Voluum vs Funnelflux – Which Is The Best Affiliate Tracking Software

Everyone wants to build high converting links for their affiliate marketing sites that will generate tons of revenue.

Often, visitors will come to your sites and initiate meaningful interactions with the content on it, and even go further to click on your links and decide to buy from the resulting pages.

So the real question is, how do you track these links to analyze and optimize your visitors’ actions so that you can tell the effectiveness of your strategies?

In this article, I will introduce you to two of the best affiliate tracking software in the game – Voluum and Funnelflux.

Our goal is to compare and contrast the quantitative and qualitative features of both of them so that you can come to a reasonable conclusion on which one will serve you better.

So without further ado, let’s look at how these two platforms will help to provide a solid reporting system that lets you track your links appropriately.

Now, let’s get started with the Voluum vs Funnelflux comparison.

What Is Voluum?

Image source: Voluum

Voluum is one of the most popular link tracking software in the market, and this isn’t because of any media hype or marketing campaign.

It has an arsenal of features that makes it an easy choice for new and old marketers alike. Plus, it has a whole list of advantages over many of its competitors.

And Voluum is not a self-hosted platform service; it’s a cloud based service, which sets it up for a lot of benefits.

For starters, as a marketer, you won’t need to spend a dime to invest in servers and their management.

So you only have to focus on managing your business while Voluum takes care of the backend of things.

This also means that the chances of click loss latency are reduced, especially since Voluum has its data center spread across different countries in the world.

You won’t feel nearly as secure against third-parties with self-hosted platforms, as you would with Voluum.

Using Voluum also means that you get to have access to real-time information so that you can make transactions very quickly.

Voluum operates at optimum speed and no matter the volume of traffic at any period, you can easily access the platform from any device.

And here’s the thing:

Voluum may not be for everyone.

Certainly, some big timers will rather have their own solutions to manage their servers, but whether you are a newbie on your way to success, or a pro who would rather spend time only on the business and marketing ends, then this solution is perfect for you.

So let’s look at some of the features you’ll enjoy with Voluum.

Grouping reports

Image source: Voluum

A campaign report enables you to cross-reference data across up to three report groupings.

In Voluum, you can perform the grouping at the campaign specific report.

To generate a report, highlight the chosen role, and then click the report. Or double-click on the entity to display detailed data on the selected campaign.

Choose the desired parameters from the choose grouping drop down menu.

For example, you can group by country, device, and even operating system.

Once chosen, hit the apply button.

You can also change the way and how the grouping is presented by choosing the tree or table report view.

With this feature, you can analyze the data that deem which target variables are beneficial to the campaign and rule out those which are not.

Conversion cap

Image source: Voluum

You can restrict the number of conversions according to your affiliate network limits.

To do this, first, go to the offers tab to edit your offer or create a new one.

Then turn the toggle on to activate the conversion cap feature and set the daily cap, time zone of your affiliate network, and select the offer to which the traffic should be redirected after the daily conversion limit is exceeded, and save.

Once this is done, you will be able to verify the daily cap status of your offers.

Pixel redirect URL

Image source: Voluum

The pixel redirect URL is used when you need to fire client side conversions back to your traffic source via a static pixel.

If it is a method supported by your traffic source, go to the traffic source tab and edit your previously created traffic source or define a new traffic source template manually.

Leave the traffic source postback URL blank.

From your traffic source panel, copy the pixel and place it in the pixel redirect URL section.

If your traffic pixels are supplied in a different URL, take the non-script URL within the pixel and use it as a pixel redirect URL in your traffic source template.

Conversions upload

Image source: Voluum

You can manually upload conversions in Voluum.

To do this, go to the settings on your dashboard and click on the conversion upload tab, type a click ID in the relevant field, and save.

It will add a conversion to the corresponding campaign report.

With the click ID, you can also add data such as payout transaction ID and conversion type in that order.

