There’s a question we get more often than you’d think: “How are you different from Enable?”
It’s a fair question. Both companies have “rebate” in their vocabulary. Both work in the B2B space. Both matter to manufacturers and distributors. But the similarity ends there, and understanding the difference isn’t just an academic exercise. If your company needs an incentive program run, and you end up with deal-tracking software instead, you’ve solved the wrong problem entirely.
Let’s clear this up.
Enable Is a Finance Tool. A Good One
Enable is an AI-driven rebate management solution designed to transform traditional rebate processes for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. It centralizes rebate management, streamlines operations, and offers tools to maximize profitability. Summary about Enable from: G2
More specifically, Enable lives inside the finance department. Its platform supports all rebate types, including tiered volume incentives, special pricing agreements, co-op funds, MDF, promotions, commissions, royalties, and more, removing the administrative burden of tracking rebate earnings with automated and accurate accrual and forecast calculations.
In plain terms: if a distributor has a deal with a supplier that says “buy $2 million in product and get 3% back,” Enable helps them track whether they’re on pace, automates the accrual math, and makes sure they don’t leave money unclaimed at year-end.
That is a real and meaningful problem. Only 4% of manufacturers say managing their rebate program is easy, citing difficulties with monthly tracking, internal and external reporting, and analytics. Most manufacturers (46%) spend one month or more on reconciliation for year-end reporting. Enable was built to fix that.
But here’s what Enable doesn’t do: it doesn’t cut a check. It doesn’t issue a prepaid card. It doesn’t validate a proof of purchase, process a consumer claim, manage a SPIFF payout to a salesperson, or run a contractor loyalty program. It shows you what you’re owed by your trading partners. It doesn’t pay anyone.
Incentive Insights Is a Program Execution Engine
We operate in a completely different part of the value chain. Our world begins where Enable’s ends.
A manufacturer comes to us because they want to run a $50 mail-in rebate for consumers who buy their product. Or they need SPIFFs processed for the distributor reps who are pushing their line. Or they’re launching a contractor loyalty program that rewards installers every time they submit a qualifying job. These aren’t accounting problems. They’re program execution problems, and they require a fundamentally different set of capabilities.
For Incentive Insights, execution means building your collection hub, collecting, processing, and delivering rebates when appropriate to customers, connecting you with suitable sources for e-cards, gift cards, swag, or whatever is appropriate for the rebate. More than just generic rebate management services
That includes the full operational workflow: submission intake, data verification, fraud detection, proof-of-purchase validation, participant management, rebate fulfillment (checks, prepaid cards, digital payments), and post-program reporting that tells the manufacturer what worked.
The built-in workflow and proprietary system offer double-blind data verification to ensure accuracy, which improves reporting and helps analyze shopping patterns with customers.
This is marketing and sales operations work, not financial reconciliation.
The Simplest Way to Think About It
Enable tracks money moving between trading partners: supplier to distributor, manufacturer to retailer. The question they answer is: “Did we earn our contractual rebate, and did we collect it?”
Incentive Insights manages money moving to end participants: consumers, salespeople, dealers, contractors, channel partners. The question we answer is: “Did the right person get paid accurately, on time, and in compliance with the program rules?”
No participant interaction. No submission portal. No claims processing workflow for individual people. That’s not a knock on Enable — it’s simply not what they do. Their users are finance teams and commercial ops. Our participants are real people and businesses waiting on a reward that was promised to them.
Why the Confusion Exists and Why It Matters
The word “rebate” spans both worlds. A rebate can be a line on a distributor’s P&L or a $25 check mailed to a homeowner who bought a smart thermostat. Same word. Completely different operation.
The availability of a rebate program with a supplier matters to 79% of distributors, which is precisely why Enable has built a strong business helping distributors manage those relationships. At the same time, research by the Promotion Marketing Association shows that 75.4% of customers are more likely to purchase when offered a rebate, which is the market force that drives manufacturers to us.
Both dynamics are real. Both require specialized tools. The mistake is assuming the same tool handles both.
A distributor’s finance team that adopts Enable to manage supplier agreements will be well-served. But that same manufacturer trying to run a $2 million consumer rebate campaign or a national contractor loyalty program through a deal-tracking platform will find themselves without a fulfillment infrastructure, without claims processing, and without the compliance guardrails that consumer-facing programs require.
Different Problems. Different Solutions
We respect what Enable has built. They’ve raised $274 million in funding and carry a $1.12 billion valuation according to Tracxn, there’s a real market for sophisticated B2B rebate accounting, and they’ve earned their place in it.
But when a manufacturer calls us, they’re not trying to reconcile a supplier agreement. They’re trying to move product, reward behavior, and build loyalty with the contractors, consumers, and channel partners who make their sales happen. That requires a company that can actually execute, one that processes submissions, validates purchases, issues awards, detects fraud, and reports back on what drove results.
Our approach to digital rebates and sales incentive program processing has taken what is often seen as a routine and valueless task and transformed it into a platform for deep customer analysis and engagement. The data that comes back from a well-run incentive program is some of the richest first-party data a manufacturer can collect who bought, where, when, and through what channel.
Enable tells you how much your supplier owes you.
Incentive Insights pay your people and tell you what you learned.
If you’re trying to figure out which one you need, the answer is usually in the question: Are you managing a deal, or are you running a program? If it’s the latter, let’s talk.
Nathaniel Smathers, a contributor to the Incentive Insights blog, brings a fresh perspective on business strategies and market trends. With a background in marketing and a passion for data-driven insights, Nathaniel offers a unique blend of expertise and creativity. His approach to dissecting complex market dynamics and transforming them into actionable strategies makes him an invaluable asset to our team.
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