Most SaaS companies offer free trials, but when should you count an affiliate conversion? At signup or after the trial converts to paid?
60-80% of trials never convert to paid. You pay commissions on users who never become customers.
Requires spreadsheets and manual work. Easy to miss conversions and upset affiliates.
Cannot offer free trials if your affiliate platform does not support them.
Expensive developer time to build trial tracking from scratch.
Choose the mode that matches your business model. You can change it anytime in your campaign settings.
Create conversion immediately when trial starts, using the expected subscription amount
How it works:
• Customer starts 14-day free trial for $99/month plan
• LinkJolt creates conversion immediately: $99 sale, $19.80 commission (20%)
• Conversion status: Trial Period
• After 14 days if customer converts: Status changes to Pending, commission approved
Best for:
Showing affiliates immediate results, high trial-to-paid conversion rates (over 40%)
Only create conversion when trial converts to paid subscription
How it works:
• Customer starts 14-day free trial for $99/month plan
• LinkJolt creates conversion with $0 amount during trial
• After 14 days if customer converts: Conversion updated to $99 sale, $19.80 commission
• If trial expires: Conversion stays at $0 (affiliate earns nothing)
Best for:
Conservative commission payouts, low trial-to-paid conversion rates (under 30%)
LinkJolt automatically detects if purchase has a trial and applies the right tracking
How it works:
• LinkJolt checks Stripe subscription for trial_end date
• If trial detected: Treats as After-Trial (conservative approach)
• If no trial: Creates full conversion immediately
• Automatically updates when trial converts to paid
Best for:
Set-it-and-forget-it tracking, mixed products (some with trials, some without)
Your Setup:
• Product: $99/month SaaS with 14-day free trial
• Affiliate commission: 20%
• Tracking mode: Automatic (recommended)
Timeline:
Customer signs up via affiliate link
LinkJolt detects trial, creates conversion: $0 amount, Trial Period status
Trial ends, customer charged $99
Stripe webhook: invoice.payment_succeeded - LinkJolt updates conversion: $99 amount, $19.80 commission, Pending status
Merchant approves commission
Affiliate gets paid $19.80 via Stripe Connect. Future renewals tracked automatically.
Choose your preferred trial tracking mode and let LinkJolt handle the complexity. Automatic updates via Stripe webhooks.
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