Affiliate network

ViralPayouts vs Rakuten Advertising

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. Rakuten Advertising also pays affiliates for you and does not say it has two-tier recruiting. It does not publish its prices.

Every figure for Rakuten Advertising comes from its own pages or named review sites, checked 12 October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Why brands pick ViralPayouts over Rakuten Advertising

Best fit: Smaller brands that want to run their own two-level partner program with payouts handled and no contract.

$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.

Start a program free

Side by side

	Rakuten Advertising	ViralPayouts
Price	Not published: quote on requestTerm: Not published. G2 small-business reviewer reports a rigid renewal policy and lengthy exit process. Payment terms: invoices due 30 days after service month, non-refundable, 1.5%/month late interest.	$0 a month. 10% of what you pay partners, falling to 3% at $10,000 a month.
Setup fee	Not stated	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 impact.com platform; advertiser must fund publisher commissions at least 7 days before publisher due date; 45-day locking period	Yes You fund by bank transfer; we pay every partner
Two-tier recruiting	Not stated	Yes Two levels on every program: share of commission, share of sale or fixed. Paid on approved sales, never sign-ups
Public program directory	NoIn-platform AI Partnership Discovery and Placement Recommender; claims 150k+ partners, 190+ countries, $1b+ commissions paid programs	Yes Partners browse and join with one account
Tracking	Linkless Code and Bounceless Tracking; Multi-touch and audience-based commissioning; Postback API; Coupon API	First-party links with click IDs, signed server-to-server events, Stripe Checkout webhook
Coupon tracking	Yes	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	API	REST API for brands and partners with an OpenAPI spec, an MCP server for AI agents, a signed event API and partner postbacks
Integrations	impact.com platform (alliance: contracting, tracking, payments), Brunner (display/media partnership)	Stripe Checkout, Shopify orders, any backend via the event API

Rakuten Advertising plans in full

Affiliate (managed network): price not published. Quote only; account teams and 100+ in-market experts; 150k+ partners

Pricing source

Where ViralPayouts comes out ahead of Rakuten Advertising

What Rakuten Advertising offers

Large retail, fashion, finance and travel brands that want a managed global affiliate network with account teams, plus publishers (cashback, content, creators) seeking exclusive brand relationships.

Affiliate network · G2 4.3 (94 reviews) · Trustpilot 2 (10 reviews)

Why ViralPayouts is the better choice

Transparent, no-contract fee (10% falling to 3% of partner payouts) versus quote-only, non-refundable contracts
Two levels built in so partners recruit partners; Rakuten documents none
Self-serve setup and public program directory for small brands
Fee reversed on refund; brands are not locked into renewal terms

What Rakuten Advertising users say

Paraphrased from public reviews. Follow each link to read the original.

Praise

Intuitive platform, ease of use, wide range of programs and responsive support (11 G2 mentions each). g2.com
Account and agency managers credited with fast, knowledgeable help and useful partner recommendations. g2.com
G2 users report ~1 month to implement and ~2 months to ROI. g2.com

Complaints

Payment and reporting delays and slow payouts that strain cash flow (G2). g2.com
Advertiser says affiliates must re-accept new commission rates; small business reports rigid renewal and long exit. g2.com
Dated interface, outdated publisher contacts and expired coupons left live. g2.com
Trustpilot publishers report accounts terminated 'with or without cause' and blocked funds; one saw 200+ clicks/month with no commission (Aug 2026). trustpilot.com

About Rakuten Advertising

In their words:: "Smarter Solutions. Stronger Results." (title: "Elevate Your Affiliate Marketing with the Leading Global Network")
Company:: Founded Launched as Rakuten Advertising on 12 Feb 2020 (combining Rakuten Marketing's affiliate network, Rakuten Intelligence and Rakuten media); claims 25+ years in affiliate · San Mateo, California · Rakuten Group (Rakuten International). Strategic alliance with impact.com announced 28 Apr 2026: impact.com provides contracting, tracking and payments infrastructure; publisher disbursement now "made through the Impact Platform". Paid search/programmatic Performance Solutions unit sold to Brunner (Mar 2025).
Named customers:: Sephora, BMW, IKEA, Net-A-Porter, H&M, JD Sports, Icelandair, OUAI
Website:: rakutenadvertising.com

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.

Start a program See pricing

More comparisons

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Sources for Rakuten Advertising (16), checked 12 October 2026

Rakuten Advertising is a trademark of its owner. ViralPayouts is not affiliated with Rakuten Advertising. Prices and features change: check rakutenadvertising.com before you decide. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.