Refer a Friend — Benecaster Referral Program
Refer a Friend — Benefits for Both of You
When someone you refer becomes a paying Benecaster member, they get half off their first month’s charges — and you earn that same amount as a credit toward your next renewal, with a $10 minimum guaranteed on your side (see the table below for the one plan where the two numbers diverge).
You get your own referral link that automatically applies the discount for both of you when they purchase.
Log in to get your referral link →
How It Works
1. Share your link Every Benecaster account comes with a unique referral link. Share it anywhere — your newsletter, your show notes, your podcast, a direct message.
2. They sign up Your referral link gives your friend a discount on their first paid month. The discount is for new customers: someone who already pays for Benecaster can’t use it. Your friend can start on the free tier and upgrade later — your referral is still tracked.
3. You both earn When your referral becomes a paying member, you get a credit on your account — usually the same dollar amount as their discount, always at least $10. It’s applied automatically.
What You Earn
| Their plan | Their monthly price | Discount they get | Credit you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $9/mo | First month free† | $10* |
| Growth | $15/mo | $10* | $10* |
| Pro | $25/mo | $12.50 | $12.50 |
| Multi-Show | $35/mo | $17.50 | $17.50 |
| Studio | $149/mo | $74.50 | $74.50 |
*Minimum $10 — we cover the difference when 50% falls below $10. †Their plan costs less than $10, so they get their first month free instead. You still earn the full $10 minimum credit.
Annual plans use the full annual plan price, not a monthly equivalent. An annual Starter referral earns $39.50; an annual Pro referral earns $124.50.
Your credit is calculated from the plan price, so the discount your friend gets doesn’t come out of what you earn — you both get the same 50% of list price, subject to your $10 minimum (which is why Starter, above, is the one row where the two numbers don’t match).
Two things worth knowing about how the credit is calculated:
Add-ons only count in the first checkout. If your friend buys an add-on at the same time as their plan, it’s part of that first invoice and counts toward your credit — Pro annual ($249) plus the Migration Wizard ($79) is a $328 invoice, earning you $164. Add-ons they buy later, on a separate invoice, don’t earn additional credit.
Other discounts do reduce the credit. Your own referral discount never reduces what you earn — that’s calculated from the plan price. But if your friend also uses an unrelated discount (an academic rate, a launch promotion, or a one-off code from us), the credit is calculated from the reduced price. The $10 minimum still applies.
Credit applies to any Benecaster bill — plan renewals and add-on invoices alike. A maximum of 50% of any single bill can be offset by referral credit; the remainder carries forward to future bills. Unapplied credit is forfeited only if you don’t hold any active Benecaster subscription — if you hold more than one, your balance is safe as long as any of them stays active — and only once a lapsing subscription reaches the end of its 30-day grace period, not the moment you cancel. Benecaster reserves the right to modify or discontinue the referral program at any time; existing earned credits will be honored for active subscribers. Self-referral (signing up via your own link with a different email address) is not permitted and may result in forfeiture of credits.
Your Referral Link
Signed in, this shows your referral link (one per license, labeled when you hold more than one), a Copy link button, and your referral credit balance — the same figure shown as “Referral credit” on My Account. Signed out, it prompts you to sign in to see them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does the Credit Work?
When someone you referred becomes a paying member, we add a credit to your Benecaster account equal to 50% of their plan’s list price — minimum $10. That credit pays out gradually against your plan renewals — up to half of each renewal charge until it’s used up. If your credit is larger than half of one renewal, the rest carries forward automatically. You don’t need to do anything.
Credit applies to your Benecaster plan renewal only — not add-on renewals, one-time purchases, or Setup Service fees.
For example: you’re on Pro ($25/month). A friend you referred signs up for Pro. You earn $12.50 in credit — the full amount comes off your next renewal. Refer a Studio customer ($149/month) and you’d earn $74.50, which would reduce your Pro bill by up to $12.50 each month for about six months.
When Will I See My First Credit Applied?
On your next renewal after your referral becomes a paying member. We email you as soon as they sign up on a paid plan, so you know it is coming before you see it.
It is credit against your renewals, not a cash payout. Nothing is transferred to a bank account. The credit reduces what we charge you at renewal, which means you see it as a smaller invoice rather than as money arriving.
A large credit may take more than one cycle to use up. Referral credit applies at up to 50% of any single renewal, and whatever is left carries forward to the next one. So a $10 credit on a $9/month plan comes off as $4.50, then $4.50, then the last $1 — three renewals, not one. Credit does not expire while your subscription stays active.
