Most tiered partner programs move partners up on results, not on effort: referred revenue, paying customers or monthly sales. Of the 35 programs below, 11 publish a numeric threshold, and every one of those 11 measures sales, sign-ups, customers or revenue. Certifications show up as an extra requirement at agency programs like Klaviyo and Shopify, never as the only one.
The examples come from two places. 32 are from the PartnersWatch directory, where each listing records what the brand's own partner page said on 2 October 2026. Three (Shopify, Klaviyo and Postscript) we checked on their official pages on 8 October 2026; they're cited at the end of this page. Where a program says it has tiers but doesn't publish the threshold, the table says so.
What tiers are for
Tiers do two jobs. They pay your best partners more without raising the rate for everyone, and they give mid-performing partners a visible next step. The first job is economic. The second is the one people forget, and it's why a tier with no threshold published is half a tier: a partner can't aim for something they can't see.
Tiers are still the minority. In our directory, 24 of the 287 programs that publish commission terms describe tiered or volume-based rates, and 37 of the 366 that list perks mention tiered rewards or bonuses. Affiliate programs use them more than other types (12.9% of affiliate programs that list perks mention tiered rewards, against 4.7% of referral programs).
35 real tier ladders
| Program | Partner type | Tiers | What moves you up | What changes at higher tiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | Agency (Advisor and Master tracks) | Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum; Elite on Master | Referred MRR of $250 (Silver), $5,000 (Gold), $20,000 (Platinum); Elite needs $40,000 referred and $40,000 managed MRR | More certified staff at each step: 1, 3, 10, then 20 at Elite |
| Postscript | Agency | Silver, Gold, Platinum | 1 paying customer; $15,000 rolling 12-month MRR; $50,000 | Gold adds a partner manager and directory feature; Platinum adds case studies and logo placement. Certification required for any tier |
| Shopify | Agency and technology | Registered, Select, Plus, Premier, Platinum | Attributed revenue, minimum deals, and Verified Skills credentials for service partners; thresholds are in Shopify's Tiering Guide | Top three technology tiers are invitation only |
| FullEnrich | Affiliate | Three rate steps | $10K and $50K in referred sales | 15% to 20% to 25% for 12 months; dedicated manager at the top |
| Kit | Affiliate | Bronze, Silver, Gold | 10+, 50+ or 100+ paying referrals a year | 10 to 20% recurring after the first 12 months |
| GetResponse | Affiliate | Bronze, Silver, Gold | 50+ or 100+ sales a year | 40% to 50% to 60% for 12 months; roadmap webinars, then a 1:1 with the head of affiliates |
| Pipedrive | Affiliate | Rising, Growth, Power | 2 to 5 sales a month for 6 months (Growth); 6+ a month (Power) | 20% to 30% to custom, first 12 months; co-marketing |
| ClickUp | Affiliate | Volume levels, top level Premier | 100 or 200 sign-ups a month | Discount codes, custom creative, dedicated support and landing pages |
| AWeber | Affiliate | Rate steps | New paid accounts in a trailing 12 months; 500+ for the top rate | 30% up to 50% recurring |
| Moosend | Affiliate | Rate steps | Paid accounts referred: 0 to 5 at the base, 36+ at the top | 30% up to 40% recurring |
| GreenGeeks | Affiliate | Per-sale steps | Monthly signups: 1, then 6+, custom at 10+ | $50 up to $100 per sale |
| Sellfy | Affiliate | Extra tiers | 6+ monthly sales | Higher than the 25% lifetime base |
| HubSpot Affiliate | Affiliate | Tiers up to Elite | Not stated in our record | Dedicated manager and site audits at higher tiers; custom commission at Elite |
| HubSpot Solutions | Agency, reseller | Tiers up to Elite | Growth of the partner's HubSpot client base | Not stated in our record |
| Xero | Accountants | Bronze to Platinum | Bringing clients onto Xero | Not stated in our record |
| Squarespace Circle | Web professionals | Silver, Gold, Platinum | Silver is free; Gold and Platinum need active subscriptions | Subscription discounts, longer trials, priority support, referral payments |
| Google Cloud | Reseller, integrator | Select, Premier, Diamond | Proven results | Competencies for technical depth |
| Payoneer | Referral, integrator | Silver, Gold, Platinum | Not stated | Milestone bonuses (Silver, Gold); custom revenue share (Platinum) |
