Of the 135 recurring affiliate programs in the PartnersWatch directory that we could classify, 36 say the commission lasts for the customer's lifetime, 42 stop at 12 months and 5 stop at 24 months. The other 52 don't say how long they pay. The median top rate across the 118 recurring programs that publish a percentage is 30% (checked October 2026).
Those numbers matter more than any single program's headline. A "30% recurring" offer can mean thirty percent of every payment for as long as the customer stays, or thirty percent for a year and then nothing. Third-party lists often blur the two. When netpartners checked 90 SaaS programs that claimed 30% recurring or more against their own terms pages in September 2026, 29 didn't hold up: most paid less at the entry tier or stopped earlier than advertised (netpartners).
Every program below comes from our directory, where each listing links to the brand's own affiliate page and shows the date we last read it. All the rows here were checked on 2 October 2026. Terms change, so open the listing before you build content around a rate.
How long recurring commission lasts
Show the numbers
| Group | Programs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Duration not stated | 52 | 38.5% |
| Capped at 12 months | 42 | 31.1% |
| Lifetime | 36 | 26.7% |
| Capped at 24 months | 5 | 3.7% |
The split is close to even between lifetime and 12-month programs, with very few 24-month caps. Two years as a middle ground is rare. Vendors mostly pick one of two ends: a clean one-year cap they can budget for, or lifetime as a recruiting hook.
A note on how we count. Our classifier reads the commission text on each listing. "Lifetime", "for life" and "as long as" count as lifetime. "12 months", "first year" and "one year" count as a 12-month cap. That method has two blind spots, and both are worth knowing about:
- A few programs say "while the referral stays subscribed" (Calilio, POWR, Trainual). That reads like lifetime, but we count it as "not stated".
- Some of the 36 lifetime programs carry conditions. Jibble pays lifetime only to resellers, Vida Global offers a lower rate for life as an alternative to two years, and Notify Me! drops to a lower rate after six months. Two of the 36 are revenue-share deals rather than straight affiliate commission.
So if you want programs that pay a clear rate for life with no catch, the real number is closer to 30 than 36. That's still plenty to build a portfolio from.
Lifetime recurring affiliate programs
These pay for as long as the referred account keeps paying, according to each brand's own page. We've picked the ones with a stated rate.
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| systeme.io | Affiliate | 60% lifetime recurring | Recurring |
| Sender | Affiliate | 30-40% lifetime recurring, by tier | Recurring |
| MailerLite | Affiliate | 30% recurring for the lifetime of the customer | Recurring |
| Pabbly | Affiliate | 30% recurring for the life of the customer | Recurring |
| Mighty Networks | Affiliate | 30% recurring for the lifetime of the referral | Recurring |
| KrispCall Communications | Affiliate, Referral partner | 30% lifetime recurring commission | Recurring |
| Rank Prompt | Affiliate, Agency, Referral partner | 30% of every payment, lifetime | Recurring |
| Unitel Voice | Affiliate | $30 upfront plus 30% recurring for the life of the account | Recurring |
| LiveChat (Text) | Affiliate, Reseller | 20% of each paid subscription, rising to 22% after 5 paying customers, for the life of the subscription | Recurring |
| Browse AI | Affiliate | 20% recurring, lifetime | Recurring |
| InboxAlly | Affiliate | 20% recurring for the customer's lifetime | Recurring |
| Hello Bar & Subscribers | Affiliate | 20% recurring for life | Recurring |
| respond.io | Reseller, Referral partner | 15% to 40% lifetime commissions | Recurring |
| CrankWheel | Affiliate | 15% recurring for the life of the subscription plus up to $120 one-time bonus | Recurring |
| Kinsta | Affiliate, Referral partner | Up to $500 one-time bonus plus 10% lifetime monthly recurring commission | Recurring |
| Program | Lifetime rate | Cookie | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| systeme.io | 60% lifetime recurring | Not stated | 2026-10-02 |
| Sender | 30-40% lifetime recurring, by tier | Not stated | 2026-10-02 |
| MailerLite | 30% recurring for the lifetime of the customer | Not stated | 2026-10-02 |
| Pabbly | 30% recurring for the life of the customer | 365 days | 2026-10-02 |
| Mighty Networks | 30% recurring for the lifetime of the referral | Not stated | 2026-10-02 |
| LiveChat | 20%, rising to 22% after 5 paying customers | 120 days | 2026-10-02 |
| InboxAlly | 20% recurring for the customer's lifetime | 120 days | 2026-10-02 |
| Kinsta | 10% lifetime monthly, plus up to $500 one-time bonus | 60 days | 2026-10-02 |
Two things stand out. First, the highest lifetime rates sit on lower-priced products. systeme.io's 60% is generous, but you're taking a share of an inexpensive plan, and a cheap plan with one user and no data lock-in is easy to cancel. Second, Pabbly's 365-day cookie is one of only two that long in our whole directory. If your audience researches for months before buying, that alone can be worth more than a few points of rate.
