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How are recurring commissions calculated for subscriptions?

Recurring commissions are a Professional and Ultimate feature on percentage campaigns. Once enabled, LinkJolt records a commission on each subscription renewal at your configured rate until the cap is reached, and re-checks your plan on every renewal.

3 min read
Updated Sep 14, 2026

Recurring commissions reward an affiliate on every renewal of a subscription they referred, not just the first payment. The recurring rate and its cap run on subscriptions billed through Stripe, Paddle, Polar and Apple In-App Purchases, and on renewals posted through the Developer API. Sales billed through Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad or GoPay are always recorded as one-off payments, so renewals there earn no recurring commission.

Turning it on

Open the campaign from Campaigns and edit it. The Recurring commissions card only appears when Commission Type is Percentage, so a Fixed Amount campaign has to be switched over first.

It is a Professional and Ultimate feature, Scale included. On Starter the switch is locked behind a padlock with an Upgrade Plan button, and the setting is refused when the campaign is saved.

Turn the switch on, then set the Recurring Commission Rate. Same rate reuses the campaign rate, Custom pays a different rate on renewals.

How the cap works

Recurring Commission Duration decides how long renewals keep paying: 3mo, 6mo, 12mo, 24mo, your own figure under Custom, or Forever for the life of the subscription. Duration counts calendar months from the original sale.

Some older campaigns, and campaigns written through the Developer API, cap by payment count instead. That count is the total number of payments including the original sale, so a count of 12 pays the first payment and 11 renewals. A campaign capped that way with no duration set still shows Forever in the form, so check its payment count before assuming it is uncapped.

Common reasons a renewal records no commission

  • your current plan no longer includes recurring commissions. Every renewal is checked against the plan you are on that day, so a downgrade or a lapsed subscription stops them even though the campaign keeps its setting
  • the campaign is not active, including one paused because your own LinkJolt payment failed
  • your monthly tracked sales limit has been reached
  • the affiliate is rejected or suspended on the campaign
  • the original sale is rejected or refunded, or the subscription was cancelled

How a commission is rounded

Percentage commissions are always rounded to the nearest cent:

commission = Math.round(amount * (rate / 100) * 100) / 100

If a renewal payment is refunded, its commission is reversed. A partial refund reduces the commission instead, so the remainder stays payable, and any payout already queued for that payment is cancelled or reduced to match.

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