Hey everyone,

I’ve been building SaaS products for a while, and I noticed a frustrating pattern with popular affiliate tracking platforms like Rewardful, FirstPromoter, and Tolt. While they are powerful, they are closed-source managed services that require deep “read-access” to your billing provider (Stripe/Paddle) to function.

For many founders and privacy-conscious developers, sharing that level of sensitive financial data with a third-party is a trade-off we’d rather avoid. Beyond privacy, using an open-source tool builds massive trust with your partners—since the attribution logic is public, they can verify they are being credited fairly without relying on a “black-box” algorithm.

The Inspiration: This project was actually inspired by Simon Høiberg, who recently ranked a self-hosted affiliate tool as his [#1 open-source idea for 2026.] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9YVvRkZnCo) He highlighted a major pain point at [00:01:39]: having to grant “read-access” to your entire Stripe history just to track a few clicks. I decided to build exactly what he described.

RefearnApp is designed to be a privacy-first, self-hosted affiliate tracking engine.

Key Features:

Zero Third-Party Data Access: It runs on your infrastructure. Your API keys and customer records never leave your server.

No “Success Tax”: No monthly fees or growth-based pricing. It stays $0/mo whether you have 1 affiliate or 1,000.

**Full Data Ownership: **All tracking logs and relationships live in your own database. You have 100% control.

Transparent Attribution: Open-source logic allows your affiliates to verify their rewards, building a foundation of trust through auditability.

The Model: I’m committed to keeping the Core Engine 100% Open Source (AGPL-3.0). You can self-host the full tracking system forever for free. To keep the project sustainable without venture capital, I offer Pro/Ultimate licenses (one-time payment, no subscriptions!) for advanced features like multi-team management and white-labeling.

Deployment: It is fully Docker-compatible and optimized for one-click deployment on Coolify or any standard VPS. I’ve focused on keeping the resource footprint small so it can run alongside your existing apps.

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/ZAK123DSFDF/refearnapp I’d love to get some technical feedback from this community on the setup process or the architecture! If you find the project useful, please consider dropping a ⭐️ on the repo—it helps an independent dev get some visibility in the fediverse!