Lifetime cookie vs 12-month recurring: pick your poison

Lifetime cookie vs 12-month recurring: pick your poison
Everyone says "always choose lifetime commissions." Lazy advice.

A lifetime program that pays 20% but has a paid-tool with 6% monthly churn returns you a customer worth ~16 months of payments. A 12-month-cap program paying 30% on a stickier product (2% churn) pays you the full year at a higher rate.

Run the math, not the slogan:
— Lifetime + high churn = a trickle that dies fast. The "life" of the customer is the catch.
— Capped + low churn = front-loaded, predictable, easier to forecast.

Lifetime only wins when retention is genuinely good. Most SaaS sold to SMBs isn't. You're betting on someone else's product staying installed.

Verdict: "lifetime" is a word, not a guarantee. Ask for the churn curve before you fall for the adjective.