Referly vs Dub
Dub is $90 plus 5% of every partner payout, capped at $2,500/mo. Referly is $75 with 0%.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Free migration, including a direct import from Dub
Referly
Startup
$75/mo
- Covers
- $10,000/mo affiliate revenue
- Fee
- 0% transaction fee
- Tracks
- Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, Paddle, Chargebee, Polar, Zylvie
Dub
Business
$90 + 5%
- Covers
- Partner payouts up to $2,500/mo · 500 partners · 10K links · 250K events
- Fee
- 5% payout fee (3% on Enterprise)
- Tracks
- Link-based tracking; conversion events via API and integrations
Dub Partners starts on Dub's Business plan at $90/mo: partner payouts capped at $2,500/mo, 500 partners, and a 5% payout fee (3% on Enterprise). Referly is $75/mo, tracks up to $10,000/mo in affiliate revenue, and charges no percentage on payouts through your own PayPal or Wise. Dub remains the best link infrastructure in the business.
The case
Why choose Referly over Dub?
The three differences that decide it against Dub, with the plan each one is on.
0% on payouts, through your own rails.
Dub charges 5% on every partner payout on Business and Advanced, 3% on Enterprise, on top of the plan. Referly's payouts through your own PayPal, Wise or bank cost nothing; only the opt-in Referly Payouts managed rail carries a fee, and using it is a choice.
Headroom that doesn't stop at $2,500.
Dub's Business plan caps partner payouts at $2,500 a month. Past that you are on Advanced at $300. Referly meters tracked revenue instead ($10,000/mo on Startup, $30,000 on Business) and never meters what you pay out.
A program, not just a link.
The branded portal in 15 languages, W-9/W-8 collection with encrypted TINs, EU self-billing invoices, coupon-code tracking on every plan, a marketplace and Influencer Discovery. The operations around the link, which is where affiliate programs actually live.
Referly or Dub: which should you pick?
Choose Referly if
- 5% of every payout should be $0. You pay through your own PayPal or Wise
- Your payouts are heading past $2,500/mo and you don't want a $300/mo plan jump
- You need tax forms, EU invoices and a white-label portal around the program
- You want a marketplace and influencer network recruiting for you
Choose Dub if
- You're already on Dub for links. Partners is built into the product you use daily
- Developer-first and open-source matter: their API and docs are best in class
- You want links, analytics and partners in one system with one bill
- Your payouts stay under $2,500/mo and 5% of them is money you're happy to trade for that
Referly vs Dub, full comparison table
Compiled from real research into both platforms.
| Comparison | Referly | Dub |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price / month | $75 (Startup) | $90/mo (Business) |
| Real cost at $10,000/mo | $75/mo on Startup | $190/mo on Business |
| What the price meters on | Affiliate revenue | Links, tracked events and partner payouts |
| Revenue cap, entry plan | $10,000/mo | Partner payouts up to $2,500/mo · 500 partners · 10K links · 250K events |
| Next tier | $149 (Business), $30,000/mo cap | $300 (Advanced), Partner payouts up to $15,000/mo · unlimited partners · 50K links · 1M events |
| Transaction or payout fee | 0% transaction fee | 5% payout fee (3% on Enterprise) |
| Stripe | Not stated | |
| Shopify | Not stated | |
| WooCommerce | Not stated | |
| Paddle | Not stated | |
| Chargebee, Polar, Zylvie | Not stated | |
| Coupon-code tracking | Every plan, including Startup | Not stated |
| Cookie window | 60 days default, configurable | Not stated |
| W-9 / W-8 collection | Business and above, TIN encrypted at rest | Not stated |
| EU self-billing invoices | Business and above, with VIES VAT validation | Not stated |
| Automated payouts | Business and above, through PayPal and Wise with no percentage fee | Built in, with a 5% payout fee (3% on Enterprise) |
| Affiliate marketplace | Built in | |
| Influencer Discovery | $199/mo add-on, 500 invitations/mo | |
| Branded portal on your domain | Business and above | Not stated |
| Portal languages | 15 + custom languages you define | Not stated |
| Sub-affiliate tiers | 2 levels, Business and above | Not stated |
| Free tier | Referly has none | No free tier listed on the pricing page |
| Trial | 14 days, no card | 14 days |
| Refund policy | Standard | Not stated |
| Direct import into Referly | n/a | Direct importer |
| Bulk approve, decline and edit | Bulk approve and decline affiliates | Not stated |
| Cancel without contacting support | Self-serve in billing settings; billed via Stripe | Not stated |
| Per-link and per-affiliate reporting | Link-level and per-affiliate, every plan | Link analytics are the core product |
| Payout proof and audit trail | Proof required on manual payouts, with an audit trail. Business and above for automation | Built in, with a 5% payout fee |
| New-sale and new-affiliate alerts | Email alerts to program owners | Not stated |
Run your numbers
What the 5% payout fee adds
Dub charges 5% on partner payouts and caps them per plan; Referly charges nothing through your own rails. Drag your monthly payout volume and watch both bills, including the plan jump at $2,500.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime
Dub
Advanced, payouts to $15,000/mo
- Plan
- $300
- 5% payout fee
$250$250
Referly
Business, automation starts here
- Plan
- $149
- Payout processing via your PayPal or Wise
- $0
At $5,000/mo in payouts, Dub's 5% costs $250 on top of the plan, and the fee has no ceiling.
