When choosing an engine for partner programs, the question arises: should you opt for a ready-made solution or work on a custom option? We interviewed Maxim Kupriyanov, the owner of Profit House, to understand the advantages of turnkey platforms over independently developed engines – including in terms of costs.
Each option has its pros and cons.
When launching your affiliate network, you immediately think about a custom solution since your product is unique, and the requirements are even greater. The most significant visible advantage is that in this option, you can implement absolutely everything you have in mind, as you are behind the development, while a ready-made platform is not as flexible. But this is only at first glance.
We decided to work with Keitaro first, and after realizing the need for flexibility, we wanted to create our own custom solution. During the implementation, it became apparent that a full-fledged implementation of all functionality requires a huge number of systems that need to be synchronized with each other. Problems were accumulating like a snowball. All of this is not only technically challenging but also financially burdensome since the business constantly incurs direct and indirect costs. And then, after working on the personal cabinet, billing section, database formation, and conducting usability tests, at one of the events, our friends told us about Alanbase, and it took off,”
shared Maxim Kupriyanov.
A quality ready-made platform typically has a strong support team that can easily customize all the necessary features for you (and not for a fortune, sometimes even for free). Plus, third-party APIs are always available.
One of the arguments for supporters of custom engines is the closed nature of the platform. After all, understandably, the developer of a ready-made solution will never give away the source code. However, in reality, this is a plus.
This approach increases the security of the network and the confidentiality of processes. Distributed access is not the simplest and cheapest feature, so often, in custom solutions, all webmasters are provided with single-level access, and any awkward move – you end up on the recovery of offers and other data.
When will you start making money?
The most significant bonus when choosing a ready-made engine for an affiliate network is the speed at which you can start monetizing.
Ready-made platforms allow you to start working immediately, which means that the Saas affiliate network pays off faster,”
said Maxim Kupriyanov.
However, a ready-made solution will need to be customized to your needs – and newcomers may have some difficulties with this, but they cannot be compared with the problems in developing your own option. Usually, the setup process for a Saas platform takes about an hour, including reading the instructions. Do not forget about the deployment speed, as well as customizable statistics, cohort analysis, smart goals, and convenient work with familiar payout models. Also, in Alanbase, there are instances for iGaming, E-commerce, and Mobile, allowing you to migrate to a turnkey platform.
When developing a custom affiliate program engine, it will take at least 0.5 years to launch it (according to 80% of surveyed Alanbase clients who moved to us from custom development), and creating a fully finished product will take up to 3 months with custom modifications for you.
Counting the Money
When choosing in favor of a ready-made platform, you won’t have to maintain a development team. This option makes ready-made solutions cheaper both at the start and in the long run. Let’s visually look at the difference in expenses between two solutions for creating affiliate programs:
You can purchase a ready-made solution for $1302 per month (the “PRO” tariff in Alanbase) for six months and start working right away. Costs for six months will be up to $10,000 if conversion exceeds 250,000. Otherwise, they will hardly reach $8,000. You can invest the remaining difference in funds into network promotion!
How will possible problems be solved?
When creating a custom engine for the affiliate program, developers risk facing various problems, for example, the software may “fail” or the billing may be disconnected. There are other risks: possible deception by the advertiser, bans before payments, traffic theft, difficulties in finding reliable partners, and fraud. Professionals will help you deal with all these problems in ready-made solutions!
If the leading developer of the platform leaves you, the existence of the affiliate program is at risk,”
said Maxim Kupriyanov.
A new specialist will have to take a long time to understand the intricacies of a specific system. In contrast, a ready-made platform relies on the support of a professional team whose members will not leave the project and will not go to competitors. You can always count on their help.
So what do we get, ready-made solutions are much more profitable and attractive than custom ones? Let’s list the pros and cons, and you can draw your own conclusions.
You will find even more cases, guides, and useful content in the Alanbase Telegram channel! And if you want to scale your business, fill out a demo request with our manager to get closer acquainted with Alanbase’s functionality, and then take advantage of a free 14-day trial period to get your hands on the platform.