Where Can I See My Referral Credit Balance?
Two places: your Benecaster account at benecaster.com/my-account/, on the Referrals & settings tab under Refer a podcaster, and the Refer a Friend page in your plugin admin (the Gift icon in the top-level navigation, just after Memberships). Both show the current balance along with the date your next renewal credit will be applied — even if the balance is $0.
You may see two credit figures rather than one. Referral credit is what you’ve earned by referring other podcasters. Refund credit is your own prepaid money returned to you — for example when a plan change starts covering something you were paying for separately. They’re shown separately because they behave differently: referral credit only applies to plan renewals and is capped at 50% of any one renewal, while refund credit has no restrictions.
Referral credit is always spent first, and that’s deliberately in your favor — see Does my credit expire?.
How Do I Get My Referral Code and Link?
Your referral code and link are in two places: your Benecaster account at benecaster.com/my-account/, on the Referrals & settings tab under Refer a podcaster, and in the Benecaster plugin admin under the Refer a Friend page (look for it in the top-level navigation). Copy the full link or just the raw code — either works.
What Can I Do with My Referral Code?
Share it however makes sense:
- Direct link — share your referral link and your friend goes straight to checkout with the discount pre-applied
- Newsletter or show notes — drop the link in your email list or episode description to reach your whole audience
- Direct message — send it to a specific podcaster you think would be a good fit
How Do I Send My Friend Directly to Checkout with the Discount Applied?
Your referral link does this automatically. When someone clicks benecaster.com/ref/[your-code], they’re taken to the checkout page with your referral code already entered. They choose their plan there, and the discount applies automatically when they complete their purchase. Nothing extra to set up.
What If My Friend Signs up for the Free Tier First?
No problem. Your referral is tracked when they create their account — as long as they enter your code during signup, it’s recorded and stays on their account indefinitely. When they upgrade to a paid plan — even a year later — your credit fires then.
Their discount isn’t lost either. When somebody signs up free with your code and upgrades later, Benecaster applies the 50% first-month discount to the plan they upgrade to, at the moment the paid subscription is created — the same discount they’d have received had they gone straight to a paid plan on day one. There’s nothing for either of you to re-enter.
Can I Refer More Than One Person?
Yes. There’s no cap on referrals. Every person who becomes a paying member earns you a separate credit, and they stack. Credits apply at up to 50% of your renewal charge per cycle — so you always pay at least half, but with enough referrals you can keep that half covered for a long stretch.
What Plan Does My Referral Need to Be on for Me to Earn Credit?
Any paid plan — Starter, Growth, Pro, Multi-Show, or Studio. A referral on the free Launch plan earns you credit once they upgrade.
Your own plan doesn’t matter. You can earn credit while you’re on Launch; it waits on your account until you have a paid bill for it to come off.
Your referral also has to be a new customer. Someone whose account already holds a paid plan, or has paid a Benecaster invoice before, can’t use the referral discount, and their purchase earns you nothing. A friend on the free Launch plan who has never paid still counts as new.
The credit you earn is 50% of your referral’s plan price on their first invoice, with a $10 minimum. Their own referral discount doesn’t come out of your credit — a Pro monthly referral pays $12.50 at checkout after their 50% off, and you still earn the full $12.50 calculated against the $25 plan price.
Annual plans produce larger credits, because the base is the whole prepaid amount: a Pro annual referral ($249) earns you $124.50, versus $12.50 for a monthly Pro referral.
Add-ons bought in that same first checkout count toward the calculation — a referral buying Pro annual ($249) plus the Migration Wizard ($79) is a $328 purchase, earning you $164. Add-ons they buy later, in a separate checkout, don’t earn additional credit.
Does My Credit Expire?
As long as you have an active Benecaster subscription, your referral credit stays on your account until it’s fully used. If you cancel, you keep it for the full 30-day grace period — it isn’t forfeited the moment you cancel. It’s only forfeited if your subscription actually lapses at the end of that window, and only if you don’t hold another active Benecaster subscription; if you have more than one, your balance is safe as long as any of them stays active.
Will My Friend Know I Referred Them?
They’ll see the discount applied at checkout. We don’t send them any message naming who referred them.
You’ll receive an email when someone uses your code and becomes a paying customer — but we don’t share who it was. The notification tells you a referral converted and what credit you earned, nothing more.