Calculator
Affiliate commission calculator
Three sliders: your subscription price, the rate you pay and how many customers come in each month. The maths runs in your browser, nothing is sent anywhere and no email is asked for.
A 12-month projection with recurring commissions, assuming nobody cancels. In real life month 12 will be lower: this is an order of magnitude, not a promise.
€4,410/ month
you collect, once commissions are paid out
You get
10customers / mo
By month 12, they all pay
120active subscribers
In month one it was only €367. Recurring is what makes the difference.
- Revenue generated in month 12 (120 × €49)
- €5,880
- Commissions paid out (25%)
- −€1,470
- What you collect
- €4,410
Setting your rate
The market's rough ranges
On a subscription SaaS, 20 to 30% recurring is the most common range. On a one-off sale it climbs to 30-50% — the commission never replays, so it has to be worth it once. On a low-margin or very high-volume product, 10 to 20% is enough.
The rate on its own says almost nothing, though, and that is the most widespread mistake. An affiliate compares programs for the same audience: what they look at is what a click earns them on average. Fifty percent on a product that does not convert earns less than fifteen percent on one that does.
Recurring or one-off: not the same offer at all
The same “20%” describes two unrelated propositions. On a €29 subscription, a one-off commission earns the affiliate €5.80. Nobody builds an audience for €5.80. The same commission paid on every renewal becomes income that stacks, and that is what the calculator's curve shows: month 12 is not month 1 repeated twelve times.
That is why recurring became the market norm rather than an act of generosity: a program paying only on the initial sale recruits against competitors who pay every month, and loses.
The real cost is calculated over customer lifetime
Twenty percent for life on a customer who stays thirty months means giving up six months of revenue. That is the number to put down before announcing a rate, not after — and it is invisible if you only look at the first invoice.
This is not a reason to refuse, and it matters to say it the other way round too: that cost is entirely variable, it triggers after the sale, and it fronts no budget. Against advertising paid upfront with no guarantee, a channel that only costs when it earns remains very favourable. You just need to know the number.
Reasonable alternatives are well accepted: a twelve-month cap, a rate that steps down after the first year, or a higher rate on the initial sale and a lower one afterwards. What is hard to forgive is promising “lifetime” and shortening it later: the affiliate built their content on that promise.
What this calculator does not tell you
It assumes nobody cancels. That is the heaviest simplification and it is flagged under the result: in real life month 12 will be lower than drawn. The figure is an order of magnitude, not a forecast.
Four things are missing from it, and all of them matter: refunds, which void a commission or deduct it from a later payout; payout fees, which weigh most on small amounts; the cost of the tool itself; and VAT, whose treatment depends on the affiliate's country.
Frequently asked questions
What commission rate for a subscription SaaS?
Twenty to thirty percent recurring is the most common range. The right benchmark is not the rate but what it represents over average customer lifetime: 20% for life on a customer who stays thirty months is six months of revenue given up.
Should commissions be paid for life?
It is the strongest recruiting argument, and the easiest to announce without pricing it. A twelve-month cap or a rate that steps down after the first year are two well-accepted alternatives. What goes down badly is promising “lifetime” and shortening it later.
How do I know if my affiliate program is profitable?
By setting the recurring revenue affiliates bring against the channel's total cost: commissions paid, the tool subscription, and any percentage the platform takes. Once that revenue durably exceeds that cost, the question becomes “how do I recruit more affiliates”, not “does this work”.
Does the calculation account for refunds?
No, and that is deliberately stated under the result. A refund voids the matching commission if it has not been paid yet, and deducts it from the next payout if the money already went out. On a product with a high refund rate, the gap with this calculation is real.
What does an affiliate program cost beyond the commissions?
A subscription to the tracking tool, from zero to a few hundred euros a month depending on volume, plus the fees on payouts to affiliates. Some platforms additionally take a percentage of the revenue brought in — we do, and it is shown on our pricing page.