The core difference is how you get paid: the LifeMD affiliate offer is a reported one-time CPA that pays once per qualifying sale, while MedStands pays a recurring monthly marketing fee for each active referred customer, for as long as that person stays active on the platform. Both connect people to GLP-1 weight management through licensed telehealth, but the earning models point in different directions, one front-loaded and one built to compound month over month.
Before comparing anything, one clarification that trips up most write-ups. LifeMD's own platform.lifemd.com/partners page is a B2B and enterprise partnership offering aimed at pharma companies, employers, and health systems, and it carries no affiliate, commission, CPA, or cookie language at all. That page is not the affiliate program. The affiliate offer that actually pays per referral, listed as the LifeMD Medical Weight Program, is distributed through third-party CPA marketplaces rather than a public brand sign-up page. Every LifeMD figure below therefore comes from affiliate directories, not a brand-owned affiliate page, so treat each one as reported rather than confirmed.
At a glance
| What to compare | LifeMD (reported) | MedStands |
|---|---|---|
| Payment model | One-time CPA per sale, reported; not recurring | Recurring fixed monthly marketing fee per active referred customer |
| When you are paid | Once, per qualifying sale (reported) | Every month the referred customer stays active |
| How much per referral | Not publicly disclosed by the brand; affiliate directories list roughly $115 one-time (listing marked expired, dated 2024) | $36 to $260 per active customer per month, by medication category |
| Attribution window | Reported ~24-hour tracking window (third-party listing; not confirmed on a brand page) | Lifetime, account-level attribution |
| Cost to join | Not disclosed; accessed through third-party CPA networks | $0 to join |
| Sign-up requirements | Not disclosed; no public brand sign-up page, joined via third-party CPA and affiliate marketplaces | Free sign-up, nothing to buy |
| Referral cap | Not disclosed | No cap; paid per active referred customer |
| Who handles the clinical side | Handled within LifeMD's own telehealth service | Independent licensed providers prescribe; licensed pharmacies fulfill, refill, and ship; LegitScript-certified; MedStands does not prescribe |
The math: recurring monthly vs one-time
A one-time CPA and a recurring fee are not just different numbers, they are different shapes. Affiliate directories list the LifeMD Medical Weight Program at a reported one-time CPA of roughly $115 per sale, and that specific listing is marked expired and dated to 2024, so it is best read as a reported figure rather than a live, brand-confirmed rate. Under any one-time model, a referral pays a single time. Whatever the amount happens to be, the counter resets to zero after that first payment, and growing your income means continually finding the next new sale to replace the last one.
MedStands is built the other way around. The fee is a fixed marketing fee set in advance, from $36 to $260 per active referred customer per month depending on the medication category, spanning options such as semaglutide, tirzepatide, and other GLP-1 treatments. It is paid every month that customer stays active. It is not a commission, not a percentage of sales, and not a cut of revenue, just a flat monthly figure agreed on up front. That means a customer you refer once can keep paying you month after month, and a modest base of active referrals can quietly stack into a recurring line rather than a string of one-off events.
We keep any specific earnings picture qualitative beyond that stated range, because your total depends on how many people you refer and how long they stay active, not on a headline number. But the structural point holds regardless of the amounts: a one-time CPA rewards the sale, while a recurring monthly fee rewards retention. If most of your referrals stay active for many months, a recurring model has more room to compound; if you run short bursts of high-volume traffic, a front-loaded CPA can be simpler to model. For a fuller walk-through of the recurring math, see how much you can earn referring businesses to telehealth.
Attribution: lifetime binding vs a cookie
Attribution decides who gets credit for a referral, and this is where the two models diverge most sharply. Third-party listings report a roughly 24-hour tracking window for LifeMD, though that window is not confirmed on any brand-owned page. Under a short cookie window like that, a person you send generally has to sign up soon after clicking, because the credit can lapse once the window closes. That suits fast-converting traffic, but GLP-1 weight management is often a considered decision, and many people click, think it over, and come back days or weeks later.
MedStands uses lifetime, account-level attribution instead of a cookie. When someone you refer creates an account, they are bound to you at the account level, not to a cookie that expires in a day. If they take their time to decide and return later, the connection still holds, and the recurring fee follows that active customer for the life of the relationship rather than a fixed window. For deliberate, high-consideration treatments, that binding is often the difference between getting credit and losing it to an expired cookie. If you want the mechanics of how that binding actually works, see telehealth referral attribution and lifetime tracking.
Where LifeMD may be a fit
None of this makes one program universally right, and the models simply suit different people. A one-time CPA can work well for affiliates who want a clean, front-loaded payout and already push high-volume traffic through CPA marketplaces, where a single larger payment per sale is easier to forecast than a stream of smaller monthly fees. If you are an established performance marketer who is comfortable joining through a third-party network and optimizing for raw volume, a per-sale offer like LifeMD's reported CPA can align neatly with how you already operate. LifeMD is also a recognized telehealth brand, which means some audiences will arrive already familiar with the name, and that familiarity can help a straightforward per-sale campaign convert.
MedStands is aimed at a different profile: businesses and individuals who want a durable, recurring line tied to customers who stay, with $0 to join and no third-party network sitting in between. If you are weighing the two structures more broadly, partner vs affiliate, which program fits breaks down which side of the model tends to suit which situation.
Common questions
Is the MedStands fee a commission or a percentage?
No. It is a fixed marketing fee set in advance, from $36 to $260 per active referred customer per month depending on the medication category. It is not a commission, not a percentage of sales, and not a cut of revenue. You know the per-customer figure up front, and it is paid monthly for as long as that customer stays active.
How much does LifeMD's affiliate program pay per referral?
LifeMD does not publicly disclose a payout on a brand-owned affiliate page. Affiliate directories list the LifeMD Medical Weight Program at a reported one-time CPA of roughly $115, but that listing is marked expired and dated to 2024, so it should be read as reported rather than confirmed. The model is one-time per sale, not a recurring per-member fee.
Who handles the prescribing and pharmacy side on MedStands?
You never do. Independent licensed providers do the prescribing and licensed pharmacies handle fulfillment, refills, and shipping. The platform is LegitScript-certified. MedStands is not a medical practice and does not prescribe, every request is reviewed by a licensed provider, and not everyone qualifies. Your role is limited to sharing a link or a QR code.
Does it cost anything to join MedStands?
No. It is $0 to join, with no setup fee and nothing to buy. By contrast, the requirements to join the LifeMD affiliate offer are not disclosed on a brand page, and it is accessed through third-party CPA and affiliate marketplaces rather than a public brand sign-up.
Start earning recurring referral fees
If a recurring monthly fee that follows each active customer fits your goals better than a one-time CPA, the next step is to look at the MedStands affiliate program if you refer individuals, or the partner program if you run a business that can share a QR code with its clients. You can also browse partner programs by industry to see how the recurring model maps to your field.
Competitor program terms are as of July 2026 and come from third-party affiliate directories rather than a brand-owned affiliate page, so treat every LifeMD figure here as reported, not confirmed. Programs change, so check their current terms.