To do so, separate each value with a comma. If you do not need to update one of the values, add the comma to separate it out, but leave that as an empty space.

Manual custom cost update

Image source: Voluum

You can manually modify your campaign cost in Voluum.

To do this, go to the campaigns tab and select a campaign for which you want to update cost by single clicking on the campaign name, and then click the update cost button and fill the fields appropriately.

Based on the number of visits recorded for a chosen time range, Voluum will divide the cost and apply it on the per visit basis, and it won’t be drilled down to a granular level.

The manual cost update can be performed up to 15 times for a given hour. This applies also to restoring costs.

After that, you will not be able to update or restore the cost for this hour.

Extensive reports

Image source: Voluum

In addition to the available reports at the top of your panel, you can also access new report categories such as days, months, the hour of the day, and the day of the week.

You can further drill down inside any report you need, which means that you can create specific reports based on all global reports.

It gives you a wider range of possible grouping options in specific reports, such as offers, landers, flow, traffic sources, affiliate networks, and countries.

This is beneficial for a lot of reasons.

For example, if you are tracking publishers ID from your traffic source, you can compare each publisher’s performance across all campaigns from that traffic source using a report grouped by the correct variable.

Or with the hour of the day report, you can check which hours are not performing during the day, create a specific report for such an hour and you will see all your campaigns and offers.

From here, you can spot which element is responsible for the drop in profit, and then create a rule-based path to redirect your traffic to offers that perform better during that time.

How To Create A Campaign With Voluum

Creating a campaign with Voluum is very straightforward.

To get started, navigate to the campaigns tab and click the ‘new campaign’ button.

Image source: Voluum

The new campaign form will open.

Image source: Voluum

Begin by giving your campaign a unique name.

Then select the country tag that will determine the existing landers and offers shown in the dropdown menus.

If you are running a global or multi-geo campaign, you should leave the country selection field as default.

Select the workspace you want to assign your campaign to.

Additionally, you want to add or select tags from the list to better organize your campaigns and easily search for them afterward.

Next, select from which traffic source you want to receive the stream of traffic to your campaign.

Making changes to the traffic source or geo will be reflected in an appropriate prefix in the campaign name, enabling you to quickly identify different targets within a larger campaign.

Pick the cost model based on the traffic you plan to purchase, and the model supported by your traffic source.

Directly under the cost model field, you will see the conversion reporting to traffic source section.

Once you click on that, you will see an option to place a source postback URL or pixel.

How To Track Conversions With Voluum

Tracking conversions in Voluum can be done with the server to server postback URL.

This easily enables delivering the offer conversion back to the associated Voluum campaign.

If you want to use this option for conversion tracking, you need to start with setting up your offer URL.

Image source: Voluum

For a postback request to be resolved correctly, a valid Voluum click ID must first be sent in the offer’s URL query string to be captured by the offer source.

You will need to append the click ID token to a token parameter supported by the affiliate network.

For example, if your network uses HasOffers, you will use the aff_sub2 for the IDs.

You can find out the correct token parameter from your affiliate manager.

Once that is done, you need to have the click ID data relayed back to record the conversion in Voluum.

Then configure the postback URL from the tracking URL tabs within the panel general settings.

Image source: Voluum

Voluum Customer Support & Resources

As a Voluum user, you can seek assistance through the LiveChat feature on the website. You can also submit a contact form through the contact us page and receive a response from the customer service team via email.

Voluum also provides online assistance through various channels. Voluum communities can be found on Facebook, Telegram, Affiliate Fix, affLIFT, and stm, among other platforms.

The Voluum knowledge base is a great resource for self-help and answers to frequently asked questions about the platform.

In-person assistance is also an option. If you live in one of the countries or cities where Voluum maintains offices, – Barcelona, Dubai, and London – you can take advantage of this option.

Through the Voluum referral program, you can earn money as a user. This referral program is dubbed the most profitable referral program in the affiliate industry as you can earn up to 20 percent in commission for every deal.

