What we're building.
Build notes, attribution deep-dives, and what shipped this week.
Rewardful in 2026: when to stay, when to switch
A working operator's read of Rewardful — what it's genuinely good at, where the architecture starts to bite, and the three specific points in a SaaS's life when it's worth switching.
Dub alternatives: six options for partner programs that aren't link-shortener-first
Dub Partners ships a slick experience on top of a link-shortener pedigree. For some teams that's the right shape; for others it's the wrong starting point. Here are six alternatives if you're evaluating Dub and not sure.
Rewardful alternatives: seven options for SaaS affiliate programs in 2026
Rewardful is a polished Stripe-native affiliate tool. It also isn't the right fit for everyone — short cookie defaults, hosted-only, no marketplace, lossy export. Here are seven alternatives sized for the program you actually run.
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What creators should look for in a brand's partner program before promoting
A checklist for creators evaluating affiliate or partner programs. Payout cadence, attribution windows, holdback days, recoverable terms — the questions that separate a real program from a content trap, and what answers should be deal-breakers.
Designing a partner commission structure that doesn't bleed margin
Most SaaS partner programs are priced by vibes. 20% recurring sounds reasonable; 30% one-time sounds generous; tiers are copy-pasted from the last vendor. Here's a more deliberate framework — tiers, holdback, caps, recoverable vs non-recoverable, and the math that keeps the program profitable.
Multi-currency commissions and international partner payouts via Stripe Connect
Most affiliate platforms either ignore currency entirely (you pay everyone in USD, partners eat the FX) or wrap their own payment rail around it (you pay the platform, the platform pays partners, the spread goes somewhere). Here's how OpenPartner handles cross-border commissions on Stripe Connect.
Fraud detection in partner programs: what we catch, what we flag, what we leave to you
Affiliate fraud is mostly boring. Self-referrals, cookie stuffing, fake conversions, click bots. Here's an honest breakdown of what OpenPartner detects automatically, what it surfaces for review, and the parts that still need a human.
Self-hosting OpenPartner: Postgres, click ingestion, and what scales when
A practical guide to running OpenPartner in production on your own infrastructure — from the single-box Compose deploy to the parts of the stack that need attention as click volume climbs into the millions per month.
Attribution windows, cookie expiry, and click stitching: how OpenPartner survives Safari and a 60-day signup gap
Three things actually decide whether a partner gets credit: how long the attribution window is, how long the cookie lives, and what happens when the cookie is gone before the user converts. Here's how OpenPartner handles each.
Six Impact.com alternatives for SaaS programs under 1,000 partners
Impact does a serious job at enterprise scale. For most SaaS programs it's overkill — paid like enterprise, configured like enterprise, locked in like enterprise. Here are six alternatives sized for the program you actually run.
OpenPartner vs FirstPromoter: the SaaS-affiliate default, ten years on
FirstPromoter has been the indie-SaaS affiliate default for nearly a decade. It still works. It also shows its age in places that matter — Safari attribution, data portability, and what 'partner program' has come to mean. Here's the comparison.
OpenPartner vs Tolt: when a Stripe-native affiliate tracker isn't enough
Tolt is a clean, fast affiliate tool for Stripe-billing SaaS. It's also a closed platform with one attribution model and no self-host path. Here's where each one fits and where the seams start to show.
OpenPartner vs Affonso: open-source attribution vs all-in-one hosted SaaS
Affonso ships a polished hosted affiliate platform with multi-PSP support, white-label, and tax-form collection. OpenPartner takes a different bet: open-source core, deeper attribution, and data you can pick up and walk out with. Here's the honest trade-off.
Three ways into OpenPartner: server SDK, outbound webhooks, and partner postbacks
There's no single 'integration' surface for an attribution platform — brands, partners, and the platform itself all push and pull data on different schedules. Here's the three integration paths that just landed in OpenPartner, when each is the right one, and how they compose.
Launching OpenPartner: open-source attribution that doesn't lock you in
Today we're open-sourcing the partner-attribution platform we wished existed: full click → signup → revenue tracking, three pricing tiers including free self-host, and a hard architectural guarantee that your data is exportable on day one.
Payout holdback: align partner commissions with your refund window
If your product has a 30-day money-back guarantee or a 14-day trial, you shouldn't pay your partners on conversions that might still refund. Holdback days makes that policy explicit, enforced, and visible to creators before they apply.