Acceleration Partners vs Stargazer: 2026 Pick
A global partnership agency against a direct-response platform. One runs affiliate and influencer as one revenue program across 40-plus countries, the other optimizes installs and CPAs for apps on its own tech. Here is which fits, plus a software option.
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Which one is right for you
Three buyers, three picks. Find the column that sounds like your team.
Choose Acceleration Partners if
- You want affiliate and influencer in one program
- You want global reach and partner recruitment
- You want revenue tracked across networks
Choose Stargazer if
- You run apps or ecommerce on performance
- You want low CPAs and tracked installs
- You want influencer optimized like paid media
Choose Flinque if
- You want verified creators and fake-follower checks with no sales call
- You want flat published pricing you can start free
- You want to run discovery in-house, not hand it to an agency
Acceleration Partners vs Stargazer vs Flinque
Fourteen factors across all three, from agency type to real minimums. Flinque is the flat-price software option on the right.
| Factor | Acceleration Partners | Stargazer | Best valueFlinque |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Brands wanting performance partnerships | Apps and ecommerce on performance | Teams running discovery in-house |
| Agency type | Global affiliate-and-partnership agency | Direct-response influencer platform-agency | Self-serve software, not an agency |
| Engagement model | Custom, performance-based | Custom, CPA-focused | Flat monthly subscription |
| Typical minimum | Undisclosed, program-scale | Undisclosed, performance-weighted | Free, then $49/mo |
| Published pricing | No | no:proprietary search platform | $0 to $150/mo, public |
| Creator network | Affiliates, influencers, publishers | 2M-5M+ creators, audience data | 10M+ verified, 200 data points each |
| Platforms covered | Affiliate plus influencer, global | YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snap | Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X |
| Services | Affiliate, influencer, content, B2B | Identification, logistics, tracking, reporting | Discovery, vetting and audience data |
| Campaign management | fully managed | fully managed | You run it, software assists |
| Content and usage rights | Built for affiliate revenue tracking | Direct-response, install-driven | You negotiate directly with creators |
| Paid amplification | Core strength, performance partnerships | Long-tail influencer activation | Run your own whitelisting |
| Measurement and reporting | APVision analytics platform | ROI-correlation tech, CPA tracking | Audience and fake-follower data built in |
| Team and locations | Remote global, 300+ staff, founded 2007 | San Francisco, founded 2016 | Software with support included |
| Time to launch | After scoping, program-based | After a performance scope | Shortlist in minutes on the free plan |
How we compared: Engagement models and minimums come from each agency's own site plus public reporting and client reviews, cross-checked and dated June 2026. Where an agency hides its pricing we say undisclosed rather than guess a number. The verdicts are ours, not the agencies'.
What each agency actually does
What is Acceleration Partners
Acceleration Partners is the agency that treats creators as one line in a wider partner ledger. Running since 2007 as a fully remote company with more than 300 people in over 40 countries, it stands among the leaders of partnership marketing, handling affiliate, influencer and publisher programs for upwards of 200 brands including Target, Crocs and Reebok. The defining trait is integration: rather than isolating influencer work, it folds creators into an affiliate-rooted program alongside content, performance PR and B2B partner marketing, every channel measured on the revenue it returns. A dedicated Publisher Development team recruits the partners, while its proprietary APVision platform pulls data across networks to set commissions and forecast results. It has collected best-agency honors at the GPMA six times. Against Stargazer's app-focused performance model, Acceleration Partners is the global partnership operator.
Pricing is custom and unpublished, scoped per program, which fits brands running partnerships at sustained scale rather than a one-off campaign. What you are buying is accountability across channels: a structure where you largely pay against results, affiliate depth carried over to creator deals and reporting that maps every partner back to revenue. For a brand that treats partnerships as a growth engine, that breadth is the draw. The tradeoffs follow the model. The program scope is heavier than a single creator push needs, the affiliate-first lens grades creators on conversion ahead of craft. And it is not built around the app-install and CPA optimization Stargazer specializes in. For a brand that wants influencer run as a tracked acquisition channel for apps or ecommerce, Stargazer runs a different play.
