CPA or RevShare: Which Commision Model is Right for You

Every affiliate sooner or later faces the same question: which payment model should you choose?
It’s a crucial decision, because the right model directly affects the results of your campaigns and your final profit.

Today, we’ll look at two of the most common monetization models: CPA (Cost Per Action) and RevShare (Revenue Share). How does each one work? In what situations should you choose one over the other? And which model can bring you the highest profit? In this article, 888STARZ Partners also share practical tips on how to earn with both CPA and RevShare in betting and gambling niches. Let’s dive in right now!

RevShare vs. CPA: What’s the key difference

Both models are built around the same principle: you drive traffic, and the operator pays you.
The difference lies in when and how much you get paid.

With CPA (Cost Per Action), you receive a fixed payout for a registration, a deposit, or another target action. You deliver the lead — you get paid. If that user disappears the next day, it doesn’t matter, because the money is already in your pocket.

Affiliate marketing with RevShare (Revenue Share) works completely differently: you earn a percentage of the revenue that the operator generates from the player. It all depends on how long the player stays active, how much they deposit, whether they return, invite friends, and so on. If the player keeps playing — you keep earning again and again.

And here’s where it gets interesting: 

• If you’re running traffic to a weak offer that gets registrations but no further activity, RevShare simply won’t work out. In that case, CPA makes more sense: you worked the lead, got paid, and moved on.
• But if the offer actually retains players — with solid reg2dep rates, good retention, and decent support — RevShare really shines.

That’s exactly how it works with 888STARZ: your traffic doesn’t just “burn out” — it keeps generating income for you over time. Bring in a player, and they can keep paying you for months, sometimes even longer.

Our program offers up to 50% RevShare, up to $200 CPA, and even Hybrid deals (available on request).

If you still lean toward CPA, we’ve also prepared a ranking of the best CPA networks in 2025 — for betting and gambling. Check it out and explore your options!

Comparing Payment Models in Affiliate Marketing: RevShare vs. CPA

CPA works like piecework: you get paid quickly, and the result is predictable, especially if your traffic is warm and your funnel is well‑tested. But there’s a ceiling — in revenue, in growth, and most importantly, in the fact that you’re constantly on the hamster wheel. Stop driving traffic, and the income stream stops instantly.

RevShare is built very differently. You won’t see big returns right away, but it can bring you money over a long period — a month, two months, six months down the line. If your traffic is high‑quality and the offer keeps players engaged, payouts keep coming in regularly. It’s not completely passive, but it’s very close: you do the work once and then keep earning as long as the player “lives in the system”. The more players you accumulate, the higher your total revenue becomes.

Revenue Share isn’t about quick cash. It’s about the long term — building an income that doesn’t reset every Monday. Especially when you drive traffic to a strong product with high retention. That’s exactly what we offer at 888STARZ Partners — a reg2dep over 35% and an average retention rate above 50%. We give you a foundation where RevShare truly delivers.

CPA is great when you need to quickly test a funnel, check a GEO, or just skim the cream off the top. But if you want to build affiliate profit with a long‑term perspective, you have to think bigger. RevShare offers that very potential every hustler is chasing — long‑tail money for work you’ve already done.

Ultimately, the choice depends on your strategy:

1. If you want fast, stable, but limited earnings — go with CPA;
2. If you want to grow over time and build cumulative income — choose RevShare.

At the end of the day, there’s no bad model — there’s only bad offers.

When Should You Choose CPA

If you need fast results, CPA is perfect. You drive traffic → get registrations with deposits → collect a fixed payout. That’s it. Minimum waiting, maximum control over your results here and now.

CPA marketing works best for:

• Testing new offers, GEOs, or approaches — you can quickly see if a funnel performs.
• Quickly cashing out when liquidity is a priority.
• Minimizing risks: you’re not dependent on LTV and don’t have to worry whether a player will stay active next week.

An important point: you don’t have to retain traffic or “work with the player.” In affiliate marketing there’s no direct link like that — you send the flow, and how the user behaves inside the product is up to the partner program. But if you’re on CPA, you don’t care. You got paid for the lead — and move on.

The downside? The main one is that you always have to stay in motion. Income only comes in as long as you’re driving traffic. Slow down your campaigns — and your earnings drop. Take a break? Of course you can, but your cocktail bill will no longer be covered by that steady affiliate cash flow.

When Does RevShare Make Sense

RevShare is a model that really pays off when you drive quality traffic consistently. It’s all about building an income stream that keeps coming in even when you’re not actively at your desk.

Let’s break it down with numbers:

If the average LTV (Lifetime Value — the total revenue from a player over time) is $300 (and at 888STARZ Partners it’s around $1,500 on average) and your RevShare rate is 35%, then as a partner you get:

$300 × 35% = $105 per player.

But here’s the key: that $105 doesn’t come in all at once. It accumulates over time as the player keeps playing and generating profit for the operator.

RS model works best in gambling niches with high engagement and strong retention, such as:

• Poker — players often stay active for months.
• Sports betting — regular bets, especially live bets.
• Online casinos — particularly when the product really hooks users.

And remember: you as an affiliate aren’t responsible for retaining players — the product is. A good program with solid analytics, personalized bonuses, retargeting, push notifications, and CRM will keep users engaged. And you’ll keep getting your share of their profit.

In other words, with a good product, RevShare = semi‑passive income. You drive traffic once, and those same users can keep generating revenue for months. Want to grow faster? Keep bringing in new players and your monthly earnings will stack up.

