Also known as:Flat Commission, Fixed Rate Commission, Fixed Rebate
What is Fixed Commission?
A Fixed Commission is a predetermined, unchanging payout an IB or affiliate receives per lot traded or per acquired client, set as a flat amount regardless of the asset traded, the client's deposit size, or market volatility. It trades upside for certainty: you always know exactly what each unit of activity is worth.
The defining feature is stability. Under a fixed model an IB might earn a flat $5 per standard lot no matter whether the client trades EUR/USD at a one-pip spread or a volatile exotic pair at eight pips. Contrast that with a spread-share or percentage model, where the payout floats with how wide the spread happens to be and how much revenue the broker books on each trade. Fixed strips out that variability entirely.
Key takeaways
A flat payout per lot or per client that never changes with the asset or volatility.
Predictable revenue you can forecast straight from expected volume.
Makes automated multi-level rebate splits trivial to configure.
Trade-off: no extra upside on wide-spread or high-volatility trading.
Best when clients trade tight-spread majors at steady volume.
That predictability is what makes fixed commissions so easy to build a business on. If you earn a known $5 per lot, you can forecast revenue directly from expected trading volume, and you can configure clean automated rebate structures for sub-IBs and clients. For example, on $5 per lot you might keep $3 and pass $2 back to the client as a rebate, and that split holds no matter what they trade, making the maths trivial to run at scale.
The trade-off is upside. Because the rate never moves, you capture nothing extra when clients trade wide-spread instruments that would earn far more under a percentage-of-spread deal. A month of unusually high volatility that fattens spreads across the board benefits the spread-share IB and leaves the fixed-commission IB earning exactly the same flat rate as always.
How it works
Under a fixed-commission agreement the broker assigns a flat monetary value to a defined unit of activity, most often a traded lot but sometimes a qualified acquisition. Every time a referred client generates that unit, the same amount is credited to the partner, independent of the instrument's spread, the client's balance, or prevailing volatility. The broker absorbs the variability on their side of the book.
Because the rate is constant, partners can layer deterministic rebate logic on top. An IB sets a fixed pass-through to each client and sub-IB, and the tiering resolves cleanly because there is never a floating input to reconcile. This is why large IB networks with automated multi-level rebate engines frequently standardise on fixed per-lot rates rather than percentage models.
Why it matters for partnership: Fixed commissions give partners predictable, forecastable revenue and make automated rebate splits for sub-IBs and clients trivial to configure. The trade-off is missed upside when clients trade wide-spread assets, so match the model to your actual client trading profile.
Formula
IB Revenue = Fixed Rate per Lot × Total Lots Traded
Real World Example
An IB on a Pepperstone-style fixed deal earns $6 per standard lot. Their book of clients trades 1,200 lots in a month, so they earn $7,200 regardless of whether those lots were tight-spread majors or volatile exotics. They pass $2 per lot back to clients as a rebate, keeping $4,800, and can predict next month's take simply by projecting expected lot volume.
Fixed commission vs spread-share (variable) commission
Aspect
Fixed commission
Spread-share commission
Payout per lot
Constant flat amount
Varies with spread width
Revenue predictability
High
Low
Upside in high volatility
None
Higher earnings
Rebate automation
Simple
Complex to reconcile
Best client profile
Tight-spread majors
Wide-spread / exotic traders
Pro Tip
A fixed commission is great for stability, but if your clients consistently trade volatile, wide-spread assets like exotic pairs, run the numbers on a percentage-of-spread deal, which can materially outearn a flat rate for that profile.
Common Pitfalls
Locking into a low fixed rate without accounting for how rising marketing costs and inflation slowly erode a static per-lot margin that, unlike a percentage deal, never grows with the market.
FAQ
What is a fixed commission in an IB deal?
A flat, unchanging payout per traded lot or per acquired client, set in advance and paid regardless of the asset, spread, or client deposit size. Its defining trait is predictability.
Is a fixed commission better than revenue share?
Neither is universally better. Fixed wins on predictability and clean rebate automation; revenue share or spread-share can outearn it when clients trade wide-spread, high-volatility instruments. Match the model to your client base.
What is a typical fixed commission per lot?
Commonly around $2 to $8 per standard lot, varying by broker, asset class, and your negotiated tier. Higher volume usually earns a better per-lot rate.
Why do large IB networks prefer fixed rates?
Because a constant per-lot value makes automated multi-level rebate splits trivial to configure and reconcile, with no floating input to true up across sub-IB tiers.
Does a fixed commission change with market volatility?
No, and that is the point. The rate stays flat whether spreads widen or tighten, which gives certainty but means you capture no extra revenue during volatile periods.
Can I pass part of a fixed commission back to clients?
Yes. Because the rate is constant you can set a clean fixed rebate, for example keeping $4 of a $6 rate and returning $2 per lot, and the split holds no matter what the client trades.
A practical comparison of CPA, RevShare, and hybrid prop-firm affiliate commission structures, and how to model which one actually pays more given how often challenge buyers …
A discount code changes more than the price a trader pays -- it can quietly reshape your commission. Here's how prop-firm coupon economics actually work.
A repeatable, weighted scorecard for rating brokers, exchanges, and prop firms across regulation, commercial terms, execution, payouts, and support — so partner decisions come from evidence, …
