AffiliateWP

AffiliateWP was launched in 2014 by Pippin Williamson (the same developer behind Easy Digital Downloads) and Brian Krogsgard as a dedicated affiliate management plugin for WordPress. Before AffiliateWP, WordPress site owners had to use clunky standalone affiliate platforms or cobbled-together solutions. AffiliateWP integrated directly with WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and other WordPress commerce plugins to track referrals and pay affiliates from within WordPress. The plugin charged annual licenses starting at $149 and spread through the same developer and agency networks that loved Pippin's other work. It became the default affiliate solution for WordPress-based businesses and grew to tens of thousands of active installs. Revenue reached $100k+/month, entirely bootstrapped. When Pippin merged his businesses into Sandhills Development and that was later acquired by Awesome Motive in 2022, AffiliateWP was part of the portfolio. Today it remains the most trusted affiliate management plugin in the WordPress ecosystem.