Q: How do I decide between launching on a network versus building in-house?

Q: How do I decide between launching on a network versus building in-house?

Work through these questions in order instead of guessing:

— What's your monthly affiliate revenue target? Below roughly $20k/month, a network's per-sale fee usually beats the cost of building and staffing your own.
— Do you have someone to run it? In-house means you own tracking, fraud checks, payouts, and support. No manager, no in-house.
— How specialized are your partners? A niche you can recruit directly favors in-house; broad reach favors a network's existing base.
— Do you need their compliance and payment rails? Networks handle tax forms and global payouts you'd otherwise build.
— Can you tolerate the network owning the partner relationship? That's the real long-term cost.

The caveat: it's not either-or. Many programs start on a network to validate the model and learn fraud patterns, then bring the proven top partners in-house once volume justifies the overhead. Run both during the transition.

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