Kinsta is the odd one out: a low lifetime rate on an expensive product, with a one-time bonus up front. Managed WordPress hosting is sticky because moving sites is a chore, so a small percentage that runs for years is often worth more than it looks.
12-month and 24-month recurring programs
Capped programs usually pay a higher rate in exchange for the cap. Of the 42 programs with a 12-month cap, these are the ones most affiliates will recognise:
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Affiliate | 50% for 12 months, plus 10-20% recurring after 12 months at Bronze/Silver/Gold tiers | Recurring |
| Webflow | Affiliate | 50% revenue share on a new customer's first subscription for up to 12 months; Pro/Premium tiers add 10%/15% for up to 12 more months on renewal | Recurring |
| beehiiv | Affiliate, Agency | Up to 60% of referral revenue monthly for 12 months | Recurring |
| GetResponse | Affiliate | 40% for 12 months, rising to 50% (50+ sales/yr) or 60% (100+ sales/yr) | Recurring |
| Tarkle Send | Affiliate, Referral partner, Agency | 40% recurring for 12 months | Recurring |
| Reclaim.ai | Affiliate | 40% work-email / 25% personal-email for up to 12 months | Recurring |
| HubSpot | Affiliate | 30% recurring commission for up to one year (up to $1,000+ per sale); custom commission at Elite tier | Recurring |
| n8n | Affiliate | 30% for the first 12 months | Recurring |
| Teachable | Affiliate | 30% recurring for 12 months | Recurring |
| Unbounce | Affiliate, Referral partner | 25-35% recurring for up to 12 months | Recurring |
| Fireflies.ai | Affiliate, Reseller | Up to 30% recurring for 12 months | Recurring |
| ElevenLabs | Affiliate | Up to 22% of all payments for the first 12 months, no limits | 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 |
| Program | Rate and cap | Cookie | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | 50% for 12 months, plus 10-20% recurring after 12 months at Bronze/Silver/Gold tiers | Not stated | 2026-10-02 |
| Webflow | 50% on a new customer's first subscription for up to 12 months | 90 days | 2026-10-02 |
| beehiiv | Up to 60% of referral revenue monthly for 12 months | 60 days | 2026-10-02 |
| GetResponse | 40% for 12 months, rising to 50% (50+ sales/yr) or 60% (100+ sales/yr) | Not stated | 2026-10-02 |
| HubSpot | 30% recurring for up to one year | 180 days | 2026-10-02 |
| Pipedrive | 20% for first 12 months, 30% at Growth tier | 90 days | 2026-10-02 |
Kit's structure is the most interesting here. It's a capped program with a lifetime tail: 50% for the first year, then a smaller recurring share that continues if you've reached a tier. For a newsletter-heavy audience, that tail is where the long-term value is.
Only five programs in the directory cap at 24 months: Gorgias (20% for the first two years, higher at upper tiers), Murf (20% for 24 months), Omnisend (20% for up to 24 months), FlexiQuiz (30% for 24 months) and Landbot (20% for up to 2 years).
Recurring programs by category
Most recurring programs are software. In our directory, 39.9% of the 288 software programs pay recurring commission, compared with none of the 21 financial-services programs. Within software, these are the clusters with the most choice.
