15 Best Recurring Commission Affiliate Programs

Strong options in 2026 include Systeme.io, Thinkific, MailerLite, AWeber, Moosend, ClickFunnels, Kit, FreshLearn, GetResponse, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Teachable, SocialPilot, Printify and Cloudways.

Unlike traditional affiliate programs that pay once per sale, recurring affiliate programs can pay commissions repeatedly while the referred customer continues paying—or for a defined period such as 12 months.

For example, if you earn a 30% lifetime recurring commission from a customer paying $100 monthly:

$100 × 30% = $30 per month

If that customer remains subscribed for three years:

$30 × 36 = $1,080

That illustrates why recurring commissions can turn evergreen affiliate content into a potentially compounding revenue stream. Actual earnings, however, depend on referrals, customer retention, program terms and cancellations.

15 Recurring Affiliate Programs at a Glance

*Thinkific Plus uses a different commission structure. Affiliate terms can change, so always verify the current agreement before promoting a program.

1. Systeme.io

Commission: 60% lifetime recurring

Systeme.io currently offers one of the more aggressive recurring structures among mainstream marketing platforms.

Its official affiliate page states:

“Earn 60% lifetime recurring commissions”

on eligible paid subscriptions. The company also reports paying more than $5 million in affiliate commissions.

Systeme.io combines sales funnels, email marketing, online courses, websites and automation, making it particularly relevant to audiences interested in online businesses and digital products. The program is free to join and currently uses lifetime attribution rather than a conventional short cookie window.

2. Thinkific

Commission: 30% lifetime recurring

Thinkific is an online course and learning-platform provider. Its affiliate program currently pays 30% recurring commission for as long as the referred customer remains a paying Thinkific customer. Thinkific says affiliates can earn up to $1,800 per referral annually, depending on the customer’s plan.

It also provides a 90-day referral window. Thinkific is particularly relevant for audiences consisting of:

• Coaches.
• Teachers.
• Consultants.
• Course creators.
• Subject-matter experts.

3. MailerLite

Commission: 30% lifetime recurring

MailerLite’s affiliate program pays 30% of qualifying subscription payments for as long as the referred customer remains active. Its current terms use a 45-day referral window. MailerLite is particularly suitable for affiliate marketers serving bloggers, creators, small businesses and newsletter publishers.

The company even published a case study reporting that one agency generated more than $13,500 through its MailerLite affiliate activity. That’s a specific company example, not typical or guaranteed earnings.

4. AWeber

Commission: 30%–50% recurring

AWeber’s Advocate Program uses performance tiers. Affiliates currently earn:

• 30% for 0–99 new paid accounts.
• 40% for 100–499.
• 50% for 500+.

The tiers are based on paid referrals within a trailing 12-month period. More importantly, referral payments continue for the time the qualifying customer keeps their account.

AWeber currently uses a 90-day cookie window.

5. Moosend

Commission: 30%–40% lifetime recurring

Moosend offers another attractive email marketing affiliate program. Its current tier structure ranges from:

30% → 33% → 35% → 37% → 40%

depending on the number of paid customer referrals.

Moosend states that qualifying commissions recur for life while the referred customer remains eligible. That makes it particularly interesting for email-marketing educators and software-review websites.

6. ClickFunnels

Commission: 30% recurring

ClickFunnels sells funnel-building and online marketing software. The company says affiliates can earn 30% recurring commission for qualifying ClickFunnels customers and reports having paid more than $136 million to partners and promoters.

ClickFunnels states that recurring commissions can continue while the referred customer remains subscribed. This is an important characteristic because expensive subscription products can potentially generate greater lifetime commission per customer than inexpensive products.

7. Kit

Commission: 50% for 12 months + potential long-term recurring commissions

Kit, formerly ConvertKit, has a more unusual structure. Its current affiliate program pays 50% commission during each referred paying customer’s first 12 months.

Affiliates who achieve qualifying status can then earn additional recurring commissions after the first year.

Kit says affiliates referring at least 10 paying customers per year can unlock recurring revenue beyond the first 12 months, with qualifying tiers providing 10%–20% ongoing commissions.

Kit says its newsletter platform powers more than 600,000 creators.

8. FreshLearn

Commission: 30% lifetime recurring, capped per referral

FreshLearn is designed for creators selling courses, memberships and other knowledge products. Its affiliate program currently offers 30% recurring commission for the lifetime of the qualifying customer, subject to a $500 commission cap per referral.

Read Also: Display Ads vs Affiliate Links: Monetization Strategies for New Blogs Compared

The program also provides a 60-day cookie window and doesn’t require affiliates to purchase a paid plan before joining. This can be a natural match for audiences interested in online teaching and the creator economy.

9. GetResponse

Commission: 40%–60% for up to 12 months

GetResponse updated its affiliate structure in 2026. The new model starts at 40% for 12 months, increasing to 50% after 50 referrals and 60% after 100 referrals under its tier structure. That’s different from a lifetime commission.

If the customer remains subscribed beyond the qualifying commission period, new payments don’t necessarily continue generating affiliate commissions under the standard new structure.

Always distinguish high percentage from long duration when comparing programs.

10. HubSpot

Commission: 30% recurring for up to one year

HubSpot’s affiliate program targets business, sales and marketing audiences. Its program currently advertises a 30% monthly recurring commission for up to one year with a 180-day cookie window.

The long referral window can be valuable for business software because customers may research expensive products for weeks or months before purchasing.

HubSpot can therefore suit publishers covering:

CRM + Sales + Marketing + Customer service + Business software

11. ActiveCampaign

Commission: 30% for up to 12 months

ActiveCampaign currently pays affiliates a 30% recurring commission for each new eligible referral, with commissions continuing for up to 12 months per referred account. Its affiliate program operates through PartnerStack.