| Gorgias | Affiliate | Coral, Gold, Platinum, Diamond | Not stated | Larger revenue share than the 20% two-year base |
| Webflow | Affiliate | Pro and Premium above the entry level | Not stated in our record | Pro and Premium add 10% or 15% on renewal for up to 12 more months |
| Kinsta | Affiliate | Experienced, Pro, Master | Not stated in our record | Dedicated manager, co-branded landing page, co-marketing and swag |
| Semrush | Affiliate | Loyalty tiers | Not stated | Per-sale payout up to $450 |
| Surfer | Affiliate | Starter, Silver, Gold | Not stated | 75 to 125% of the first monthly payment, or 15 to 25% of annual |
| Brand24 | Affiliate | Bronze, Silver, Gold | More paying customers referred | 20%, 25%, 30% recurring |
| Iconosquare | Affiliate | Bronze, Silver, Gold | Not stated | 20%, 30%, 35% on monthly plans; $100, $150, $250 on yearly |
| Envato | Affiliate | Three payout levels | Not stated | Monthly plans: $20, $40 or $80 a month for 3 months; annual: $120, $250 or $500 |
| beehiiv | Affiliate | Tiers | Lifetime conversions | Up to 60% of referral revenue for 12 months |
| Circle | Affiliate | Rate steps | Customers referred per year | 10 to 20% recurring on top of a $100 bonus |
| Sender | Affiliate | Rate steps | Monthly sales | 30% to 40% lifetime; discount codes, custom content and a manager |
| Mangools | Affiliate | Three tiers | Not stated | 25% to 35% on recurring payments |
| Alidrop | Affiliate | Rate steps | Sales volume | 25% to 35% |
| airSlate | Affiliate | Volume tiers | Volume | $40 to $80 per signNow sale |
| Unitel Voice | Affiliate | VIP tier | Large small-business audiences | Co-branded campaigns |
| Aircall | Reseller, integrator | Tiers | Not stated | Rising revenue share (rates not stated) |
| Customer.io | Agency, integrator | Tiers | Not stated | Tiered revenue share (rates not stated) |
Two notes on reading it. "Not stated in our record" means the brand's page didn't give it when we checked; the program may publish it elsewhere, such as inside a partner portal. And terms change: check the brand's current page before you copy a number into your own plan.
Threshold types, and which to pick
Looking across the table, thresholds fall into four groups.
A count of sales or customers. Kit, GetResponse, Pipedrive, ClickUp, AWeber, Moosend, GreenGeeks and Sellfy all use this. It's the easiest to understand and to check from a partner dashboard. The weakness is that it treats a $9 customer and a $900 customer the same, so it suits products with one main price point.
Referred revenue or MRR. Klaviyo, Postscript and FullEnrich. Better when deal sizes vary a lot, because it rewards partners who bring bigger accounts. Klaviyo and Postscript both use MRR, and Postscript measures it over a rolling 12 months, which stops a partner from qualifying on one good quarter and coasting.
Managed revenue. Klaviyo's Master track counts MRR on accounts the agency manages, not only ones it referred. That's the right measure for agencies that take over existing customers, which is a lot of agency work.
Certifications and staff training. Klaviyo requires a set number of employees to finish its curriculum at each tier, rising from 1 at Silver to 20 at Elite. Shopify counts Verified Skills credentials for service partners. Use this only for partners who deliver work on your product (agencies, integrators), and only on top of a commercial threshold. Training without sales tells you a partner is keen, not that they're good.
We'd pick a count for an affiliate program and referred MRR for anything agency-shaped. Set the first step low enough that an active partner hits it in their first quarter. Postscript's Silver needs one paying customer, which is the right idea: the first tier is a welcome, not a hurdle.
What to put on each step
The commission ladders in the table move in steps of 5 to 10 points: GetResponse goes 40, 50, 60; Brand24 goes 20, 25, 30; FullEnrich goes 15, 20, 25. Smaller steps than that don't change behaviour. Bigger ones make the top tier expensive.
Work out what the top step costs before you publish it. Say a partner on a 40% tier sends 100 customers a year at $50 a month. At 40% for 12 months that's 100 × $50 × 12 × 0.40 = $24,000 in commission. At 60% it's $36,000. The extra $12,000 buys you whatever made them hit 100: if it's real new business, that's cheap; if they'd have sent those customers anyway, it's a pure cost.
