Affiliate Agreement Template (2026): Protect Your Business When Paying Commissions

An affiliate agreement is what turns "I'll pay you a cut of anything you sell for me" from a handshake into an enforceable arrangement with a commission rate, a payment schedule, and rules for how your brand can and can't be promoted. Run an affiliate program without one and you're exposed on both ends: disputed commissions, unauthorized brand use, and — if your affiliates aren't disclosing the relationship — regulatory risk that lands on you, not them. This guide covers the clauses that matter, the FTC disclosure rule every affiliate program needs to account for, and a copy-paste template.

Quick Answer

• An affiliate agreement sets the commission structure, attribution window, payment terms, and promotional rules between a business and someone promoting its products for a cut of sales.
• The FTC requires affiliates to clearly disclose their financial relationship with your brand — and as the business paying the commission, you have a real interest in your affiliates actually doing it.
• Always include a clawback clause for refunded or cancelled sales — otherwise you're paying commission on revenue you never actually kept.
• Affiliate agreements and referral partner agreements look similar but usually serve different audiences and commission structures — don't reuse one for the other without checking.

Affiliate Agreement vs. Referral Partner Agreement — What's the Difference?

The two overlap enough to cause confusion, but they typically serve different relationships. A referral partner agreement — see our referral partner agreement template — usually covers B2B relationships, where another business (an agency, a consultant, a complementary SaaS company) sends you warm leads in exchange for a commission, often with a more personal, ongoing sales relationship behind each referral. An affiliate agreement more often covers a content creator, blogger, or website publisher who promotes your product to their own audience using trackable links, cookies, and automated attribution — volume-based, self-serve, and rarely involving a direct conversation with each customer. If your program is one creator sending you five leads a month by name, use a referral agreement. If it's a tracked link embedded in a hundred blog posts, you want an affiliate agreement.

What to Include in an Affiliate Agreement (Key Clauses)

1. Commission structure. Flat fee per sale, percentage of sale price, or tiered rates that increase with volume — state it precisely, including whether it applies to the full order or only certain products.
2. Attribution window (cookie duration). How long after a click a sale still counts as the affiliate's — 7, 30, or 90 days are all common; state it in days, not vaguely.
3. Payment schedule and minimum payout threshold. When commissions are paid (monthly, net-30) and whether there's a minimum balance before a payout is issued.
4. Approved promotional channels and prohibited practices. What's allowed (blog content, email, social posts) and what's explicitly banned — bidding on your trademarked brand terms in paid search, spam, or misleading claims about the product.
5. FTC disclosure requirement. A clause requiring the affiliate to clearly disclose the paid relationship on every piece of promotional content, in line with FTC rules (below).
6. Clawback for refunds and cancellations. If a sale is refunded, cancelled, or charged back, the commission on it is reversed too — spell out the mechanism (deducted from next payout, invoiced back).
7. Brand and IP usage license. What logos, images, and product names the affiliate may use, and any restrictions on how your brand can be presented.
8. Term and termination. How either side ends the relationship, and what happens to commissions already earned (and links already live) after termination.

FTC Disclosure Requirements for Affiliates

Under the FTC's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 255), anyone with a financial relationship to a brand — including an affiliate earning commission — must clearly and conspicuously disclose that relationship when promoting the product. A disclosure buried in a linked "about" page or an ambiguous hashtag doesn't meet the standard; it needs to be clear to a reasonable consumer at the point they encounter the endorsement. As the business behind the program, you're not directly liable for every individual affiliate's disclosure failure, but the FTC has shown it will scrutinize brands that fail to have a disclosure policy and educate their affiliates on it — which is exactly what this clause in your agreement is for.

Affiliate Agreement Template (Copy This)

AFFILIATE AGREEMENT

This Agreement is entered into on [DATE] between [BUSINESS NAME] ("Company")
and [AFFILIATE NAME] ("Affiliate").

1. Commission: Affiliate earns [X]% of the net sale price (or [FLAT AMOUNT] per sale)
   for each qualifying sale attributed to Affiliate's unique tracking link.
2. Attribution window: A sale qualifies if it occurs within [NUMBER] days of the
   customer's click on Affiliate's link.
3. Payment: Commissions are calculated monthly and paid within [NUMBER] days of
   month-end, provided the balance exceeds [MINIMUM AMOUNT].
4. Approved channels: [LIST — e.g., blog content, email newsletter, social media].
   Prohibited: bidding on Company's trademarked terms in paid search; spam; false
   or misleading claims about the product.
5. Disclosure: Affiliate will clearly and conspicuously disclose the affiliate
   relationship on all promotional content, in compliance with FTC guidelines.
6. Refunds and clawbacks: Commission on any refunded, cancelled, or charged-back
   sale will be deducted from Affiliate's next payment.
7. Brand usage: Affiliate may use Company's approved logos and product images
   solely to promote Company's products, per [BRAND GUIDELINES LINK].
8. Term and termination: This Agreement remains in effect until terminated by
   either party with [NUMBER] days' written notice.

Company signature: _________________________  Date: _______
Affiliate signature: ________________________  Date: _______

Worked Example

An online course creator, Aster Academy, signs up a productivity YouTuber as an affiliate at a 25% commission with a 30-day cookie window, paid monthly with a $50 minimum payout. The agreement explicitly bans bidding on "Aster Academy" as a paid search keyword and requires an on-screen disclosure in every video that features an affiliate link. Two months in, a viewer refunds a course within the platform's refund window — the clawback clause means that $75 commission is deducted from the YouTuber's next payout automatically, instead of becoming an awkward manual conversation.

Generate and Send an Affiliate Agreement for Signature

Every affiliate you bring on needs the same core terms with different names, rates, and dates — exactly the kind of repetitive drafting AI handles well. Describe your commission structure and promotional rules to AiDocX's AI contract generator and get a complete affiliate agreement drafted in minutes, then send it for a legally binding e-signature so every affiliate is signed and on record before their first link goes live. Start free at app.aidocx.ai.

FAQ

Do I need a written affiliate agreement for a small program?

Yes — even a two-person affiliate program benefits from a written agreement, because the alternative is an undocumented dispute over commission rates or disclosure obligations the moment real money is involved.

Who is legally responsible if an affiliate doesn't disclose the relationship?

Both the affiliate and, potentially, the business paying them can face FTC scrutiny — the FTC has stated it expects brands to have reasonable programs in place to monitor and enforce affiliate disclosure, not just push all responsibility onto the affiliate.

Can I change the commission rate after an affiliate agreement is signed?

Only if the agreement allows it — build in a clause permitting rate changes with advance written notice, rather than relying on an informal update that isn't part of the signed terms.

What's a reasonable cookie/attribution window for an affiliate program?

There's no legal requirement — it's a business decision. Shorter windows (7-14 days) suit impulse purchases; longer windows (30-90 days) suit considered purchases with a longer research phase. Match it to your actual sales cycle.

Is an affiliate an employee or contractor of my business?

Generally neither — most affiliate relationships are structured as independent, non-exclusive arrangements where the affiliate isn't performing services for you in the way a contractor would. Don't add language implying an employment relationship unless that's genuinely intended, since it can create unintended tax and legal obligations.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. FTC disclosure rules, tax treatment of commissions, and contract enforceability vary by situation — consult a qualified professional before relying on this template for your program.