How We Score & Rank Platforms

Live or near-live dashboards with automatic refresh, typically under 1 minute for clicks, registrations, FTDs, deposits, revenue/NGR and commissions. Filters update without requiring report generation.

Dashboards update automatically within 1–5 minutes for most core metrics. Some advanced breakdowns or financial metrics may update on a short delay.

Core dashboard data updates every 15–30 minutes. Basic clicks, registrations and conversions are reasonably current, but detailed revenue, player or brand-level reporting may lag.

Reports refresh every 1–4 hours or require manual generation for several key views. Active campaign monitoring is limited.

Batch reporting only, usually with 24-hour or longer delays. No meaningful live dashboard for affiliate managers.

Supports click, registration, FTD, deposit and revenue attribution with clear attribution rules, deduplication, fallback tracking methods, auditability and minimal reliance on manual reconciliation.

Tracks the full conversion journey reliably in most standard cases, with documented attribution rules and some deduplication or reconciliation tools.

Handles standard click-to-registration-to-FTD tracking competently, but edge cases such as cross-device journeys, duplicate clicks or complex brand setups require manual review.

Basic click and conversion tracking exists, but attribution logic is limited, poorly documented or prone to mismatches between affiliate and operator systems.

Tracks only basic referrals or conversions, with no clear attribution rules, weak deduplication and frequent manual correction required.

Provides well-documented, production-ready APIs for reporting, affiliate management, player/conversion data, commissions and integrations. Supports secure authentication, rate-limit documentation and developer testing environments.

Offers strong API access for most important data and workflows, with usable documentation and authentication, but some admin actions or advanced reporting still require the UI.

Provides API access for common reports or exports, but coverage is partial, documentation is basic and several operational workflows cannot be automated.

Limited API access, usually focused on basic data export or tracking calls. Requires vendor assistance for many integrations.

No meaningful public or customer-facing API. Integrations depend mostly on files, manual exports, custom vendor work or database dumps.

Data can be broken down by affiliate, sub-affiliate, campaign, creative, brand, product, geo, device, player stage, deposit activity, NGR and commission outcome.

Supports granular breakdowns across most key affiliate, brand, product, geo and financial dimensions, with only a few limitations in player-stage or commission-level detail.

Provides standard breakdowns by affiliate, campaign, brand and basic conversion events, but limited detail for player lifecycle, NGR components or commission calculations.

Reporting is mostly aggregated. Some breakdowns exist but require separate exports or manual manipulation.

Reporting is limited to high-level totals with little or no drill-down into event, player, campaign, brand or financial dimensions.

Supports multiple tracking methods across web, mobile, apps, paid media, organic, affiliate links, postbacks and server-to-server flows. Includes configurable tracking parameters and cross-device support.

Supports most standard web, mobile and postback tracking scenarios, with configurable parameters and reliable handling of common channel setups.

Supports standard web-based affiliate link tracking and basic postbacks, but mobile, app or cross-device tracking requires extra setup or has limitations.

Primarily supports simple web tracking. Advanced channel, device or server-side tracking requires workarounds.

Uses basic referral links only, with no meaningful support for mobile, app, postback, server-side or multi-channel tracking.

Manages multiple casino, sportsbook, poker, bingo or lottery brands and products in one environment, with brand-level permissions, reporting, commission rules and affiliate segmentation.

Supports multiple brands and products with separate reporting and commission rules, though some advanced configuration may require admin support.

Can support multiple brands or products, but setup is relatively rigid and often requires separate accounts, manual segmentation or duplicated workflows.

Limited multi-brand support. Reporting or commission logic becomes difficult to manage when more than one brand or product is involved.

Designed for a single brand or simple programme only. No practical support for multi-brand or multi-product iGaming operations.

Tracks player journeys from click through registration, FTD, deposits, activity, revenue/NGR and commission events, with privacy-aware player-level or pseudonymised visibility.

Provides strong player-level conversion and revenue visibility, with some limitations around deeper lifecycle segmentation or historical activity views.

Shows basic player-level registrations, FTDs and revenue totals, but limited lifecycle detail after initial conversion.

Provides only partial player visibility, such as registration or FTD lists, with limited connection to deposits, revenue or ongoing value.

No meaningful player-level tracking. Reporting is limited to aggregated conversions or affiliate totals.

Supports CPA, RevShare, hybrid, tiered, flat fee, custom and performance-based commission structures, including brand/product/geo-specific rules and automated calculations.

