Pay affiliate commissions

Last updated: August, 2026

With our affiliate program, you can manually pay commissions earned by affiliates with ease. This article will walk you through the process of paying commissions.

Prior to proceeding, it's crucial to understand that Circle does not directly process payouts for affiliates. You can manually manage payouts using your selected payout method (PayPal or Wise) specified in the commission rate settings. When a payout reaches Due now status, you can start the payout process and export a CSV file compliant with your payout method to manually process commission payments.

ℹ️ Note: Commissions and payouts are always calculated in USD, irrespective of the paywall's currency. We ensure accuracy by daily downloading currency exchange rates, and commissions are computed based on this daily rate.

Payouts represent the commissions earned by affiliates that have surpassed your pending commission length configuration. Each payout moves through a set of statuses as it's processed.

❗ Important: The commission amount must meet the affiliate payout threshold of $5 USD before it becomes due. This threshold value ($5 USD) is a system default for all communities and cannot be changed.

You'll see payouts organized into three columns:

• Paid: Shows the total commission amount you've marked as Paid to the affiliate.

• Unpaid: Shows total commissions in either Pending or Due now status.

• Processing: Shows commissions currently in Processing status.

Now, let's explore these statuses and their meanings:

• Pending: This status signifies that the commissions have reached your pending commission length threshold but haven't yet reached the affiliate payout threshold of $5 USD.

• Due now: When the affiliate payout threshold of $5 USD is met, the pending commission payouts transition to Due now status. At this point, you can initiate the payout process for these commissions.

• Processing: Any affiliate payouts initiated for processing move to this status. At this stage, you can export the payout CSV to manually process the commission.

• Paid: This status appears after you've manually processed the payouts and marked them as paid.

To get started, click Payments in the left sidebar, then select Affiliates.

ℹ️ Note: You can only start payout for commissions that are due. Any payout that is still in pending status will be ignored.

To begin the payout process for due commissions:

1. Choose affiliate payouts:

   • To initiate the process for specific affiliates with due payouts, select the checkbox beside each affiliate.

   • To start the process for all affiliates with due payouts, leave the checkboxes unchecked.

2. Click Start payout in the top-right corner.

3. In the confirmation dialog, click Confirm.

Once confirmed, payouts move to Processing status and appear under the Processing column. You can export a CSV file containing payout details to process payments via your chosen payout method.

Generate the CSV file with payouts currently in Processing status. This file contains information tailored to your selected payout method.

1. Pick payouts for export:

   • To export details for specific affiliates with payouts in processing, select the checkbox beside each affiliate.

   • To export payout details for all affiliates with payouts in processing, leave the checkboxes unchecked.

2. Click Export payout CSV. The CSV file will be downloaded directly to your device.

Once you've downloaded the CSV export, utilize your payout provider account to process payments.

• For PayPal: You can use its Payouts feature to transfer funds to multiple recipients at once from your PayPal business account. For more information on how to send mass payments, see PayPal’s guide here.

• For Wise: You can use their Batch Payments feature to send money in bulk to multiple recipients using your Wise business account. Explore more on batch payments through Wise’s guide here.

After completing payments, update the Processing payouts status to Paid on the affiliates page.

To mark all processing payouts as paid, leave the checkboxes unchecked and click Mark paid.

Alternatively, select the checkbox beside each affiliate to mark specific payouts as paid, or use the Mark paid button next to a payout to mark individual payouts as paid.

When payouts in Processing status are marked as paid, they automatically move to the Paid column. If the affiliate has previously received payments for other commissions, the new paid commissions will be added to the total.