A single commission on the first payment rewards volume. A recurring commission rewards quality. For a subscription product those two goals point in different directions, and the payout structure decides which one your affiliates optimise for.
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What recurring changes
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When an affiliate earns for as long as a subscription renews, churn becomes their problem too. Suddenly it matters whether the customer they sent was a good fit, because a customer who cancels in month two stops paying them as well.
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Lifetime goes further
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A lifetime commission pays the affiliate on everything that customer ever buys, not only the product they were referred for. It is the strongest possible signal that you want long-term customers rather than sign-ups.
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Making the maths work
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Recurring rates are usually lower than one-off ones, and they should be — you are paying many times instead of once. Model it against your actual retention curve before you publish a number, because a rate you have to cut later costs more goodwill than a lower rate would have.
