Affiliate software for e-commerceViralPayouts vs Kuto
ViralPayouts has no monthly fee, pays your affiliates for you and pays recruiters on every program. You pay 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3%, and nothing in a month when nobody sells. Kuto also pays affiliates for you and has no two-tier recruiting. It costs $0 a month + 10% of payouts.
Every figure for Kuto comes from its own pages or named review sites, checked 12 October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
Why brands pick ViralPayouts over Kuto
Best fit: A brand (Shopify or not) wanting the same pay-on-results model with a fee that drops at scale and partners recruiting partners.
- $0 a month
No plan and no setup fee. 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3% at $10,000 a month.
- Payouts done for you
One invoice per program. ViralPayouts sends every partner and recruiter their money and collects tax forms.
- Recruiters built in
Customer links and recruit links on every program, with the override set your way and reversed on refunds.
Side by side
| Kuto | ViralPayouts | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 a month + 10% of payouts | $0 a month. 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3% at $10,000 a month. |
| Setup fee | 0 | None |
| Fee for paying affiliates | Not stated | Included in the fee above: no charge to the brand for sending payoutsPartners pay Whop's own fee when they withdraw to their bank |
| Pays your affiliates for you | Yesvia Shopify Billing API (collection from merchant); Stripe listed | Yes You fund by bank transfer; we pay every partner |
| Two-tier recruiting | No | Yes Two levels on every program: share of commission, share of sale or fixed. Paid on approved sales, never sign-ups |
| Public program directory | Yes | Yes Partners browse and join with one account |
| Tracking | Tracking links with auto-applied consumer discount | First-party links with click IDs, signed server-to-server events, Stripe Checkout webhook |
| Coupon tracking | No | Yes A code per partner, per program |
| Mobile app tracking | Not stated | App installs, sign-ups and purchases reported from your server through the signed event API, with bounties on them. No SDK to ship in your app. |
| API, webhooks, MCP | Not stated | REST API for brands and partners with an OpenAPI spec, an MCP server for AI agents, a signed event API and partner postbacks |
| Integrations | Shopify Billing, Stripe, Customer accounts | Stripe Checkout, Shopify orders, any backend via the event API |
Kuto plans in full
- Pay per sale: $0 a month, plus 10% of payouts. Commission % set by merchant + 10% Kuto fee on that commission, up to a merchant-set monthly billing cap
Where ViralPayouts comes out ahead of Kuto
What Kuto offers
Shopify merchants that want to be listed in an open catalog where any affiliate can grab a link, paying only a commission plus a 10% fee on sales.
Affiliate software for e-commerce
Why ViralPayouts is the better choice
- Fee falls from 10% to 3% at volume; Kuto stays at 10%
- Two-level recruiting funded per program; Kuto's recruit share only applies to its own fee
- Works beyond Shopify via Stripe and event API; REST API + MCP server
About Kuto
- In their words:
- "The affiliate marketplace for Shopify"
- Company:
- Austin, TX, US (Shopify listing) · Iridian LLC (site footer)
- Website:
- kuto.link
Try ViralPayouts on test money
Set your commission and recruiter override, see what each sale costs you, and run it on the test network before a real partner joins. No monthly fee.
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Kuto is a trademark of its owner. ViralPayouts is not affiliated with Kuto. Prices and features change: check kuto.link before you decide. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.