B2B referral program examples: the short answer
B2B software companies run two kinds of referral program, and they pay very differently. Affiliate and partner programs are open to creators, publishers and other businesses, and pay a cash share of the customer's first-year revenue, usually 15 to 50%. Customer referral programs are open to existing users and pay a fixed reward per new customer, often a gift card, and often reward the referred company as well.
The twelve programs below show both, and each pays for a specific outcome, from a free signup to a paying customer.
Program terms checked in October 2026 on each company's own site. Programs change, so confirm current terms before relying on them.
12 B2B SaaS referral programs compared
| Company | Who refers | Reward | Duration | Referred customer gets | Source (checked October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Affiliates; no need to be a customer | 30% of each payment | Up to 12 months | Not stated | hubspot.com |
| Webflow | Content creators (agencies and freelancers excluded) | 50% revenue share on the first subscription | Up to 12 months, plus 10 or 15% for 12 more at higher tiers | Not stated | webflow.com |
| Freshworks | Affiliates | 20%, 25% or 30% of first-year subscription revenue, by monthly volume | Up to 12 months | Not stated | freshworks.com |
| Zoho | Affiliates (businesses, ISVs, site owners) | 15% of revenue, capped at $25,000 per deal | 12 months | $100 in Zoho Wallet credit | zoho.com |
| Miro | Existing Miro users | 10% of the account's monthly payments | Until $500 is paid | 10% off for 11 months | help.miro.com |
| Semrush | Affiliates (publishers, agencies, educators) | $50 to $450 per sale, plus $10 per trial | Flat amount per sale (no recurring share stated) | 7 or 14-day trial, by affiliate tier | semrush.com |
| Shopify | Affiliates with a merchant audience | Up to $150 per merchant, by country | One-time | Not stated | shopify.com |
| ClickUp | Affiliates | Up to $25 per new free workspace | One-time | Discount offer at higher affiliate tiers | clickup.com |
| Gusto | Gusto customers | Visa gift card: $300 for the first referral, rising to $1,000 from the fifth | One-time per referral | $100 Visa gift card | gusto.com |
| Pipedrive | Paying customers only | Gift card worth 100 in your currency | One-time | 30-day trial instead of 14 | pipedrive.com |
| Gong | Anyone | $100 gift card at the demo, $500 when they buy | One-time | Not stated | gong.io |
| Airtable | Free and Team plan users | $10 account credit per new user | One-time; credit expires | Not stated | support.airtable.com |
What each program pays and what to copy
HubSpot
HubSpot's affiliate program pays 30% of each monthly payment for up to a year, with a 180-day cookie window and no requirement to be a HubSpot customer. Tiers depend on sign-ups per month: 0 to 29, 30 to 99, and 100 or more, where the commission becomes custom. Worth copying: the tier has to hold for three months before an affiliate moves up, so one good month does not lock in a higher rate.
Webflow
Webflow pays content creators 50% of a new customer's first subscription for up to 12 months, with a 90-day cookie. Affiliates in its Pro and Premium tiers earn an extra 10 or 15% for another 12 months if the customer renews. Worth copying: Webflow excludes client referrals from agencies and freelancers and sends them to a separate partner program, so one program does not have to suit two very different partners.
Freshworks
Freshworks pays 20% of the customer's first-year subscription revenue, rising to 25% at 50 to 100 converted referrals a month and 30% above 100. The customer must start paying within three months of the referral, and upsells after the first purchase earn nothing extra. Worth copying: the conversion window and the upsell rule are both written into the terms, which removes two of the most common payout disputes.
Zoho
Zoho pays 15% of the revenue it receives from a new customer over 12 months, capped at $25,000 per deal, with a 90-day cookie. The customer must stay at least 60 days (Zoho's main affiliate page says 90), and referred customers get $100 in Zoho Wallet credit. Worth copying: a per-deal cap. A percentage with no ceiling can produce one enormous payout on an enterprise deal the partner barely touched.
Miro
Miro's program is for existing users, who earn 10% of the referred company's monthly payments until the payout reaches $500. The new company gets 10% off for 11 months and must sign up with a work email; referrals within your own email domain do not count. Worth copying: both sides get the same 10%, which makes the offer easy to explain in one sentence.
Semrush
Semrush pays a flat amount per sale rather than a percentage: $300 for its main Semrush One product at the base tier, up to $450 for partners with 50 or more sales a quarter, plus $10 per free trial. The cookie lasts 120 days. Worth copying: a flat fee by product "for any subscription level" is simple to forecast, and paying a little for trials rewards affiliates for early-stage activity.
Shopify
Shopify pays up to $150 per merchant who signs up for a full-priced Basic, Grow or Advanced plan, with the amount varying by the merchant's country. Clicks are tracked for 30 days, and merchants who start a trial are tracked for up to 400 days. Worth copying: the long trial window means affiliates still get credit when a merchant takes months to launch a store.