Email and newsletters
Email has the deepest bench of recurring programs, and both lifetime and capped options. That's why it's the first niche most recurring-income affiliates build.
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Affiliate | 30% recurring for the lifetime of the customer | Recurring |
| Sender | Affiliate | 30-40% lifetime recurring, by tier | Recurring |
| Kit | Affiliate | 50% for 12 months, plus 10-20% recurring after 12 months at Bronze/Silver/Gold tiers | Recurring |
| beehiiv | Affiliate, Agency | Up to 60% of referral revenue monthly for 12 months | Recurring |
| GetResponse | Affiliate | 40% for 12 months, rising to 50% (50+ sales/yr) or 60% (100+ sales/yr) | Recurring |
| Moosend | Affiliate | 30-40% recurring, tiered by paid accounts referred | Recurring |
| Omnisend | Affiliate | 20% recurring for up to 24 months | Recurring |
| EmailOctopus | Affiliate | 30% of revenue for 12 months | Recurring |
| InboxAlly | Affiliate | 20% recurring for the customer's lifetime | Recurring |
Our email marketing affiliate programs guide goes through them one by one.
SEO tools
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE Ranking | Affiliate | 30% commission on payments from referred users | Recurring |
| Mangools | Affiliate | 25-35% on every recurring payment | Recurring |
| Rank Prompt | Affiliate, Agency, Referral partner | 30% of every payment, lifetime | Recurring |
SE Ranking pays on payments from referred users with a 120-day cookie, and Mangools pays 25-35% on every recurring payment. Neither page states a cap. The SEO tool affiliate programs guide covers the flat-fee alternatives, which are common in this niche.
AI tools
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | Affiliate | Up to 22% of all payments for the first 12 months, no limits | Recurring |
| Murf | Affiliate | 20% recurring for 24 months | Recurring |
| Reclaim.ai | Affiliate | 40% work-email / 25% personal-email for up to 12 months | Recurring |
| n8n | Affiliate | 30% for the first 12 months | Recurring |
| Fireflies.ai | Affiliate, Reseller | Up to 30% recurring for 12 months | Recurring |
| Writesonic | Affiliate | 20% recurring for 12 months | Recurring |
| Browse AI | Affiliate | 20% recurring, lifetime | Recurring |
AI programs lean towards 12-month caps. Browse AI is the exception here with 20% lifetime. Be careful with AI tools in general: usage-based pricing and fast-moving competitors make retention harder to predict than it is for email or CRM. See AI affiliate programs for the wider list.
CRM and sales
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Affiliate | 30% recurring commission for up to one year (up to $1,000+ per sale); custom commission at Elite tier | 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 |
| GoHighLevel | Affiliate | 40% recurring monthly | Recurring |
| KrispCall Communications | Affiliate, Referral partner | 30% lifetime recurring commission | Recurring |
| Instantly | Affiliate, Agency | 20-35% recurring, paid monthly | Recurring |
| lemlist | Affiliate | 25% for 12 months | Recurring |
GoHighLevel's 40% recurring monthly is the highest rate in this group, and its page doesn't state a cap. CRM customers are slow to move once their pipeline lives in the tool, which is why HubSpot can offer a 12-month cap and still attract affiliates.
Hosting
Hosting mostly pays one-time bounties. Kinsta's 10% lifetime is the main recurring option, and our web hosting affiliate programs guide compares it with the bounty programs.
How to compare a capped and a lifetime program
The headline rate is the least useful number in the terms. What you actually earn per customer is the monthly price, times the rate, times the number of months the customer pays you. The cap limits the last number, and so does churn.
Here's the worked version. Take a plan priced at $30 a month and compare a 40% rate capped at 12 months with a 30% lifetime rate. Assume the customer either stays or leaves at the same rate every month (the monthly churn).
