Key takeaways
- Recurring commission pays on every invoice for a set period; one-time commission pays once.
- With the SkedCast defaults, one Studio customer earns you about $173 over 12 months, against about $11.76 if only the first invoice paid.
- Your monthly figure grows while you add customers, then levels off once the first ones finish their commission period.
- A hold period and a reversal window protect the program from refunds; they delay money, they do not lose it.
- Attribution windows decide whose customer someone is; read them before you compare programs.
Recurring vs one-time commission
A one-time (or flat) commission pays you once when someone buys. A recurring commission pays you a percentage of each payment the customer makes, for a fixed number of months or for as long as they stay.
For subscription software the difference is large. Take a Studio customer at $49 a month. At 30%, the first invoice (with the 20% new-customer discount) earns you $11.76. Paid on every invoice for 12 months, the same customer earns you $173.46.
How it adds up month by month
Suppose you bring one new Studio customer every month and nobody cancels. In month one you earn on one invoice; in month two on two; and so on. From your 10th sale the SkedCast default rate rises from 30% to 35% for everything you earn from then on.
By month twelve that one-a-month pace pays about $202 a month. In month thirteen your first customer reaches the end of their 12-month term, so from then on one customer leaves your earnings for every one who joins: by month twenty-four it is still about $202 a month. The level you settle at is set by how many customers you bring each month, not by how long you have been promoting.
Real audiences cancel, so the affiliate commission calculator lets you add a monthly cancellation rate and see the difference.
From a payment to your payout
Commission is not paid the moment a customer pays. Most programs hold it for a while, because a payment can still be refunded or disputed.
- Hold: each SkedCast commission is held for 30 days by default.
- Reversal: a refund or chargeback within 120 days of a payment reverses its commission; if it was already paid, it comes off your next payout.
- Payout: commission approved in a month is paid on the 15th of the next month, once your balance is at least $50. Smaller balances carry forward.
- Statement: every payout comes with a statement and a self-billed invoice or a receipt for your records.
Attribution: whose customer is it?
Before comparing programs, check the attribution rules. SkedCast remembers a click on your link for 60 days; if someone clicked several partners' links, the last one wins, and the first payment must come within 90 days of that click. A promo code needs no click: the customer enters it within 24 hours of signing up, and it never takes a customer away from a partner whose link already brought them.
Longer windows and clear rules matter more than a headline rate: a high percentage on a program that rarely credits you is worth less than a fair one that does.
What to compare between affiliate programs
A quick checklist when you choose what to promote:
- Rate and term: the percentage, and for how long it recurs.
- Tiers and bonuses: whether the rate rises with your sales.
- Customer offer: what your audience gets for using your link or code.
- Attribution: cookie length, first or last click, and how codes are handled.
- Payouts: minimum, schedule, methods available in your country, and statements.
- Rules: what you may and may not do, such as brand bidding or coupon sites.
Sources and how this was checked
Last reviewed 2026-10-06. This post uses only SkedCast's own program figures and arithmetic; no third-party program is quoted. SkedCast figures are the program defaults, checked against the program's configuration; your partner dashboard shows the terms that apply to you.
FAQ
- What is a recurring affiliate commission?
- A share of every payment a customer makes for a set period (or as long as they stay), rather than a single payment when they sign up.
- Is recurring commission better than one-time?
- For subscription products it usually earns more over time, because each customer pays you again every month. A one-time payout arrives sooner, so it suits products people buy once.
- How long does SkedCast pay recurring commission?
- For 12 months from each customer's first payment, by default, at 30% (35% from your 10th sale).
- Why is commission held before it is paid?
- Because a payment can still be refunded or charged back. The hold lets those settle first, so you are rarely asked to give money back.