Supports CPA, RevShare, hybrid and tiered structures for most common iGaming cases, with some custom scenarios needing manual configuration.

Supports standard CPA and RevShare models, with basic hybrid or tiered options, but complex rules require manual adjustments.

Supports only a small number of commission models or requires spreadsheets/manual work for hybrid and tiered structures.

Supports only one basic commission model or requires commission calculations to be handled outside the platform.

Allows affiliate, campaign, brand, product and commission rules to be configured by country, region, licence/jurisdiction or restricted market, with reporting by geo.

Supports geo-level restrictions and reporting for most standard cases, with some limitations around jurisdiction-specific commission logic.

Provides basic country-level reporting and traffic filtering, but jurisdiction-specific rules require manual monitoring or workarounds.

Limited geo visibility. Restrictions or market-specific rules are mostly handled outside the platform.

No practical geo-targeting, jurisdiction rules or market-specific reporting.

Supports configurable negative carryover rules, sub-affiliate hierarchies, multi-level commission logic and clear reporting for parent/child affiliate relationships.

Supports negative carryover and sub-affiliate structures for most common programme setups, with some limits on advanced hierarchy or rule variations.

Provides basic negative carryover and/or sub-affiliate functionality, but complex hierarchies or exceptions require manual handling.

Limited support for either negative carryover or sub-affiliates, but not both in a flexible or transparent way.

No built-in negative carryover or sub-affiliate management.

Clean, responsive admin interface with clear navigation, fast page loads, modern table controls, search, filtering and minimal reliance on hidden menus or legacy layouts.

Modern and mostly intuitive admin interface, with some older or less polished areas but no major usability blockers.

Functional but dated interface. Common tasks are possible, though navigation, filtering or page structure may feel inconsistent.

Difficult or slow interface with cluttered screens, inconsistent navigation and limited search/filtering.

Outdated or confusing interface that makes basic affiliate management tasks hard to complete without training or support.

Common workflows such as reviewing applications, checking performance, adjusting deals, investigating anomalies and exporting reports can be completed in clear step-by-step flows without vendor assistance.

Most affiliate manager workflows are easy to complete, though a few advanced actions require documentation or admin guidance.

Core workflows are available but often require several screens, manual checks or prior platform knowledge.

Many workflows are fragmented across different areas of the platform and require manual tracking outside the system.

Basic affiliate management workflows are unclear, incomplete or heavily dependent on vendor support.

Users can create, save and share custom dashboards or views by role, brand, affiliate segment, market, product and KPI set.

Offers configurable dashboards and saved filters for most standard reporting needs, though sharing or role-based views may be limited.

Provides some configurable filters and dashboard widgets, but limited saved views or personalisation.

Dashboards are mostly fixed. Users must repeatedly apply filters or export data to build useful views.

No meaningful dashboard customisation or saved views.

Key actions such as approving affiliates, checking campaign results, changing commission terms and reviewing payments can usually be completed in a few clicks from centralised screens.

Most common tasks are quick, though some advanced changes require moving between several screens.

Common tasks are possible but moderately time-consuming, often requiring multiple menus, manual checks or repeated filtering.

Routine actions are slow and operationally heavy, often requiring exports, spreadsheets or support tickets.

Common affiliate management actions are difficult to complete inside the platform or cannot be completed without vendor intervention.

Affiliate portal provides clear real-time performance data, commission visibility, marketing assets, tracking links, payment information and self-service account management.

Affiliate portal covers most standard affiliate needs, including reporting, links, assets and basic payment visibility.

Affiliate portal is functional but basic, with limited customisation, delayed reporting or incomplete self-service options.

Affiliate portal provides only minimal reporting or link access. Affiliates frequently need manager assistance.

No dedicated affiliate portal or only a very limited login area with little useful data.

Detects suspicious click patterns, traffic spikes, abnormal conversion rates, bot-like activity and source anomalies with configurable alerts and investigation tools.

Provides strong fraud and anomaly indicators for common traffic issues, with alerts or reporting that help managers investigate quickly.

Offers basic fraud indicators such as unusual click volumes or conversion patterns, but investigation is mostly manual.

Limited fraud visibility. Suspicious activity must usually be identified through manual report review.

No built-in click fraud or traffic anomaly detection.

Flags potential duplicate player or affiliate accounts, self-referrals, repeated identifiers and suspicious relationship patterns using configurable rules and audit evidence.

Detects common duplicate or self-referral patterns, though some cases require manual confirmation.

Provides basic duplicate checks or reports, but limited automation and weak relationship mapping.

