It's the first question every new affiliate asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on your traffic. But "it depends" isn't much help when you're trying to pick a deal this week — so here's the real breakdown, without the sales pitch.
Both models pay well. They just pay differently, on different timelines, and they reward completely different kinds of traffic.
CPA — paid fast, paid once
CPA is a fixed amount for every qualifying first-time depositor (FTD) — typically $150–350 depending on the GEO. You get paid within the week, and you get paid the same whether that player turns into a whale, busts on day one, or never logs in again.
It suits media buyers who need fast payback to recycle ad spend, high-volume traffic with shorter retention, and anyone who has to budget campaigns off predictable numbers. The trade-off is simple: you capture none of the upside. A player who deposits for two years pays you exactly what a one-and-done player does.
RevShare — paid slowly, paid forever
RevShare is a percentage — commonly 25–45% — of the net revenue every referred player generates, for their entire lifetime. No cap, no end date.
It suits SEO and content traffic, communities, streamers — any source that sends genuinely engaged players who stick around. The magic is compounding: your income this month is the sum of every cohort you've ever sent that's still active. Year one feels slow. Year two it's a different business.
Before you sign a RevShare deal, check one line: negative carry-over. If a program writes it into the standard terms, it's telling you it doesn't believe in its own retention. Programs without it (RTP included) let a losing month reset to zero instead of eating into the next one.
The math, with real numbers
Say one player generates €400 of net revenue over 18 months. On a €250 CPA, you banked €250 up front and you're done. On 30% RevShare, you earn €120 from that single player — less, on paper.
But you earned it passively, a second similar player doubles it, and a hundred retained players is €12,000 a year that keeps paying while you sleep. For one player, CPA wins. Across a retained cohort, RevShare wins — often by 3–5×.
So which should you pick?
- Paid media, arbitrage, fast recycling — CPA. You need the cash back in the account to buy again.
- SEO, content, streaming, community — RevShare. Your traffic retains, so let it compound.
- Mixed, or genuinely not sure yet — Hybrid (below).
Why most serious partners pick both
The dominant structure on RTP this year isn't pure CPA or pure RevShare — it's Hybrid: a smaller upfront CPA to fund the next campaign, plus a lifetime RevShare line that compounds in the background. It de-risks the media buy without giving up the long tail.
Start with the model that matches your cashflow, not the one with the biggest headline number. Then, once you can see how your traffic actually retains, move to Hybrid and stop choosing.
