> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dub.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Configuring partner rewards
> Learn how to create custom rewards (pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, pay-per-sale) tailored to each partner with Dub Partners.
> [!TIP]
>
> This feature is only available on [Business plans and
> above](https://dub.co/pricing).
On [Dub Partners](/help/article/dub-partners), you can offer different incentives for your partners to incentivize them to create high-quality content to spread the word about your product:
| Reward type | Description |
| - | - |
| [Sale-based (pay-per-sale)](/help/article/sale-rewards) | This is the most common reward type, where you reward partners for driving sales to your product either via a rev-share or fixed-price commission. |
| [Lead-based (pay-per-lead)](/help/article/lead-rewards) | A more effective alternative to pay-per-click, where you reward partners for leads generated (e.g. demo requests, free trial signups, etc.) |
| [Click-based (pay-per-click)](/help/article/click-rewards) | Rewarding partners for driving clicks to your product – similar to how Google Ads' pay-per-click works. |
| [Partner referral](/help/article/partner-referrals) | Rewarding partners for referring other influencers, affiliates, and publishers to your program, paid out when the referred partner meets a condition. |
| [Retainer (custom reward)](/help/article/retainer-rewards) | Paying partners a fixed amount on a recurring schedule (e.g. monthly or quarterly), independent of the clicks, leads, or sales they generate. |
During the program onboarding flow, you'll be asked to create a [default group reward](#default-group-rewards) that will be automatically applied to all new partners who join your program.
This initial reward will be either a lead or a sale-based reward by default, but you can customize the reward terms accordingly.
## Default group rewards
After initial onboarding, you can create additional rewards for clicks, leads, or sales, depending on how you initially set up the group. These rewards will be made available to all partners who join your program.
You can also create [partner referral rewards](/help/article/partner-referrals), which allow partners to earn from bringing on new partners to your program, and [retainer rewards](/help/article/retainer-rewards), which pay partners a fixed amount on a recurring schedule.
If a specific partner or link needs different terms than the rest of the group, you can override the group reward with a [partner-level](#partner-level-rewards) or [link-level](#link-level-rewards) reward.
## Creating a reward
Our reward builder lets you create simple and complex rewards quickly and easily. When the reward builder initially opens, you'll see the basics required to create a reward. Clicking on the different `Blue` and `Orange` input prompts allow you to change the structure of the reward.
### Configuring reward types
Depending on the type of reward you're creating, you can choose between a flat fee or a percentage-based commission:
| Reward Type | Model | Description | Example |
| - | - | - | - |
| [**Click**](/help/article/click-rewards) | Flat | Partners receive a fixed fee for each click generated | \$2 per click |
| [**Lead**](/help/article/lead-rewards) | Flat | Partners receive a fixed fee for each qualified lead | \$50 per lead |
| [**Sale**](/help/article/sale-rewards) | Percentage | Partners receive a percentage of sales (revenue share) | 30% of sale value |
| [**Sale**](/help/article/sale-rewards) | Flat | Partners receive a fixed fee for each completed sale | \$50 per sale |
For sale rewards, you can further customize the recurring nature of the commission:
* One time
* For a set period (anywhere between 3 months to 3 years)
* For the customer's lifetime
### Using the AI reward builder
Dub also has an AI reward builder that can help you create rewards quickly and easily.
All you need to do is describe the reward structure you want, and our AI agent will automatically generate the reward based on our reward schema:
Some examples include:
* "\$5 cpc for US + EU countries, else \$1 for RoW"
* "50% lifetime for customers who joined before Jan 2026, else \$100 one time"
* "\$500 if productId = 'prod\_xxx' (Pro Plan), else \$100 one time"
### Adding reward conditions
> [!TIP]
>
> Customizing reward conditions is only available on the [Advanced plan and
> above](https://dub.co/pricing).
On Dub, you can also set specific requirements for reward completion and can even reward a different type (flat rate or percentage), amount, and duration when they are met. Sale and lead rewards support the full set of conditions, while [click rewards](/help/article/click-rewards#click-reward-conditions) support country-based conditions only. They allow you to set conditions like the following:
* [Geo-specific rewards](/help/article/sale-rewards#geo-specific) (e.g. higher rewards for sales and leads from a specific country)
* [Product-specific rewards](/help/article/sale-rewards#product-spotlight) (e.g. higher rewards for sales of specific products)
* [Partner performance tiers](/help/article/sale-rewards#partner-performance-tiers) (e.g. higher rewards for partners with more than 100 conversions)
* [Staggered reward durations](/help/article/sale-rewards#staggered-reward-durations) (e.g. higher rewards for the first 12 months, then a lower reward for the rest of the customer's lifetime)
* [Sale amount modifiers](/help/article/sale-rewards#sale-amount-modifiers) (e.g. higher rewards for sales over a specific amount)
* [Company size tiers](/help/article/lead-rewards#company-size-tiers) (e.g. higher pay-per-lead rewards for leads from larger companies)
* [Billing cycle rewards](/help/article/sale-rewards#annual-vs-monthly-billing) (e.g. higher rewards for annual plans vs. monthly plans)
Click **Add condition** to set these parameters.
