Affiliate commission rates range from 1% of a sale on some Amazon retail categories to revenue shares of up to 50% in crypto, according to public program pages as of October 2026. In the programs we checked, retail pays a low percentage of order value, software and hosting pay 30–40% or a fixed bounty, and iGaming pays 25–40% of net revenue. Your own rate should come from your margins, not from averages.
Below are published rates from public program pages, each linked to its source, followed by the math for setting a rate you can afford. Whatever you choose, your affiliate tracking software has to support it, including tiers, bonuses and custom rates for individual partners. If you are still deciding between fixed and percentage payouts, read our CPA vs RevShare vs hybrid comparison first.
Average affiliate commission by industry: published rates (October 2026)
There is no reliable public dataset of average affiliate commissions across all programs. What programs do publish is their own headline rate, so the table below lists one or two well-known programs per vertical, taken from each program's official page in October 2026. Treat them as reference points, not market averages; negotiated private rates are often different.
| Vertical | Program | Published rate | Model | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail marketplace | Amazon Associates (US) | 1% to 10% by category; 4% for "all other categories" | % of qualifying revenue | 10% luxury beauty, 1% grocery |
| Travel experiences | Viator | 8% of completed bookings | % of booking | 30-day cookie |
| E-commerce platform (SaaS) | Shopify | Up to $150 per qualified referral | Fixed bounty | Varies by referral location; paid plans only |
| Marketing software | HubSpot | 30% recurring for up to one year | Recurring revenue share | 180-day cookie |
| SEO software | Semrush | $100–$300 per subscription sale (up to $450 on some products and tiers), $10 per trial | Fixed bounty | 120-day cookie |
| Web hosting | Hostinger | At least 40% per eligible sale | % of sale | Rate grows with sales volume |
| Web hosting | Bluehost | $65 or more per qualified sale | Fixed bounty | 30-day cookie |
| iGaming | LeoVegas Affiliates | 25% to 40% of net revenue | Tiered revenue share | CPA and hybrid on request |
| iGaming | Betsson Group Affiliates | Up to 40% on selected brands | Revenue share, CPA, hybrid | Paid by the 10th of the following month |
| Crypto exchange | Kraken | Up to 50% revenue share on qualified volume | Revenue share or CPA | Negotiated per partner |
Retail and e-commerce: low percentages, high volume
Physical goods carry thin margins, so retail programs pay a small share of a large number of orders. Amazon's fixed rate table shows the spread inside one store: 10% for luxury beauty, 4.5% for physical books, kitchen and automotive, 3% for home and toys, 2% for televisions and 1% for grocery and health and personal care. Affiliates make retail work through volume and conversion rate, not rate.
Travel: a percentage of the booking
Travel programs usually pay a percentage of booking value and only once the trip or experience has happened. Viator, for example, pays 8% and releases the commission after the experience is completed. That makes cancellations the main risk for the affiliate and the hold period long by design.
SaaS and subscriptions: recurring share or a fixed bounty
Software margins are high, so SaaS programs can pay more. They split into two camps: a recurring share for a capped period (HubSpot's 30% for up to a year) or a fixed bounty per paid signup (Shopify's up to $150, Semrush's $100–$300). Semrush's 120-day and HubSpot's 180-day cookie windows leave room for long evaluation cycles.
Hosting and digital services: high one-time payouts
Hosting programs advertise some of the highest one-time payouts in this sample. Hostinger offers at least 40% per eligible sale, and Bluehost $65 or more per qualified sale. Expect affiliates to compare you with every other host on the same keywords, so EPC matters more than the headline rate.
iGaming: revenue share on net revenue, tiered
Casino and sportsbook programs mostly pay a share of net gaming revenue (NGR), often tiered by volume. LeoVegas starts every affiliate at 25% and moves to 30%, 35% and 40% as referred net revenue passes €5,000, €15,000 and €30,000. The percentage only means something alongside the NGR definition, admin fees and negative carryover terms.
Gambling programs must market only where the operator is licensed and include responsible-gambling messaging. No rate guarantees affiliate earnings, and commission structures should never reward pushing players to lose more.
Crypto and fintech: negotiated revenue shares
Exchanges pay a share of the trading fees referred users generate. Kraken advertises up to 50% on qualified volume and states that rates and structures, including CPA, are negotiated with each partner. Trading revenue is volatile, and crypto and financial promotions are restricted in many jurisdictions, so check where your partners may legally promote.
How to set your commission rate: margin math
Start from what a customer is worth to you, then decide what share of that you will pay to acquire one. Benchmarks tell you whether the result is competitive; they shouldn't set it.
Maximum CPA = gross profit per customer over your payback horizon × acquisition share
Maximum CPS rate = maximum CPA ÷ average first-order value
RevShare ceiling = maximum CPA ÷ expected revenue per customer over the same horizon
Lifetime value (LTV) is the input most programs guess at. Use the horizon for which you have real retention data, usually 6 or 12 months, rather than a theoretical lifetime. If you are building the program from scratch, this calculation is step one in our guide on how to start an affiliate program.
Example 1: an e-commerce brand
Example with invented round numbers: average first order $80, gross margin 40%, and customers place 1.5 orders in their first year.
12-month gross profit: $80 × 1.5 × 0.40 = $48
Acquisition share: 25%
Maximum CPA: $48 × 0.25 = $12
As a CPS rate: $12 ÷ $80 = 15% of the first order
Example 2: a SaaS brand
Example with invented round numbers: a $50 monthly plan, 80% gross margin and an average customer lifetime of 14 months.
