Track Affiliate Sales Across Web and App with Stripe & RevenueCat Stripe Billing

If you're building or growing a mobile app, you've probably noticed that Stripe is becoming a bigger part of mobile monetisation, Apple's rules around outside-the-app purchases have loosened, and users now have more ways than ever to complete a purchase.

For app teams that flexibility is great, until it complicates the way you credit affiliate driven revenue. Once you start selling through your website with Stripe as well as in-app, you have two billing systems to account for — and each purchase needs to carry the affiliate it belongs to so the right commission is credited. When renewals aren't credited properly, your affiliates lose trust in your program and partnership.

That's exactly the problem this update is designed to solve.

Who Needs to Credit Affiliate Sales Across Web and App?

This matters the moment you sell in more than one place. You'll recognise yourself here if:

• You sell the same subscription on web and in-app. Some customers buy through a Stripe web checkout, others buy inside the iOS or Android app — and you want affiliates credited on both.
• You've added a Stripe web checkout to keep more of your revenue. Moving billing off the app stores is great for margin, but a sale that happens on the web is invisible to a tracker that only watches app-store receipts.
• You manage subscriptions through RevenueCat Stripe Billing. The first charge and every renewal run through Stripe under RevenueCat's lifecycle — and each of those events needs to carry the affiliate so it lands against the right person.
• Your affiliates are paid on renewals, not just first purchases. If renewals run through a billing system you aren't crediting, an affiliate who brought in a loyal customer can quietly stop getting credited.

If you take money through your website (Stripe), in-app (App Store / Google Play), and RevenueCat Stripe Billing, you need each of those purchases to credit the affiliate behind it. The way that happens is the same in every case: the affiliate's short code and your company ID are passed as metadata on the purchase. That's what this is about.

Why Stripe & RevenueCat Billing Suddenly Matter for Affiliate Programs

With Apple's rules around external purchases loosening, Stripe based purchases are becoming more common across mobile apps (especially in the U.S.). At the same time, many teams rely on RevenueCat to manage subscription lifecycles, including subscriptions that begin on the web.

You now have options to:

• Send users to a web checkout
• Run your own Stripe payment flow
• Use RevenueCat's Stripe Billing to manage subscription renewals
• Offer promotions you couldn't run before
• Keep more of your revenue

But with all those options comes a challenge: affiliate crediting gets harder once you're billing through more than one system. A purchase on a Stripe web checkout, a purchase in-app, and a renewal handled by RevenueCat's Stripe Billing are three separate billing events. Each one needs to carry the affiliate's short code and your company ID as metadata so the commission is credited to the right person. If a purchase goes out without that metadata, there's nothing to tie it back to the affiliate who drove it.

How Stripe and RevenueCat Stripe Billing Fit Together

Before the setup detail, it helps to hold a simple mental model of which system owns which job:

The key idea: Stripe is the money, RevenueCat is the lifecycle, and the app stores are the in-app path. Insert Affiliate reads all three, and each purchase is credited to an affiliate when the affiliate's short code and your company ID are passed as metadata on that purchase. You don't have to pick one billing path and abandon the others — you can sell through all of them and still credit affiliates, as long as the metadata travels with each sale.

The Problem with Most Tracking Tools

Once purchases move across multiple platforms and billing systems, traditional affiliate tools often miss:

• Web based Stripe Checkout purchases
• Stripe hosted subscription renewals
• Purchases managed through RevenueCat Stripe Billing
• Subscription upgrades or downgrades
• Renewals happening outside the app

This leads to affiliates earning less, you having to explain inconsistencies, and a program that becomes harder to trust.

Insert Affiliate fixes this by tracking both Stripe Web Payments and RevenueCat Stripe Billing with the same accuracy as mobile purchases.

How Insert Affiliate Tracks Purchases Across Both Systems

We designed this update around one priority: If an affiliate brought the user in, their commission should be recognised no matter where the purchase happens.

Below is exactly how each system is handled.

Stripe Web Payments

Insert Affiliate now tracks:

• Stripe Checkout
• Web based Stripe subscriptions
• Stripe handled recurring renewals

How it works: Using Stripe Connect, Insert Affiliate receives events directly from Stripe, reads the metadata you pass (affiliate short code + company ID), and attributes the purchase immediately. This covers all Stripe Web Payments whether your checkout is custom or hosted.

