MedStands pays a recurring fixed marketing fee of $36 to $260 per active referred customer per month, set by the medication category, for as long as that customer keeps using the platform. Maximus, a men's health telehealth brand (Maximus Tribe), runs a one-time CPA affiliate program that is listed on FlexOffers at about $20 per online sale, with a 30-day cookie. One model pays you again every month a referral stays active. The other pays once, at the sale. That single difference is what this comparison is about.
Both are real telehealth programs, and both let you earn by pointing people toward care. Where they diverge is how often you get paid for the same person, and how long that person stays tied to you. Below is a fair, side-by-side look using only what each program publishes, with the Maximus figures attributed to FlexOffers and hedged wherever the public data conflicts.
At a glance
| MedStands | Maximus | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment model | A recurring fixed marketing fee by medication category (a flat per-category dollar amount, not a commission, percentage, or cut of sales) | A one-time CPA per online sale, listed on the FlexOffers affiliate network |
| When you are paid | Every month a referral stays active | Once, at the qualifying online sale |
| How much per referral | $36 to $260 per active customer per month, by category | About $20 one-time per online sale, per the FlexOffers listing (a separate aggregator shows a much wider $80 to $290 range that conflicts, so we use the FlexOffers $20) |
| Attribution window | Tied to you for life, stored on the account at signup (no expiring cookie) | 30-day cookie, per the FlexOffers listing |
| Cost to join | $0, free to join, no setup or monthly fee | Not disclosed |
| Sign-up requirements | Self-serve, live the same day, admin review, no follower minimum | Apply through the FlexOffers affiliate network; specific approval requirements not disclosed |
| Referral cap | No cap on referrals or earnings | Not disclosed |
| Who handles the clinical side | Independent licensed providers prescribe; licensed pharmacies fulfill, refill, and ship (LegitScript-certified); you do no clinical work and hold no inventory | Maximus operates its own men's health telehealth service; not part of the affiliate terms |
One clarification before the table is read as gospel. The Maximus payout figure comes from its FlexOffers listing, which shows roughly $20 per online sale on a 30-day cookie. A separate affiliate aggregator lists a much wider $80 to $290 range, but that number conflicts with the FlexOffers listing, so we use the FlexOffers $20 and flag the discrepancy rather than blending the two. If you rely on either figure, confirm the current terms in FlexOffers directly.
The math: recurring monthly vs one-time
The clearest way to see the structural gap is to follow one referred customer across a year.
A one-time CPA pays a single amount when the referral converts, and then it is finished. Whether the customer stays on treatment for one month or two years, a one-time model pays on that person once. The Maximus program, as listed on FlexOffers, is a one-time CPA of about $20 per online sale, so a referral there is a single payment event.
MedStands pays a fixed marketing fee every month that same customer stays active. The fee is set by the medication category and lands between $36 and $260 per active customer per month. So a customer who stays active across a year is paid on many times, not once. Even at the low end of the range, a referral who stays active month after month becomes a recurring line on your payout rather than a single event at signup.
To be clear and honest about it: this is not a promise of a guaranteed total. Your actual MedStands earnings depend on which medication category applies to each referral, whether it is a semaglutide or a tirzepatide protocol, and on how many referred people qualify and stay active. Not everyone qualifies, and people can stop. The $36 to $260 figure is the per-customer monthly fee schedule by category, not a projection of what you will earn. What the recurring model changes is the shape of the payout: retention works for you month after month instead of paying out once.
There is also no cap on either side of the MedStands model. There is no ceiling on how many people or businesses you refer and no ceiling on total earnings, so recurring fees stack as your active base grows. For a fuller walkthrough of how that compounds, see how much you can earn referring businesses to telehealth.
Attribution: lifetime binding vs a cookie
Attribution decides whether a referral still counts to you weeks or months later, and this is where the two programs are most different.
With MedStands, a referred customer or business is bound to you for life. The link is stored on the account at signup, not in a browser cookie that expires. It does not matter when the person comes back, what device they use, or how long they deliberated first: the account stays tied to you, and you keep earning the monthly fee for as long as they are active.
Maximus, per its FlexOffers listing, uses a 30-day cookie. That is a clear, disclosed window, and it is a standard mechanism across affiliate networks. It also means the credit is anchored to a click that expires after thirty days: if a referred person first taps your link, then takes six weeks to decide, a 30-day cookie may no longer credit you when they finally buy. That gap matters most in categories where people research for a long stretch before starting. Account-level attribution that never expires is a fundamentally different mechanism from a fixed cookie window, whatever length that window is. For the mechanics of account-level binding, see how telehealth referral attribution and lifetime tracking work.
Where Maximus may be a fit
Maximus is a recognized men's health telehealth brand, and for the right audience its program can be a sensible pick. If your audience skews toward men's health rather than GLP-1 weight care, Maximus speaks directly to that niche, and a simple one-time CPA is easy to reason about: you know the payout is a single amount at the sale, with a clean 30-day cookie window and a well-known affiliate network handling the tracking and payments. If you would rather earn a fixed bounty per conversion than manage a recurring relationship, and your traffic matches men's health, that model is a legitimate fit, and Maximus's brand focus can help conversion in that lane. In practice, MedStands and Maximus are not really competing for the same referral so much as serving different audiences with different payout shapes.
Common questions
Is the MedStands fee a commission or a percentage of sales?
No. It is a fixed marketing fee set in advance by the medication category, a flat per-category dollar amount between $36 and $260 per active customer per month. It is not a commission, a percentage, or a cut of sales or revenue. The amount is tied to the category, not to how much the customer spends.
How much does the Maximus affiliate program pay?
Its FlexOffers listing shows a one-time CPA of about $20 per online sale, with a 30-day cookie. A separate aggregator lists a much wider $80 to $290 range, but that conflicts with the FlexOffers figure, so we cite the FlexOffers $20 and flag the discrepancy. Either way, it is a one-time payout per sale, not a recurring fee. Confirm current terms in FlexOffers before relying on any number.
How long does a MedStands referral keep earning?
For as long as that customer stays active. The referral is bound to you at signup and stored on the account, not on an expiring cookie, so the monthly fee continues each month the customer remains active rather than stopping after a fixed window like a 30-day cookie. There is no cap on how many referrals you have or how much you can earn.
Which program fits a men's health audience?
If your audience is specifically men's health, Maximus is built for that niche and may convert well there. MedStands centers on GLP-1 weight care, with semaglutide and tirzepatide protocols, and pays recurring fees for the life of each active customer. Many creators can run both, since the audiences and the payout shapes differ. For a broader field of recurring options, see the highest-paying recurring telehealth affiliate programs.
Ready to earn recurring fees?
If recurring income beats a one-time payout for you, the MedStands affiliate program is free to join, live the same day, and pays a fixed monthly marketing fee for the life of every active referral. Businesses can apply to the partner program on the same recurring terms, and you can browse partner programs by industry to see how it maps to your niche. You get paid, you never pay.
Competitor program terms are as of July 2026 and come from each brand's published affiliate information. Programs change, so check their current terms.