What is affiliate software for ecommerce?

Simple Affiliate · October 24, 2026

Affiliate software for ecommerce is the tool an online store uses to run an affiliate program. It tracks the sales that each affiliate refers, applies your commission rules, gives affiliates a place to sign in, and pays them. You may also see it called affiliate tracking software, affiliate management software, or affiliate program software: these names describe the same kind of tool.

What you will learn

The jobs that affiliate software does for a store
How affiliate tracking software connects a sale to an affiliate
How to choose software for the size and needs of your store

What affiliate software does

An affiliate is a person or business that promotes your products and earns a commission, a share of each sale they refer. Affiliate software does the work that would otherwise sit in a spreadsheet:

Tracking: it records which affiliate referred each order.
Commission rules: it calculates what each affiliate earns. For example, a 10% commission on a $80 order pays $8. Many tools let you set different rates for some products or for groups of affiliates.
An affiliate portal: a portal, or affiliate dashboard, is the page where affiliates sign in to get their links and codes and to see their sales and earnings.
Payouts: a payout is the payment that sends an affiliate the commission they earned. Some tools pay affiliates automatically, and others only record what you owe.
Tax forms: in the United States, payments to an affiliate may need to be reported on a Form 1099, a tax form for payments other than wages. Some tools help with these forms.
Reports: they show the sales, commissions, and payouts of the program, so you can see which affiliates sell.

How affiliate tracking software tracks sales

Attribution is the rule that decides which affiliate gets credit for a sale. Affiliate tracking software uses one or more of these methods.

Referral links

A referral link is a link to your store with a tracking code that identifies the affiliate. When a customer clicks it, the software usually stores a cookie, a small file in the browser, so that it can credit a purchase made later. The time that a click counts for is the conversion window, for example 30 days. Cookie-consent rules can stop the cookie, so tools differ in what they do when a customer declines it.

Discount codes

A unique discount code gives the customer a discount and tells the software which affiliate to credit. A code works with no click, so it suits podcasts, videos, and posts where a link is hard to use. To compare the two methods, read Referral links vs discount codes.

Tracking pixels

A tracking pixel, also called a conversion pixel, is a small piece of code on the order confirmation page. It reports each completed sale to the software. Pixels are common when the software is not built for one store platform. Software built for your platform can read the orders from the platform directly instead.

Affiliate platform or in-house software?

Some affiliate platforms are networks: marketplaces that connect stores with a large pool of publishers, the websites and creators who promote products for commission. Other affiliate software runs an in-house program, where you recruit your own affiliates, often your customers and partners. To compare the two, read What is in-house affiliate program software?

How to choose by store size and need

A new or small program: a few affiliates, often customers or fans. Look for a free or low-cost plan, simple referral links, and an easy way to pay.
A growing program: many affiliates with different terms. Look for no limit on affiliates, groups with their own commission rates, discount codes, automated payouts, and tax form help.
A large program or more than one store: look for commissions by product, tools that move affiliates between groups, support for more than one store, and an import of your current affiliates.
You need new affiliates that you do not know yet: a network or a creator marketplace can help you find them.

A checklist before you choose

Store platform: does the software read orders from your platform, or do you add a pixel or import sales?
Tracking methods: referral links, discount codes, or both, and what happens when a customer declines cookies.
Commission rules: one rate for all, or rates by product, collection, or affiliate group.
Affiliate portal: on your store's domain, or on a separate website that the software runs.
Pricing model: a flat monthly fee, or a percentage of affiliate sales. For example, a 2% fee on $10,000 of referred sales costs $200 a month.
Payouts: the payout methods, and whether the store or the affiliate pays the processing fee.
Tax forms: whether the software helps with 1099 forms, if you pay U.S. affiliates.
Moving a program: whether you can import your current affiliates.

Where Simple Affiliate fits

Shopify stores add affiliate software as an app from the Shopify App Store. Shopify also has Shopify Collabs, its own tool for working with creators, which pays creators through Shopify. Simple Affiliate is in-house affiliate software for Shopify stores. It reads orders from your store, and affiliates sign in with your store's Shopify customer accounts. Affiliates share referral links or, on the Pro plan and above, discount codes. Pro and above also add commissions by product, variant, or collection.

Simple Affiliate pays affiliates with Autopay, its automatic payout option, or with PayPal or store credit. Autopay pays the full commission through Stripe, a payment processor, and the store pays the Autopay fees. For eligible U.S. affiliates paid with Autopay, Simple Affiliate can facilitate 1099 forms when the thresholds of the IRS, the U.S. tax agency, require them. Eligible stores can import their current affiliates from a CSV file, a simple spreadsheet format. Read more about automated affiliate payouts with Autopay, and see the Simple Affiliate pricing page for the plans and fees.

To see what Simple Affiliate does in one list, read the Simple Affiliate features page.