How to Build a Prop Firm Affiliate Program (2026)

Most pages ranking for "prop firm affiliate program" are firms recruiting affiliates. This guide is the other side: how a founder designs the program those pages sell. It covers the commission models firms use, how to calculate what you actually keep, how tiers and sub-affiliates work, how to track and attribute sales, the fraud you should expect, and what affiliates must disclose.

Affiliates are the main paid acquisition channel for most prop firms, because Google and Meta restrict ads for leveraged trading products. Our guide to prop firm marketing explains why, and where affiliates sit in the full channel mix.

How do prop firm affiliate programs work?

A prop firm affiliate program works by giving each partner a tracked link and usually a discount code, then paying a commission on each evaluation sold through them. The affiliate brings the trader; the firm handles checkout, the evaluation and support; commission is paid on a schedule after a holding period that covers refunds and chargebacks.

Prop firm affiliates are a mix of trading YouTubers and streamers, Discord and Telegram community owners, comparison and review sites, coupon sites, and successful traders with a following. Each group behaves differently, which is why a single flat rate rarely fits all of them.

Which commission models are common?

The common commission models for prop firm affiliates are a flat percentage of each sale, a tiered percentage that rises with referred volume, a fixed amount per sale (CPA), and hybrids that add a discount code or a sub-affiliate override. Percentages of sale value dominate in the published programs we've looked at, because evaluation prices vary widely by account size.

We haven't yet published a measured survey of affiliate rates across firms, so we don't quote a median here. When we do, it will carry a sample size and date. Rates on firms' own affiliate pages also change often and are frequently negotiated for large partners, so the published rate is a floor, not the market price.

What is your effective take after discounts?

Your effective take is the share of the list price you keep after the trader's discount and the affiliate's commission, before payouts and other costs. It is the number founders most often forget, because commission is usually calculated on the discounted price while the discount is advertised as a percentage of list.

A worked example, with illustrative numbers rather than data from any firm: an evaluation lists at $100. The affiliate's code gives the trader 20% off, so the trader pays $80. The affiliate's commission is 15% of the amount paid, which is $12. You keep $68 of a $100 list price, or 68%. At a 25% discount and 20% commission, the trader pays $75, commission is $15, and you keep $60.

Now add the costs that scale with each sale: card processing, platform or account fees, KYC at payout and the expected payout cost for that account. The question is whether $60 or $68 still covers those with room to spare. Run your own numbers through the affiliate commission calculator before you publish a rate, and set the maximum combined discount and commission in your terms, not in a negotiation.

How do tiers and sub-affiliates work?

Tiers raise an affiliate's commission rate once their referred sales pass set thresholds, and sub-affiliate overrides pay a small percentage on sales made by affiliates they recruited. Both reward partners who bring volume, and both need clear rules for when a tier is reached and whether it resets.

A tiered design, for example, sets a base commission, raises it at published thresholds of referred sales, and adds a smaller rate on sales by sub-affiliates. Whatever numbers you choose, publish them in a table so partners can compare. This is a design pattern, not evidence that any particular structure performs.

• State whether tiers are measured on gross sales, net of refunds, or net of chargebacks.
• State the measurement window: lifetime, rolling 90 days, or calendar month.
• State whether the higher rate applies to all sales or only sales above the threshold.
• Cap sub-affiliate overrides at one level. Multi-level chains attract recruiters, not marketers.
• Publish the tier table on the affiliate page so partners can plan.

How do you track and attribute affiliate sales?

You track affiliate sales with dedicated affiliate software that records the click, the code and the purchase, then attributes the sale under a published rule such as last click within a cookie window, or code over link when both are present. The rule matters more than the tool, because most affiliate disputes are attribution disputes.

Affiliate software is often visible on prop firm websites. When we fingerprinted firm homepages in October 2026, FundedNext loaded FirstPromoter and The5ers loaded LeadDyno. Many back-office providers also include an affiliate module. Whatever you use, make sure it can read discount codes at checkout, handle refunds and chargebacks automatically, and export a statement each affiliate can check.

• Attribution rule: which wins when a trader clicks one affiliate's link and uses another's code.
• Cookie window: how long after a click a sale still counts.
• Holding period: how long commission is held before it becomes payable, to cover refunds and chargebacks.
• Payment schedule and methods, and the minimum balance before payout.
• Self-service dashboard with clicks, sales, refunds and commission due.

What fraud should you expect?

You should expect self-referral, coupon leakage, cookie stuffing and chargeback-heavy traffic in any prop firm affiliate program. None of these is exotic; all of them appear once commission rates are worth gaming.

• Self-referral: affiliates buying their own evaluations through their own link to collect commission as a discount. Match affiliate and buyer identity, payment method and device, and exclude self-purchases in the terms.
• Coupon leakage: a creator's code ends up on coupon aggregator sites, so you pay commission on traders who would have bought anyway. Use codes tied to one affiliate, watch for sudden spikes, and reserve the right to rotate codes.
• Brand bidding: affiliates buying ads on your brand name to intercept traders already looking for you. Ban it in the terms and monitor it.
• Chargeback-heavy traffic: affiliates whose referred buyers dispute payments at a high rate. Hold commission until the dispute window has passed and claw back on chargebacks.
• Multi-accounting and rule abuse by referred traders: coordinated accounts sent through one affiliate. Your risk team's findings should feed back into affiliate reviews.

What must affiliates disclose?

Affiliates must disclose that they are paid when they promote your firm, and in most markets you share responsibility for making sure they do. Put the obligation in your affiliate terms, give partners compliant copy, and act on breaches.

In the US, the FTC's endorsement guidance says an affiliate should "disclose your relationship to the retailer clearly and conspicuously", near the link, and gives "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post" as an example. It warns that the words "affiliate link" alone may not be understood, while "Paid link" or "Ad:" at the start of a post works better.

In the UK, the ASA's guidance on online affiliate marketing says that where content wholly relates to affiliated products, the whole piece needs to be identifiable as advertising, which may mean an "Ad" label in the title. The FCA's finalised guidance FG24/1 (March 26, 2024) says unauthorised persons such as influencers who promote a regulated financial product without approval may be committing a criminal offence. Whether your evaluation product is caught by financial-promotion rules where you sell is a question for a lawyer.

Beyond disclosure, ban the claims that create the most risk: income promises, promises that payouts are certain, "real funded account" language without "simulated", and payout screenshots without your caption. Affiliates should describe evaluations as simulated trading, every time.

What should the affiliate agreement and page include?

The affiliate agreement should include commission rates and tiers, attribution, holding periods, payment terms, prohibited methods, disclosure duties, claw-back rights and termination. The affiliate page on your website should recruit partners with the same facts, stated plainly.

A good affiliate page is a sales page for partners. It shows the commission table, the tier thresholds, the payment schedule, the assets available, the dashboard, and the rules in plain language, with the full terms one click away. It also answers the questions affiliates ask before they apply: how fast commission is paid, whether codes can be customized, and what happens when a referred trader refunds.

• Commission table with tiers and the measurement window.
• Discount code policy and the maximum discount.
• Payment schedule, methods and minimum payout.
• Prohibited methods: brand bidding, coupon-site posting, income claims, spam.
• Disclosure requirements, with example wording.
• Brand assets and pre-approved compliant copy.
• Application form and review timeline.

Questions

Sources

1. FTC: FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking
2. ASA: Recognising online affiliate marketing, same rules, new guidance
3. ASA advice: Affiliate marketing
4. FCA FG24/1: Finalised guidance on financial promotions on social media
5. Google Ads policy: Financial services