All offers / How we work / Programs that pay the sharer only
Some referral programs pay one person, and it is not the one signing up.
Revolut writes it into the contract as a one-sided campaign, which is the clearest wording any of them manage. The others simply answer the sharer's question and never get around to yours.
Revolut CEX.IO Kinsta Murf.ai
Who gets paid, and who doesn't
| Pay both sides, and print both numbers | |
|---|---|
| Chime, one payroll deposit | $100 and $100 |
| Current, same structure | $100 and $100 |
| Kraken, in crypto | up to $75 each |
| Google Fi, bill credit | $60 and $60 |
| Rakuten, while the promo runs | $50 and $50 |
| Uphold, in bitcoin | $20 and $20 |
| Binance.US, flat | $10 + $10 |
| Fluz, once you spend $15 | $5 and $5 |
| Pay the sharer, nothing to you | |
| Revolut, "one-sided" by its own terms | Nothing |
| CEX.IO, sharer takes 30% of your fees | Nothing |
| Kinsta, $10 or $50 in credits to the existing customer | Nothing |
| Bluevine, referrer only | Nothing |
| Airbnb, as a guest; host referral pays the member | Nothing |
| Murf.ai, 20% of your spending for 24 months | Nothing |
| Semrush, per its affiliate FAQ | Nothing |
| Surfer SEO, affiliate only, no member-get-member | Nothing |
| HubSpot, no discount, credit or trial anywhere | Nothing |
| ElevenLabs, affiliate only | Nothing |
| systeme.io, 60% recurring to the affiliate | Nothing |
| Keystone, 10% to the promoter | Nothing |
| Ellipal, 15% to the promoter | Nothing |
| BitBox, 12% to the promoter | Nothing |
| ZenLedger, 20% to the promoter | Nothing |
| Publish the sharer's number, not yours | |
| Step | $1, none for you |
| TopCashback, after $10 of cash back | $40, none for you |
| Receipt Hog, 250 coins to the sharer | $1.25, vs. 5 slot spins |
| TaskRabbit, separate Delivery program | Nothing to the friend |
Ledger and Hostinger sit outside both columns: each runs two programs under one name, covered further down.
How to spot the shape before you sign up
- Look for the sentence about your side. Warm talk of what YOU earn, with no figure for the friend, has already answered you.
- Check the word: “referral” or “affiliate”. Referral programs usually pay both sides. Affiliate deals are between a company and a publisher; the buyer is not a party.
- Ask who the terms address. If “you” means the promoter, your side is not in that document.
- Count what you have to spend to trigger someone else's reward: a deposit, a card, a subscription.
- Treat a coupon page as a warning. A Semrush or Kinsta discount code is offering something the provider says does not exist.
The four clearest cases, and the line that gives each away
Revolut says it in the contract
"The Promotion is a one-sided campaign, where only the Revolut customer who was invited to refer a friend (not the Invitee) can be awarded any Reward/s." Invitee means you. Your steps: identity verification, adding money, a physical card that "may be subject to a delivery fee and/or a fee for the card itself". None of it pays you. More in the Revolut guide.
CEX.IO pays the sharer a slice of your trading fees
"The percentage of the revenue you receive will be thirty percent (30%) and may be amended by CEX.IO at any time." That revenue is your trading fees: your ordinary use of the exchange is what gets paid out. More in the CEX.IO guide.
- What the person sharing the link collects, as a share of the fees your trading generates30%
- What you collect for signing up through itNothing
CEX.IO’s affiliate terms name a thirty percent revenue share for the sharer and describe no new-user reward anywhere.
Kinsta pays existing customers in credits, and tells you there is no coupon
"No. At Kinsta, we don't provide exclusive discounts to specific affiliate partners. Moreover, we don't have any coupon codes or deals available for potential clients." Its customer program pays an existing customer $10 or $50 in credits, and the new customer nothing. The real saving is annual billing: two months free, no link needed. More in the Kinsta guide.
Step prints one number, and only one
"You can earn a $1 referral bonus when they sign up using your link. Just send them an invite from your app, and you'll both get rewarded once they meet the eligibility requirements." One dollar, clearly the sharer's. Your side gets "you'll both get rewarded" and no amount; the binding terms are figure-free by design: "The amount of Referral Rewards you earn for a referral, and the amount of cash for which a Reward may be redeemed, may vary from time to time in our sole discretion." The $25 figures circulating for Step trace to nothing. More in the Step guide.
The affiliate half: paid to a publisher, never to you
Most of the fifteen are affiliate programs, never about you. Semrush: "Currently, we do not offer exclusive discounts for affiliates." Murf forbids the partner from inventing one: "You will not offer discounts, coupons, free trials, promo codes, or any other promotional offer that is not expressly authorized by the Company in writing," while paying that partner "20% of the revenue generated by such person for two years after their initial transaction". HubSpot bars affiliates from offering incentives to encourage purchases, and issues no code itself. Hardware wallets run the same structure smaller: Keystone pays a promoter 10%, Ellipal 15%, BitBox 12% of the price before shipping and tax, and Keystone's agreement makes handing any of that back to you a breach of contract.
Two programs, one name, and only one of them pays you
| Ledger, an uncomfortable one for us | |
|---|---|
| Named affiliate links carrying a buyer voucher ("+$20 of free BTC", "+$10 of free BTC") | Pays you |
| Our link, not on that voucher list | No voucher |
| Hostinger, which splits harder | |
| Affiliate program, up to 40% to the publisher | Nothing to you |
| Referral program, up to 20% off your first purchase, barred from commercial sites | Pays you, but not postable |
See the Ledger guide, the Hostinger guide, and programs that ban deal sites.
Sometimes the friend gets paid and the sharer doesn't
Charles Schwab's tiered bonus, $100 at $25,000 of net deposits and up to $1,000 at $500,000, goes entirely to the person opening the account; the Schwab client who referred them gets nothing. Otter.ai publishes a free month for the new user and no figure for the sharer.
Is it worth your time?
Frequently asked
Do both sides always get paid?
No. Of the 118 programs examined, fifteen pay the sharer and nothing to the person signing up.
How do I tell before signing up?
Look for the sentence describing your side. If the page never says what your friend receives, that silence is the answer.
Does CEX.IO pay the new user anything?
No. Its affiliate terms pay the sharer thirty percent of the revenue your trading generates, and describe no new-user reward.
Is there a Kinsta coupon code?
No. The real saving is annual billing: two months free, no code or link required.
Why would a company refuse to discount for the buyer?
A commission buys distribution; a discount only lowers the price. Several contracts, Murf's among them, forbid the partner from creating a discount at all.
What we found across every offer
Every one of these is read from the company’s own document and dated. See all 59 questions we have answered.