paid | Autopay | When to Choose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Affiliate | Yes (10 affiliates) | $19/month | Yes (3.9%–2.4%) | Shopify, simplicity, automation |
| GoAffPro | Yes (unlimited) | $0 (forever free) | No | Budget-conscious, very small programs, manual payout preference |
| UpPromote | No | $29.99/month | Yes | Multi-store support, advanced attribution |
| Refersion | No | $99+/month | Yes | Influencer marketing, creator management tools |
GoAffPro is free forever, but it doesn't offer autopay. You manually pay each affiliate, which doesn't scale. Simple Affiliate's $19/month for unlimited affiliates and autopay is a huge value proposition.
UpPromote starts at $29.99/month—$10 more than SA Basic. It includes autopay and supports multiple stores, but for single-store Shopify brands, SA is cheaper.
Refersion starts at $99+/month. It's significantly more expensive but includes influencer management features (creator search, tiering, performance tracking) that SA doesn't. Refersion is for brands that want an all-in-one influencer platform; SA is for brands that want reliable tracking and payment with flexibility to layer on other tools.
For pure affiliate tracking and payment, Simple Affiliate is the most affordable option that includes autopay.
What No Simple Affiliate Tier Includes
Across all five Simple Affiliate tiers, the platform does not include:
- Co-branded storefronts — No white-label landing pages for affiliates. Each affiliate gets a referral link, but not a personalized shopping page.
- Creator seeding/discovery — SA doesn't help you find or recruit creators.
- Email integrations — No native Klaviyo, ConvertKit, or HubSpot sync.
- Deep analytics — SA provides referral tracking and commission totals, but not multi-touch attribution, cohort analysis, or LTV calculations.
- Affiliate approval workflows — You manage affiliate recruitment manually.
These gaps are intentional. Simple Affiliate focuses on tracking and payment. If you need storefronts, you can layer CreatorCommerce on top (it integrates directly with SA's affiliate groups). If you need email integrations, use Zapier or Make. This modularity lets you build the exact stack you need without paying for features you don't use.
Related Articles
- Simple Affiliate Review
- Simple Affiliate vs GoAffPro vs UpPromote
- Best Shopify Affiliate Apps with Automated Payouts
- Shopify Affiliate Autopay and 1099 Tax Forms
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a setup fee?
No setup fee. You install the app, it goes live immediately. No onboarding charge, no activation fee.
Can I downgrade or upgrade mid-month?
Yes. Most SaaS platforms pro-rate the cost. If you upgrade from Basic to Pro mid-month, you pay the difference for the remaining days. If you downgrade, the system usually credits the overage toward next month or refunds it.
Do payment processing fees (beyond autopay) apply?
Only the autopay fee applies. Simple Affiliate doesn't charge per transaction, per affiliate, or per order tracked. Your only variable cost is the autopay fee when you pay out.
Are there extra costs for affiliate groups?
No. Affiliate groups are included on all tiers (except the Free tier has very basic group support). You can create as many groups as you want without additional cost.
What's the payout threshold, and does it affect cost?
You set the threshold (typically $5–$100). When an affiliate hits it, they're paid out automatically. The threshold doesn't affect your cost—it just controls when money flows. Higher thresholds mean fewer total payouts and slightly lower total fees, but affiliates have to wait longer to get paid.
If I'm on Basic and process $50,000/month in commissions, should I upgrade to Pro?
Probably yes. Here's the math: At Basic, you pay $19 + (3.9% of $50,000) = $19 + $1,950 = $1,969/month. At Pro, you pay $39 + (2.9% of $50,000) = $39 + $1,450 = $1,489/month. You save $480/month by upgrading. The Pro tier pays for itself plus saves money.
Is there a contract lock-in?
No. Simple Affiliate is month-to-month. Cancel anytime. (You'll lose access to the app, but your affiliate data is exportable.)
Are there volume discounts for annual prepay?
Some SaaS tools offer discounts for annual prepay. Check with Simple Affiliate directly—Enterprise tier often negotiates payment terms, but standard tiers typically are monthly.
Does the free tier require a credit card?
No credit card required to start. You can try Simple Affiliate fully for free with up to 10 affiliates with no payment method on file.
Simple Affiliate Pricing: The Bottom Line
Simple Affiliate offers the best price-to-value ratio if you're running Shopify and want reliable affiliate tracking with automated payouts. The Free tier lets you test for as long as you want. Once you're ready to scale (past 10 affiliates), the Basic tier at $19/month is a steal—you're paying less than $1 per affiliate for unlimited growth, automated payments, and tax compliance.
The tiers above Basic are worth it only if your monthly affiliate payouts justify the lower fees. Use this heuristic:
- Free: Testing, 1–10 affiliates
- Basic ($19): 10–200 affiliates, under $50k/month commissions
- Pro ($39): 200+ affiliates, $40–100k/month commissions
- Premium ($69): $75k+/month commissions, or custom integrations needed
- Enterprise ($189): $500k+/year affiliate revenue, or bespoke requirements
If you want to layer co-branded creator storefronts on top of Simple Affiliate—giving your top affiliates a branded shopping experience—CreatorCommerce integrates directly and costs separately. The combination is powerful: SA handles tracking and payment, CreatorCommerce handles the storefront experience.
Ready to start? Install Simple Affiliate for free and set up your first affiliate group today. You'll know within 2–3 months whether the program is working and which tier makes financial sense.
For more on scaling affiliate programs with branded storefronts, visit CreatorCommerce.
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