Dub's payout caps and fees are from dub.co/pricing, checked 2026-08-10: $2,500/mo of payouts on Business, $15,000 on Advanced, 5% fee (3% on Enterprise). Referly's optional managed rail (Referly Payouts) is the one thing that carries a fee of 5% bank or 8% card, and using your own PayPal or Wise costs 0%.
In depth
Why teams compare Referly and Dub
Six questions answered in full, including what they do better than us.
01What Dub does well
Dub is the best link infrastructure in the business, and that isn't a backhanded compliment, short links, custom domains, real-time analytics and conversion tracking with an open-source codebase and a developer experience most of this category can't touch. Dub Partners rides on top of that: if your team already runs its links through Dub, adding a partner program is a toggle, not a migration. The pricing is published and clean. Business $90/mo, Advanced $300, 14-day trials, yearly billing at a 10% discount, and payouts are built in, with the limits stated plainly.
If you think of your affiliate program as an extension of your link infrastructure, Dub is the native answer.
02Where Dub stops
Three numbers, all from dub.co/pricing:
- 1Payouts are capped by plan. $2,500/mo on Business, $15,000 on Advanced, unlimited only on custom-priced Enterprise. A program whose commissions grow crosses two plan boundaries on payout volume alone.
- 2Payouts carry a fee. 5% on Business and Advanced, 3% on Enterprise, on top of the plan price, on every dollar you pay partners.
- 3500 partners on Business. The entry plan caps partner count; unlimited starts on Advanced at $300/mo.
03What Referly adds on top of the tracking
Dub's core is the link; Referly's core is the program around it.
Referly meters tracked revenue, never payouts, $10,000/mo at $75, $30,000 at $149, and paying partners through your own PayPal or Wise batches costs 0%. The partner-facing side is a full white-label portal in 15 languages (your domain from Business), with W-9/W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E collection, encrypted TINs and EU self-billing invoices with VIES validation. Coupon-code tracking is first-class on every plan, attribution that survives when nobody clicks a link at all. And the marketplace plus Influencer Discovery add recruitment supply no link platform carries.
04Pricing: $75 vs $90 + 5%
The stickers are close; the fee and the caps aren't. A program paying partners $2,000 a month on Dub Business bills $90 + $100 in payout fees, $190/mo, with $500 of payout headroom left before the $300 Advanced plan. The same program on Referly bills $75 or $149 depending on tracked revenue, with $0 on the payouts.
Run it the other way to be fair: a small program paying out $500/mo on Dub is $90 + $25 = $115 against Referly's $75. That is much closer, and if the team already lives in Dub for links, the convenience can be worth the gap. The calculator below runs your actual payout volume.
05Who should choose Dub
A developer-led team already running its links, QRs and analytics on Dub, with modest payout volume, that wants one system and one bill. The open-source codebase and API-first design are genuine differentiators for teams that build.
06Who should choose Referly
A program where payouts are the point, growing commission volume, international partners needing W-8s and invoices, batch payments through your own rails at 0%. Or one that recruits through a marketplace and influencer network rather than bringing every partner itself.
Free migration
Switching from Dub to Referly
Connect Dub directly and your affiliates, their links and their commission rates come across mapped. Free on every plan, including Startup.
- 1Scope and plan~30 min
- List your campaigns, commission rules and open payouts. Decide what happens to commissions accrued but not yet paid.
- 2Export and map~30 min
- Export affiliates from Dub. Referly's direct Dub importer maps affiliates, their referral links and their commission rates.
- 3Configure and import~1 hour
- Recreate your commission plans in Referly, run the import, and swap the tracking script and the payment connection.
- 4Verify and go live3 to 7 days overlap
- Run both in parallel, compare attributed sales daily, then switch off Dub.
What does not come across
Historic click data and per-click attribution history stay in Dub. Referly imports your affiliates, their links and their commission rates; it does not import Dub's click log. Commissions already accrued in Dub should be paid out from Dub before you switch.
The full Dub migration guideFAQ
Questions you may still have
All are honest, unbiased answers, even when not flattering.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime
The center of gravity. Dub is link infrastructure with a partner program built in: $90/mo Business, payouts capped at $2,500/mo, 500 partners, and a 5% payout fee. Referly is an affiliate platform: $75/mo, revenue-metered, 0% on payouts through your own rails, with a white-label portal, tax forms and a marketplace.