Each condition can be based on `Customer`, `Sale`, `Partner`, or `Lead`, allowing you to mix and match reward conditions to suit your program best.
Conditions let you use `AND` or `OR` statements to control how they work. Each condition is tied only to its own reward and doesn't affect others. As shown in the example below, your conditions can be as simple or as complex as you need.
### Metadata conditions
In addition to the built-in attributes, you can create conditions based on any custom `metadata` you attach to your tracking events. This lets you reward partners based on data that's specific to your business (e.g. company size, billing cycle, plan tier, or seat count) that Dub doesn't track natively.
Metadata conditions are available for the `Lead` and `Sale` condition types. To create one, choose `Metadata` as the condition field, enter the metadata field name (the key) you want to match against, then pick an operator and value.
Each metadata condition supports two groups of operators, depending on whether you're matching a text or number value:
| Field type | Operators |
| - | - |
| **Text** | `is`, `is not`, `starts with`, `ends with`, `contains`, `does not contain` |
| **Number** | `is greater than`, `is greater than or equal to`, `is less than`, `is less than or equal to` |
You can also attach metadata via the `metadata` prop on the [`/track/lead`](/docs/api-reference/track/lead) and [`/track/sale`](/docs/api-reference/track/sale) endpoints. If you're using our [Stripe integration](/docs/integrations/stripe), sale metadata is automatically pulled from your Stripe [`checkout.session` metadata](https://docs.stripe.com/api/checkout/sessions/object#checkout_session_object-metadata) for one-time/subscription checkouts and/or your Stripe [`invoice` metadata](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices/object#invoice_object-metadata) for recurring invoice payments.
For end-to-end examples, see [Company size tiers](/help/article/lead-rewards#company-size-tiers) (lead) and [Annual vs. monthly billing](/help/article/sale-rewards#annual-vs-monthly-billing) (sale).
### Custom reward descriptions
By default, Dub automatically generates reward descriptions when rewards are created. In some cases, you may want to customize how those rewards are presented to partners, whether that’s to better match your brand voice or to make a complex reward easier to understand.
To edit a reward’s content, click the **pencil icon** next to the main reward builder. This opens the content editor, where you can update the primary reward description and optionally add more context using the reward tooltip.
Click `Reward description` to update the main description. You can enter up to 100 characters to clearly explain the reward at a glance.
Click `Reward tooltip` to edit the tooltip content. Tooltips support basic markdown and allow up to 2,000 characters, making them ideal for adding detailed explanations or terms.
You can customize each field independently. For example, you might only update the tooltip for a more complex reward while leaving the main description unchanged. You can also do the opposite, updating the description without touching the tooltip. This flexibility lets you tailor each reward without extra work.
If you want to remove your custom content, click the **X** icon next to the custom description. The reward will revert to Dub’s default description.
### Reward preview
During the creation of your rewards, the reward preview will populate with the settings you've provided. This preview allows you to see exactly what your partner will see on your [program details](/help/article/program-marketplace#program-details) and within [their dashboard](/help/article/navigating-partner-program#overview).
### Reward quality
When you're creating or editing a reward, we'll provide you with a reward quality score based on how attractive and compelling your reward is for potential partners. This score is designed to help you optimize your rewards for maximum partner engagement.
| Quality Score | Reason | Details |
| - | - | - |
| Low | **May struggle to attract partners** | The reward set is below typical ranges, or there is limited earning potential. |
| Limited | **May struggle to attract partners** | This is a one-time reward, and there's no long-term earning potential. |
| Good | **Solid reward with room to grow** | The reward meets minimum partner expectations, and there's opportunity to increase earning potential. |
| Strong | **High earning potential for partners** | The reward level is competitive, and the partner continues to earn after the first sale. |
Hover over the quality score to see which specific reward factors are contributing to the score.
### Confirm reward creation
Before the reward is created, you'll be prompted to confirm the details. This is a good opportunity to review the reward and make any final adjustments. Here you can also provide optional notes to your partners that will be added to the reward notification email they'll receive upon creation.
Here's an example of the reward notification email that will be sent to your partners:
## Partner-level rewards
> [!TIP]
>
> Partner-level and link-level rewards are only available on [Advanced plans and
> above](https://dub.co/pricing).
