# Affiliate link tool vs promo code page: what each one is for

Canonical: https://usecode.sh/compare/affiliate-link-vs-promo-code-page
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13

These are not competing products. An affiliate link tool mints tracked URLs and records who gets credit for a purchase: LTK, ShopMy, Shopify Collabs, TikTok Shop, Amazon Associates. A promo code page is a display surface whose primary action is copying a string; it mints nothing and knows nothing about the checkout. If every deal you have is a link, you do not need a code page. The moment a brand hands you a code, you need somewhere to put it that is not a caption, and that is the entire job of the second category.

## Two categories, defined

|  | Affiliate link tool | Promo code page |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it produces | A tracked URL, and a record of who gets credit for a purchase made through it | A code displayed for copying, and a count of how often it was copied |
| Who issues the thing you share | The platform mints the link for you | The brand issues the code; the page only shows it |
| Real examples | LTK, ShopMy, Shopify Collabs, TikTok Shop affiliate, Amazon Associates | usecode.sh, and Linktree's Discount Code link app inside a link page |
| What it can evidence | That a purchase happened and which link preceded it, inside that platform's own rules | That a code was copied. Nothing about the checkout that may or may not have followed |
| Cost | Usually free to join and paid out of commission; several are application-reviewed | Free pages exist; a link page may charge for commerce features |

## This page and the mechanics guide answer different questions

If what you want to know is how each kind of deal pays you, that is [promo code vs affiliate link](/guides/promo-code-vs-affiliate-link): credit, windows, and how each one fails. This page assumes you already have both kinds of deal and asks the narrower question that follows, which is what each half needs from your tooling and which surface deserves the bio slot.

## What the link half requires

- **A click, before the purchase.** TikTok Shop credits whichever product link the customer clicked last before checking out, so posting first is not the same as getting paid.
- **Upkeep.** A TikTok Shop link earns commission for a maximum of 100 days, after which you have to share it again to regenerate it. Old captions quietly stop earning.
- **Patience before payout.** A Shopify Collabs commission waits out a holding period set by the merchant, anywhere from 1 to 90 days, while refunds settle.
- **Destinations passed through untouched.** Amazon's Associates policies prohibit cloaking, hiding or obscuring the URL, and disqualify a purchase where the customer reaches Amazon through an intermediate site without clicking a link or taking some other affirmative action there. Whatever page carries your links has to hand them over in the clear.

## What the code half requires

- **Somewhere the code is copied rather than retyped.** A code read off a caption gets typed wrong at checkout, and the discount fails without telling anyone.
- **No click, by design.** Where a program supports commissionable codes, the code is the credit: ShopMy states that a creator earns commission on sales using that code even if the user never clicked a ShopMy link, and Shopify Collabs pays on an affiliate link or a discount code.
- **A signal you can actually see.** The brand sees redemptions and you do not. Copy counts are the one number on the code path a creator owns, and they measure interest rather than sales. That distinction is [code copies vs link clicks](/guides/code-copies-vs-link-clicks).
- **Somewhere that outlives the campaign.** Codes expire, and an expired code pinned in an old caption keeps sending people to a checkout that rejects it.

## Use both, which is the answer for most code creators

A code page cannot replace a link tool, because it cannot record a sale or pay you. A link tool cannot replace a code page, because none of them display another brand's code to your followers. Creators who have both kinds of deal are not choosing; they are deciding what goes where.

1. Keep minting links where you already do. The link tool is the only thing in this comparison that can record the sale, and adding a code surface changes nothing about that.
2. Put a brand's code and its link on the same card, so a follower who arrives with half the information finds the other half instead of leaving.
3. Point the bio at whichever surface answers the question you get asked most. If that question is what your code is, the code surface takes the bio slot and the storefront gets a card on it. That trade-off in full is [creator storefront vs link in bio](/compare/creator-storefront-vs-link-in-bio).
4. Read the numbers separately and label them honestly. The platform reports what it attributes; the page reports views, shop taps and copies. A copy count is code interest, not a sale, and a brand report that blurs the two will not survive being checked.

## Honest limits

- A code page cannot create a deal, mint a link, or tell you a code was redeemed. It shows codes and counts copies.
- Link tools are genuinely better at the thing they do. LTK, ShopMy, Collabs and TikTok Shop record purchases and pay you, and nothing here replaces that work.
- A link page can carry a code without you adopting a second product: Linktree's Discount Code link app puts discount, affiliate and coupon codes on a Linktree. With one or two codes and a link page you already like, that is the smaller change.
- LTK, ShopMy, Shopify, TikTok, Amazon and Linktree are trademarks of their owners. Independent guide; the sources below are the authority, verified on the date shown.

## Related guides

- [Promo code vs affiliate link: how each one pays you](https://usecode.sh/guides/promo-code-vs-affiliate-link)
  Codes and links attribute differently, pay differently, and fail differently. What creators should know before leaning on either one.
- [The promo-code link in bio, explained](https://usecode.sh/guides/promo-code-link-in-bio)
  A promo-code link in bio is a page organized around codes instead of links: tap to copy, one stable address, and copy counts a link page cannot see.
- [Why promo-code copies do not show up as link clicks](https://usecode.sh/guides/code-copies-vs-link-clicks)
  Buyers who use your promo code often never click your link, so click analytics record nothing. What the copy path looks like and how to measure it.
- [Creator storefront vs link in bio: which one your bio needs](https://usecode.sh/compare/creator-storefront-vs-link-in-bio)
  A storefront is a catalogue with a checkout behind it. A link in bio is a router. What each category is for, what each does better, and when to run both.
- [How usecode.sh works alongside ShopMy](https://usecode.sh/compare/shopmy)
  ShopMy issues commissionable discount codes; a code page is where followers actually see them. The division of labor between the two.
- [How usecode.sh works alongside TikTok Shop](https://usecode.sh/compare/tiktok-shop)
  TikTok Shop creates the commissions; a code page keeps your showcase links current through the 100-day cycle and gives codes a copyable home.

## Sources

- [TikTok Seller University: affiliate links (last link clicked, 100-day validity)](https://seller-us.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=4308436637255466) (verified 2026-08-13)
- [Shopify Help: getting paid for commissions on Collabs (link or discount code, 1-90 day holding period)](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/collabs/creators/payments) (verified 2026-08-13)
- [ShopMy for brands: commissionable discount codes earn with no click](https://brands.shopmy.us/discount-codes/4RtfsRxmAt9LS7W9VwpM5s/why-should-i-include-discount-codes-as-part-of-my-strategy-/4RtfsRxmAvoN8KyCNufCh3) (verified 2026-08-13)
- [Amazon Associates program policies (no cloaking, intermediate-site disqualification)](https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/policies) (verified 2026-08-13)
- [Linktree Help: how to display a discount code (Discount Code link app)](https://linktr.ee/help/en/articles/9334619-how-to-display-a-discount-code-on-your-linktree) (verified 2026-08-13)