We analysed the referral programmes that 117 businesses created on Referaly between July 2024 and September 2026. Half of them pay their referral partners a percentage, with a median rate of 10%. A little over a third pay a fixed fee per deal, €200 at the median. The rest offer no commission. Below are the details by sector, with our method and its limits.
Scope: these programmes are almost all written in French. Read the figures as a benchmark of French-speaking businesses paying in euros, not as US or UK market rates.
Key point: 10% is the most common choice, picked by 31 of the 67 businesses that pay a percentage. But a rate means little without its base, and only 8 programmes out of 76 say whether it applies to fees, margin or price.
Percentage, fixed fee or no commission
Each business counts once, based on the commission type it uses most. Of 117, 60 mostly pay a percentage (51%), 43 pay a fixed fee per deal (37%) and 14 offer no commission (12%).
Those who do not pay offer something else: one describes an exchange of referrals between professionals, another a gift once a year.
Percentage: 10% leads, half between 7.5% and 12.3%
Among the 67 businesses that pay a percentage, the median rate is 10%. The middle half sits between 7.5% and 12.3%, and 31 of them chose exactly 10%.
Rates of 50% and more come from 6 businesses, 5 of them in brokerage, insurance or wealth management. When the description says so, the rate applies to the business's own commission: one brokerage firm, for example, passes on 50% of the commissions and first-year fees it earns. At the other end, 7 businesses offer less than 5%, such as a wealth adviser who pays 0.7% of the amount invested.
Fixed fee: €200 at the median, half between €50 and €425
Among the 48 businesses that pay a fixed fee, the median is €200 per deal and the middle half runs from €50 to €425. The most common amounts are €500 (8 businesses), €300 (7), €50 (6) and €100 (5).
Fees of €500 and more come mostly from real estate: 8 businesses out of 12. Small fees of €50 or less are found mostly outside real estate and finance: 8 businesses out of 13.
Benchmarks by sector
We grouped businesses into three families. Each cell holds 14 to 32 businesses, so read these figures as orders of magnitude.
Percentage
| Sector | Median rate | Middle half |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate and home services 17 businesses | 10% | 5% to 10% |
| Brokerage, insurance, wealth 18 businesses | 15% | 5.5% to 45% |
| Other sectors 32 businesses | 10% | 10% |
| All 67 businesses | 10% | 7.5% to 12.3% |
Fixed fee
| Sector | Median fee | Middle half |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate and home services 18 businesses | €300 | €163 to €500 |
| Brokerage, insurance, wealth 16 businesses | €175 | €88 to €300 |
| Other sectors 14 businesses | €50 | €39 to €244 |
| All 48 businesses | €200 | €50 to €425 |
Real estate and home services (agents, renovation, architecture). Businesses split almost evenly between percentage (17) and fixed fee (18). When the base is written down, the percentage applies to the commission or fees, for example “10% excl. VAT of the fees”.
Brokerage, insurance, wealth. The widest spread, from 5.5% to 45% for the middle half: it mixes firms passing on part of their own commission and small percentages of the amount invested.
Other sectors (consulting, marketing, training, services). Percentages cluster at 10%, and fixed fees stay modest: €50 at the median.
The weak spot: what the percentage applies to
Of the 76 percentage programmes, 42 have a description, and only 8 say what the rate applies to: the business's commission or fees for 5 of them, the order value or amount invested for 2, and one case stays unclear.
10% of an agency's fees and 10% of a property's price are very different amounts. Write the base into the agreement, along with when the commission is due: signature, invoice or payment received. Our referral agreement guide covers this clause.
Setting your own commission
- Start from what a client earns you: your margin or fees, not your revenue.
- Choose a fixed fee if your deals have similar values: it is easy to track and explain. Choose a percentage if their value varies a lot.
- Write down the base and the trigger: what the rate applies to, and when the commission is due.
- Compare with this study and with our referral commission grid by sector.
- Check the programme stays profitable with the referral programme ROI calculator.
For typical practices by industry, see our guide to referral commission rates by industry.
Method and limits
Source. Referaly's database, extracted on September 26, 2026. The programmes kept were created between July 9, 2024 and September 22, 2026.
Cleaning. Out of 732 programmes in the database, we kept 167:
- 467 are not deleted;
- 302 remain once we remove programmes that a referral partner creates for a business not on Referaly;
- 235 were created by an active account that is not a test account;
- 202 remain without Referaly's internal accounts and programmes named “test” or “demo”;
- 171 have a commission type set;
- 167 remain after removing 4 values: a rate above 100%, two amounts outside the €5 to €10,000 range, and a 10% rate left as our forms have suggested it since September 11, 2026.
One business, one vote. Each business counts once per commission type: when it has several programmes, we take the median of its settings. Without this rule, a business that creates one programme per referral partner would weigh as much as twenty others.
Sectors. Taken from the declared trade and company or, failing that, from programme names and descriptions, then grouped into three families because the numbers are small.
Statistics. The median splits businesses into two halves. The middle half runs from the first to the third quartile: a quarter of businesses sit below it, a quarter above.
Limits. These are the commissions announced in programmes, not the amounts paid: too few closed deals are recorded with their value to measure them. 165 of the 167 programmes are written in French, so these benchmarks mainly describe French-speaking businesses. Amounts are entered in euros.
Reusing these figures
The figures and charts in this study are published under a CC BY 4.0 licence: reuse them freely, citing the source with a link to this page. The aggregated data is available as a CSV file.
Suggested citation
Referaly, “How Much Businesses Pay Referral Partners: 2026 Study”, September 26, 2026, https://www.referaly.fr/en/blog/referral-commission-benchmark-2026
To embed the rate chart on your site, copy this code:
<a href="https://www.referaly.fr/en/blog/referral-commission-benchmark-2026"><img src="https://www.referaly.fr/assets/etude/2026-pct-en.svg" alt="Referral commission rates: median 10%, Referaly 2026 study" width="600"></a>Frequently asked questions
What commission should I pay a referral partner?
Across the 117 businesses studied, the median is 10% for those paying a percentage and €200 per deal for those paying a fixed fee. Adjust to your margin per client and write the calculation base into the agreement.
Is a percentage or a fixed fee better?
A percentage is more common: 51% of businesses mostly use it, against 37% for a fixed fee. A fixed fee is simpler when your deals have similar values; a percentage follows very variable amounts better.
What is a typical real estate referral fee?
Among real estate and home services businesses in the study, 17 pay a percentage with a median of 10%, applied to the commission or fees when the base is stated, and 18 pay a fixed fee, €300 at the median. These businesses are mostly French-speaking, so check the customs of your market.
Where do these figures come from?
From 167 programmes created on Referaly by 117 businesses between July 2024 and September 2026, after removing test accounts, internal accounts and outliers. Each business counts once.
Do these benchmarks apply in the US or the UK?
They come almost entirely from programmes written in French and paid in euros. Use them as a starting point, and check the rules and customs of your market before setting a rate.