Expected months paid under the 12-month cap = (1 − (1 − churn)^12) ÷ churn. Expected months paid for lifetime = 1 ÷ churn.
| Monthly churn | Months paid, 12-month cap | 40% capped, per customer | Months paid, lifetime | 30% lifetime, per customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3% | 10.2 | $122 | 33.3 | $300 |
| 5% | 9.2 | $110 | 20.0 | $180 |
| 10% | 7.2 | $86 | 10.0 | $90 |
At 5% churn, for example, the capped offer pays 40% × $30 × 9.2 = $110 and the lifetime offer pays 30% × $30 × 20 = $180. At 10% churn the two are almost level. So the rule is simple: lifetime beats a higher capped rate when customers stay, and the gap closes fast on products people cancel. If you don't know a product's churn, ask the affiliate manager. Some will give you a rough figure, and a refusal tells you something too.
Two more things change the sums:
- Upgrades. Ask whether your share follows the customer onto a bigger plan or extra seats. On a team product, expansion can double the value of a referral.
- Annual plans. Where a program pays commission on each payment, a customer on an annual plan pays once a year, so a 12-month cap means one payout and nothing after. Check how the terms treat annual billing.
Our ROI calculator runs these numbers for you, and recurring vs one-time commission works through more examples, including when a one-time bounty beats both.
Mistakes we see with recurring programs
Reading "recurring" as "lifetime". Most of the claims that failed the netpartners check paid less at entry level or stopped earlier than the headline suggested. Of the 83 programs in our directory that state a duration, more than half (47) cap it.
Ignoring the tier you'll actually be on. GetResponse's 60% needs 100+ sales a year. Sender's 40% is its top tier. Model your income on the entry rate and treat the top rate as a bonus.
Chasing rate on products with weak retention. A high lifetime percentage on a product that most customers cancel after three months is worth less than a modest rate on a tool that runs their business.
Not reading what ends the commission. Some programs stop paying if you go inactive as a partner, if the customer changes plans, or if the vendor moves the account to an enterprise contract. Read the terms for each of these before you build a content library around one program.
Forgetting the payout threshold. Recurring income arrives in small monthly amounts. Of the 31 programs in our directory that state a minimum payout, 14 say there's no minimum, and the median among the 17 with a dollar figure is 50 dollars. A high threshold can hold a new affiliate's money for months. How partner payouts work covers this in detail.
If you're on the other side and setting up recurring commission for your own product, the SaaS affiliate commission rates report has the full distribution by model and partner type, and how to start a partner program covers choosing between a cap and lifetime. PartnersWatch (our product) runs capped, lifetime and tiered recurring plans if you need software for it.
FAQ
What is a recurring commission affiliate program?
A recurring commission affiliate program pays you a share of every subscription payment a customer you referred makes, not just the first one. Payment continues for the customer's lifetime or for a fixed period such as 12 or 24 months, as set in the program's terms.
Which affiliate programs pay lifetime recurring commission?
In our directory, 36 of 135 recurring programs say they pay for the customer's lifetime. Examples with stated rates include systeme.io (60%), MailerLite (30%), Pabbly (30%, with a 365-day cookie), Mighty Networks (30%) and Kinsta (10% plus a one-time bonus).
Is recurring commission usually capped at 12 months?
Often, yes. Of the 83 recurring programs in our directory that state how long they pay, 42 cap commission at 12 months and 5 at 24 months, while 36 pay for life. Another 52 recurring programs don't state a duration, so ask before you assume.
What is a good recurring commission rate?
30% is the middle of the market. The median top rate across 118 recurring programs that publish a percentage is 30% in our directory, with the middle half between 20% and about 34%. A lower rate with no cap can still out-earn a higher capped rate if customers stay.
How long do cookies last on recurring affiliate programs?
The median is 90 days across the 44 recurring programs in our directory that state a cookie window. The range runs from 30 days up to 365 days at Pabbly. A longer cookie matters most for products with long research cycles, such as B2B software.
Is lifetime commission really lifetime?
It usually means for as long as the referred account stays active, subject to the program's terms. Check whether commission stops if you go inactive as an affiliate, if the customer changes plan, or if the vendor changes its program. Existing referrals aren't always protected when terms change.
Can recurring commission be clawed back?
Most programs reverse commission on refunded, charged-back or fraudulent payments, usually within a set window after each payment. Payments that the customer made and kept are normally safe, but the exact rule varies, so read the refund and hold period in the agreement.