The PineHook Referral Program: A Month Free for Every Trader You Bring
We're happy to announce that the PineHook referral program is now open to everyone! We want more traders to hear about PineHook from someone they trust, and we want to reward the people who spread the word. Each trader who subscribes through your link earns you a month of PineHook in account credit, and once you've referred more than ten, you earn cash.
Your referral link is already waiting in your dashboard. This post explains how the program works, what you and your friend get, and the rules that keep it fair. For a quick overview with a chart of what you could earn, see our referral program page.
Why are we doing this?#
Traders trust other traders. When someone you know says "I run my alerts through this and it hasn't missed a trade", that carries more weight than anything we could write on our own website. Most of us picked our broker, our charting platform and our VPS the same way.
Every trader who joins because of you makes PineHook a little stronger, and we'd like to share that with you. If it works out for your friend, we think you should get something back for it. That's the whole program.
How does the PineHook referral program work?#
A referral goes through five steps:
- Share your link. It's on the Referrals page of your dashboard. Your friend can also type your code when they sign up.
- Your friend creates an account. The referral is saved as pending, and it stays pending with no time limit until they make their first payment.
- They make their first payment. From here the referral is active.
- A 60-day hold. This covers the refund window. If your friend cancels, or their payment is refunded or disputed during these 60 days, the referral doesn't count.
- Your credit is added. It sits on your PineHook account and comes off your next invoices automatically.
Your friend has to sign up through your link or with your code. We can't attach a referral to an account after it's created, so send the link before they register, not after.
Referring during the beta
Nobody pays during the beta, so a friend who joins now stays pending at step 2 until their first payment after the beta ends. That's fine. Pending referrals never expire, and the clock for the 60-day hold only starts at that first payment.
What do I earn for each referral?#
For your first 10 referrals, you earn account credit. Each one is worth one month of your friend's plan at their discounted monthly price, capped at $50:
| Your friend's plan | Your credit |
|---|---|
| Standard | $23.99 |
| Pro | $47.99 |
| Premium | $50.00 |
The plan sets the amount, not the billing period. A friend on a yearly plan earns you the same credit as one on the monthly version of that plan.
On top of that, you get two bonuses. When 5 of your referrals have counted, we add $50 of credit. At 10, we add another $100.
Here's what that looks like at today's planned prices. If you're on Standard and refer 10 friends who also pick Standard, you earn $389.90 in credit. A full year of Standard costs $269.91, so that's more than a year paid for. Ten Pro referrals earn $629.90, which covers a year of Pro at $539.91 with some left over.
Credit only pays for PineHook. It has no cash value, can't be transferred or withdrawn, and never expires. You don't need a paid plan to start referring either. Credit you earn waits on your account until there's an invoice to take it off.
What happens after 10 referrals?#
From your 11th referral, you earn cash instead of credit, as long as Stripe can pay people where you live. For each new referral, you earn 20% of every payment your friend makes in their first 6 months as a paying customer, excluding taxes. On a monthly plan, that's up to 6 payments, not just the first one.
For example, a friend on Pro monthly who pays for all 6 months earns you about $64.79, counting the 20% discount they get on their first 3 months. A friend who picks a yearly plan earns you 20% of that whole first yearly payment, so yearly referrals pay more.
Each commission waits out the same 60-day hold, then goes out in the next monthly payout.
Cash payouts go through Stripe Connect, Stripe's service for paying people on a platform's behalf. Your bank details go to Stripe, never to PineHook. Before your first payout, three things need to happen:
- Set up your payout account. Once cash applies to you, a Set Up Payouts button appears on your Referrals page. It takes you to Stripe's own sign-up, where you create a Stripe Express account and add the bank account you want to be paid into.
- Verify your identity with Stripe. Financial regulations require Stripe to know who it pays, so it asks for details like your legal name, date of birth and address, and may ask for a photo of your ID. Payouts can only start once Stripe confirms your account is verified.
- A one-time review from us. Before your first payout, our team checks your referrals once. After that, payouts go out every month on their own.
Stripe can only send money to certain countries. If you live somewhere else, your referrals from the 11th on keep earning account credit instead, and we keep a record of the cash they would have earned in case we can pay it later. We go by the country you signed up from, or your Stripe payout account's country once you have one.
Your first 10 referrals stay as credit. They never convert to cash.
What does my friend get?#
A friend who signs up during the beta uses PineHook for free like everyone else. When the beta ends and they subscribe, they pay for their first month and get the second one free. On a yearly plan, a month's worth, 1/12 of the year, comes off their first yearly payment instead.
The free month stacks with the beta discount. If their first payment is refunded or disputed, the free month goes away with it.
When does a referral stop counting?#
A referral counts once your friend's first payment has cleared the 60-day hold and they're still subscribed. A few things change that.
Cancelling during the hold. If a friend in your first 10 cancels before the 60 days are up, the referral doesn't count. It also frees its place among your 10 credit referrals, so the next friend still earns you credit. If they cancel after the hold, you keep the credit.
Refunds and disputes. A refund or dispute during the hold cancels the reward for that payment. If it happens after your credit was added, the same amount is added back to your next invoice.
Bonuses stay. A $50 or $100 bonus you've already received isn't taken back if a later referral is reversed, unless the referrals were abusive.
What are the rules?#
Most of these come down to referring real people honestly:
- You can't refer yourself. That includes a second account, an account you run for someone else, or a friend who pays with a card you also use. We can cancel or reverse rewards that come from self-referral or other abuse.
- When you share your link publicly, say that you get a reward if people sign up through it.
- Before you post about PineHook in a forum, a Discord server or any other community, read its rules and follow them. If your link shows up where links aren't allowed, or as spam, we can cancel the referrals and rewards that came from it, and we can remove your ability to refer anyone.
- If we ever change or end the program, you'll get 30 days' notice by email. Credit already on your account stays there.
The full list is on the referral program page, and a complete Referral Program Agreement is on its way.
Where do I find my referral link?#
Open the Referrals page in your dashboard. Your link and code are at the top, and below them you can follow every referral through its hold, see the credit you've earned, and check how close you are to the next bonus.
An example account after the beta. Five friends are past the hold, which earned the $50 bonus. One is still in it and one hasn't paid yet. $119.96 of the credit has already come off past invoices, so $100.00 is left for the next one.If you don't have an account yet, create one and your link is ready straight away.
That's it. If PineHook has been working for you, tell a friend. And if something about the program is unclear or feels unfair, send us a message. I read them.