Duplicate or self-referral detection is mostly manual and depends on exports or operator-side systems.

No built-in duplicate account or self-referral detection.

Provides configurable alerts for unusual FTD spikes, low-quality traffic, abnormal deposit behaviour, bonus abuse indicators, chargeback patterns or sudden affiliate performance changes.

Alerts on several important conversion or revenue anomalies, with enough detail to support investigation.

Provides basic reports that can reveal suspicious conversion patterns, but alerts are limited or not configurable.

Suspicious conversion patterns can only be found through manual analysis after the fact.

No conversion anomaly alerts or risk indicators.

Supports granular role-based permissions by user, team, brand, market and function, with audit logs for key actions such as deal changes, payment changes and data exports.

Provides strong role-based permissions and audit logs for most important admin actions.

Offers basic user roles and some activity logging, but limited granularity or incomplete audit coverage.

Basic admin/user separation only, with little visibility into who changed what.

No meaningful role-based access controls or audit logs.

Provides documented GDPR support, data processing controls, encryption, secure authentication, data retention tools, access controls and formal security documentation.

Covers most standard GDPR and security requirements, with documented policies and reasonable technical controls.

Has basic GDPR and security practices, but documentation, retention controls or data access processes are limited.

Security and privacy practices are partially documented or heavily dependent on manual vendor processes.

No clear GDPR, privacy or data security documentation available.

Integrates with operator CRM/player systems through APIs, postbacks or secure data flows, supporting bidirectional or near-real-time player, event and revenue data exchange.

Integrates reliably with CRM/player databases for most key events, though some data syncing may be one-way or scheduled.

Supports basic CRM/player system integration, often through standard postbacks, scheduled imports or limited API endpoints.

Requires custom work, manual files or vendor intervention for most CRM/player database connections.

No practical CRM or player database integration capability.

Connects affiliate commission calculations to payment workflows, wallet/payment data or finance systems with clear reconciliation and payment-status tracking.

Supports payment exports or integrations with enough structure for finance teams to reconcile commissions efficiently.

Provides standard payment reports and export files, but payment execution and reconciliation remain mostly outside the platform.

Payment data must be manually prepared from reports or spreadsheets.

No meaningful payment, wallet or finance connectivity.

Supports automated exports or pipelines to BI tools/data warehouses, with granular data schemas, scheduled delivery and API-based access.

Provides reliable scheduled exports and APIs for most reporting data, with usable field definitions.

Offers CSV/XLS exports or basic API reports, but limited automation, schema documentation or historical depth.

Data extraction is manual, inconsistent or restricted to high-level reports.

No practical BI export or data warehouse integration options.

Supports integration with marketing automation, campaign tracking, creative management, UTM structures, ad platforms or partner marketing tools.

Integrates with several common marketing tools or provides clean tracking structures for campaign attribution.

Supports basic campaign parameters and creative tracking, but limited direct marketing platform integration.

Marketing attribution requires manual tagging, spreadsheets or external reconciliation.

No meaningful support for marketing platform integration or campaign-level attribution.

Provides reliable webhooks and APIs for key events such as clicks, registrations, FTDs, deposits, revenue updates, commission changes and affiliate status changes, with retry logic and documentation.

Offers APIs and/or webhooks for most important events, though retry handling, testing tools or event coverage may be limited.

Provides some API or webhook functionality, mainly for standard tracking and reporting events.

Limited technical integration options, often requiring custom development by the vendor.

No usable webhook or event-driven integration capability.

Provides a structured implementation plan with clear milestones, owners, technical requirements, testing steps and typical launch timelines supported by customer evidence.

Offers a clear onboarding process with defined technical and operational steps, though timelines may vary depending on complexity.

Has a standard implementation process, but project structure, responsibilities or timelines may not be fully documented upfront.

Implementation is loosely defined and depends heavily on ad hoc communication with the vendor.

No clear implementation process, timeline or onboarding methodology.

Supports structured migration of affiliates, historical data, commission plans, tracking links and reporting history, with validation and cutover support.

Provides migration support for most core data and workflows, with some limitations on historical data or custom fields.

Can migrate basic affiliate records, deals and tracking setup, but complex historical data or commission structures require manual work.

Migration support is limited to simple imports or templates. Operator team handles most mapping and validation.

No meaningful migration support from legacy platforms.

Provides comprehensive user guides, API documentation, implementation guides, data dictionaries, troubleshooting resources and developer sandbox/testing guidance.

Documentation covers most product and API areas clearly, with only some advanced topics requiring support.

