---
title: "Comparison between ShareASale and Awin APIs"
slug: "comparison-between-shareasale-and-awin-apis"
tags: ["ShareASale"]
updated: 2026-03-16T15:06:20Z
published: 2026-03-16T15:06:20Z
canonical: "help.awin.com/comparison-between-shareasale-and-awin-apis"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.awin.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Comparison between ShareASale and Awin APIs

> [!NOTE]
> Plan availability
> 
> APIs are available on the Awin Accelerate and Advanced platform plans as default. Awin Access accounts may use APIs if an account user is listed on more than one Awin program, regardless of plan.

As part of your upgrade to Awin, you may be exploring how to adjust your API connections and workflows. This article outlines the key differences between the ShareASale (SaS) API and the Awin API, and provides guidance on where to find equivalent functionality in Awin, or suggested alternatives when an exact match isn’t available.

## Key differences at a glance

| Category | ShareASale API | Awin API | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Authorization** | Token + SHA-256 hash | OAuth2 token | Token managed in the Awin Platform by user role. |
| **Authentication** | Merchant API credentials page | User token (OAuth2) in Awin UI > API Credentials | User must be joined to account with sufficient access. |
| **Request types** | GET | GET or POST | Varies by endpoint. |
| **Response format** | CSV, pipe, XML | JSON (API); XML/CSV (feeds only) | No pagination or sorting available in Awin API. |
| **Transaction status** | Approved / Declined | Pending → then Approved / Declined via same endpoint | Approval and amendments are handled via API. |
| **API quota** | Monthly limit (e.g. 200/user) | 20 requests per minute per user | No monthly cap. |
| **Endpoints** | Same endpoint with parameters | Different endpoints per function | Base URL is the same, but paths vary. |
| **Date format** | mm/dd/yyyy | yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss | Standardized ISO date formatting. |

## Accessing the Awin API

Access is granted via OAuth2 user tokens, which you can generate in the Awin platform. To do that, navigate to the dashboard, click the user icon and select **API Credentials**. For some advertiser actions, roles like Admin or Owner may be required.

You can find full authentication and access instructions in our [API authentication guide](/v1-api/apidocs/api-authentication).

## Request and endpoint structure

Unlike ShareASale, which uses a single endpoint with query string parameters to control the action, the Awin API separates functionality into different endpoints.

Here’s an example comparison:

- Partner program search:
  - ShareASale: `https://api.shareasale.com/x.cfm?action=merchantSearch&affiliateId=2187989&token=testtoken123&version=2.5&notjoined=1&keyword=baseball&epc=20&activatedSince=02/10/2025&datafeed=1`
  - Awin: `https://api.shareasale.com/w.cfm?merchantId=44911&token=testtoken123&version=3.0&action=report-affiliate`
- Advertiser report example
  - ShareASale: `https://api.shareasale.com/w.cfm?merchantId=44911&token=testtoken123&version=3.0&action=report-affiliate`
  - Awin: `https://api.awin.com/advertisers/18311/publishers?accessToken=334611b1-319b-test-test-8375022bd740`

While the base URL in Awin remains consistent, the path changes depending on the service being accessed.

## Responses and data handling

Awin API responses are returned in JSON format only (except for product feeds). Unlike SaS, Awin does not currently support sorting, pagination, or selecting response format within API calls.

A few things to note:

- The transaction list API allows for date ranges of up to 31 days.
- Aggregated reports allow up to 400 days.
- API quotas are managed per minute rather than by month.

Full API documentation is available [here](/v1-api/apidocs/introduction-1).

If you relied heavily on SaS APIs and would like support mapping your current functionality to Awin equivalents we’re happy to help. If you have a dedicated Awin contact, please reach out to them. If not, you can get in touch with our support team by filling out the [contact form](http://app.awin.com/{locale}/awin/advertiser/{advertiserId}/support).

We’re continuing to invest in expanding and improving our API functionality as part of the Awin platform experience.