We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
It's a split decision.
Choose Awin if you need an affiliate partnership platform: it lists 1M+ approved partners, AI recommendations, and tracking, starting at £99/month plus a 3.5% tracking fee per transaction on Access. Choose Microsoft Advertising if you want paid search, display, video, shopping, or Performance Max campaigns with no subscription and budgets you control; you still pay ad spend. These are different categories, so the right pick depends on whether you need partner commissions or paid media reach.
01Side by side
| Awin | Microsoft Advertising | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | £99/month; Access adds a 3.5% tracking fee per transaction | No subscription; advertisers pay ad spend |
| Free plan | No free plan; Access includes the first month free | No subscription; ad spend still applies |
| Best for | Brands building affiliate partnerships | Businesses running paid advertising campaigns |
| Core strength | Partner recommendations and a 1M+ approved-partner network | Search, display, video, shopping, and Performance Max ads |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use review score: 6 | Ease-of-use review score: 5.5 |
| Integrations/data | Partnership tracking and performance analytics | Search, display, video, and shopping campaign formats |
| Team/seat costs | Accelerate: £199/month includes unlimited team members | Seat pricing not published; no subscription |
| Support | Support details not published | Support details not published |
Awin Choose Awin if
- Choose Awin if affiliate partners are central to your marketing.
- Choose Awin if you want partner tracking and performance analytics.
- Choose Awin if its published partner reach fits your program.
Microsoft Advertising Choose Microsoft Advertising if
- Choose Microsoft Advertising if you need paid search campaigns.
- Choose Microsoft Advertising if you want multiple ad formats.
- Choose Microsoft Advertising if you prefer budgets without a subscription.
02Pricing compared
Awin Access costs £99 per month, with a 3-month minimum term and a 3.5% tracking fee per transaction. It includes the first month free, but that is not a free plan. Access also caps you at three commission groups. Accelerate is £199 per month, with a 2.5% tracking fee per transaction and unlimited commission groups. Advanced has custom pricing. Awin lists no annual billing price, and says prices are subject to VAT.
Microsoft Advertising has no subscription or annual billing charge and no minimum fee. You set a daily or monthly budget and pay for ad spend. The amount depends on the budget you choose; the pricing information does not publish a starting spend. So the costs are not directly comparable: Awin charges a platform fee plus transaction fees, while Microsoft charges for ads.
03Features and depth
Awin is built around affiliate partnerships. Its homepage lists 30K+ brands and 1M+ approved partners across 14 countries. Advertisers can use AI partner recommendations, tracking and analytics, flexible rewards, and local market insights. The platform supports retail, fashion, travel, finance, telecom, and services. Access includes up to three commission groups; Accelerate and Advanced include unlimited groups.
Microsoft Advertising is a paid media platform, not an affiliate network. It supports search, display and native, video and connected TV, shopping, and Performance Max campaigns across the Microsoft Advertising Network. Search ads can reach people using Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and other search partners. Display and native placements include Microsoft 365, MSN, Edge, Outlook, and Microsoft Casual Games. Shopping ads can show review ratings and special deals; Copilot can help create image and text assets. Choose based on the channel: partner commissions and tracking, or paid campaign formats and budget controls.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The learning curve depends on what you are trying to manage. Awin is organized around recruiting partners, setting commission structures, and tracking partnership results. Access limits you to three commission groups, while Accelerate removes that cap and adds APIs and enhanced reporting. The published review rates Awin’s ease of use 6/10.
Microsoft Advertising requires campaign and budget management across its ad formats. Its review describes a rougher interface and rates ease of use 5.5/10. Neither source gives a specific onboarding time or training requirement, so we would not assume one is quicker to learn. If you already know which channel you need, that distinction matters more than the ratings.
Questions people ask
How much does Awin cost?
Awin Access is £99 per month, plus a 3.5% tracking fee per transaction, with a 3-month minimum term. Accelerate is £199 per month plus a 2.5% tracking fee per transaction. Advanced has custom pricing. Prices are subject to VAT, and no annual price is listed.
Is Microsoft Advertising free to use?
Microsoft Advertising has no subscription fee or minimum fee, but campaigns are not cost-free: advertisers pay for ad spend. You set a daily or monthly budget. The pricing information does not publish a required starting budget or a fixed campaign price.
Can Awin replace Microsoft Advertising?
Not as a like-for-like replacement. Awin connects advertisers with affiliate partners and tracks partnerships; Microsoft Advertising runs paid search, display, video, shopping, and other ad campaigns. Choose based on whether you need partner commissions or paid media reach.
Can you use Awin and Microsoft Advertising together?
They cover different marketing channels, so using both is possible in principle: Awin supports affiliate partnerships, while Microsoft Advertising supports paid campaigns. The published information does not describe a direct integration between them, so check their documentation before planning a connected workflow.