Lifetime gross profit: $50 × 14 × 0.80 = $560
Acquisition share: 30%
Maximum CPA: $560 × 0.30 = $168
As 12-month recurring: $168 ÷ ($50 × 12) = 28% of first-year revenue
Count the costs on top of the commission
The commission is not the full cost of an affiliate customer. Add platform fees, network fees if you use one, payment fees, fraud that gets through, and management time:
True cost per approved customer = commission + platform and network fees + payment fees + fraud losses
Commissions on reversed conversions should cost nothing, provided your hold period is long enough to catch refunds before you pay.
Compete on EPC, not on the headline rate
Experienced affiliates compare programs by earnings per click (EPC), because it combines rate, order value and conversion rate. A lower rate on a better-converting offer often wins.
Example with invented round numbers:
| Offer | Rate | Order value | Commission | Conversion rate | EPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 10% | $200 | $20 | 1% | $0.20 |
| B | 30% | $40 | $12 | 2% | $0.24 |
Offer B pays a smaller commission per sale but more per click. If your rate looks low against a benchmark, improving the landing page or checkout can raise EPC more cheaply than raising the rate. Our explainer on what EPC is and how to calculate it goes deeper.
Terms that change what a rate is worth
Two programs with the same headline rate can pay very different amounts. Affiliates who have been burned before read these terms first, so publish them next to the rate:
- Commission basis. Gross order value, net of refunds and shipping, or net revenue after bonuses and fees. A 40% share of a heavily deducted base can pay less than 30% of a light one.
- Qualifying event. Any signup, a paid plan, a minimum first order or a minimum deposit. The stricter the definition, the higher the rate needs to be to compete.
- Duration. One-off, recurring for a set number of months, or lifetime. HubSpot's one-year cap, for example, turns an open-ended share into a predictable payout curve.
- Cookie window and attribution. A longer window credits more conversions to the same click; last-click attribution decides who gets paid when several partners touched the customer.
- Hold period and approval rate. How long commissions stay pending and what share of conversions you approve in the end.
- Payout schedule, threshold and methods. Weekly payment on a lower rate can beat monthly payment on a higher one for affiliates who fund their own ad spend.
When you benchmark your program against a competitor's, compare these terms side by side, not just the percentage.
Tiers, bonuses and custom deals
A single flat rate is easy to explain, but it pays your best partners the same as your weakest. Three tools sit on top of the base rate.
Volume tiers
Tiers raise the rate as a partner's monthly volume grows, as in the LeoVegas and Hostinger examples above. An example tier table with invented thresholds:
| Approved sales per month | CPS rate |
|---|---|
| 1–20 | 10% |
| 21–100 | 12% |
| 101+ | 15% |
Write three rules down before launch: whether tiers count approved or pending conversions, whether the higher rate applies to all sales in the month or only those above the threshold, and when tiers reset.
Bonuses
Bonuses reward behavior a rate can't target directly:
- First-conversion bonus to speed up activation of new partners.
- Monthly volume bonus for crossing a set number of approved conversions.
- Launch or seasonal boost: a higher rate for a fixed period around a product launch or a peak season.
- Content bonus: a flat fee for a review, video or dedicated email, paid on publication.
Tie every bonus to approved conversions or published content, never to clicks, or you invite fraud.
Custom rates for top partners
Your top partners will ask for private rates, and they usually have the data to justify them. Offer custom rates against commitments you can measure, such as minimum monthly volume, exclusive placements or a review date for the deal. Keep custom rates in a written schedule attached to the affiliate agreement.
Testing commission rates without breaking trust
Rates are worth testing, but cutting a partner's rate mid-campaign is the fastest way to lose them. Test upward or on new partners, and announce changes with the notice period your agreement promises.
- Pick one question. For example: does a higher rate increase activation of new partners, or only pay more for sales you would have had anyway?
- Choose the test group. Apply the new rate to new sign-ups, one traffic type, or one campaign, not to everyone at once.
- Fix the duration. Run long enough to cover your hold period, so you compare approved conversions, not pending ones.
- Measure the right outcomes. Activation rate, approved conversions per partner, EPC and cost per approved customer, against a control group on the standard rate.
- Decide and communicate. Keep the rate, roll it back on the stated end date, or make it permanent, and tell partners in writing.
Time-boxed boosts are the safest format because the end date is agreed in advance. Permanent cuts should apply to new conversions only, after notice.
Run your commission plans on MassPartner
MassPartner lets brands run CPA, CPS, CPL, RevShare and hybrid campaigns side by side, with per-campaign rates, holds and an approval workflow before commissions are paid. Every plan includes a 7-day free trial; see MassPartner pricing for limits per plan.
FAQ
What is a good affiliate commission rate?
One you can afford at your real customer value and that gives affiliates a competitive EPC. Work out your maximum CPA from gross profit first, then compare it with published rates in your vertical.
What is the average affiliate commission by industry?
No reliable cross-program average is published. Public program pages as of October 2026 show roughly 1–10% for retail, 8% for travel experiences at Viator, 30–40% or fixed bounties for software and hosting, 25–40% of net revenue for iGaming and up to 50% revenue share for crypto exchanges.
Should commissions be paid on gross or net revenue?
Paying on net revenue, after refunds, cancellations and, in iGaming, bonuses and fees, protects your margin. State the exact definition in the agreement so affiliates can check it.
Do higher commission rates always attract more affiliates?
Not on their own. Affiliates compare EPC, approval rates, cookie windows and payment reliability, so a higher rate on a poorly converting offer rarely wins partners.
How often should I change commission rates?
Review rates quarterly, but change them rarely. Use time-boxed boosts for tests and give the agreed notice before any permanent reduction.