What do SaaS affiliate programs actually say they pay?
Here is what seven named SaaS and hosting affiliate programs say they pay, as stated on their own public pages. Every figure was read on 27 October 2026, so check the live page before you copy one.
SaaS means software people pay for each month or year. An affiliate is someone who recommends your product and earns a commission, a cut of each sale they send.
What do SaaS programs say they pay?
We chose well-known software and hosting companies whose terms page we could open on 27 October 2026. We skipped pages that errored or hid their terms. "Not stated" means the page is silent, not that no rule exists.
| Program | Commission it states | How long | Cookie window it states |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moosend | 30% rising to 40% by number of paid accounts | While the customer stays | Not stated |
| ActiveCampaign | 20% rising to 30% | Up to 12 months in one section; another says while the customer stays | Not stated |
| HubSpot | 30% recurring | Up to 1 year | 180 days |
| GetResponse | 40%, 50% or 60% by tier | 12 months | 90 days |
| Semrush | $10 per trial, and $50 to $450 per sale by toolkit and tier | Not stated | 120 days |
| Hostinger (web hosting) | At least 40%, growing with sales volume | Not stated | Not stated |
| Kinsta (web hosting) | 10% monthly, plus a one-time bonus of up to $500 | Lifetime | 60 days |
The percentages run from 10% to 60%, and Semrush pays flat sums. So there is no single right number. The length matters as much as the rate. A 30% share for 12 months and a 30% share for life are very different bills.
Seven pages cannot tell you the market median, and we claim none. For a shop instead of software, our count of 168 Shopify programs found a median base rate of 10% among the 137 that state one.
Recurring or one-time?
A recurring commission pays a share of every payment the customer makes. A one-time commission pays once. Six of the seven programs pay a percentage. Semrush pays flat sums.
The terms differ on length. HubSpot states up to one year, GetResponse states 12 months, and Moosend and Kinsta state no end. ActiveCampaign's page says both 12 months and "as long as they stay". Semrush and Hostinger state no length. Treat a silent page as an open question, and get the length in writing before you promote.
Two more public pages state a length. Systeme.io says 60% for as long as the referral stays subscribed. Typeform says 15% of the monthly subscription, up to $500 in total per referral. Our view is to start at 12 months, since extending later is easier than cutting a lifetime promise. The reasoning is in what to offer affiliates.
A worked example with made-up numbers
These numbers are made up. Swap in your own. Let's say your plan costs $50 a month and you pay 20%. That is $10 for each payment.
| Model | What the affiliate earns | Total at month 6 | Total at month 12 | Total at month 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-time, 20% of the first payment | $10, once | $10 | $10 | $10 |
| Recurring, 20% for 12 months | $10 a month, up to 12 payments | $60 | $120 | $120 |
| Recurring, 20% for life | $10 a month | $60 | $120 | $300 |
Now check that you can afford it. Say serving a customer costs you $10 a month. You keep $50 - $10 = $40 before commission, and $30 after it. A customer who stays 12 months leaves you $360. With a lifetime deal and a 30-month customer, you keep $900 and the affiliate earns $300.
What cookie window should you use?
A cookie window is how many days after a click a sign-up still counts for the affiliate. A trial often sits between the click and the first payment. A short window can cut an affiliate out of a sale they earned.
Of the programs that state a window, HubSpot says 180 days, Semrush 120, GetResponse 90 and Kinsta 60. Our view: start at 60 to 90 days if your trial is two weeks or more. Put the number in your offer. Our guide to affiliate marketing for SaaS covers what else to match on when a cookie fails.
When should you pay, and what is a clawback?
A clawback is money you take back after you have already paid it. It happens when a customer asks for a refund after the affiliate was paid. It is awkward, because you are asking a person to hand money back.
The pages we read give little on this. Notion, whose page says it is closed to new affiliates, says it may claw back a reward or deduct it from future commissions if a referred user downgrades to free or gets a refund within two months. Moosend, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, GetResponse, Semrush, Hostinger and Kinsta state no refund terms on the pages we read.
Rewardful, a tool that tracks affiliate sales, says its default holding period is 30 days after the sale. It says to match the hold to your refund policy, for example a 90-day policy with a 90-day hold. A refund before payment adjusts the commission automatically. A refund after payment is handled by you, manually.
That points to the cheapest fix. Hold each commission until your refund window ends, then pay. With the $50 example, a customer who refunds in week two costs you nothing, because the $10 was never paid.
GetResponse says payments are released around the 13th of each month. Moosend says payments are processed monthly. Pick a day, publish it, and keep to it.
How should you choose your own commission?
Work in this order.
- Find your monthly margin per customer. Price minus the cost of serving them.
- Choose a share you would give up. None of the pages above publish a margin share, so this is our rule of thumb, not a benchmark. We would test a quarter to a half of that margin. Below a quarter, affiliates may not bother. Above a half, you carry the support cost for almost no profit.
- Pick a length. 12 months is the safest start.
- Set a hold equal to your refund window. If you refund within 30 days, hold for 30.
- Write it all down in plain words: rate, length, cookie window, payment day and what happens on a refund.
Most of the pages above leave refund terms out. Writing yours down tells affiliates what to expect.
Once the offer is written, you need people to send it to. See how to find affiliates for your SaaS and how to land your first 10 affiliates. Coupon sites can also hijack a program, so read how to stop them. RecruitAffiliates.ai finds the people, and AffiliateRail runs the program and the payouts.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good commission for a SaaS affiliate program?
The percentage programs we read state 10% to 60%. A good rate is one you can pay from the margin on each customer, with room left. Check it against the worked example above.
Should SaaS affiliate commission be recurring?
It is common in the pages we read, but not required. Six of the seven programs pay a percentage, and Semrush pays flat sums. Recurring only costs you while the customer pays. Set an end date, such as 12 months, to cap the bill.
How long should I pay recurring commission?
HubSpot and GetResponse state up to a year. Moosend, Kinsta and Systeme.io state no end. Semrush and Hostinger state nothing. Start at 12 months.
When should I pay out affiliate commission?
Only after the refund period ends. GetResponse says it releases payments around the 13th of each month. Pick a day, publish it and keep to it.
What cookie window should a SaaS program use?
The programs that state one say 60, 90, 120 and 180 days. For software with a trial, 60 to 90 days is a fair start.
Find people to offer your commission to
Try RecruitAffiliates.ai free. The 7-day trial includes 20 email lookups, and it needs no card.
Sources
All read on 27 October 2026. None of the pages carries a date.
- Moosend affiliate program
- ActiveCampaign affiliate program
- HubSpot affiliate program
- GetResponse affiliate program
- Semrush affiliate program
- Hostinger affiliate program
- Kinsta affiliate program
- Notion affiliate program (used only for its refund terms; the page says it is not accepting new affiliates)
- Systeme.io affiliate program (its page says terms are current as of April 2026)
- Typeform affiliate program
- Rewardful, automated refund handling