By default, every partner earns the rewards configured for their [partner group](/help/article/partner-groups). If you want to make an exception without creating a whole new group, you can override the [click](/help/article/click-rewards), [lead](/help/article/lead-rewards), or [sale](/help/article/sale-rewards) reward for a single partner.
Partner-level rewards apply to one partner across all of their links, including links they create later, unless a link has its own [link-level override](#link-level-rewards).
Open the partner's details page from **All Partners**. The **Rewards** card on the right shows the rewards currently in effect for that partner.
Hover over a reward and click the **edit** button to open the override modal for that reward type.
The modal lists every reward of that type in the partner's group, with the group default marked and shown first. Select a different reward to override it for this partner, or click **Create reward** to build a new one on the spot using the [reward builder](#creating-a-reward).
Before saving, you'll be asked to [confirm the change](#confirm-reward-creation) and can add an optional note to the partner.
> [!NOTE]
>
> Partners with a partner-level reward are automatically excluded from any [group move rules](/help/article/partner-groups#group-move-rules), so they won't be accidentally moved to another group and lose their custom reward.
To override the discount for an individual partner instead, see [partner-level discounts](/help/article/dual-sided-incentives#partner-level-discounts).
## Link-level rewards
Link-level rewards apply to one link only. They're useful when the same partner runs several campaigns with different economics, for example:
* A **sponsored newsletter placement** that pays a higher rate than the partner's everyday links
* A **conference or event link** with a one-off bonus that shouldn't apply to the partner's other traffic
* A **product-specific landing page** where you want a flat bounty instead of a revenue share
Open the partner's details page from **All Partners**, then click the **Links** tab to see their referral links.
Click the `⋯` button to select which reward to edit for this selected link.
The override modal works the same way as the partner-level one: pick an existing reward from the group, or click **Create reward** to build a new one, then confirm the change with an optional note to the partner.
> [!TIP]
>
> You can also set link-level rewards when you [create a link for a
> partner](/help/article/managing-program-partners#links). The **New partner
> link** modal has reward selectors for each type.
> [!NOTE]
>
> Partners with a link-level reward are automatically excluded from any [group move rules](/help/article/partner-groups#group-move-rules), so they won't be accidentally moved to another group and lose their custom reward.
To override the discount for a single link instead, see [link-level discounts](/help/article/dual-sided-incentives#link-level-discounts).
### Override indicators
Partners with a reward override show a blue dot next to the icon. Click **Edit** to modify the override.
Links with a link-level reward show an override icon next to the link name. Hover the icon to see which reward type is overridden, and click it to jump straight to the override modal for that type.
### Removing an override
Open the override modal for the reward type and select the **group** reward.
Before deleting a reward that's used as an override, switch the affected partners or links back to the group reward or to another reward so they don't lose their payout.
### Partner reward view
Partners see their effective rewards on their program **Overview** page in the partner dashboard, and can select from the dropdown to view their other links and associated rewards.
On their **Links** page, each link card shows the primary reward for that link, and a **+N** badge expands to show every reward that applies to it, so partners always know which link pays what.
When you change a partner-level or link-level reward, the partner also receives an email notification with the updated reward and any note you included, the same as when you [update a group reward](#updating-a-partner-groups-reward-configuration).
### How overrides are resolved
When a click, lead, or sale event comes in, Dub picks the reward to apply in this order:
1. **Link-level reward** – If a link-level reward is set for the link that triggered the event, it will be applied.
2. **Partner-level reward** – If no link-level reward is set, the partner-level reward will be applied.
3. **Group reward** – If no partner-level reward is set, the group reward will be applied.
Every partner-level and link-level reward change is recorded in the partner's activity log, including who made the change, the previous and new reward, the link it applied to (for link-level changes), and any note you added. This keeps overrides as auditable as [group reward updates](#group-reward-update-logs).
## Updating a partner group's reward configuration
You can update a [partner group's](/help/article/partner-groups) reward configuration at any time. When this happens, historical commissions won't be updated.
However, the reward configuration for a partner-customer pair will be updated. E.g., if a partner used to be on a one-time reward and was switched to recurring rewards, all subsequent subscription renewals from their **previous referrals** will be eligible for commission again.
To avoid this, instead of editing a given partner group's reward configuration directly, create separate partner groups for one-time vs recurring rewards. This way, when you move partners from one group to the other, the reward configuration for the partner's previous referrals will be preserved.
> [!TIP]
>
> When updating a reward, you'll be prompted to [confirm your
> changes](#confirm-reward-creation), and are able to provide optional notes to
> your partners in the update email.
### Group reward update logs
For transparency and auditability, we also keep a history of all reward updates for a given group:
This helps you track changes over time and understand the impact of your reward configurations on the [generated partner commissions](/help/article/partner-commissions).
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