Stripe integration
Run your affiliate program on Stripe billing
Stripe is the most common billing stack for SaaS, which makes "how do I pay commissions on Stripe subscriptions?" the most common affiliate-program question there is. The answer has three parts: track who referred whom (links or coupon codes), match referrals to actual Stripe invoice payments (not just signups), and compute recurring commissions as customers renew, upgrade, downgrade, and churn.
Sentalong does all three natively. Connect your Stripe account through OAuth, add one script tag to your marketing site, and every referral visit is stamped with a first-party cookie plus a server-side record — so attribution survives ad blockers, cross-device journeys, and the weeks-long evaluation cycles typical of B2B buying.
When Stripe fires invoice payment webhooks, Sentalong matches each paying customer back to their referring affiliate and accrues the right commission: flat fee or percentage, one-time or recurring, tiered by volume, or custom rates per partner. Refunds and disputes reverse commissions automatically — including clawing back from future earnings if the original was already paid out.
The result is a Stripe affiliate program that runs itself: you approve one monthly payout statement and affiliates get paid through Stripe Connect on schedule.
What that means in practice
Commissions follow invoices, not clicks
A customer who churns stops generating commissions the day their subscription ends. Upgrades raise them; downgrades lower them. Your math is always tied to money actually received.
Refunds and chargebacks reverse themselves
Disputed or refunded invoices reverse the associated commission on the next statement — or deduct from the affiliate's future balance if cash already left. Nothing to reconcile by hand.
First-party tracking that survives reality
First-party cookies combined with server-side matching keep credit intact across devices, browsers with ITP restrictions, and long B2B cycles — with a 60-day attribution window you control.
Fraud review before payouts
Self-referrals, duplicate cards, shared IP addresses, and disposable signup emails are flagged into a review queue before commissions accrue, not after they hit your statement.
Setup: five steps, one afternoon
- 1
Connect Stripe via OAuth
Authorize read access to customers and invoices plus webhook delivery. Takes a few minutes; no code, no webhook URL wrangling — Sentalong registers its own endpoints on your Stripe app.
- 2
Add one script tag to your site
A single async snippet records referral visits and sets first-party cookies. It works with any stack — Next.js, WordPress, Webflow — because it's just JavaScript.
- 3
Set your commission terms once
Percentage or flat, one-time or recurring, volume tiers, per-affiliate overrides. Sentalong applies the rules to every matched invoice from then on.
- 4
Invite affiliates to your branded portal
Each affiliate gets a unique link/handle and a portal on your own domain showing clicks, conversions, and upcoming payouts — under your logo, not ours.
- 5
Approve one statement a month
On the first of each month, review accrued commissions, approve, and Sentalong pays everyone through Stripe Connect. Tax forms (W-9/W-8BEN) are collected before first payout.
Stripe FAQ
Stripe affiliate questions
How do affiliate commissions work with Stripe subscriptions?
Sentalong listens to Stripe invoice payment events and matches each paying customer to the affiliate whose link (or coupon code) they arrived through. Commission rules you set — percentage or flat, recurring or one-time — are applied to every qualifying invoice, so affiliates earn as customers renew and stop when they cancel.
Does it work with Stripe Checkout, Payment Links, and Billing portals?
Yes. Attribution happens at click time via first-party cookies and completes server-side when the customer appears in your Stripe account — independent of which Stripe surface processed the payment.
What happens when a referred customer gets a refund or chargeback?
The commission reverses automatically on the next statement. If it was already paid out, the amount becomes a negative balance deducted from the affiliate's future earnings — visible to them in the portal.
How do payouts actually happen?
Monthly: you approve one statement of accrued commissions and Sentalong executes payments through Stripe Connect. Affiliates see exact payout dates in their portal; W-9/W-8BEN forms are collected beforehand so year-end paperwork isn't a scramble.
Can affiliates get coupon codes instead of links?
Yes — unique promo codes attribute the same way links do, useful for podcasts, YouTube mentions, and offline placements where typing a URL is more natural than clicking one.
Launch your Stripe affiliate program this week
Free plan to validate, flat $49/mo when it works. No percentage of your commissions — ever.