ClickUp
ClickUp pays up to $25 for each new free workspace, not for paid upgrades. Affiliates who send 100 sign-ups in a month get a 10% discount offer for their audience, and 200 sign-ups bring a 15% offer and dedicated landing pages. Worth copying: for a product-led company where free users convert later, paying on sign-up gives affiliates a reward they can see quickly.
Gusto
Gusto customers earn a Visa gift card when a referred business runs its first paid payroll: $300 for the first referral, $400, $500 and $700 for the next three, and $1,000 from the fifth on. The referred business gets a $100 gift card. Worth copying: the reward rises with each referral, which gives your most enthusiastic customers a reason to keep going without raising the cost of a single referral.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive's program is open only to paying customers. The referrer gets a gift card worth 100 in their currency once the new company's payments reach the same amount, and the new company gets a 30-day trial instead of the usual 14. Worth copying: the reward is triggered by cash received, not by signup, so it is never paid on a customer who leaves before paying.
Gong
Gong pays a $100 gift card when a referral agrees to a demo and $500 more if they become a customer, up to $600 in total. A referral must be a business leader at a company with more than 30 employees, evaluating at least five seats. Worth copying: the split reward pays something for the meeting, which is what a sales-led company actually needs from a referrer.
Airtable
Airtable gives $10 in account credit for every new user who signs up from your invitation, but only Free and Team plan users can earn it. Credits on a Free plan expire after 90 days unless the account upgrades. Worth copying: paying in your own product credit costs less than cash, and the expiry nudges free users toward a paid plan.
Patterns across these programs
These are observations from this set of twelve, not industry statistics.
- Who refers decides the reward. The programs open to creators and publishers paid cash percentages. The programs open to existing customers paid fixed rewards: gift cards at Gusto, Pipedrive and Gong, account credit at Airtable.
- Percentages stop at 12 months. HubSpot, Webflow, Freshworks and Zoho all limit the percentage to the first year, and Miro caps it at $500. None of the twelve paid for the life of the customer.
- Half reward the referred company. Gusto, Miro and Zoho give money, credit or a discount; Pipedrive and Semrush give a longer trial; ClickUp lets its top affiliates offer a discount.
- Volume tiers are common in affiliate programs. HubSpot, Webflow, Freshworks, Semrush and ClickUp all raise the reward or add perks as monthly or quarterly volume grows.
- Payment waits for proof. Gusto waits for the first paid payroll, Pipedrive for payments to reach a threshold, Zoho for 60 days of retention, and Freshworks for a paying customer within three months.
- Cookie windows ran from 30 to 180 days. Shopify and ClickUp used 30 days, Webflow and Zoho 90, Semrush 120 and HubSpot 180.
What these structures would cost you: a worked example
Say Cobalt Consulting refers Fjord Analytics, a customer paying you $1,000 a month, or $12,000 in the first year. Here is what each structure would pay if you copied it.
| Structure, modeled on | Referrer earns in year 1 | Share of first-year revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 50% for 12 months (Webflow) | $6,000 | 50% |
| 30% for 12 months (HubSpot) | $3,600 | 30% |
| 20% of first-year revenue (Freshworks base tier) | $2,400 | 20% |
| 15% for 12 months (Zoho) | $1,800 | 15% |
| $100 at the demo, $500 at purchase (Gong) | $600 | 5% |
| 10% of payments, capped at $500 (Miro) | $500 | 4.2% |
| Tiered gift card, first referral (Gusto) | $300 | 2.5% |
The spread is twentyfold on the same customer. High percentages for a limited period suit self-serve products, where the affiliate's content does most of the selling and no salesperson is involved. For a sales-led product at $12,000 a year, where your team runs the demo and closes the deal, a fixed reward or a percentage at the lower end is usually enough.
How to design yours
Start from who will refer, not from what other companies pay. If it is your customers, a fixed reward per paying customer, with something for the new customer too, is the simplest program to run. If it is agencies, consultants and other businesses, a percentage of first-year revenue is the norm. Our guide on how to start a referral program walks through the decisions in order, and the referral fee percentage guide shows how to set a rate from your margin and acquisition cost.
Then write down the rules the clearest of these programs spell out: who qualifies, when the reward is triggered, the conversion window, the payout timing and what happens on a refund. The B2B referral program template has these sections ready to fill in.
Tracking referrals once the program is live
Whatever structure you choose, the work after launch is tracking who referred whom, whether the customer paid and what you owe. Partner.io gives partners a portal with a referral form and tracked referral links, moves each referral from Pending to Won, creates commissions at the partner's rate and pays them through Stripe Connect. Partners are free and unlimited; you pay for your own team's seats.