Non-cash benefits are cheaper and often matter more at the middle tiers. From the table: a dedicated manager (HubSpot, Kinsta, FullEnrich, Sender), co-marketing (Pipedrive, Kinsta), directory placement (Postscript), discount codes for the partner's audience (ClickUp, Sender) and product roadmap access (GetResponse). A listing in your partner directory sends a services partner leads, which is worth more to an agency than a few points of commission.
How many tiers
Three or four, counting the entry tier. Most rows in the table with named tiers have three (Bronze, Silver, Gold or similar). The programs with five, Shopify and Klaviyo, run very large partner ecosystems with separate tracks for different partner types. If you have fewer than a hundred active partners, five tiers means two of them will be empty, and an empty top tier looks unreachable.
Start with two above the entry level. You can add one later; taking one away means demoting people.
Promotion, demotion and review timing
Decide three things and publish them:
- When you check. Real-time promotion is best for motivation. Quarterly reviews are easier to run by hand.
- The measurement window. A rolling 12 months (Postscript, AWeber) is fairer than a calendar year, because a partner who joins in November isn't penalised.
- What happens when a partner drops below. Many programs never demote; some give a grace period of one review cycle. Never demote silently. A partner who discovers a lower rate on their statement will assume the worst.
PartnersWatch (our product) handles the first and third automatically: you define tiers with your own names and thresholds, partners are promoted the moment they qualify, and the software never demotes anyone automatically. Commission rules can pay different rates by tier, and price books can follow a partner's tier for reseller programs.
Programs in our directory that pay recurring commission, many of them with tiers:
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Affiliate | 50% for 12 months, plus 10-20% recurring after 12 months at Bronze/Silver/Gold tiers | Recurring |
| GetResponse | Affiliate | 40% for 12 months, rising to 50% (50+ sales/yr) or 60% (100+ sales/yr) | Recurring |
| Pipedrive | Affiliate | 20% revenue share for first 12 months (Rising); 30% (Growth, 2-5 sales/month for 6 months); custom (Power, 6+ sales/month) | Recurring |
| Brand24 | Affiliate, Referral partner | 20% / 25% / 30% recurring by tier (Bronze, Silver, Gold) | Recurring |
| AWeber | Affiliate, Referral partner | 30-50% recurring, tiered by new paid accounts referred in 12 months | Recurring |
| Moosend | Affiliate | 30-40% recurring, tiered by paid accounts referred | Recurring |
For the wider design of a new program, start with how to start a partner program, and see partner program examples for structures beyond tiers.
FAQ
What are partner program tiers?
Partner program tiers are levels, such as Silver, Gold and Platinum, that a partner moves through as they bring the vendor more business. Each higher tier pays a better commission or margin, or adds benefits like a dedicated manager, co-marketing or directory placement.
What is the difference between silver, gold and platinum partners?
The names are only labels; each program defines its own thresholds. At Postscript, Silver needs one paying customer, Gold $15,000 in rolling 12-month referred MRR and Platinum $50,000. At Klaviyo, Silver starts at $250 referred MRR and Platinum at $20,000. Always read the specific program's requirements.
How do you qualify for a higher partner tier?
Usually by hitting a sales, customer or revenue number over a set period. Kit moves affiliates up at 10, 50 and 100 paying referrals a year; Pipedrive at 2 to 5 sales a month sustained for six months. Agency programs often add a certification or staff-training requirement on top.
How many tiers should a partner program have?
Three or four including the entry level is enough for most programs. More tiers only make sense with a large partner base and separate tracks, as at Shopify and Klaviyo. Fewer tiers with clear, reachable thresholds beat many tiers that most partners never reach.
Should partner tiers be based on revenue or number of sales?
Use the number of sales when your product has one main price point, because it's simple and easy to track. Use referred revenue or MRR when deal sizes vary widely, so partners who bring larger accounts are rewarded for it. Agency programs often add managed revenue as well.
Do partners get demoted if they miss a tier threshold?
It depends on the program, and many don't say. Publish your rule, use a rolling measurement window rather than a calendar year, and give at least one review cycle of notice before any downgrade.