What Is Funnelflux?

Image source: Funnelflux

Funnelflux is another visual tracker that lets you monitor your links with ease.

Unlike Voluum, Funnelflux is self-hosted, but that doesn’t take anything away from it.

In fact, you may be better off with Funnelflux if you have zero coding skills or you do not know which traffic sources are thriving and which ones are burning your time and money.

Even more than that, Funnelflux gives you more marketing options than most link trackers do. You can use it to set up complex funnels that will perform.

It allows you to quickly know which elements on your landing pages are responsible for increasing your revenue and which ones are not as good.

You can find out quite a lot with Funnelflux.

For example, you can find out which country’s change over best with a particular offer, which traffic change is superior to the other, the gender of predominant purchasers, their age bracket, and so much more.

Funnel editor

Image source: Funnelflux

This is a visual creation tool that lets you do whatever you want with tracking and controlling redirection for your campaigns.

When you go to the campaign tabs, you will see a list of campaigns that are basically containers. If you expand them, you will see all of the funnels which are within the campaigns.

Now each of the funnels is basically a visual map and you can send traffic from any number of traffic sources to any one of the funnels.

Landing pages and splitting test

Image source: Funnelflux

You can test to see how different types of landing pages will perform with Funnelflux multivariate function. And you don’t need any technical skills to do so.

All you have to do is drag the different parameters according to your preference and connect them with the tracker.

However, you will not be able to create landing pages inside Funnelflux unless you use external software.

Stats

Image source: Stminspire

Funnelflux analytics is one of the best things about it.

For starters, it provides you with more than 60 key performance indicators that you can use. It provides these features with custom tracking fields that lets you easily analyze the statistical significance of your campaign.

You can also see very clearly, the ROI for the leads you are paying for, with its lifetime value of leads feature.

Self-hosting

Apart from being a cloud-hosted affiliate tracker, Funnelflux can also be deployed as a self-hosted affiliate link tracker solution.

As a self-hosted tracker, you will be responsible for finding servers and other infrastructures before you can use Funnelflux, and while this may not be ideal for everyone, it has its own perks.

If you have the resources, you can create a very sophisticated system and pay someone to watch it full time.

So any downtime or issues will be dealt with immediately rather than waiting for a support team to respond to your query.

But, this will mean that you will be paying heavily for the manpower and servers, which will be way more than the advertised cost.

How To Create A Campaign With Funnelflux

Creating a new campaign on Funnelflux is more like playing a video game.

One great thing about using Funnelflux is that you can begin from anywhere you want to.

Image source: Funnelflux

If you right-click anywhere on the black area, you can add a new offer, a landing page, external URL to send people to other pages or websites, and a rotator for multivariate testing.

Once you have created and saved your campaign, right-click on any of the branches you want to send traffic to, and set it up accordingly.

Image source: Funnelflux

And you are set.

Funnelflux Customer Support & Resources

As a Funnelflux user, support is mainly available when you log into your account. Also, the channels available will depend on whether you’re self-hosting or using the cloud-based version.

More support is available for users using the cloud-based version since FunnelFlux manages the technology.

Nevertheless, the main support option for users using the cloud-based version is LiveChat. However, LiveChat is only available on business days; you won’t get any response on weekends.

Aside from the LiveChat, you can search for help articles from the FunnelFlux help center. This help center is embedded in the LiveChat window. If you’re using the self-hosted option, your main support options are self-help.

This includes a knowledgebase, API Docs, brand guidelines, and a Sales FAQ page. The only option you have for direct support with the Funnelflux team is by sending an email. Like LiveChat, you should only expect email replies on business days.

Pricing

Voluum Pricing

Voluum has two pricing packages for Individual and Business.

In essence, their Individual Plan is ideal for Individuals tracking affiliate marketing programs, while their Business Plan is suitable for business users.

