Affiliate commission benchmarks
These figures are calculated live from the 369 programs currently listed on CommissionAtlas, each checked against its own page (most recent check 13 Oct 2026). They describe this directory, not the whole market, and they lean towards software and online services. Where a program does not state a figure it is left out of that figure, so the counts below show how many programs each number is based on. See how we check programs.
Commission
| Programs paying a recurring commission | 169 of 369 (46%) |
| Median highest percentage | 25% (based on 310 programs that state a percentage) |
| Programs with a highest percentage of 30% or more | 139 of 310 (45%) |
| Percentage of sale | 303 programs (82%) |
| Flat fee per sale | 45 programs (12%) |
| Percentage + flat | 17 programs (5%) |
| Per lead / signup | 4 programs (1%) |
Cookie length and payouts
| Programs that state a cookie length | 216 of 369 (59%) |
| Median cookie length | 60 days |
| Cookie of 60 days or more | 109 of 216 (50%) |
| Cookie of 90 days or more | 72 of 216 (33%) |
| Median minimum payout | $50 (based on 90 programs that state one) |
Where the programs are
SaaS (81), Marketing (57), WordPress (53), AI tools (34), E-commerce (29), Web hosting (28), Website builders (28), Productivity (27). Browse the recurring programs or the long-cookie programs.