This program is particularly relevant to audiences interested in email marketing, marketing automation and customer-experience software.

12. Teachable

Commission: 30% recurring for one year

Teachable helps creators sell courses and other educational products.  Its partner program currently offers:

30% recurring commission for the first year

of each qualifying referred creator’s subscription.

Teachable also provides a 30-day cookie window.

This creates an obvious content opportunity for bloggers and YouTubers publishing tutorials about creating and selling online courses.

13. SocialPilot

Commission: 20% recurring for one year

SocialPilot is a social-media management platform. Its affiliate program currently pays 20% recurring commission for one year on eligible referred subscriptions.

The company also advertises a 90-day cookie duration and says affiliates can earn up to $306 per referred customer under its current program structure.

This program can complement content about social-media marketing, agencies and content creation.

14. Printify

Commission: 5% for 12 months

Printify takes a different approach. Instead of paying commissions primarily on a software subscription, affiliates receive 5% of the catalog product price on orders placed by qualifying referrals for 12 months.

Printify reports that active affiliate partners earn an average of $1,000 per month. This is a company-reported average among its active partners, not an earnings guarantee for new affiliates.

The program has a 90-day cookie window and is particularly relevant to print-on-demand and e-commerce content.

15. Cloudways

Commission: $30 upfront + 7% lifetime under Hybrid

Cloudways offers managed cloud hosting and gives affiliates several commission structures.

Its Hybrid model currently provides:

$30 upfront + 7% lifetime recurring commission

on qualifying referrals.

This can appeal to affiliates producing content about:

• WordPress.
• Web hosting.
• Website development.
• Blogging.
• E-commerce.

Hosting can be especially interesting for recurring affiliate marketing because customers may keep the same hosting service for extended periods.

Why Recurring Affiliate Programs Can Be Powerful

Compare two hypothetical programs.

One-time program

100 referrals × $50 commission:

$5,000

Then the affiliate must generate additional sales to earn more.

Recurring program

100 customers paying $50 monthly with a 30% recurring commission:

100 × $50 × 30% = $1,500/month

If all 100 customers remained subscribed for 12 months:

$1,500 × 12 = $18,000

Real-world results won’t be that neat because customers cancel, upgrade, downgrade and churn.

But the example demonstrates the advantage:

One successful referral can potentially generate multiple commissions.

Lifetime Commission Doesn’t Mean Guaranteed Lifetime Income

This distinction is critical. “Lifetime recurring commission” usually means commissions continue while the qualifying customer remains a paying customer and while the affiliate complies with the program’s terms.

It does not mean the company guarantees to pay you forever.

For example, MailerLite’s terms specify recurring commissions while the subscription remains active and eligible.

Affiliate programs can also modify terms. Therefore, diversify rather than building your entire income around one company.

How to Choose a Recurring Affiliate Program

Don’t simply select whichever program advertises the highest percentage.

Consider:

1. Commission rate — 5%, 20%, 30% or 60%?
2. Duration — 12 months or customer lifetime?
3. Customer retention — do people keep using the product?
4. Product quality — would you recommend it without a commission?
5. Audience relevance — does your audience need it?
6. Cookie window — how long is attribution retained?
7. Product price — what is each referral potentially worth?
8. Payout rules — minimum thresholds, delays and payment methods.

A 20% lifetime commission on a sticky product can potentially be more valuable than a 50% commission lasting only a few months.

Build Evergreen Affiliate Content

Recurring programs work particularly well with content that continues generating referrals. Examples include:

• Product reviews
• “MailerLite Review: Is It Worth It?”
• Comparisons
• “Thinkific vs Teachable”
• Tutorials
• “How to Create an Online Course With Thinkific”
• Best-of lists
• “Best Email Marketing Platforms for Bloggers”
• Case studies
• “How I Built My Newsletter With Kit”

These pages and videos can continue attracting search traffic after publication. One article can therefore potentially generate referrals repeatedly.

Final Thoughts

The real advantage of recurring affiliate marketing is customer lifetime value. A conventional affiliate model looks like:

Referral → Purchase → One commission

A recurring model can look like:

Referral → Subscription → Commission → Renewal → Commission → Renewal → Commission

Among the programs reviewed here, the structures vary substantially. Systeme.io currently advertises 60% lifetime recurring commissions, while Thinkific offers 30% lifetime recurring revenue on eligible plans and MailerLite offers 30% of qualifying recurring subscription payments for the customer’s lifetime.

Other programs deliberately limit recurring payments. ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Teachable and SocialPilot currently use approximately one-year commission periods.

Neither model guarantees greater earnings.

The strongest strategy is to promote products you genuinely understand to an audience that genuinely needs them.

Then create evergreen tutorials, reviews, comparisons and educational content that can continue generating qualified referrals.

Recurring affiliate marketing becomes powerful not when you chase the largest commission percentage, but when you combine:

Useful product + Relevant audience + Evergreen traffic + Strong customer retention + Recurring commissions

That is how a single affiliate referral can potentially become a revenue-producing asset rather than a one-time payment.

FAQ

What is a recurring commission affiliate program?

It is an affiliate arrangement where you can receive additional commissions when a referred customer makes subsequent qualifying payments rather than receiving only one payment for the initial sale.

Which programs offer lifetime recurring commissions?

Current examples include Systeme.io, Thinkific, MailerLite, AWeber, Moosend and FreshLearn, subject to each program’s terms.

Can recurring affiliate marketing become passive income?

It can produce ongoing income from previous referrals, but it isn’t completely passive. Content needs updating, products change, customers cancel and affiliate terms can be modified.

Is a higher commission always better?

No. Duration, customer retention, subscription price, conversion rate and audience fit can be more important than the headline percentage.

Source: getresponse.com