RevenueCat Stripe Billing

If your team uses RevenueCat to manage subscriptions through Stripe, Insert Affiliate also tracks:

• RevenueCat managed Stripe web subscriptions
• Initial purchases made through RevenueCat Stripe Billing
• Recurring renewals handled by RevenueCat via Stripe

How it works: RevenueCat manages the subscription lifecycle, Stripe processes the payments, and Insert Affiliate receives all Stripe events through Stripe Connect. As long as the required metadata is included, attribution stays intact.

App Store Purchases (iOS & Google Play)

Insert Affiliate continues tracking all mobile transactions through RevenueCat's mobile webhooks, including:

• App Store purchases
• Google Play purchases
• Mobile renewals

Setting It Up: What Connecting Looks Like

You don't have to wire up a bespoke attribution pipeline — the work is mostly about connecting the systems you already use and making sure each sale carries the affiliate it belongs to. At a high level:

1. Connect Stripe via Stripe Connect. This is what lets Insert Affiliate receive Stripe events (checkouts, subscriptions, renewals) directly, instead of guessing at them after the fact.
2. Pass the affiliate identity as metadata on the purchase. When you create the Stripe checkout or subscription, include the affiliate short code and your company ID in the metadata. That's the thread that ties a payment back to the affiliate who drove it.
3. Let RevenueCat manage the subscription lifecycle. If you use RevenueCat Stripe Billing, RevenueCat handles starts, renewals, and changes while Stripe processes the money — and the same Stripe events flow through to Insert Affiliate.
4. Keep your mobile path as-is. App Store and Google Play purchases continue to report through RevenueCat's mobile webhooks, so adding the web side doesn't disturb what's already working.

That's the shape of it. The exact fields and code for passing metadata live in our docs, so you're following the current, tested flow rather than a snapshot — explore the docs for the step-by-step, or get in touch and we'll walk through it for your stack.

Why This Change Matters for Your App

This update lets you modernise your payment stack without breaking your affiliate program. Here's what it changes for you:

1. You can adopt Stripe confidently knowing affiliates are credited on web purchases and RevenueCat Stripe Billing purchases alike — as long as the affiliate short code and company ID ride along as metadata on each purchase.
2. Your top affiliates remain confident in your system since commissions don't get lost and nothing feels uncertain.
3. You get a cleaner view of your revenue because everything (Stripe, RevenueCat, app stores) is tracked and aligned in one central source.
4. You're free to experiment with pricing, promotions, or paywalls without the risk of ruining your affiliate program.
5. You stay aligned with where the industry is headed as Stripe based monetisation becomes more common across mobile.

Why We Built It This Way

Founders shouldn't have to choose between better monetisation and accurate attribution. Your affiliate system should support your growth as your business evolves.

Insert Affiliate's Stripe and RevenueCat Stripe Billing tracking is designed to make the move toward web based payments work for you. It helps you keep affiliates engaged, your data clear, and your whole program steady and reliable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this credit affiliate commission on renewals, not just the first sale? Yes — provided the renewal carries the affiliate metadata. Stripe-handled renewals and RevenueCat-managed renewals both come through as events, and as long as the affiliate short code and company ID are present on those events, an affiliate who brought in a customer who stays keeps getting credited, not only on the initial purchase.

Which billing setups are covered? Stripe Checkout, custom and hosted Stripe web subscriptions, Stripe-handled renewals, RevenueCat Stripe Billing (initial purchases and renewals), and standard App Store / Google Play purchases and renewals via RevenueCat's mobile webhooks.

What do I actually need to pass for attribution to work? The affiliate short code and your company ID, included as metadata on the Stripe purchase or subscription. With that in place, Insert Affiliate can match the Stripe Connect event to the right affiliate.

Do I need to change my existing mobile tracking? No. App Store and Google Play purchases keep reporting through RevenueCat's mobile webhooks. Adding Stripe and RevenueCat Stripe Billing extends your coverage to the web without disturbing what already works.