How to Migrate from Tapfiliate to AffRef in 2026 (Step-by-Step Guide)

Tapfiliate is a competent multi-platform affiliate tool that's grown a tier ladder. Branded portal at $149, advanced integrations at higher tiers, transaction fees historically on the Essential plan. For teams running a typical Shopify + Stripe program at $5k–$50k/month attributed revenue, the cost climbs faster than the value delivered. AffRef's flat $99/mo Pro covers the same surface plus mobile attribution and Lemon Squeezy with no transaction fees.

This guide is the actual switching playbook. Two principles drive it: preserve tracking codes so existing affiliate links keep working, and run both platforms in parallel for two weeks before cutting over. Total time: 2–4 hours of admin work over the parallel period.

When to migrate from Tapfiliate

Three signals that switching pays for itself:

• You're on Essential or Starter and paying transaction fees. AffRef Starter at $49/mo is cheaper than Tapfiliate Essential at $89/mo before counting the percentage fee. The math is immediate.
• You're on Pro Customization ($149) just for the branded portal. AffRef ships branded subdomain portals on every tier, including $49 Starter. You're paying $100/mo extra at Tapfiliate for a feature that should be table stakes.
• You want mobile-app attribution or Lemon Squeezy. Tapfiliate doesn't support either natively. AffRef Pro ($99) does.

The narrow edge case: if you specifically depend on Recurly or Chargebee subscription-billing integration that AffRef doesn't yet support, evaluate side-by-side before switching. Most Tapfiliate Enterprise customers actually run Stripe + Shopify + Lemon Squeezy, which AffRef covers at a flat tier instead of $499/mo.

The math

The 6-step migration playbook

Step 1: Export your Tapfiliate affiliates as CSV

In your Tapfiliate dashboard:

1. Go to Affiliates in the left nav
2. Click the export icon (top right of the affiliate table)
3. Choose CSV. Tapfiliate exports columns: First Name, Last Name, Email, Affiliate ID / Source, Status, Created At, Last Login
4. Save the file locally

Tapfiliate's column names differ slightly from Refersion's, but AffRef's importer auto-detects either format. If you have custom commission rates per affiliate, also export those (Settings → Commissions → Export) and we'll merge them in.

Step 2: Sign up for AffRef Pro and install

Sign up for AffRef Pro ($99/mo) on a 7-day free trial. This unlocks the founder-led onboarding window for your first 30 days.

Install AffRef on your platform:

• Shopify: one-click app install via OAuth. No theme.liquid editing.
• Stripe SaaS: paste the tracking snippet into your site head + add ~6 lines of code to your Stripe checkout handler to read the affiliate cookie and attach it to subscription metadata. Full setup guide.
• Lemon Squeezy: paste the webhook URL + auth secret. Two minutes.
• RevenueCat mobile: paste the webhook URL + connect the app. Five minutes.

Keep Tapfiliate running. Both trackers will run in parallel for the verification window.

Step 3: Upload your CSV to AffRef's admin importer

In AffRef admin → Imports. Upload the Tapfiliate CSV. The dry-run preview shows how many affiliates will be created, how many would be skipped as duplicates, how many have invalid emails. Tracking codes from Tapfiliate are preserved as AffRef codes so existing affiliate links keep working.

Pro+ subscribers: forward us the CSV instead and we run this step for you, including cleanup of any malformed rows and resolution of any code collisions.

Step 4: Map commission rules

Tapfiliate-to-AffRef commission rule mappings:

• Tapfiliate "Default Commission" → AffRef per-affiliate commission_rate
• Tapfiliate "Recurring commissions" (subscriptions) → AffRef commission_type: recurring with configurable duration (one-time, 6-month, 12-month, lifetime)
• Tapfiliate "Triggers" (conditional bonuses) → AffRef tiered commissions (Scale tier) or per-product overrides (Pro+)
• Tapfiliate "Approval Window" → AffRef per-affiliate hold-period control (Pro+)

Pro+ subscribers: forward us a description of your Tapfiliate commission setup and we configure AffRef to match. Async, by email.

Step 5: Parallel-run for 14 days

Both trackers run side by side. Each day, sample-check orders across the two dashboards:

• Same affiliate attributed in both? Good.
• Tapfiliate attributed but AffRef missed? Check whether the affiliate code is in your Stripe subscription metadata (for SaaS) or Shopify cart attributes (for ecommerce). Almost all discrepancies trace to the metadata pipeline.
• AffRef attributed but Tapfiliate missed? Likely AffRef's first-party tracking caught a conversion Tapfiliate's tracking lost on Safari ITP. Good signal.

Step 6: Cut over

1. Email your affiliates a heads-up — existing links keep working, no action required, here's your new portal URL.
2. Disable Tapfiliate's tracking script on your site / store.
3. Pay out pending commissions from Tapfiliate using their CSV export. AffRef takes over from cut-over date.
4. Cancel Tapfiliate — their cancellation is via Settings → Subscription.
5. Wait 30 days before deleting the Tapfiliate account in case any commission disputes need historical lookup.

Frequently asked questions

Do my affiliates need new tracking links?

No. Tracking codes from the Tapfiliate export are preserved as AffRef codes during import. A link like yourapp.com?ref=SARAH continues crediting Sarah after the switch.

Will Tapfiliate's historical reporting transfer?

No, but you don't need it to. Keep the Tapfiliate exports as an audit trail; AffRef tracks fresh from cut-over. Most teams don't actually look at historical commission data after they've paid it out.

What if I'm on Tapfiliate Enterprise and use a custom integration?

Most Tapfiliate Enterprise customers either run Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify, or a custom webhook setup — AffRef handles all four. If you're specifically using Recurly or Chargebee, talk to us via contact sales first — we'll be straight about whether a migration makes sense.