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The Main Remuneration Models in Affiliate Marketing

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Affiliate marketing can be monetized in a number of different ways, and each remuneration model serves a different goal. This guide covers the six models used across the industry, and tells you which ones you can set up directly in Affilae.

From market model to Affilae rule type

Affilae does not support every model described below. Three of them match a Rule type you pick when creating a commission rule. The others remain useful industry vocabulary for negotiating with partners, but they do not trigger any commission inside the platform.

MARKET MODEL	IN AFFILAE	WHAT YOU SELECT
Cost Per Action (CPA)	Supported	Rule type Sale (percentage) or Sale (fixed amount)
Cost Per Lead (CPL)	Supported	Rule type Lead
Cost Per Click (CPC)	Supported	Rule type Click
Cost Per Mille (CPM)	Not supported	No rule type. Affilae does not commission ad impressions.
Fixed Fee (FF)	Not supported	No rule type. A flat fee does not trigger a commission inside the platform.
Product Gifting	Handled elsewhere	Not a commission rule. Handled through the Product Marketplace: Product requests for advertisers, Product testing for publishers.

You will find the Rule type field in Manage my programs > your program > Configuration > Commissions rules tab, when creating a rule.

Please note: a rule type is locked once the rule has been created. To move from one model to another, create a new rule instead of editing the existing one.

The six remuneration models

Cost Per Action (CPA)

Cost Per Action is the most widespread remuneration model in affiliate marketing. The advertiser pays a commission every time a sale is generated. The commission is set either as a percentage of the order value, or as a fixed amount per sale.

Example

An influencer shares a story containing a link to a €100 product. Someone in their community clicks the link and makes a purchase. The affiliate then earns a percentage of the sale according to the commission terms shown in the marketplace.

In Affilae, this model maps to two separate options of the Rule type field, depending on how you calculate the commission: Sale (percentage) or Sale (fixed amount). In the rules table, both are then displayed under the Sale type. Revenue share is not a separate type: it is a Sale (percentage) rule.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost Per Click means the advertiser only pays when someone actually clicks a link placed on the affiliate’s site.

Example

In a blog post containing product links, a reader clicks through to the merchant’s site. The affiliate, in this case the blog author, earns a click-based payment.

In Affilae, select the Click rule type. The payout is always a fixed amount per click. This rule type has no tracking lifetime and no conversion status, since no conversion is expected.

Cost Per Lead (CPL)

Cost Per Lead, also called cost per registration, rewards the affiliate for every visitor who signs up on the advertiser’s site, usually by completing a form.

Example

A blog article promotes a special offer. The visitor fills in a registration form on the merchant’s site to access the promotion. As soon as the registration is submitted, the affiliate earns a lead-based commission.

In Affilae, select the Lead rule type. The creation form sets the payout as a fixed amount per lead.

Cost Per Mille (CPM)

Cost Per Mille means the advertiser pays for ad space calculated per 1,000 impressions.

Example

An affiliate sells banner space on their website to promote a merchant. They earn € x for every 1,000 ad impressions.

This model cannot be set up in Affilae. The Rule type field offers no impression-based option, and the platform does not count ad displays. The term is still useful when discussing media buying with a publisher, but a CPM deal is handled outside your commission rules.

Fixed Fee (FF)

A Fixed Fee is a one-off amount paid for a specific placement or piece of content.

Example

An affiliate is paid € x for an Instagram story featuring the advertiser’s product. The story is published once, and the affiliate receives the agreed-upon flat fee.

This model cannot be set up in Affilae. Every commission rule fires on a tracked event: a click, a lead or a sale. A flat fee depends on no such event, so it is agreed directly between the advertiser and the publisher. Nothing stops you from combining the two, with a flat fee for the placement and an Affilae rule for the sales it generates.

Product Gifting

Product Gifting, sometimes combined with CPA or a fixed fee, consists of paying the partner with a product they select in advance, in addition to or instead of monetary compensation.

Example

An affiliate receives a dress to showcase on Instagram. They feature the dress on their social channels and keep it as their form of remuneration.

This is not a commission rule type, but Affilae does support the workflow through the Product Marketplace. The publisher requests a product from Product testing, the advertiser accepts or refuses it from Product requests, then follows the review once published. You can combine gifting with a standard commission rule on sales.

Going further with your setup

A remuneration model is more than a rule type. Affilae then lets you adjust the payout partner by partner.

Combine several models. A single program can carry several rules, for instance a Sale (percentage) rule and a Lead rule. That is how a hybrid model is built: several rules, not one mixed rule.
Reward volume. Commissions groups let you define tiers, with a commission that increases based on the partner’s volume of conversions per month.
Pay on repeat orders. On a Sale or Lead rule, the Enable Revenue Sharing option pays the partner on later orders from the customer they brought in.
Treat one partner differently. From the partnership page, Custom commission rates and Custom CPC override the standard payout for that affiliate only.
Set a ceiling. A capping caps a partner’s clicks, conversions, commissions or revenue over the period of your choice.

Choosing the right model

The right model is the one that pays for the action you actually want.

You sell online. Cost Per Action ties your spend directly to your revenue, which makes it the natural starting point for an e-commerce program.
You collect contacts. Cost Per Lead suits offers with no immediate transaction: quotes, free trials, service sign-ups.
You want traffic. Cost Per Click pays for the audience brought in, whatever it buys. It exposes your budget more, since you pay before any commercial outcome.

Tip: before opening a click-based rule, set a capping on that partner. You get to test the quality of the traffic without exposing your budget, and you can raise the ceiling once performance is confirmed.

Frequently asked
questions

No. The Rule type field only offers Sale (percentage), Sale (fixed amount), Lead and Click. Affilae does not count ad impressions, so no commission can fire on a display. A cost per mille deal has to be handled outside the platform.

Both reward the same event, a sale. Only the calculation differs: the percentage applies to the order value, while the fixed amount always pays the same sum, whatever the basket size. In the rules table, both appear under the Sale type.

Yes. Simply create several commission rules, for example a Sale (percentage) rule and a Lead rule. A single rule never mixes two calculation modes on its own: a hybrid model is built by combining rules.

No. Revenue share is a commission expressed as a percentage of the sale, so you set it up with a Sale (percentage) rule. If you also want to pay on the customer’s later orders, enable the Enable Revenue Sharing option on that rule.

A flat fee of this kind cannot be set up in Affilae, because there is no tracked event to commission. It is agreed and settled directly with the publisher. You can still add a commission rule on the sales generated by the content, and use the Product Marketplace if the reward is a product.

No. A rule type is locked after creation, and the change is rejected. To switch remuneration model, create a new rule with the type you want, then deactivate the old one.