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Affiliate Marketing · head to head

Impact vs FirstPromoter

Impact logo

Impact

Affiliate Marketing

Partnership automation platform for modern businesses

From
$30/month
Rated
-
FirstPromoter logo

FirstPromoter

Affiliate Marketing

Referral tracking for SaaS and subscription businesses

From
$49/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Impact onboarding takes 60-120 days, creating long delays before partner programs go live; FirstPromoter plans are capped by affiliate-driven revenue, so Starter at $49 a month stops at $5,000 a month and Business at $99 stops at $15,000
  • They diverge on capability: Impact covers Partner discovery, FirstPromoter covers Recurring commission tracking.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Impact and FirstPromoter actually diverge.

Attributes where Impact and FirstPromoter differ
AttributeImpactFirstPromoter
Starting price$30/month$49/month
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb (SaaS)
Founded20082017

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Affiliate Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Impact

  • Partner discovery
  • Contract automation
  • Cross-device tracking
  • Fraud protection
  • Performance optimization
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot
  • Shopify

Only in FirstPromoter

  • Recurring commission tracking
  • Multi-tier rewards
  • Coupon attribution
  • Public leaderboards
  • Custom signup pages
  • Stripe
  • Braintree
  • Paddle

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Impact

  • affiliate marketing managementnot FirstPromoter
  • Workflow automationnot FirstPromoter
  • Reportingnot FirstPromoter

FirstPromoter

  • Running an affiliate or referral programme for a SaaS productnot Impact
  • Tracking referral revenue through Stripenot Impact
  • Paying affiliates and issuing invoicesnot Impact
  • Multi-tier commission structures on the higher plansnot Impact

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Impact

  • Onboarding takes 60-120 days, creating long delays before partner programs go live
  • Pricing is opaque for enterprise plans, requiring direct sales negotiations
  • Limited native partner messaging and bulk communication features, requiring third-party tools like SendGrid
  • Customer support is slow and contractually focused, with reported issues and complaints going unresolved
  • Menu bar is complicated with settings buried several levels down, making navigation difficult for basic configuration tasks

FirstPromoter

  • Plans are capped by affiliate-driven revenue, so Starter at $49 a month stops at $5,000 a month and Business at $99 stops at $15,000
  • Starter is limited to 1,000 affiliates, 3 campaigns and 2 websites
  • Multi-tiered commissions, invoicing and Stripe payouts require the Business tier
  • Fraud and refund protection, automated payouts, SSO and custom roles are Enterprise only, from $149 a month
  • There is no free tier, only a 14 day trial

Pricing, plan by plan

Impact

$30/month
  • Starter$30/month

FirstPromoter

$49/month
  • Starter$49/month
    • Up to $5,000/month affiliate revenue
    • 2 campaigns maximum
    • 1,000 affiliates maximum
  • Business$99/month
    • Up to $15,000/month affiliate revenue
    • Unlimited campaigns
    • Unlimited affiliates
  • Enterprise$149/month
    • $30,000+/month affiliate revenue
    • Unlimited campaigns
    • Unlimited affiliates

Which should you pick?

Choose Impact if

  • You need partner discovery.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want contract automation.

Choose FirstPromoter if

  • You need recurring commission tracking.
  • You work on Web (SaaS).
  • You also want multi-tier rewards.

Questions people ask

Is Impact or FirstPromoter better?
Neither clearly leads. Impact starts at $30/month and FirstPromoter at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Impact or FirstPromoter?
Impact starts at $30/month and FirstPromoter at $49/month.
Does Impact or FirstPromoter run on more platforms?
Impact runs on Web, Mobile. FirstPromoter runs on Web (SaaS).
What is Impact best used for?
Impact is most often used for affiliate marketing management, workflow automation, reporting. Of those, affiliate marketing management and workflow automation are not what FirstPromoter is typically brought in for.
What can Impact do that FirstPromoter cannot?
Impact covers Partner discovery, Contract automation, Cross-device tracking, Fraud protection. FirstPromoter covers Recurring commission tracking, Multi-tier rewards, Coupon attribution, Public leaderboards. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Impact: What is Impact.com?

Impact.com is a partnership automation platform that helps brands, publishers, and agencies manage affiliate programs, influencer relationships, and strategic partnerships. It serves as a unified platform for tracking, reporting, and managing partner performance.

Source
FirstPromoter: Does FirstPromoter offer a free trial?

Yes, FirstPromoter offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. After the trial, subscription pricing starts at $49/month for the Starter plan.

Source
Impact: What are Impact's pricing plans?

Impact offers tiered pricing: Starter plan at $30/month, Essential plan with custom pricing, and Pro plan with pricing available upon request. Publishers use the platform free but must be approved. Pricing varies by features and transaction volume.

Source
FirstPromoter: What are FirstPromoter's pricing tiers based on?

FirstPromoter pricing is based on monthly tracked revenue from your affiliate program. The Starter plan ($49/month) supports up to $5,000/month affiliate revenue with 2 campaigns, the Business plan ($99/month) supports up to $15,000/month, and the Enterprise plan ($149+/month) supports $30,000+/month.

Source
Impact: How many partners are in Impact's marketplace?

Impact's Partner Marketplace includes approximately 90,000 partners including affiliates, influencers, mobile app publishers, and strategic alliance partners.

Source
FirstPromoter: Which billing platforms does FirstPromoter integrate with?

FirstPromoter integrates with Stripe, Chargebee, Paddle, Recurly, and Braintree. The platform ties commissions to subscription billing events like renewals, upgrades, and cancellations.

Source
Impact: Which platforms does Impact integrate with?

Impact integrates with e-commerce platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Adobe Commerce. It also supports API integrations and connects with marketing and CRM tools.

Source
FirstPromoter: Does FirstPromoter support multi-level affiliate commissions?

Yes, FirstPromoter supports multi-level commissions tracking up to 3 levels deep, allowing affiliates to earn from their own referrals and referrals they bring in.

Source
Impact: How long is the onboarding process?

Impact's standard onboarding process takes 60-120 days, which is a known limitation for brands seeking quick implementation.

Source
FirstPromoter: Can I customize the affiliate portal branding in FirstPromoter?

Yes, FirstPromoter provides a white-label partner portal that you can customize with your domain and branding. However, FirstPromoter's logo appears on portal pages unless you upgrade to higher tiers.

Source

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