What Acceleration Partners does well
- Affiliate, influencer and publisher in one program
- Largely pay against measured results
- APVision tracks revenue across networks
- Global reach, six-time GPMA winner
Where it falls short
- Program scope heavy for a single push
- Creators graded on conversion, not craft
- Not built for app-install CPA optimization
- Custom, performance-weighted pricing
What is Stargazer
Stargazer comes at performance from the app-marketing side of the table. Founded in San Francisco in 2016 by Antoine Forest, who has described it as the Facebook Ad Manager of influencer marketing, it is a direct-response shop running on proprietary tech, helping app and ecommerce brands push installs and sales while holding CPAs down. The edge is data applied to creator selection: proprietary access to audience demographics, topics and engagement lets it correlate those signals with ROI and zero in on the right pool fast, drawing on a search engine across a network it puts at 2 to 5 million creators on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Snap. It leans on long-tail creator activation and covers the full cycle, from finding creators to logistics, measurement and reporting, with a claimed 100 million dollars-plus in sales and millions of installs to its name. Next to Acceleration Partners' affiliate breadth, Stargazer is the direct-response app specialist.
Rates are quoted privately and tilt toward performance outcomes instead of a fixed retainer, because the whole pitch rests on tracked results. The offer is acquisition focus: creators run like a paid channel, ROI-correlation tech that drives CPAs lower and real depth activating long-tail creators for installs and sales. For a performance-focused app or ecommerce brand, that specialization is the value. The tradeoffs are the narrow ones. It is built for direct response, so a brand wanting affiliate breadth, partner recruitment or B2B partnerships is a weaker fit, the model assumes a measurable goal like installs. It also lacks Acceleration Partners' multi-channel program scope and global partner network. For a brand wanting affiliate and influencer run as one revenue program, Acceleration Partners is the other route.
What Stargazer does well
- Creators run like a paid media channel
- ROI-correlation tech that lowers CPAs
- Activates long-tail creators at scale
- A claimed $100M-plus in sales and installs
Where it falls short
- Built for direct response, not affiliate breadth
- Assumes a measurable goal like installs
- No multi-channel program or partner network
- Custom, performance-weighted pricing
Head to head
The split here is partnership breadth versus app-install focus. Acceleration Partners runs affiliate, influencer and publisher programs as one global revenue engine, tracked through APVision and judged on what each partner returns. Stargazer treats influencer like paid media, optimizing installs and low CPAs for apps and ecommerce on its own ROI tech. One sells a multi-channel partner program. The other sells direct-response acquisition.
Pick by whether you want a global partnership program or app-focused performance. Neither is the do-it-yourself middle: 10M verified creators across four platforms with a fake-follower score on each, at one published price, where you pick the creators yourself.
Which should you actually pick
Forget the pitch decks for a second. Match the partner to the situation you are in.
You want affiliate and influencer together
You want creators folded into a global partnership program tracked to revenue across networks. Acceleration Partners is built for that.
→ Pick Acceleration PartnersYou run apps or ecommerce on performance
You want influencer optimized like paid media, with tracked installs, low CPAs and long-tail creators. Stargazer fits.
→ Pick StargazerYou want to run discovery in-house
No retainer, no scoping call. You want to search 10M verified creators across four platforms with a fake-follower check on each. Start free on Flinque and upgrade at $49 only if you keep using it.
→ Pick FlinqueYou want verified creators without a program
Both agencies run managed performance work and quote custom. Flinque's free plan lets you find and vet verified creators with no card, then scales at a flat $49 a month.
→ Start with FlinqueFlinque: verified discovery at a flat price
If both feel like too much retainer and too little control, Flinque does one job and does it well. Find and vet real creators yourself, fast, then run the campaign in-house. No pitch deck, no monthly retainer, no discovery call to learn the price.
- 10M+ verified creators
- 4 platforms: IG, YouTube, TikTok, X
- 200 data points per creator
- 12 search filters
- Fake-follower check on every profile
- Free, $49, $150, published
See Flinque in action
Short walkthroughs on pricing, discovery and vetting from the Flinque team.
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Common questions about Acceleration Partners and Stargazer
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