You can run this alongside link tracking. Most programs do — affiliates get a link and a code, and whichever the customer uses, the affiliate gets paid.
What this method tracks
What it can’t track
This method trades precision at the top of the funnel for reach at the bottom. Know what you’re giving up.- Anything before checkout. No clicks, no visits, no click-to-sale conversion rate for the code itself. If an affiliate mentions you to 50,000 listeners and two buy, all you’ll ever see is the two.
- A customer who forgets the code. This is the real cost of the method, and it’s larger than people expect. If they don’t type it, the sale is unattributed and the affiliate isn’t paid.
- A checkout where the code can’t be entered. Your checkout has to actually offer a promotion code field — see Step 3.
- Sign-ups before payment. The referral only exists once a discounted payment goes through.
- Which specific piece of content drove the sale, unless you give each affiliate several codes.
- Live payments while you’re connected in test mode, and the reverse. Referly deliberately ignores the mismatched ones.
Because a code can’t be forced, treat coupon tracking as a floor rather than a ceiling. Affiliates who can share a link should share a link too.
Before you start
1
A Stripe account you can log into as an administrator
You’ll authorize Referly from inside Stripe, so you need permission to connect apps.
2
A decision on the customer discount
Codes have to be worth using. Decide what the customer gets — 20% off, 10 dollars off — before you start, because it’s what the code will be built from.
3
Your commission plan set up
The discount the customer gets and the commission the affiliate earns are two separate numbers. See commissions overview.
Step 1: Connect your Stripe account
Nothing about coupons works until Stripe is connected, because Referly creates and reads the codes inside your Stripe account. You don’t create API keys — you authorize Referly’s app from inside Stripe.1
Open the connect dialog
Open Integrations from the left sidebar, select Connect Integration at the top right, then choose Stripe.
2
Choose live or test
Select Connect Stripe Account for your real account, or Connect Test Mode to connect a sandbox first.
3
Authorize Referly in Stripe
A Stripe page opens in a new tab. Sign in, pick the account from the account picker at the top, and confirm. Stripe explains sandboxes in their test mode guide.
4
Confirm the connection
Back in Referly, the Stripe panel shows a green Connected badge with your account name, or a yellow Test Mode badge for a sandbox.
Step 2: Give your affiliates codes
There are two routes. Pick one, or mix them.Option A: let Referly create a code for every affiliate
This is the hands-off route. You set the customer discount once in your program details — the amount and whether it’s a percentage or a fixed sum — and from then on every affiliate who joins gets their own code created for them. Referly builds each one in your connected Stripe account as a coupon plus a matching customer-facing code, so the codes are real Stripe codes that work at your checkout with no extra setup. The discount is set to apply to every invoice, not only the first — so a customer who subscribes with a code keeps their discount on every renewal, and the affiliate keeps earning on every renewal too. For the full walkthrough of this option, see auto-generated codes.Option B: create codes in Stripe and bring them in
Use this when you want different discounts for different affiliates, or when you already have codes running in Stripe.1
Create the coupon in Stripe
In the Stripe Dashboard, open Products, then Coupons, then select New. Set the discount amount and the duration. Stripe’s own guide is their coupons and promotion codes documentation.
2
Add a customer-facing code
In the same dialog, select Use customer-facing coupon codes and type the code you want customers to enter, such as
SARAH20. This is the part the customer actually types — a coupon on its own has no code attached to it.3
Choose the duration deliberately
Forever discounts every invoice including renewals. Once applies to the first invoice only. Repeating lasts a set number of months. For a subscription business, forever keeps renewals attributed most reliably.
4
Bring the codes into Referly
Open Coupons from the left sidebar and select Sync Coupons, then choose Stripe. Your codes are pulled in with their discounts and redemption counts.
5
Assign a code to an affiliate
Open the code in Referly and attach it to the affiliate who’ll promote it. This is what tells Referly who to pay. See creating coupons and promotional codes.
You can also create codes from inside Referly and have them pushed to Stripe, using Manage Integrations on the Coupons page to pick Stripe as the source. See connect a source.
Changes in Stripe flow back automatically
Once codes are connected, you don’t have to keep the two systems in step by hand:- Renaming a coupon in Stripe updates it in Referly.
- Redemption counts update as customers use the codes.
- Turning a code off in Stripe marks it inactive in Referly.
- Deleting a coupon in Stripe removes it from Referly.
Step 3: Let customers enter a code at checkout
A code nobody can type is worth nothing, and this is the step people miss. Stripe checkout only shows a promotion code field if you’ve turned it on. Where you turn it on depends on how customers pay:Test it as a customer would: open your checkout and confirm you can see somewhere to add a promotion code before paying.