Here are their Individual pricing plans:

• Discover – $89 when billed every month, or $69 when billed annually
• Profit – $149 when billed every month, or $119 when billed annually
• Scale – $299 when billed every month, or $239 when billed annually

Here are their Business pricing plans:

• Start-up – $499 when billed every month, or $399 when billed annually
• Agency – $999 when billed every month, or $799 when billed annually
• Enterprise – $1999 when billed every month, or $1599 when billed annually

Funnelflux Pricing

Funnelflux has two packages i.e. the self-hosted version and cloud hosted version.

In essence, the Funnelflux self-hosted version can be deployed on your server to manage your affiliate link tracking process.

On the other hand, the Funnelflux cloud-hosted version known as Funnelflux Pro is fully managed by Funnelflux.

Here is the pricing plan for Funnelflux self-hosted:

• Monthly plan – $99/month for one license

Note: For this plan, there is a one month trial for just $1.

Here are the pricing plans for Funnelflux Pro

• Core – $99 per month
• Growth – $299 per month
• Scale – $499 per month

Note: There is a 28 day free trial for each plan.

Funnelflux vs Voluum: Pros And Cons

Voluum Pros

• Supports integration with third-party platforms
• Features real-time reports
• Features real-time bot detection
• Features real-time fraud detection
• Offers multiple and reliable support channels
• Features apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android

Voluum Cons

• Only available as a web-based application for desktop
• Offers no free trial

FunnelFlux Pros

• Delivers quick stats
• Offers visual channel building
• Unlimited custom domains
• Supports flexible reporting
• Integrates with third-party applications
• Unlike other Funnelflux alternatives, it offers cookieless tracking

FunnelFlux Cons

• Poor support
• Features no mobile apps
• Features no desktop apps
• Offers no free trial

Similarities And Differences: Voluum vs Funnelflux

Similarities

• Both Voluum and Funnelflux feature an API
• Both platforms are available in cloud-hosted version
• Both platforms do not feature desktop apps
• With either Funnelflux or Voluum, you have to subscribe to their premium plans

Differences

• Voluum features mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android. FunnelFlux, on the other hand, has no mobile apps
• FunnelFlux charges users based on events while Voluum chargers users based on number of unique events

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is Affiliate Link Tracking Important?

The bottom line truth is that affiliate links are primarily to make money, so if you want to optimize your chances of making money, you need to gather enough data, and there’s so much you can do with this data:

1. For starters, if you know the source of your best-converting visitors, you can double down on your effort and leverage on increasing promotion on the type of content that provides the best return on interest.

2. With affiliate link tracking, you can also determine the top pages where your affiliate links receive the most clicks and optimize them to make even more money.

3. Tracking top earning pages and content can lead to the discovery of new content opportunities in the long run.

So tracking your affiliate links will, in turn, help you track your ROI and improve in the future.

But you have to be careful in choosing the right software to use as it can be daunting if you make a mistake right from the start.

Why Should Affiliates Monitor The Performance Of The Affiliate Links?

Tracking your affiliate links matters.

If you can’t accurately determine which links are responsible for your revenue surge, then there’s no way to correctly determine if your content and marketing strategies are doing what they are supposed to.

Thus, there will be no way to upscale since you cannot leverage previous reports to create new campaigns that will result in growth.

And, since affiliate links contribute to your overall revenue stream, this could mean the difference between a successful venture and one that fails.

To help effectively track your affiliate links, you can use Voluum or Funnelflux.

They are both good in their own right, and of course, they have their cons too. But ultimately, they will do the job, which is, providing you with appropriate and actionable information.

Voluum vs Funnelflux: Which Is The Best Affiliate Tracking Software?

Without a doubt, Funnelflux is better than Voluum due to its extensive reporting feature and automatic campaign optimization.

Not to mention, Funnelflux is more affordable than Voluum Pro. In fact, the highest pricing plan for Funnelflux Pro costs only $299 monthly, while Voluum’s highest plan costs about $499 every month.