Basic documentation exists for common tasks and integrations, but depth, examples or update frequency are limited.

Documentation is sparse, outdated or only available on request.

Little or no useful documentation available.

Provides named account management or customer success support with regular check-ins, escalation paths, product guidance and operational best-practice support.

Offers reliable account management and escalation support, though strategic guidance may be limited.

Provides standard support contacts and occasional account management, but engagement is mostly reactive.

Support is ticket-based only, with limited continuity or programme-specific understanding.

No dedicated account management or clear escalation route.

Provides role-specific training for affiliate managers, finance, compliance and technical users, including recorded resources, live sessions and launch-readiness support.

Offers solid onboarding training for main users, with some materials for finance or technical teams.

Provides basic product training, usually focused on admin users, with limited role-specific depth.

Training is informal or limited to documentation and ad hoc support calls.

No structured training resources.

Provides documented uptime commitments, monitoring, incident processes and historical availability evidence suitable for enterprise operators.

Has strong availability practices and support response processes, though public SLA detail may be limited.

Platform is generally reliable, but uptime guarantees, monitoring transparency or incident documentation are limited.

Reliability is unclear or based mainly on vendor claims without formal documentation.

No uptime documentation, SLA or reliability evidence.

Demonstrates ability to process high click, conversion and reporting volumes without delayed tracking, dashboard degradation or manual intervention.

Handles high traffic volumes in most cases, with occasional delays only under unusual load or complex reports.

Suitable for moderate-to-large programmes, but very high traffic or complex reporting can slow dashboards or exports.

Performance issues appear under moderate volume, large reports or busy campaign periods.

Not suitable for high-volume affiliate programmes.

Supports thousands of affiliates with segmentation, bulk actions, permissions, reporting, communication and payment workflows designed for large programmes.

Supports large affiliate bases with good management tools, though some bulk or segmentation features may be limited.

Can manage hundreds or low thousands of affiliates, but large-scale operations require manual workarounds.

Better suited to small or mid-sized programmes. Large affiliate bases become operationally difficult.

Designed only for small affiliate programmes.

Supports complex enterprise structures across brands, products, markets, currencies, languages, licences and teams with appropriate permissions and reporting separation.

Handles most multi-market setups, with some limitations around currencies, localisation, permissions or reporting separation.

Supports basic multi-market operations, but requires manual structures or duplicated setup for more complex enterprises.

Limited ability to manage multiple markets cleanly from one environment.

No practical support for multi-market enterprise operations.

Demonstrates stable tracking and reporting during high-volume periods such as major sports events, product launches, bonus campaigns or seasonal acquisition peaks.

Performs reliably during most campaign spikes, with only minor reporting delays or performance issues.

Handles normal campaign peaks, but may experience dashboard delays or slower exports during unusually high activity.

Campaign spikes often require manual monitoring, vendor intervention or delayed reporting.

Tracking or reporting reliability is poor during high-volume periods.

Pricing model is clearly explained before contract stage, including platform fees, usage-based elements, implementation fees and what is included.

Pricing is mostly clear, with only some commercial details finalised during proposal or negotiation.

Pricing can be understood after sales discussion, but the model is not transparent upfront.

Pricing structure is difficult to understand, with unclear dependencies or inconsistent explanations.

Pricing is opaque until late in the sales process or cannot be compared meaningfully.

Clearly discloses setup costs, data/event limits, affiliate limits, brand limits, API limits, support levels and paid add-ons.

Discloses most major fees and limits, though some add-ons or overage conditions may require clarification.

Provides basic fee information, but several limits or add-ons are only clarified during negotiation.

Important costs or limitations are unclear until contract review.

Hidden fees, unclear limits or undefined add-ons make total cost difficult to assess.

Commercial model is well aligned with the depth of technology, iGaming functionality, support, scalability and operational risk reduction provided.

Provides strong value for the functionality offered, with only some features or services priced separately.

Provides acceptable value, but some important features, integrations or support levels may increase total cost.

Cost appears high relative to included functionality, or key capabilities require expensive add-ons.

Poor value relative to the feature set, support level or operational limitations.

Offers clear contract terms with reasonable flexibility around brands, markets, scale, support tiers, termination and growth scenarios.

Contract terms are generally flexible, though some commercial or usage adjustments require renegotiation.

Standard contract terms are workable, but flexibility is limited for changing programme needs.

Contract terms are rigid, with limited room for scaling, restructuring or adjusting services.

Contract model creates significant lock-in or makes future changes difficult.

