Telehealth affiliate programs pay in one of three ways: a one-time CPA (a flat bounty when your referral first converts), a percentage commission (a cut of each sale), or a recurring fee (a set amount paid every month the referred customer stays active). The model decides whether a referral pays you once or keeps paying. The MedStands affiliate program and the partner program both use the recurring model: a fixed marketing fee of $36 to $260 per active referred customer per month, set by medication category, with lifetime attribution and $0 to join.

This guide explains each payment model in plain terms, then covers the second thing that quietly decides how much you keep: whether a program tracks referrals with an expiring cookie or binds them to your account for life.

The three ways affiliate programs pay you

Almost every telehealth program fits one of three buckets:

  • One-time CPA (cost per acquisition). A single flat payout when a referral completes a qualifying action, usually a first purchase.
  • Percentage commission. A share of the sale value, sometimes on the first order only, sometimes on future orders too.
  • Recurring fee. A set amount paid on a schedule, usually monthly, for as long as the referred customer stays active.

The differences look small on a comparison table. Over the life of a referral, they are not. A one-time program rewards the moment of signup. A recurring program rewards retention, month after month.

One-time CPA: paid once, then it stops

CPA is the most common model in telehealth affiliate marketing. You send a referral, they convert, you collect a flat bounty, and the payout relationship ends. Reported CPA figures across the industry range widely, from roughly $10 per valid prescription on discount platforms to a reported $50 to $400 on some weight-focused programs, though many brands do not publish their rate at all.

CPA suits a specific goal: a single burst campaign where you want the largest possible lump sum at the moment of conversion and you are not counting on the customer sticking around. The trade-off is simple. If that customer stays a subscriber for a year, a CPA program does not pay you again for any of it.

Percentage commissions: a cut of each sale

A percentage model pays a share of what the customer spends. Some programs pay the percentage on the first order only, which behaves much like a CPA. A smaller number pay it on future orders too, which makes it partly recurring. Reported rates in telehealth run anywhere from around 10% to 20%, and a few hybrid programs pair a percentage with a flat bounty.

The catch with percentages is that your income rides on the sale price, which you do not control. If a brand discounts, runs a promotion, or shifts its product mix, your commission moves with it. Percentage-on-future-orders is the better version of this model, but it is far less common than percentage-on-first-order.

Recurring fees: paid every month a customer stays

A recurring model pays you on a schedule for as long as the referred customer stays active. This is the structure built for ongoing income, because a referral who stays active for many months returns the monthly amount many times rather than once.

MedStands uses this model. It pays a fixed marketing fee set in advance by medication category, in the range of $36 to $260 per active referred customer per month, for as long as that customer remains active. A referral on a semaglutide or tirzepatide category who stays active keeps earning you that category's fixed fee each month. Because the amount is fixed by category, it is not a commission, not a percentage, and not a cut of sales, and it does not move with the sale price. For a ranked look at who else pays this way, see the highest-paying recurring telehealth affiliate programs.

An honest caveat belongs here: recurring only wins if referrals qualify and stay active. Every request is reviewed by an independent licensed provider, and not everyone qualifies, so actual earnings depend on the category and on how many referred people qualify and remain active. Beyond the stated per-customer fee range, we keep totals qualitative.

Cookies vs lifetime attribution

Payment model is half the picture. Attribution, meaning how long a referral counts as yours, is the other half.

Most affiliate programs track referrals with a browser cookie that expires. Where windows are disclosed, they are short: often 7 to 30 days, sometimes as little as 24 hours, and frequently not disclosed at all. If the customer clears cookies, switches devices, or converts after the window closes, the credit can be lost. On a one-time program a lost cookie costs you one bounty. On a recurring program, a lost cookie can cost you every future month.

MedStands uses no expiring cookie. The referred customer or business is bound to your account at signup and stays tied to you at the account level for life. That is what lets the recurring fee keep paying: the attribution does not lapse. The full mechanics are in telehealth referral attribution and lifetime tracking.

How MedStands pays, for partners and affiliates

MedStands runs the same recurring, lifetime-attributed model in two lanes. Businesses that want to offer telehealth to their audience join the partner program. Individuals promoting a personal link join the MedStands affiliate program. Both are free to join, with no cap on referrals and no clinical work: you never prescribe, stock, or ship anything.

The clinical side is handled by licensed professionals. Independent licensed providers prescribe, LegitScript-certified licensed pharmacies fulfill, refill, and ship, and MedStands is not a medical practice and does not prescribe. Your role is referral and marketing, nothing more. To see which businesses this fits, browse partner programs by industry.

Common questions

Which pays more, CPA or a recurring fee?

It depends entirely on retention. A one-time CPA can be a larger single number, but a recurring fee that repeats every month a customer stays active can outpace it over time. If your referrals tend to stay, recurring usually comes out ahead. If you run one-off campaigns, a CPA may fit better.

Is the MedStands fee a commission or a percentage?

No. It is a fixed marketing fee set in advance by medication category, a flat per-category dollar amount. It is not a commission, a percentage, or a cut of sales, and it does not rise or fall with the price of the sale.

What does a cookie window have to do with my earnings?

A cookie decides how long a referral counts as yours. Short or undisclosed windows mean a delayed or cross-device conversion can go untracked. MedStands avoids this by binding each referral to your account for life instead of a cookie, which matters most when the payoff is monthly.

Do I need a license or inventory to join?

No. There is no clinical work, no inventory, and no pharmacy to run. Independent licensed providers and LegitScript-certified pharmacies handle everything clinical. You focus on referrals. It is $0 to join, every request is provider-reviewed, and not everyone qualifies.

Start earning on the recurring model

If you want a single bounty per sale, a one-time CPA program will do that. If you want income that keeps paying as long as your referrals stay active, choose a recurring, lifetime-attributed model. MedStands pays a fixed marketing fee of $36 to $260 per active customer per month, with lifetime attribution and $0 to join. Get started with the MedStands affiliate program, set up the partner program for your business, or browse partner programs by industry to see where it fits.