Track clicks as well
This step is optional. Coupon tracking works with nothing installed on your site at all — but without the tracking script you’ll have no click data anywhere in Referly, and affiliates who do share links won’t have their clicks counted. If you want both, open Integrations, find the Stripe Coupon Codes card, and copy the script from the guide into thehead section of your pages:
What wins when a customer has both
A customer can arrive through one affiliate’s link and type a different affiliate’s code. Referly resolves it in this order:- The promo code used at checkout. The code owner gets the sale, even when the click came from someone else.
- The referral identifier from a link click, if no affiliate’s code was used.
- The customer’s email matching an existing referral, which is what keeps renewals attached to the original affiliate.
If you disagree with a particular outcome, you can move a sale to a different affiliate — see managing referred customers.
How renewals behave
Renewals are where coupon tracking is unusually strong. When the discount is set to apply forever, it stays attached to the subscription. Every renewal invoice carries the same code, so Referly can see the affiliate on the renewal itself. On top of that, the renewal is matched to the original referral by the customer’s email. Two independent routes to the same answer means renewals rarely fall through. If you set a code to apply once, the discount disappears after the first invoice. Renewals then rely on the email match alone — still usually fine, but with one less safety net.Step 4: Test the whole flow
Test before you hand a code to a single affiliate, with your Stripe connection showing the yellow Test Mode badge.1
Switch Stripe to a sandbox
In the Stripe Dashboard, use the account picker at the top to switch into a sandbox. Codes created in a sandbox only work on sandbox checkouts.
2
Make sure a test affiliate has a code
Either let Referly generate one, or create a code in the sandbox and sync it in, then assign it to a test affiliate.
3
Check the code exists in Stripe
In the Stripe Dashboard, open Products then Coupons and confirm the code is there and active. If Referly generated it, this is where it will have appeared.
4
Buy something using the code
Go through your own checkout, enter the code, and confirm the price drops. Pay with Stripe’s test card
4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry, and any three-digit security code. The full list is in Stripe’s testing guide.5
Confirm it in Referly
Open Referrals in the left sidebar — the customer should be listed against the affiliate who owns the code. Then open Rewards to see the commission.
6
Check the redemption count moved
Back on the Coupons page, the code’s usage count should have gone up.
When the referral shows the code’s owner and the reward shows the right amount, coupon tracking is working. Repeat once in live mode with a small real payment you refund afterwards.
Go live
- On the Integrations page, open the Stripe panel and select Disconnect.
- Select Connect Stripe Account and authorize your live account.
- Confirm the badge is green and reads Connected.
- Generate or sync your codes again — sandbox codes do not exist in your live account.
Troubleshooting
Customers say the code doesn't work
Customers say the code doesn't work
Check three things in Stripe: the code exists in the account you’re actually taking payments in, it’s still active, and it hasn’t hit a redemption limit or expiry date you set. Also confirm you’re not looking at a sandbox code while the customer is on live checkout.
There's no place to enter a code at checkout
There's no place to enter a code at checkout
Promotion codes are off by default. Go back to Step 3 and turn them on wherever your customers pay.
The code worked but no commission was created
The code worked but no commission was created
The code isn’t connected to an affiliate in Referly. Open the Coupons page, find the code, and check an affiliate is assigned to it. A code that exists in Stripe but isn’t attached to anyone in Referly discounts the sale without paying anyone.
Nothing appears in Referly at all
Nothing appears in Referly at all
Almost always the test-mode mismatch. A yellow Test Mode badge means live payments are ignored, a green Connected badge means test payments are ignored. Reconnect in the mode you’re actually testing in.If the badge is right, confirm the payment actually succeeded in Stripe.
Affiliates don't have codes
Affiliates don't have codes
If you’re relying on automatic generation, check the customer discount is set in your program details — with no discount amount there’s nothing to build a code from. Check too that Stripe was connected before those affiliates joined, since the code is created against your Stripe account. See auto-generated codes.
The wrong affiliate got the sale
The wrong affiliate got the sale
A promo code beats a link click. If the customer clicked one affiliate’s link but typed another’s code, the code owner is credited. You can move the sale by changing the referral’s affiliate.
Renewals stopped paying commission
Renewals stopped paying commission
Check the coupon’s duration in Stripe. A code set to apply once falls off after the first invoice, leaving renewals to be matched by the customer’s email alone. If that email has since changed in Stripe, the connection breaks. Codes set to apply forever are more robust.
Redemption counts look wrong in Referly
Redemption counts look wrong in Referly
Counts update as Stripe reports them, so a very recent purchase may take a moment. Open the Coupons page and select Sync Coupons to pull the latest figures from Stripe.
Related
Coupons and promo codes
The full picture of how coupons work in Referly.
Auto-generated codes
Give every affiliate a code without lifting a finger.
Stripe integration overview
Every way to connect Stripe, and which one fits you.
Coupon restrictions
Limit who can use a code, how often, and until when.