Automatic payouts pay your affiliates on a schedule you set, so you don’t have to run each payout by hand. This guide covers how to create a payout schedule, how affiliates get paid, and how to manage and monitor your schedules once they’re running.
What you need first
- AffiliateWP Pro. Automatic payouts are part of the Pro plan.
- At least one automatic-capable payout method set up. Affiliates are paid through the method configured for them, so connect the method(s) you use under AffiliateWP » Settings » Payouts first. See paying your affiliates and the method guides for Stripe, PayPal, and store credit.
Pro feature: Automatic payouts require an AffiliateWP Pro license. Compare plans →
What automatic payouts do
A payout schedule runs on its own on the cadence you choose and pays every eligible affiliate in one run, each through their configured method. It uses the same per-affiliate routing as the manual Pay Affiliates screen, so you can pay affiliates on PayPal, Stripe, and store credit together in a single scheduled run, rather than running one payout per method.
You stay in control the whole time: you can pause, resume, edit, run early, or delete any schedule, and every run is recorded so you can see what it paid.
How to set up a payout schedule
Go to AffiliateWP » Payouts and open the Schedules tab, then select Add Schedule. The setup form asks for a few things:
- Affiliates. Pay everyone eligible, or narrow the schedule to specific affiliates and/or affiliate groups. Leave the selection empty to include every eligible affiliate.
- Frequency. Choose Weekly or Monthly, then the day it runs (a day of the week for weekly, or a day of the month for monthly, including the last day).
- Minimum earnings. Optionally set a threshold so small balances aren’t paid out. Affiliates below it roll over to a future run.
- Holding period. If you use a commission holding period, choose whether the schedule includes commissions still inside it.
- Name. Give the schedule a name, or let AffiliateWP name it for you.
Save the schedule and it’s live. From then on it runs on its chosen day without any further action from you.
How affiliates get paid on a schedule
Each affiliate is paid through the method set on their profile (or the site default). A single run can pay PayPal, Stripe, and store-credit affiliates together, grouped into one payout batch you can review afterward.
Affiliates set to be paid manually are skipped by an automatic run, because a manual payout is one you make deliberately by hand. Everyone who can be paid automatically is included; you continue to pay manual-only affiliates yourself from the Pay Affiliates screen. To control how each affiliate is paid, see per-affiliate payout methods.
How to manage a schedule
From the Schedules tab you can act on any schedule without leaving the page:
- Pause a schedule to stop it running (for example, before a slow month), then Resume it later.
- Edit who it pays, how often, or any other setting at any time.
- Run now to run a schedule immediately instead of waiting for its next date.
- Delete a schedule you no longer need.
Each schedule shows its status (active or paused), when it last ran, and when it runs next, so you can see the state of every schedule at a glance.
How to see what each run paid
Every scheduled run is recorded. The schedule’s Last run shows the outcome and date, and links through to the payout batch it produced, where you can see exactly which affiliates were paid and how much. A scheduled run creates a real payout batch like any other, so it appears alongside your manual payouts on the Batches tab.
Turning a one-off payout into a schedule
If you already run a payout by hand, you don’t have to rebuild it. Set up a payout as usual on the Pay Affiliates screen, and on the preview choose Save as schedule. Your filters, the affiliates included, the minimum, and the holding-period choice carry over into a new schedule, so the payout you run every month can start running itself.
What happens if a payout fails
A scheduled run still pays everyone it can, and any failures are recorded against that run’s batch. If a run finishes with failures, or a scheduled run can’t start at all, AffiliateWP emails your affiliate manager so nothing fails silently in the background. You can then review the batch and retry the affected payouts. Fund and account problems (for example, a disconnected Stripe account) are the usual causes; the batch shows the reason per affiliate.
Frequently asked questions
How often can automatic payouts run?
Weekly or monthly, on the day you choose. For a slower cadence than weekly without waiting a whole month, set a weekly schedule with a minimum-earnings threshold, so affiliates are only paid once they’ve earned enough.
Which payout methods are paid automatically?
PayPal, Stripe, and store credit are all paid in a scheduled run, each affiliate through their own method. Affiliates set to be paid manually are skipped and are paid by hand from the Pay Affiliates screen.
Do my affiliates need to do anything?
No. Automatic payouts are managed entirely by you. As long as an affiliate has a payout method set up, they’re paid on the schedule like everyone else, through the method they’d be paid by normally.
Can I still pay affiliates manually?
Yes. Automatic payouts sit alongside paying by hand, they don’t replace it. You can run a one-off payout any time on the Pay Affiliates screen, and you can turn one into a schedule with Save as schedule.
What happens to a schedule if my Pro license lapses?
Automatic payouts require Pro, so schedules stop running if a Pro license lapses. Your schedules and their settings are kept, and you can still pay affiliates manually; resume automatic runs by renewing.
Will a schedule ever pay someone twice?
Runs are processed one at a time, so a schedule can’t overlap with another run and pay an affiliate twice. If a run has failures, retrying only affects the payouts that didn’t succeed.
Related guides
- Paying your affiliates
- Per-affiliate payout methods
- Stripe payouts and international affiliate payouts
That’s it. Set a schedule once and your affiliates are paid on time, each through their own method. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team.