How it works
Referrals and affiliates, step by step
One link each
A customer makes theirs under Refer a business in the dashboard; an affiliate gets theirs on joining at /affiliates. Following it sets one cookie naming the click for 60 days, and the first link a browser followed is the one that counts.
Earned only on what was paid
A reward is worked out on the plan's own payment before sales tax, never on extras or packs, and is never more than the amount the cost table leaves for that payment after its worst-case costs. A refund, a credit or a dispute cancels it.
Held, then paid or applied
Every reward waits 60 days after the payment. An affiliate's commission is then payable by PayPal once it reaches $50; a referral's credit is applied to your own future bills, each taking only as much as keeps that bill inside its plan's margin, with the rest carried for 12 months; it is never cash.
Counts, never people
The dashboard shows clicks, sign-ups, paying accounts and each payment's amount and status. It never shows who a referred business is.
Safe by design
The rule that makes it safe to have
Clear boundaries
What it will not do
Every capability page ends with this list. It is the part that says what you are actually buying.
- It will not pay on your own account, on an account with your address or your billing customer, or on an account that was already paying.
- It will not pay on extra projects, extra seats or monthly packs.
- It will not pay a commission or give credit beyond what the payment leaves after its worst-case costs; when nothing is left, it pays nothing and the program stays closed.
- It will not turn referral credit into cash, or put more credit on one bill than keeps that bill inside its plan's margin at full use.
- It will not show you who a referred business is, or record anything about a visitor beyond the click's random id.
- It will not send money by itself. Payouts are sent by PayPal and recorded; credit is applied at the payment provider and recorded.
- It does not project earnings, and no page says how much anyone will make.
Where it lives in the code: lib/referral-rules.ts · lib/referrals.ts · lib/referral-billing.ts · lib/acquisition-cost.ts · lib/cost-table.ts · app/go/[code]/route.ts · app/api/affiliates/route.ts · app/api/referrals/route.ts · app/affiliates/page.tsx · app/referrals/page.tsx · app/dashboard/affiliate/[token]/page.tsx · app/dashboard/[token]/referrals/page.tsx
This is running now
Open a project and use it. Nothing on this page is a roadmap.