Some affiliates even go further by keeping their audience engaged in Telegram channels or newsletters, collecting additional data and reactivating players they’ve already referred to. Watch for new promos or tournaments from your partner program and update your subscribers — it’s a great way to boost retention and earnings.

Here’s a graph that clearly shows the difference between CPA and RevShare over time:

According to this graph, with CPA you get an instant flat payout — say, $80 per player — and that’s it. If you stop spending on traffic, your revenue stops too. With RevShare, you start off earning less, but after 3–4 months your cumulative profit can surpass CPA. And the more active players you bring in, the faster your total earnings grow. If you reinvest part of that profit back into traffic, your growth compounds even faster.

And on the second graph, you can see how earnings from a single player change under each model: Under CPA, the partner immediately gets a one‑time $80 payout for a referred player (red line). After that, there’s no additional income if you stop driving traffic. And under RevShare your profit from that player builds up over time as they keep playing (green line). In this example, after six months, a single active player has already brought in around $45 — and continues generating revenue beyond that. The drop in the CPA line isn’t a loss; it’s just the nature of a one‑time payment — you got paid, and that’s the end of it.

The bottom line: If you drive small or irregular traffic, or you’re just testing offers, CPA is your go‑to. If you’re ready to scale with steady traffic and want to build revenue that doesn’t reset every Monday, RevShare will pay off many times over. At 888STARZ Partners, we’ve seen it firsthand — which is why since 2020 we’ve been focusing on RevShare as our primary payout model.

How to Figure Out Which Revenue Model Is Right for You

The choice between CPA and RevShare depends not only on your traffic and overall strategy but also on you — your patience, how you assess risks, and whether you’re ready to play the long game. If you’re working with cold traffic, testing new funnels, and want to turn money around quickly, CPA makes perfect sense. It’s simple, predictable, and gives you fast feedback.

But if your traffic is high‑quality, you know how to keep users engaged, and you’re working with a strong product (like 888STARZ Partners with its high Reg2Dep rate and excellent retention), then RevShare is your model. It unlocks far more value from your traffic, because you keep earning from the same player weeks and months later. That’s the so‑called “affiliate pension” — a semi‑passive income stream every arbitrager dreams about.

And here’s the thing: nothing stops you from mixing both. Experienced teams — including us at 888STARZ Partners — often combine the two approaches: run cold traffic on CPA, and send warm or premium traffic to RevShare. This way you get both immediate cash flow and long‑term upside. Just remember: with a strong product, RevShare will almost always outperform in the long run. And the graphs above make that crystal clear.

What’s the Best Fit for Gambling: A Comparative Look at CPA vs. RevShare

iGaming is one of the few verticals where RevShare can realistically bring affiliates tens of thousands of dollars each month. This is especially true for poker and casino offers — players stick around longer, stakes are higher, and revenue becomes stable and long‑term. In betting, however, it all depends on the offer: for quick traffic CPA is often more convenient, while for high‑quality traffic RevShare wins.

Real numbers: affiliates who’ve been working with 888STARZ Partners for years earn anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 per month.

When choosing a payout model, everything comes down to the quality of your traffic and how you value it over time. CPA in gambling means a fixed reward for a registration or a player’s first deposit. Most CPA offers require a minimum deposit ($10–30) and sometimes extra conditions, like multiple deposits or a certain turnover.

Here’s a quick reference table for average payouts across iGaming niches:

Niche	CPA (avg.)	RevShare (avg.)	Best for
Casino	$50–250	$10–50/month/player	RevShare
Poker	$30–150	$20–100/month/player	RevShare
Betting	$25–300	$5–20/month/player	CPA / Hybrid
Lotteries	$15–100	$3–10/month/player	CPA

Important: RevShare doesn’t pay off instantly. There are periods when a player cashes out, and it might look like you’re in the red. But iGaming is all about the long game: in the end, the house always wins — and so do you if you’re on a percentage. RevShare keeps bringing income even when your campaigns are paused. In summary:

1. For fast, short‑lived traffic — CPA;
2. If you know your offers and where you’re sending traffic — RevShare.

And if you already have resources, your own audience, or know how to drive high‑quality traffic, RevShare can earn you many times more than CPA. When you work with a program where players actually stay, like 888STARZ Partners, RevShare becomes the perfect setup: long‑term earnings, a growing player base, and minimal stress for the affiliate.

Conclusion

Choosing between CPA and Revenue Share isn’t about which is “better” — it’s about your strategy. Remember that CPA marketing gives you quick cash, and RevShare is a monetization model that works over time, turning today’s efforts into steady income tomorrow.

In gambling, RevShare delivers the highest ROI in the long run — especially if you’re sending not just raw traffic but real players who return, deposit, and keep playing. That kind of traffic generates income for months — and that’s no longer just a payment for a lead, it’s almost passive income every affiliate dreams of. If the product is weak, CPA makes sense.

But when you have a strong partner program with a high reg2dep ratio and excellent retention, walking away from profit share means leaving money on the table. And that’s exactly what we offer: 888STARZ Partners — proven metrics, high deposit conversion, long player lifecycles, and payouts from 25% to 50% of net revenue. With a product like this, RevShare isn’t just profitable — it can truly change your game. 

So why RevShare is an investment in your future:

• Average monthly revenue per active user: $8–20.
• Average player lifetime in iGaming: 3–9 months and beyond.
• Income continues even after traffic stops.
• In six months, you can earn 2–3× more than with CPA for the same player.

Our affiliate program gives you flexible terms across 100+ GEOs, tailored rates for your traffic, caps up to 50 FTDs, and Hybrid models (CPA + RS). But most importantly — our RevShare model really works!