Affiliate program profitability calculator
Find out whether your affiliate programme is actually profitable after commissions and network fees — and what the maximum commission rate you can sustainably offer is.
Affiliate program profitability calculator
Results
Per-sale breakdown
| Sale price | $79.00 |
| COGS (implied) | −$31.60 |
| Commission paid | −$15.80 |
| Network fee | −$1.58 |
| Net profit / sale | $30.02 |
Monthly net profit
$1,501
On $3,950 revenue · 38% net margin
Maximum safe commission rate
58.0%
Gross margin minus network fee — above this you lose money per sale
Direct vs affiliate (same volume)
How to read these numbers
The affiliate channel trades profit margin for zero customer acquisition cost. You give up the commission (and network fee), but you pay nothing for the traffic that generated the sale. Whether that trade is worth it depends on your direct channel's blended CAC — if you're spending more than the commission amount to acquire a customer directly, affiliates are more efficient.
The "maximum safe commission rate" is your gross margin minus the network transaction fee — the point at which you break even on every affiliate sale. In practice, leave at least 5–10% headroom below this to cover returns, chargebacks, and platform fixed costs.
About this tool
Enter your product price, gross margin, commission rate, estimated monthly affiliate sales volume, and affiliate network fees. The tool shows your net profit per affiliate sale, total monthly economics, the maximum sustainable commission rate you can offer, and how the channel compares to selling direct — so you know whether an affiliate programme actually makes sense at your margins.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical affiliate commission rate?
It varies widely by industry. Physical product ecommerce typically runs 5–15%. Digital products and SaaS often offer 20–40% because there's no COGS. Content sites (books, courses, software) frequently offer 30–50%. The right rate depends on your gross margin — your commission can never sustainably exceed your gross margin minus network fees.
What are affiliate network fees?
Networks like ShareASale, Impact, CJ Affiliate, and Rakuten charge a transaction override fee (typically 2–3% of the commission paid, or 2–3% of sale price depending on the network) plus a monthly or annual platform fee. Some networks also charge a deposit. Enter the total transaction fee percentage and any fixed monthly cost you pay the network.
How is the break-even commission rate calculated?
Break-even commission rate = gross margin % − network transaction fee %. At this rate, your net profit per affiliate sale is exactly zero. In practice, you want your commission rate well below this so you retain meaningful profit from the channel. Aim for at least 5–10 percentage points of headroom.
When does running an affiliate programme make sense?
When the net profit per affiliate sale is positive, the affiliate channel requires no ad spend (unlike direct), so even low net margins can be worthwhile — it's incremental revenue at zero customer acquisition cost beyond the commission. The main cost is the commission itself plus network overhead. It stops making sense when your gross margin is too thin to share and still profit, or when affiliate traffic cannibalises your organic or direct channels.