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Can I run an affiliate program without spreadsheets and manual tracking links?

How long does it take to set up an affiliate program with LinkJolt?

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Payouts & Commissions

Can I pay affiliates in their own currency?

Can I reward top affiliates with a higher commission rate?

Does LinkJolt hold my money or process my payments?

How are recurring commissions calculated for subscriptions?

What commission rate should I offer affiliates?

What happens to an affiliate's commission when a sale is refunded?

When and how do affiliates actually get paid?

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Payouts & Commissions

What commission rate should I offer affiliates?

Start at 20% of the sale for a SaaS product. That is the median across the 98 percentage-based campaigns in the LinkJolt benchmarks (the average is 22.9%), and the 20-25% band is the single most common choice. Pay it on renewals too if your margin allows: 26% of campaigns do.

2 min read
Updated Sep 2, 2026

For a SaaS product, 20% of the sale is the number to start from. It is the median commission across the 98 percentage-based campaigns in the SaaS Affiliate Program Benchmarks, the average is 22.9%, and the 20-25% band is the single most common choice. Offer less and your program sits below what affiliates see elsewhere; offer more and you are paying for attention you may not need yet.

The three numbers that decide it

  1. Gross margin. A commission is paid out of margin, not revenue. At a 20% rate a customer paying $50 a month costs you $10 a month for as long as the commission runs.
  2. How long the commission runs. 26% of campaigns pay recurring commissions on renewals, and inside those programs a meaningful share of commission events are renewals rather than first payments. Recurring rates attract partners whose incentive is customer retention. If you pay on renewals, a slightly lower percentage is normal; if you pay once, the rate has to work harder.
  3. What competing programs pay. Affiliates compare offers. The benchmarks page lists the distribution, and the commission rates guide walks through it by industry.

Percentage or fixed bounty

81% of campaigns pay a percentage and 19% pay a fixed amount per sale, with a median fixed bounty of $30. A fixed bounty suits a single-price product or a trial where the first payment is predictable. A percentage scales with upgrades and annual plans, which is why it dominates in SaaS.

Where to set it in LinkJolt

The rate, the recurring option and its cap (a number of payments or a number of months) are campaign settings, so you can run one campaign at 20% recurring for partners and another at a flat bounty for a launch promotion. Model the cost of any rate before you commit with the affiliate commission calculator.

All figures come from the September 2026 benchmark snapshot of 121 real campaigns on LinkJolt, with test and demo data excluded.

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Related questions

How are recurring commissions calculated for subscriptions?

When recurring commissions are enabled on a campaign, LinkJolt records a commission on each subscription renewal at your configured rate, until the optional cap is reached. You choose whether the cap counts months or payments.

Can I pay affiliates in their own currency?

Yes. LinkJolt tracks each campaign in the merchant's currency, and payouts can be made through Stripe Connect or CSV export so you can settle with affiliates in the currency that suits them.

Does LinkJolt hold my money or process my payments?

No. LinkJolt never holds or processes your funds. You keep your own Stripe or Paddle account, payments go straight to you, and LinkJolt only records conversions and facilitates affiliate payouts.

What happens to an affiliate's commission when a sale is refunded?

The commission is automatically reversed and marked refunded, and any payout still queued for it is cancelled. A partial refund reduces the commission in proportion to the amount refunded.

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Contents

The three numbers that decide itPercentage or fixed bountyWhere to set it in LinkJolt