Guest WiFi referral programmes: how partner commission works

Consultants, hospitality advisers, web and marketing agencies, accountants and installers often recommend guest WiFi to venues with no wish to bill for it or answer support calls. A referral programme is built for that: the platform sells, bills and supports the venue, and you earn a share of what the venue pays. The terms that decide what you earn vary from one programme to the next, and CaptiFi's are set out in full further down.

How referral programmes credit an introduction

A referral programme credits an introduction through a tracked link the prospect clicks, a claim you register before the prospect signs up, or both. What you end up earning depends on how long each lasts, who wins a tie, and how long commission runs once the venue converts.

• A tracked link records the click, and a signup inside the window is credited to you. MyWiFi Networks' affiliate programme, for example, gives a prospect 60 days from the click to sign up.
• A registered claim protects an introduction made by phone, by email or over a coffee, where nobody clicked anything. Social WiFi's reseller page says deals you register with it are protected.
• When two partners introduce the same venue, the programme needs a tie-break, such as the first registration, or the first or last click. Ask which, and whether a registration beats a link.
• Commission runs either for a fixed term or for as long as the client stays. MyWiFi Networks pays affiliates 20% of each payment for a referred customer's first 24 months. Stampede's introducers earn a recurring monthly commission on every venue that signs and stays live, and Beambox's partner page offers consultants monthly referral bonuses on all active subscriptions.

Then ask what counts as a conversion (a trial start, a first payment, a signed contract), whether commission is on the whole invoice or the base plan only, and what happens after a refund. Beambox's page shows a £30 trial bounty and a 30% subscription cut without saying which partner type each applies to or how long the cut runs, so ask any programme quoting a percentage to put the term in writing.

How CaptiFi tracks and protects your claim

CaptiFi credits a referral through a personal link or a registered claim, each open for 90 days, and a client who converts stays yours for as long as they're a CaptiFi customer.

Your link takes the form captifi.io/r/your-link and opens a landing page with your name and logo. Anyone who signs up within 90 days of clicking it is credited to you, even if they leave the page and subscribe on captifi.io later. The link itself never expires and any number of prospects can use it. For an introduction made in person or by email, register the prospect on the Referrals page in the partner dashboard at my.captifi.io:

1. Click Register a referral.
2. Enter the prospect's name and the email address they'll sign up with, since that address is how CaptiFi matches the signup to your claim.
3. Add the venue name if you have it, then click Register referral.

The claim is held for 90 days. The first registration wins: if another partner already holds that email address, yours is declined without revealing who holds it, and a registered claim beats a later link click. A claim converts only on a genuine new customer signup, so a prospect added to someone else's venue as a team member, or one who only fills in a form or opens a demo, doesn't count. Matching runs automatically, and a conversion usually shows within an hour. Claims read Open, Converted, Expired or Cancelled; an expired or cancelled claim frees the email address to register again.

If you've sent a prospect a Demo Maker demo of their own branded splash page, Register as a referral on that demo opens the same form. If you set a demo venue up on your own login first, handing it over to the owner moves it onto their own account with the referral registered for you.

What the commission comes to

A CaptiFi referral earns 20% of every payment the client makes to CaptiFi, excluding refunds, whatever currency the client pays in. At the public monthly prices in USD, that works out as follows.

Commission is on the whole payment, extra venues included, because a client's plan covers one venue and each venue added after that goes on the same invoice. A Growth client with two extra venues pays $199 a month, which earns you $39.80. The MSP programme page shows the Growth example in your currency too.

A client still on its free trial hasn't earned you anything yet: the first commission comes from the first paid invoice. If CaptiFi gives a client a discount, your 20% is on the discounted amount the client pays. Refunds and chargebacks remove any commission on that payment that hasn't been paid out, and if it already appeared on a statement, the next statement shows it reversed.

Payouts and monthly statements

CaptiFi accrues commission on the 1st of each month from the previous month's payments and pays it out monthly once it's confirmed. Each commission moves through three stages:

1. On the 1st, every payment your referred clients made in the month just ended becomes pending commission at your rate.
2. CaptiFi reviews it and marks it payable, ready for the next payout.
3. CaptiFi pays the payable balance, the commission shows as paid, and you get a remittance email with the amount, reference and method.

Partners based in the UK, Ireland and the rest of the EEA, Switzerland, the US and Canada can connect a Stripe account and be paid through Stripe; everyone else is paid by bank transfer or PayPal. Only the partner account owner can see or change payout details. On the 1st you also get a commission statement for the month just ended, numbered CS, then your partner number, then the year and month, with a PDF to keep or hand to your accountant. Commission is never converted between currencies, so a client paying in euros earns you euros, shown and paid separately from your account currency.

What the referred venue pays

The venue pays exactly what it would pay signing up on its own. Your referral landing page tells the prospect so: it says you're a CaptiFi partner who earns a commission when they subscribe, and that their free trial, plans and support are the same as signing up directly. From then on CaptiFi bills and supports the venue directly. New accounts start on a 30-day free trial, with a card taken to start it, and the plans are on the pricing page in six currencies.

Telling clients you earn a commission

Tell the venue in writing, before it signs up, that you earn a commission. CaptiFi's landing page does this for everyone who clicks your link, but a recommendation in your own proposal, newsletter or website is yours to label. A plain line does the job: "We're a CaptiFi referral partner and earn a commission if you subscribe; your price is the same as signing up directly."

In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides questions and answers say an affiliate should disclose its relationship to the retailer "clearly and conspicuously", that "the closer the disclosure is to your recommendation, the better", and that consumers might not understand that "affiliate link" means the person placing it is paid. Its example wording is "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post". In the UK, the ASA's advice on online affiliate marketing says the CAP Code applies to affiliates, who are "effectively acting as a secondary advertiser", that marketing has to be obviously identifiable as such, and that a disclaimer at the bottom of a post "is unlikely to be sufficient".

Both pages are general guidance written mostly with consumer advertising in mind, and nothing here is legal advice. If you work under a professional code, check what it says about referral fees as well.

Referral, reseller or white label, from the referrer's side

Referral is the only CaptiFi model where you never invoice the venue or take its support calls. The table compares the three from the side of someone deciding how involved to be.

At the public price a referral earns 20% of each payment, while a reseller keeps a margin of more than a third of CaptiFi's public price and pays for that extra with billing, collection and first-line support, so count your support hours before choosing. A partner account runs one model at a time. You can move from referral to reseller later, and if you have converted referrals when you switch, you agree with your account manager how they're handled. The reseller pricing and margins guide has the wholesale numbers, and the white-label platform comparison covers the other side of the market.

Becoming a CaptiFi referral partner

Joining as a referral partner is free and carries no minimum. Apply online and choose referral, or email partners@captifi.io. Approved partners get the Referrals and Earnings pages on my.captifi.io, the Demo Maker for building a branded splash page demo from a prospect's website, and a free 6-month internal demo licence for one test venue. The partner programme page compares the three models, and the guide to guest WiFi for MSPs covers reselling and white label in more depth.

Sources: MyWiFi Networks, Affiliate Program; Social WiFi, Reseller Program; Stampede, Partner programme; Beambox, Social WiFi Reseller Program; Federal Trade Commission, FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking; Advertising Standards Authority and CAP, Online Affiliate Marketing; all read on 22 October 2026. CaptiFi's partner programme pages and customer documentation, October 2026. MyWiFi Networks, Social WiFi, Stampede, Beambox and Stripe are trade marks of their owners; CaptiFi is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.