Feature by feature
1. What each is built for
Insert Affiliate is a two-sided platform built to run affiliate programmes end to end: app owners see which affiliates drive verified in-app purchases, and affiliates see, in real time, exactly what they will earn. It is designed for teams that want to recruit, manage and pay a roster of affiliates against verified purchases, and to scale that programme as the app grows.
Instally is narrower by design. It describes itself as install tracking “built for indie devs, not growth teams” and argues tracking shouldn’t take a week to set up. One link routes iOS users to the App Store, Android to Google Play, and desktop to a branded download page, all tracked. If your goal is simply to know which link drove an install, Instally covers that; if you want the full programme around it, that is Insert Affiliate’s core job.
2. Platforms and SDKs
Insert Affiliate ships SDKs for Swift, Kotlin, Java, React Native, Flutter, Unity and JavaScript / Capacitor. Instally ships native SDKs for iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native. If you build in Unity, or need a pure JavaScript / Capacitor integration, Insert Affiliate covers those and Instally does not list them as of July 2026.
3. Attribution and deep linking
This is the clearest architectural difference. Insert Affiliate supports deferred deep linking through Insert Links (its own built-in option), AppsFlyer, Branch, or any provider, so a referred user can be routed to specific in-app content and still be attributed after install. Instally, by contrast, positions deep linking as unnecessary for most indie apps and does not present a deferred deep-linking feature; its links route to the store, and attribution on iOS is fingerprinting-based, which is probabilistic. Instally’s marketing cites a “95%+ match rate,” which is the company’s own claim rather than an independently verified figure.
4. Purchase verification
Both tools attribute revenue, not just installs. Insert Affiliate verifies purchases through RevenueCat, Adapty, Apphud, Iaptic, or directly against the App Store and Google Play, and can connect other purchase sources such as Stripe, Superwall and Qonversion through its API. Instally connects RevenueCat, Stripe, Adapty, Superwall and Qonversion via webhooks. The decisive difference sits behind that overlap: Insert Affiliate is an official RevenueCat Technology Partner — RevenueCat’s own support team describes it that way — a status Instally does not have.
5. Affiliate management and marketplace
Insert Affiliate includes a free affiliate marketplace where app owners can be discovered by affiliates, with “no fees, no gatekeeping.” Neither Instally nor Appfiliate advertises a marketplace; both use a bring-your-own-creators model where you invite creators via links. Insert Affiliate also supports tiered commission rules and automatic daisy-chain commissions, where a parent affiliate earns from creators they recruit. If discovery and recruiting new affiliates matters to you, that capability exists in Insert Affiliate and not in Instally.
6. Commissions and payouts
Both platforms pay affiliates through Stripe Connect. Insert Affiliate additionally auto-generates VAT-compliant self-billing invoices for each payment, which matters for UK and EU tax compliance. On Instally, creator accounts and automatic Stripe Connect payouts sit on the top Scale tier.
7. Pricing compared
The pricing models are structurally different, and it is worth being precise. Instally charges a flat monthly fee with no revenue share: Free ($0, up to 10,000 tracked installs a month), Growth ($40/mo), and Scale ($79/mo, which adds creator accounts and payouts). Insert Affiliate charges a monthly fee plus a share of affiliate transaction revenue: Free (2 affiliates, 100 transactions), Starter (ÂŁ20/mo + 10%), Growth (ÂŁ70/mo + 8%) and Enterprise (ÂŁ200/mo + 7.5%), with a fixed-price option available on request.
How to read this: Insert Affiliate bundles the full affiliate programme (marketplace, deep linking, tiered and daisy-chain commissions, wider SDK and verification coverage), and its monthly-plus-revenue-share model means its cost scales with the affiliate revenue it helps you generate. Instally’s flat fee is lower because its scope is narrower: it covers install attribution but not the wider programme. The right choice depends on whether you are buying attribution alone or a platform to run and grow an affiliate programme on.
8. Maturity and track record
Insert Affiliate is an established, multi-SDK platform with a broad documented feature set and experience running live affiliate programmes for app clients. Instally, by contrast, currently labels itself “v1.0” on its own site, an early-stage product. If you are choosing a platform to build a growth channel on, that difference in maturity and proven client experience matters.
Who should choose which
- Choose Insert Affiliate if: you want to run a real affiliate programme at scale, recruit affiliates through a marketplace, route referred users with deep links, use tiered or daisy-chain commissions, integrate purchases via RevenueCat or your own API, or you build on Unity or JavaScript / Capacitor.
- Choose Instally if: you are an indie developer who only needs to know which link or creator drove installs and revenue, and you don’t need a marketplace, deep linking or a full commission engine.
Bottom line
Insert Affiliate is the more complete, scale-ready platform: a free marketplace, deep linking, richer commission logic, broad SDK and verification coverage, an official RevenueCat partnership, and experience running live affiliate programmes. Instally overlaps on the basics of link attribution and Stripe payouts and can suit an indie developer who needs only that. But if affiliates are a core growth channel rather than an occasional experiment, Insert Affiliate is built to handle it.
