These terms explain how the Plusto Referral Programme works: who can refer a business, how commissions are calculated, when they are paid, and what sales partners need to do. We have kept them in plain English. If anything is unclear, ask us before you take part.
1. Who we are and when these terms apply
Plusto (“Plusto”, “we”, “us”) designs, builds, hosts and looks after websites. These Referral Programme Terms apply when you take part in the Plusto Referral Programme: you accept them in your Plusto account, you share a referral link, or you join as a sales partner (“you” means you or the business you represent).
If you accept on behalf of a business, you confirm that you are allowed to do so. These terms sit alongside our Terms of Service. They cover the Referral Programme only. If we agree something different with you in writing, that written agreement wins for that point.
2. The programme in short
You can earn a commission when a business you introduce signs up for Plusto hosting and pays their hosting invoice. The business you refer gets no discount and is not charged more because they came through you.
There are two ways to take part:
- Paying clients can refer other businesses and earn level 1 (direct) commission. They do not need a PlusLearn certificate for level 1.
- Sales partners are independent referrers. A sales partner may also be a paying client, or may have no paid Plusto site. A partner without a paid site can earn only once Plusto has activated them, and only on referrals made while they are active and their PlusLearn certificate is valid. The steps are: Applied, Agreement accepted, Certified, Active.
Level 2 commission (on businesses referred by the businesses you referred) is separate. It is only paid if you are in the Network programme, you are an active sales partner, and you have a valid PlusLearn certificate. See sections 6 and 8.
3. How referrals work
In your Plusto account, open Refer a business, accept these terms and choose Get my link. You get a unique 6-character code and a link in this form:
https://plusto.com/?ref=CODE
Share your link (copy, WhatsApp or email). When someone opens a valid, active link, we store your code for 90 days (a first-touch cookie and a matching browser record). The first valid code we store is the one that counts: a later link does not overwrite it. If they ask for a website within those 90 days, they can be linked to you.
We may review a referral before we treat it as yours. Referring yourself, your own site, or a connected business does not count. A referrer’s own Plusto site can never be recorded as their own referral.
4. What counts as a qualifying referral
You earn on a referral only when all of these are true:
- the referral is linked to you and has been confirmed by Plusto;
- the business is hosted with Plusto (their site is live on a paid hosting plan, and has not been suspended, cancelled or ended);
- they have a hosting invoice (monthly or annual) with status Paid, and the amount paid is more than zero;
- that invoice was paid on or after the referral was made and linked.
A zero-amount invoice never earns commission. Free sales partner hosting (the free plan for an active partner’s own site) never earns commission and never counts as a paying site for network volume tiers. The partner’s domain is billed separately as a normal domain and is not a hosting commission. Other kinds of invoice, such as once-off design or extra work, do not earn a referral commission.
While the business you referred stays hosted with Plusto and pays a qualifying hosting invoice, you can continue to earn on each paid invoice, at the rate that applied when the referral was first linked.
For a sales partner who does not also have a paid hosting plan, a referral earns only if it was made while they were activated, their PlusLearn certificate was valid, and they had not ended. See section 8.
5. Commission rates
Commission is a fixed amount for each paying site, in the currency the referred client pays, not a percentage of their invoice. The table below shows the level 1 rates currently in force. Plusto may change these rates from time to time. A change applies from the effective date shown, and only to referrals made on or after that date.
Each referral earns the level 1 rates in force on the date that referral was made (the day it was linked). Later payments for that same referral keep those rates, even if we change the table afterwards.
| Currency | Each paid month | Each paid year (annual billing) |
|---|---|---|
| South African rand (R) | R75 | R750 |
| US dollar ($) | $10 | $80 |
| Australian dollar (A$) | A$15 | A$125 |
| Canadian dollar (C$) | C$15 | C$125 |
| New Zealand dollar (NZ$) | NZ$15 | NZ$145 |
| Euro (€) | €9 | €75 |
| Pound sterling (£) | £7.50 | £60 |
The table above is a snapshot of the rates in force on 12 November 2026, from 15 October 2026. The live rates are published at https://finance.plusto.com/api/referral-rates and are loaded automatically on this page when it can reach that address.
Earnings are kept and paid in the currency each referred business pays in. Totals shown in rand in your account as an approximation are for display only, using European Central Bank reference rates.
6. Level 2 and the Network programme
If Plusto has switched you into the Network programme, you can also earn on businesses referred by the businesses you referred. That is level 2. It is one level only: you do not earn on referrals further down the chain.
Level 2 is paid only if all of these hold:
- the Network programme is switched on for you (Plusto does this; it is not automatic);
- you are an active sales partner;
- you have a valid PlusLearn certificate; and
- the second-level business was referred while you were activated, your certificate was valid, and you had not ended.
Second-level referrals made after your certificate expires, or after your partnership has ended, do not earn. Second-level referrals made while those conditions were met keep paying, even if your certificate later expires.
Paying clients earn level 1 without a certificate. Level 2 always needs a valid PlusLearn certificate, including for paying clients who are also sales partners.
