Monthly affiliate income from clicks, conversion rate, and commission

The Three Numbers That Actually Drive Affiliate Income

Affiliate income math is simple: clicks × conversion rate × commission per sale = revenue. What most affiliates get wrong is what realistic values for each number look like. Clicks depend on traffic source and audience size. Conversion rate runs 1-5% for most retail affiliate programs, 5-15% for well-targeted landing pages on specific products, and under 1% for broad display or social traffic. Commission per sale varies enormously by product category and program — this calculator takes either a flat commission amount or an order value plus commission percentage, so both program types work.

Realistic Commission Rates by Category

Physical products on Amazon Associates: 1-10% of order value, capped at 150 per sale. Software SaaS (Shopify, ConvertKit, most B2B tools): 20-40% recurring for first 12-24 months of customer lifetime. Online courses (Teachable, Thinkific, or individual creators): 30-50% flat. Hosting providers (Bluehost, Kinsta, SiteGround): 50-150 flat per qualified signup. Credit card and financial product partners: 50-500 flat per approved application. Travel affiliate programs: 2-6% of booking value. Pick your category, confirm the rate in the program's terms, then run the math honestly.

Why Earnings Per Click (EPC) Is the Most Useful Metric

EPC normalises affiliate performance across different traffic sources. Dividing total commission by total clicks gives one number you can compare. A program paying 0.50 EPC is mediocre for most affiliates. 2-5 EPC is good. 10+ EPC is exceptional — usually tied to high-ticket items (mattresses, insurance, B2B software) or highly-qualified traffic. Low EPC does not automatically mean low income — it could mean high volume from a cheap traffic source. High EPC does not automatically mean scale — niche programs with strong EPC often have limited audience ceilings.

The Traffic Source Problem

1,000 clicks from organic search (Google ranking) convert at vastly different rates than 1,000 clicks from paid display ads. Organic clicks from informational search queries convert at 2-5%. Paid display at 0.2-1%. Email list traffic at 5-15%. YouTube description clicks at 3-8%. Social media link-in-bio at 0.5-2%. The calculator takes a single conversion rate — run it separately per traffic source and sum the monthly incomes for a realistic picture.

Worked Example

Finance blog with 50,000 monthly organic clicks. Affiliate program pays 100 commission per credit card signup. Typical conversion rate for the niche: 0.5%. Monthly conversions: 250. Monthly income: 25,000. EPC: 0.50. Annual income: 300,000. Swap to a program paying 200 per signup at 0.3% conversion (harder to convert): monthly conversions 150, monthly income 30,000, EPC 0.60. The higher-commission program wins on revenue despite lower conversion, because commission per sale dominates the math at this traffic scale.

What This Calculator Cannot Tell You

Attribution windows matter. Many affiliate programs credit sales within 30-90 days of click. If you lose the cookie (user clears browser, buys on a different device, uses incognito) the sale goes unattributed. Real attributed commissions can run 20-40% lower than theoretical maximum. Refunds and cancellations reverse commissions — apparel and education programs see 10-25% reversal rates. Cookie duration and attribution rules vary per program — a 30-day cookie gives you a better chance of capturing sales than a 24-hour cookie. This tool models gross commission potential, not net realized earnings.