Estimated monthly commission
$73
- Per year
- $876
- Clicks to the merchant per month
- 600
- Sales per month
- 12
- Commission per sale (after reversals)
- $6.08
- Earnings per click (EPC)
- $0.122
- Earnings per 1,000 visitors
- $3.65
- Monthly visitors needed for your goal
- 274,123
- To earn $1,000 a month at these rates.
This calculator produces estimates from the numbers you enter, so it is only as accurate as your inputs. It is not tax, accounting or legal advice. Rules and fees differ by country and change over time; check the current terms that apply to you.
The short answer
Affiliate income is visitors, multiplied by the share who click, multiplied by the share of clicks that buy, multiplied by the commission on each sale, minus commissions later reversed on refunds. Each step loses most of the audience, which is why affiliate income needs a lot of relevant traffic. Use figures from your own dashboards, not industry averages.
Worked example
These are the example values loaded into the calculator above, run through exactly the same formulas, so you can check the method against your own numbers.
| Inputs | |
|---|---|
| Monthly visitors | 20,000 |
| Click-through rate | 3.0% |
| Conversion rate | 2.0% |
| Average order value | $80.00 |
| Commission rate | 8.0% |
| Reversals | 5.0% |
| Results | |
|---|---|
| Clicks per month | 600 |
| Sales per month | 12 |
| Commission per sale | $6.08 |
| Monthly commission | $72.96 |
| Visitors needed for your income goal | 274,123 |
Affiliate marketing looks simple on paper: recommend something, earn a commission when someone buys. The reality is a funnel in which each stage loses most of its audience. This calculator makes that funnel visible so you can see what your traffic might earn and what you would need to reach a goal.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your monthly visitors to the pages that carry your affiliate links.
- Enter the click-through rate, the share of visitors who click a link to the merchant.
- Enter the conversion rate on those clicks, which your affiliate dashboard normally reports.
- Enter the average order value and your commission rate.
- Add a reversal rate for sales that are later refunded, since the commission is usually taken back.
- Enter a monthly income goal.
Use your own numbers where you have them. If you are just starting, run the calculator with a cautious set of assumptions and a more optimistic set, and plan around the cautious one.
The formulas
- Commission per sale = average order value × commission rate × (1 − reversal rate)
- Clicks = visitors × click-through rate
- Sales = clicks × conversion rate
- Monthly commission = sales × commission per sale
- Earnings per click (EPC) = conversion rate × commission per sale
- Visitors needed for a goal = goal ÷ (click-through rate × conversion rate × commission per sale)
The worked example above shows the funnel with real numbers. The calculator is tested by hand-calculated cases and by a round trip: the visitors needed for your goal produce that goal.
How the funnel shrinks
Follow the default example. Twenty thousand visitors become six hundred clicks, which become a dozen sales. Most people who read your page never click, and most who click never buy. That is normal, and it explains why affiliate income needs a lot of relevant traffic and why traffic quality matters more than traffic volume. A smaller audience that arrives with the intention to buy usually earns more than a larger one that arrived by chance.
The three levers are therefore the number of visitors, the click-through rate and the conversion rate. Improving the click-through rate is mostly about the usefulness and placement of your recommendations. Improving conversion depends heavily on the product, the merchant's checkout and how well you matched the offer to the visitor's need.
How to read your result
Look at earnings per click first. It lets you compare programmes and pages regardless of traffic. A page with fewer clicks but a higher EPC can outearn a busier one. Then look at earnings per 1,000 visitors, which shows what an extra thousand visitors would be worth to you.
The "visitors needed" line tells you what your goal actually requires. For many people it is far above the traffic they have, which is a useful reality check rather than a discouragement. It may mean choosing higher-value products, improving conversion or accepting that the goal needs longer.
Honesty and disclosure
Trust is the asset that makes affiliate income possible, and it is easily lost. Recommend products you have reason to believe are good, be open about your relationship with the merchant, and follow the disclosure rules that apply to you and to each programme. Our affiliate disclosure shows how we approach it. Be equally careful of anyone promising large, fast affiliate income. Our guides to affiliate marketing, affiliate marketing versus dropshipping and passive income myths explain why.
Common mistakes
Using average conversion rates. Yours depends on your audience and your pages.
Forgetting reversals. Refunded sales can remove commission you thought you had earned.
Ignoring cookie windows and attribution rules. Programmes differ in how long a click counts and which sale it is credited to.
Counting all traffic. Only visitors who see your affiliate links belong in the funnel.
Chasing the highest commission. A high rate on a product nobody wants earns nothing.
Assumptions and limits
The calculator treats every visitor, click and order as average. It assumes a single product, commission rate and order value, and ignores tiered commissions, recurring commissions, bonuses and payment thresholds. It also ignores tax and the cost of producing your content. It does not predict how much traffic you will get. For a similar exercise with ad income, see the AdSense revenue calculator. Every figure here is an example, not a promise; see our earnings disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
How much can you make from affiliate marketing?
It depends on the traffic you have, how well your content matches what people want to buy, the products and commission rates, and the time you have invested. Many beginners earn little or nothing for months. Use this calculator with your own numbers to see what your traffic could realistically produce, and be sceptical of income claims that do not show the traffic behind them.
What is EPC in affiliate marketing?
EPC stands for earnings per click. It is the average amount you earn each time a visitor clicks your affiliate link, worked out as the conversion rate multiplied by your commission per sale. It is a useful way to compare programmes and pages, because it accounts for both conversion and payout.
What is a good conversion rate for affiliate links?
There is no universal good rate. It depends on the product, the price, the audience and how well the page matches buying intent. Use the conversion rate reported in your own affiliate dashboard, and compare your pages against each other instead of against averages.
Do I have to tell readers I earn commission?
In many places, yes. Advertising rules and affiliate programme terms generally expect clear disclosure that you may earn from links, placed where readers will see it. Check the rules that apply to you. Our own affiliate disclosure explains how we handle it.
How we keep this calculator accurate
The formulas on this page are standard arithmetic, written out in full above so you can check them. Each one is covered by automated tests that compare the calculator against independently worked examples and round-trip checks, and the worked example is generated by the same code as the calculator. We use no third-party data, exchange rates or fee tables, because those go stale; fees and rates are always numbers you enter. If you spot a mistake or an assumption that does not fit your situation, please tell us. Our earnings disclaimer and editorial approach explain how the site works.
Written by
The editorial team behind How To Make Money Online, responsible for researching, writing, and fact-checking every guide on this site against current platform terms and fees.