What does Dub do?

Tool: Dub

Their Pitch

Turn clicks into revenue

It's a smart link shortener that tracks whether those clicks actually become sales, then automatically pays your affiliates based on results.

Deep Dive & Reality Check

+**Your affiliate program runs on spreadsheets and honor system** → Automated tracking from click to sale, pays partners automatically when conversions happen
+**You're losing 30% attribution because links don't track properly across devices** → Server-side tracking catches conversions that client-side tools miss
+**Manual affiliate payouts take 8 hours every month** → One-click approval after Dub calculates everything automatically
+Bulk link creation - generate thousands of trackable links at once instead of one-by-one
+QR codes tied to analytics - see exactly which offline campaigns drive online sales

>Your affiliate links aren't tracking conversions properly and you're paying based on clicks instead of sales
>You're manually calculating and sending affiliate payments every month like it's 1995
>Your marketing team needs custom branded links that actually show ROI, not just pretty click numbers

-Solo creators with under 1,000 monthly clicks — the free tier works fine but you don't need the affiliate complexity
-Teams wanting simple link shortening without conversion tracking — you're paying for features you won't use
-Enterprise companies needing heavy tax compliance for global affiliate payouts — you'll need additional tools on top

*Shopify (tracks clicks to actual purchases automatically, no dev work needed)
*Stripe (where the conversion tracking happens, but needs webhook configuration)
*Slack (where your team gets notifications about high-performing links and affiliate payouts)
*Google Analytics (still needed for deeper site behavior, Dub focuses on link-to-conversion path)
*Notion (where you'll probably manage your affiliate partner onboarding and campaigns)
*Raycast (uses Dub's API to create branded links programmatically for their referral program)

!Setting up conversion tracking with payment systems like Stripe requires 1-2 days of developer time, not just clicking a button
!The free tier is genuinely generous (unlimited links, 3 custom domains) but affiliate features are where they make their money
!You'll spend time upfront configuring webhooks and API keys — it's not as plug-and-play as the marketing suggests

Bitly that grew up and got serious about tracking actual money, not just vanity clicks.