A step-by-step guide to setting up your first affiliate program in Icodrip.
Before creating your first program, make sure you have completed the initial setup. You need an Icodrip account with an organization created. If you haven't done this yet, sign up at icodrip.com and follow the onboarding wizard.
You should also have access to your payment processor account (Stripe, Paddle, etc.) since you will need to connect it during the program setup. Having your commission structure planned out in advance — whether it is a percentage of each sale or a flat fee — will make the process faster.
Finally, decide on your program's basic settings: the cookie window duration (how long after a click an affiliate can earn a commission), whether commissions are one-time or recurring, and what your approval workflow looks like.
Navigate to the Programs section in your dashboard and click "Create Program." You will be prompted to enter a program name, which is visible to your affiliates, and an optional internal description for your team's reference.
Choose a program slug — this becomes part of your tracking URLs (e.g., yoursite.com/ref/program-slug/affiliate-code). Pick something short and memorable. You can also set the program's visibility: public programs appear on your signup page, while private programs require a direct invitation.
You can create multiple programs under the same organization. This is useful if you have different products, pricing tiers, or partner types that warrant different commission structures.
Icodrip supports two commission types: percentage-based and flat-rate. Percentage commissions are calculated as a share of each sale amount. For example, a 20% commission on a $100 sale yields $20 for the affiliate. Flat-rate commissions pay a fixed amount per conversion regardless of the sale price.
For subscription products, you can enable recurring commissions. This means the affiliate earns a commission not just on the initial payment but on every subsequent renewal. You can set a maximum number of recurring months or let it run indefinitely.
Set a reasonable commission rate that incentivizes affiliates without cutting too deeply into your margins. Industry standards for SaaS range from 15% to 30% for one-time commissions and 10% to 20% for recurring. You can always adjust these later.
After creating your program, you need to install the Icodrip tracking snippet on your website. This is a lightweight JavaScript tag (under 2KB gzipped) that handles cookie management and conversion attribution on the client side.
Copy the snippet from your program settings and paste it into the <head> section of your website. If you are using a framework like Next.js or Nuxt, you can use our SDK package instead for tighter integration. The SDK provides functions for tracking custom events and server-side attribution.
For server-side tracking (recommended for higher accuracy), configure your payment processor webhook to send events directly to Icodrip. This ensures conversions are recorded even if the visitor has JavaScript disabled or clears their cookies.
Before going live, test the entire flow end-to-end. Create a test affiliate account (you can use your own email with a +test suffix) and generate a tracking link. Click the link and verify that Icodrip records the click in your dashboard.
Next, complete a test purchase using your payment processor's test mode. Check that the conversion appears in your dashboard and is correctly attributed to the test affiliate. Verify the commission amount matches your program's configuration.
If anything doesn't work as expected, check the Debugging section in our Tracking guides. Common issues include misconfigured webhook URLs, missing tracking snippets, or incorrect API keys. Once everything checks out, you are ready to invite real affiliates.