Operators can forecast cost as affiliates, brands, traffic, events, API usage and markets grow, with clear thresholds and overage rules.

Scaling costs are mostly predictable, though some usage or service thresholds may need clarification.

Basic scaling costs are understandable, but total cost may become unclear with multiple brands, integrations or traffic growth.

Cost increases are hard to predict as usage grows.

Pricing structure makes future cost impossible to estimate reliably.

Has multiple active iGaming clients across relevant operator types such as casino, sportsbook, poker, bingo or lottery, with evidence that the platform supports comparable programme complexity.

Has several relevant iGaming clients, though evidence may be stronger in some verticals than others.

Has some iGaming client experience, but the scale or relevance to complex operator programmes is unclear.

Limited iGaming-specific client evidence. Experience may be mostly outside iGaming.

No verifiable iGaming client experience.

A genuine legacy player in affiliate or iGaming software, with multiple years in market, evidence of product evolution and continued customer usage.

Has several years of relevant affiliate or iGaming experience, with signs of stable operations.

Has some relevant market history, but limited evidence of long-term enterprise use.

Relatively new to affiliate or iGaming use cases, with limited operating history.

No meaningful history serving affiliate or iGaming programmes.

Has relevant, verifiable recognition from credible iGaming, affiliate marketing, SaaS or technology sources.

Has some credible recognition, awards, shortlistings or industry mentions.

Has limited recognition, mostly from niche sources, partner pages or general marketing claims.

Recognition is minimal, outdated or not clearly relevant to iGaming affiliate operations.

No verifiable industry recognition.

Provides detailed case studies, testimonials or references that show measurable outcomes for relevant iGaming or affiliate programmes.

Provides credible customer references or case studies, though some are not highly detailed or not fully public.

Provides basic testimonials or logo references, but limited operational detail or measurable results.

Customer evidence is sparse, generic or difficult to verify.

No public references, testimonials or case studies.

Shows regular product updates, new capabilities, documentation updates, integration improvements or public evidence of ongoing platform investment.

Shows periodic product improvements and active maintenance, though update visibility may be limited.

Product appears maintained, but visible innovation or update history is limited.

Product appears relatively static, with few visible updates or improvements.

No evidence of recent product development or active platform investment.

Operators can build complex, layered commission rules — brand-specific overrides, geo modifiers, tier ladders, retroactive uplifts, sub-affiliate splits and bespoke exceptions — directly in the UI, without vendor involvement.

Most non-standard commission rules can be configured in-platform, with only edge cases requiring vendor support.

Standard CPA/RevShare/hybrid models can be configured, but bespoke rules require manual workarounds or vendor changes.

Commission configuration is rigid; non-standard rules require platform engineering or spreadsheets.

Commission logic is effectively fixed; operators adapt to the platform rather than the other way round.

Operators can build per-role dashboards with chosen KPIs, custom date ranges, saved filter sets, shareable views and exportable layouts — no vendor involvement needed.

Strong saved-view system with role-based defaults; some advanced KPI combinations need vendor help.

Standard dashboards exist with basic filter persistence, but custom KPI selection is limited.

Dashboards are mostly fixed; users export raw data to rebuild views elsewhere.

No meaningful dashboard customisation. One layout for all users.

Affiliate portal can be fully white-labelled to the operator brand — custom domain, colours, logo, messaging, email templates, login flows and per-brand variations within one account.

Strong branding and white-label support for the main affiliate portal, with most brand assets configurable.

Logo and basic colour customisation are available, but the portal still feels visibly platform-branded.

Minimal branding options. The affiliate portal carries the platform’s identity.

No white-labelling. Affiliates see the platform vendor as the operator.

Operators can define custom affiliate fields, custom tags, custom statuses, custom approval workflows and per-brand variations — all configurable in-product.

Good support for custom fields and tags; some workflow customisation may require vendor configuration.

Basic custom fields and simple status workflows; complex per-brand variations are not supported.

Custom data model is mostly hard-coded; operators bend their programme structure to fit the platform.

No custom fields, tags or workflows. Single schema for all operators.

Operators can extend the platform with webhooks, custom endpoints, event-driven hooks and (where applicable) scripting hooks for bespoke commission and reporting logic.

Strong webhook and API extensibility; most operator-specific extensions are feasible without vendor work.

Webhook and API extensibility exist for common events, but advanced extension scenarios require vendor builds.

Extensibility is limited; most custom logic must be built outside the platform and reconciled back.

Platform is effectively closed. No webhook or extension surface.