Affiliate network fee calculator: what a vendor keeps per sale

An estimate built from each network's published fee rule. It leaves out sales tax and VAT, shipping, refunds and chargebacks, reserves, payout charges, card processing on JVZoo's own-processor path, and ClickBank's one-time product approval fee.

Worked example: one sale at 50% commission

Take a $97 product. On ClickBank the fee comes off first: seven and a half percent of the price plus one dollar is $8.28, which leaves $88.72, and the affiliate's half is worked out on that smaller amount. The affiliate and the vendor each end up with about $44.36.

JVZoo reverses the order. The affiliate's half is figured on the full price, so the affiliate gets $48.50, the 5% fee is $4.85 and the vendor keeps $43.65. Switch to JVZoo's own payment processing and the fee rises to $8.25, leaving $40.25.

Digistore24's fee on the same sale is $3.81 at its advertised starting rate and $8.66 at the regular margin its US help center lists. Its public pages do not say whether the affiliate's percentage applies before or after that fee, so the calculator shows a range: between $44.69 and $46.59 for the vendor at the lower rate, and between $39.84 and $44.17 at the higher one.

CopeCart charges in euros, €5.75 on a €97 order at its standard EU rate and €7.69 on an order paid by card once the surcharge starts. Its help center calculates the affiliate commission from the amount left after VAT and its own fee. VAT depends on where the buyer lives, so the tool stops at the fee.

BuyGoods publishes no fee, so there is nothing to calculate.

On Hotmart the dollar row comes to $10.60, which leaves $86.40 before any affiliate percentage. A 50% affiliate might be paid from the $97 price or from the $86.40 left after the fee, so the vendor keeps $37.90 or $43.20. Hotmart's two-business-day schedule, outside Brazil, pays 90% of net revenue in two business days and holds the other 10% for 15 days. That hold stays inside the amount you keep. The schedule also adds a 0.97% processing fee on top of the platform fee in the row.

My take: I'd judge a network by the line that says what you keep, because the headline percentage misleads. ClickBank's rate looks steeper than JVZoo's 5%, yet at this price the ClickBank vendor keeps more at any commission from about 42% up, since the affiliate's share is cut from a smaller base. Against JVZoo's 8.5% processing rate, ClickBank leaves the vendor with more at practically every commission level. On this dollar sale, Hotmart's vendor range sits below ClickBank's share.

How each network defines its fee

ClickBank: the fee first, then the split

ClickBank's seller page lists 7.5% + $1.00 per sale with no monthly subscription, plus a one-time $49.95 approval fee for a product. Its fee article describes the mechanics: ClickBank buys the product from you at 92.5% of the sale price minus the dollar, and your commission rate applies to that wholesale amount. Its own example pays a 50% affiliate $45.75 out of $91.50 on a $100 sale. ClickBank's overview of how it works adds that sales tax and shipping come out after the fee, and this calculator leaves both aside.

JVZoo: both cuts from the gross price

The JVZoo FAQ sets the fee at 5% when you take payment through your own processor and 8.5% when JVZoo processes it, with no listing fee. The vendor agreement defines the fee as a share of the gross selling price, and the FAQ's own $100 example pays the affiliate its full $50 at either rate. Your own Stripe or PayPal processing charges on the 5% path are extra and are left out of the result.

Digistore24: an advertised floor and a regular margin

The Digistore24 pricing page advertises a fee starting at 2.9% with $1 added and says that the final rate may vary with product type, traffic source and sales volume. The Digistore24 Inc. help article for US vendors lists 7.9% plus a dollar as the regular margin for all products. Use the higher rate for planning until your own contract shows otherwise. The Digistore24 vs JVZoo comparison covers what else sits in that margin, such as the security deposit.

CopeCart: euros, with a card surcharge on the way

CopeCart's EU fee article gives the formula as the gross amount times 4.9%, plus €1, with no monthly or annual charge. The same page says new credit card orders pay a 2% surcharge from 31 October 2026, so those orders are 6.9% plus €1. Pick the card rate in the form if most of your buyers pay by card.

BuyGoods: terms agreed at onboarding

BuyGoods invites vendors to apply but publishes no per-sale fee, so the calculator shows it as not published. Rates attributed to it on other networks' pages are left out on purpose. The BuyGoods review covers what is public about selling there.

Hotmart fees for sellers, from the help-center table

Hotmart's fee article says the platform fee is taken when a sale is approved. Every line in that table is 9.9% plus a fixed amount: $1.00 on dollar sales over $15, €1.00 over €15, £1.00 over £15, R$2.49 on Brazilian real sales over R$10, and $1.00 on sales over $5 when the buyer pays in a currency different from yours. The Hotmart review lists those rows along with the withdrawal schedules.

Changelog

• Hotmart is in the table for dollar, euro, pound and Brazilian real sales, and for a sale paid in another currency. That row carries the payout note.
• The first version covered ClickBank, JVZoo, Digistore24, CopeCart and BuyGoods.

See the Hotmart row for your price

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