Rewardful
Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent.
Affiliate tracking for subscription products built on Stripe: affiliates get links, conversions are attributed, and commissions are calculated from Stripe events.
Build affiliate tracking on Stripe webhooks. STACK - Postgres, Stripe webhooks, a small portal THE LINK - A code per affiliate as a query parameter, stored in a first-party cookie for 60 days - Passed to Stripe Checkout as metadata at session creation, server-side - Never read the cookie at payment time in the browser ATTRIBUTION, WHERE THE MONEY IS LOST - Commission accrues on invoice.paid, not on subscription creation. A trial that never converts must earn nothing - A refund or chargeback reverses the commission; write that reversal as a row, never edit the original - A customer who cancels and returns later starts a new attribution window PAYOUTS - A monthly batch of accrued minus reversed, above a minimum threshold - Every calculation stored as rows so an affiliate can be shown the working Include the metadata flow, the accrual rules and the reversal handling.
What you lose
- Attribution that handles trials, upgrades, refunds and failed payments correctly, which is where naive implementations pay out wrongly
- An affiliate portal with links and statistics
- Payout batching and reporting
If you would rather not build
- Stripe metadata plus your own accrual table
- Tolt or FirstPromoter, for the hosted version
- A manual spreadsheet, which works for five affiliates
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Killbill
$0Subscription billing with plugin hooks where commissions can accrue.
killbill/killbillfree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
76/100
Verdict yes at 76. Stripe metadata carries the attribution; the rules about trials and refunds are what stop you paying commission on revenue you never kept.
History
tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Questions about Rewardful
answered from the record above
Is Rewardful free?
No — the plan we track is $49 a month. Starter at around $49/month billed monthly, cheaper annually, plus a share of tracked revenue on higher tiers.
Can you replace Rewardful by building your own?
YES. Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent. Replacement score 76 out of 100, build time one session. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Rewardful cost?
$49 a month on Starter — $588 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Rewardful?
Attribution that handles trials, upgrades, refunds and failed payments correctly, which is where naive implementations pay out wrongly; An affiliate portal with links and statistics; Payout batching and reporting. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Rewardful?
Yes: Killbill, Medusa. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
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