Paddle Affiliate Tracking Software: Set Up an Affiliate Program with Paddle
Trackli is affiliate tracking software that works with Paddle Billing. Paddle is your Merchant of Record, so the sale, the tax and the refund all happen on Paddle's side — Trackli listens to Paddle's webhooks, credits the right affiliate, keeps paying that commission on every renewal, and reverses it automatically if the customer refunds. Set up takes one notification destination in Paddle and one commission plan in Trackli. Free up to 5 referred customers a month, then a flat $29/month with no affiliate or conversion caps.
Paddle affiliate integration via webhooks + REST API · Trackli tracks and approves commissions — you pay your affiliates from Paddle payouts as usual.
Why Paddle makes affiliate tracking harder
Paddle acts as Merchant of Record: it takes the payment, handles sales tax and compliance, deducts its fee, and pays you the remainder. That is a genuinely good deal - and it creates three real problems for an affiliate program.
1. Gross is not what you keep. The price the customer paid is not the amount that lands in your account. Paddle's fee and the buyer's local sales tax come out first. If you pay your affiliate 20% of the gross price, you are paying them a share of money you never received.
2. The number you actually want arrives late. Paddle only finalises your payout figure once the transaction completes and the fee is processed - so any system that commissions on your real earnings has to wait for the completed event, not the checkout event.
3. Subscriptions keep moving. Upgrades, downgrades, pauses, cancellations and refunds all happen after the sale, inside Paddle, and your affiliate tool has to hear about every one of them.
Paddle affiliate integration: how a Paddle sale becomes a tracked commission
Trackli connects to Paddle through Paddle Billing's notification destinations (Paddle's webhooks) and its REST API. You point a notification destination at Trackli's endpoint, subscribe to the transaction and subscription events, and pass the affiliate's referral code through checkout in Paddle's custom_data field. From there Trackli does what it does on every platform: attributes the sale to the affiliate that referred it (90-day first-party cookie), applies your commission rate - percentage or flat, with tiers if you want them - recurs the commission on every renewal, and reverses it automatically if the customer refunds.
Straight answer on Merchant-of-Record maths: you decide what base rate to pay. If you want to pay your affiliates a share of your net Paddle payout rather than the gross price, set the commission rate accordingly - Trackli does not currently recalculate against Paddle's fee schedule for you. We would rather tell you that than let you find out on your first payout.
How to set up an affiliate program with Paddle (5 steps, ~10 minutes)
- 1
Create a notification destination in Paddle. Paddle dashboard, Developer Tools, Notifications - point it at your Trackli webhook URL.
- 2
Subscribe to the events that matter: transaction.completed, subscription.created, subscription.updated, subscription.canceled, and the adjustment/refund events.
- 3
Pass the referral code through checkout. Add the affiliate's ref code to Paddle Billing's custom_data on the transaction. (On Paddle Classic this field was called passthrough - if you're still on Classic, note that Paddle has moved Classic accounts to Billing.)
- 4
Set your commission plan in Trackli - percentage or flat rate, tiers optional, recurring on renewals.
- 5
Invite your affiliates - bulk CSV or email list - and they get a self-serve portal showing their clicks, conversions and earnings.
That's the whole Paddle affiliate integration: Paddle sends transaction and subscription events, Trackli matches the custom_data ref code to an affiliate and records the commission — no plugin, no code on Paddle's side beyond the webhook destination.
What Trackli does when the money moves: Trackli tracks and lets you bulk-approve commissions. You pay your affiliates - Trackli does not move money on your behalf.
Trackli vs Rewardful vs FirstPromoter
| Feature | Trackli | Rewardful | FirstPromoter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paddle support | Via webhooks/API | Via webhooks/API | Via webhooks/API |
| Price | Flat $29/mo - never a % of your affiliate revenue | $49/mo up to $7.5k/mo affiliate revenue, then $99, then $149+ | Tiered; Starter capped at $5k/mo |
| Caps on affiliates or tracked conversions | None on paid plans | ||
| Recurring commission on renewals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Refund reverses commission | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Attribution window | 90-day first-party cookie | ||
| Free plan | Free forever (5 referred customers/mo) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Trackli work with Paddle Billing?
What about Paddle Classic?
Do commissions recur on subscription renewals?
What happens if a customer refunds?
Does Trackli pay my affiliates for me?
What does it cost?
Is Trackli Paddle-compatible affiliate management software?
Can I run a referral program and an affiliate program on Paddle with the same setup?
How long is the tracking window for a Paddle referral?
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