7. Volume tiers
Level 2 is a percentage of the level 1 rate for that currency and period:
- 15% to start;
- 20% once your network passes 100 paying sites (Tier 1);
- 25% once it passes 200 paying sites (Tier 2).
Only paying hosted sites count. Free sales partner hosting does not. When a second-level site first earns, its place in your network and its level 2 rate are fixed. A new tier applies to sites added after the line is crossed; sites already in your network keep the rate they had. Other currencies use the same percentages of their level 1 rates, unless a later rates update says otherwise for a particular currency.
8. Sales partners and PlusLearn
A sales partner is an independent contractor, not a Plusto employee or agent. You decide how and when you work. You are responsible for your own tax. You cannot sign or agree anything on Plusto’s behalf. The Sales Partner Agreement, once you have accepted it, also applies.
To be activated as a sales partner, you accept the Sales Partner Agreement, you complete PlusLearn certification, and Plusto activates you. PlusLearn is Plusto’s referral partner course at learn.plusto.com. The course is invite-only. It has six short modules, a quiz after each (you need 100% and may retry), and a final exam of 12 questions (you need 12 out of 12, with three tries). Your certificate shows your name, a unique certificate ID and the issue date. Anyone can check a certificate on the PlusLearn “Check a certificate” page.
A PlusLearn certificate is valid for 12 months from the issue date. Do the refresher before it expires to get a new certificate with a new date. If it expires, businesses you referred before expiry keep earning; new referrals (and new level 2) earn again once you finish the refresher and are eligible again.
If your own website is on free sales partner hosting, it stays free while you are an active partner. Your domain is billed as normal. That free hosting never earns commission and does not count toward volume tiers.
For a sales partner without a paid Plusto site, the referral link is for use once you have accepted the agreement, finished PlusLearn and been activated. A paying client can refer as normal without being a sales partner.
9. The 30-day hold and clawbacks
Earnings become payable 30 days after the referred business pays the qualifying invoice. Your account shows what is still in that hold.
If that invoice is later cancelled, refunded or reversed (it is no longer fully Paid), the commission on it is taken back. If we have not yet paid you that amount, it is cancelled. If we have already paid it or applied it as credit, we deduct it from your next payout.
10. How you are paid
In your account, under How you are paid, you choose:
- Credit on my Plusto fees — taken off your next Plusto invoice; or
- Cash by bank transfer (EFT) — we pay the amount to your bank account.
If you choose cash, you add your bank details in your account. They are stored encrypted and shown to you masked. We email you to confirm any change to those details, and the next payout then waits 72 hours.
We need your South African income tax number on file before your first payout.
Payouts to a bank account outside South Africa are made through Wise (wise.com). The Wise transfer fee is deducted from the payout, so you pay that fee.
There is no minimum payout amount. How often cash payouts are made, and what happens if your credit is more than your next invoice, are to be confirmed by Plusto. Until those points are confirmed, Plusto processes credit and EFT payouts manually. Credit is not taken off invoices automatically.
11. Tax and VAT
You are responsible for your own tax on commissions. The amounts shown in your account are the total Plusto pays you. They already include any VAT.
If you are VAT registered, your invoice total must still equal the agreed commission. Work out the amount before VAT (commission divided by 1.15), then add 15% VAT, and put your VAT number on the invoice. For example, a commission of 75 is invoiced as 65.22 plus 9.78 VAT, which still totals 75. If you are not VAT registered, invoice the commission amount with no VAT.
The formal sign-off of this VAT treatment is to be confirmed by Plusto.
Plusto does not add VAT to its own hosting invoices at present.
12. Your responsibilities
Describe Plusto honestly. Do not make promises we have not made, and do not offer discounts or different prices unless we have agreed that in writing. Follow any reasonable instructions we give you about the programme, and keep your account details up to date.
You must not try to refer yourself or a connected business, create fake referrals, or misuse a referral link. We may review, withhold or reverse a commission, or end your participation, if we reasonably believe the programme has been misused.
13. Ending your participation
You or Plusto may end your participation in the Referral Programme, and Plusto may end or suspend a sales partnership, as set out in the Sales Partner Agreement and these terms.
Referrals made while you were eligible keep earning for as long as the referred business stays hosted and pays a qualifying invoice, subject to the hold and clawback rules. New referrals made after a sales partner has ended, or after their certificate has expired (for earnings that need a valid certificate), do not earn.
A paying client who is not a sales partner, or who remains a paying client after a sales partnership ends, can still earn level 1 on referrals in the ordinary way, as long as they remain in the programme.
14. Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. If something goes wrong, please talk to us first; we will try to resolve it fairly and quickly. This does not affect any right you have to approach a court, regulator or ombud.
15. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The date at the top shows the latest version. Changes apply going forward. The level 1 commission rate that applied when a referral was first linked stays in force for that referral. Level 2 volume-tier rates that were fixed for a second-level site when it first earned stay in force for that site.
When we update these terms, we will date the page and, where we ask you to, ask you to accept the new version in your account before you continue to refer.
16. Contact us
Questions about the Referral Programme or payouts? Email billing@plusto.com.
These terms sit alongside our Terms of Service. Questions about those terms? Email thedigitalnomad@plusto.com, as set out there.