# Get Paid to Refer Developers to SayGM's AI Gateway

SayGM's new affiliate program pays you for every developer you bring to its AI gateway: up to $1 for every $1 they spend. Rewards come from a shared pool of Subnet 28 emissions, split by each affiliate's share of referred revenue, with every round and payout recorded on chain. It's a competition, not a commission, built on proof of customers.

_Source: https://saygm.com/blog/get-paid-to-refer-developers-to-saygm-ai-gateway_
Refer a developer to SayGM and earn up to $1 of alpha for every $1 they pay, funded by subnet emissions rather than our margin. The brand new [affiliate program](https://saygm.com/affiliates) routes a share of SayGM's subnet alpha emissions into an on-chain pool and pays that alpha to the people who bring paying customers to our AI gateway. Every reward is tied to money a customer actually paid, capped at the value of that revenue, and calculated by a smart contract anyone can inspect.

This post covers the essentials. The full mechanics, math and trust assumptions are in the [SayGM affiliate litepaper](https://saygm.com/affiliates/litepaper).

## The Program at a Glance

![SayGM affiliate pool page showing the current round, the alpha available and the estimated reward rate](https://assets.saygm.com/blog/2026/10/8f69e11b-805e-4986-a7ae-283b2f804d25-screenshot-2026-10-07-at-7-55-07-am-1002x806.png)

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **Reward** | Up to $1 of alpha for every $1 a referred customer pays |
| **Earning window** | 30 days from each referred account's first top-up |
| **Payout** | Automatic, as alpha stake to your Bittensor coldkey. No claiming, and SayGM covers the fees |
| **Hold** | 7 days for crypto top-ups, 120 days for card top-ups |
| **Who can join** | Anyone |

In practice, that's simple: refer one developer who spends $1,000 in their first month, and you could earn up to $1,000 worth of alpha. Every top-up they make through their first 30 days keeps counting, and every new developer you bring in starts their own 30 days.

## A Competition, Not a Commission

Most referral programs work the same way. The company picks a percentage, usually a small slice of what your referrals spend, pays it out of its own margin as credit or cash, and you take its word that the math is right. After all the effort of getting people to sign up, the payout often barely registers. You can't see the pool, the rules can change quietly, and the cost has no natural link to anything except the marketing budget.

SayGM's program works more like a [Bittensor subnet](https://learnbittensor.org/explore/concept/subnet) than a coupon code. A share of SayGM's Subnet 28 alpha emissions flows into a shared pool, and affiliates compete for it. Each round, the pool is split by one simple rule: bring in 10% of the round's referred revenue, get 10% of what the round allocates. Everyone gets the same rate, no one gets a private deal, and the only way to earn more is to bring in more paying customers. A public [affiliate leaderboard](https://saygm.com/affiliates) ranks every affiliate by their share of referred revenue in the current round, so you always know where you stand.

- **The funding is native.** A share of the subnet's emissions flows into a pool held by a contract. No new token is created and no company treasury is drawn down.
- **The cost is tied to revenue.** Every reward is backed by money customers actually paid, so the program scales with SayGM's revenue. Any alpha not allocated in a round will stay in the pool for even larger allocation potential in the next one.
- **The rules are executable.** A smart contract holds the alpha, does the allocation math and sends the payouts. Balances, rounds and payouts are public, so anyone can check the work.

## Proof of Customers

Miners on Bittensor earn by proving useful work. SayGM affiliates mine revenue instead: they earn by bringing in paying customers, and nothing else counts.

- **Only real revenue earns.** Rewards are based on what referred customers actually pay to top up, not on signups, clicks, credit usage or promotional balances.
- **Only new customers count.** A referred account has to be created at or after launch, and accounts that share a card or payer coldkey are grouped so only the earliest can qualify.
- **Every allocation is [on chain](https://saygm.com/affiliates).** Each round's revenue, rate and payouts are recorded publicly, with customers shown only as pseudonymous references. No emails, API keys or card details ever reach the contract.
- **Your track record is public.** Your affiliate page shows what you've mined, what's confirming and what's been paid, and the [live pool](https://saygm.com/affiliates) shows the current estimated rate before each round closes.

The result is a program where every reward points back to a paying customer, and anyone can see how it was calculated.

## How Rewards Work

![SayGM affiliate round tracker showing round progress, the pool so far and an estimated rate of $1 in alpha per $1 of referred spend](https://assets.saygm.com/blog/2026/10/0c29291e-f849-4612-9d8f-ec47ef1828db-screenshot-2026-10-07-at-8-17-10-am-1195x354.png)

Rewards settle in **rounds** of at least 24 hours. When a round closes, the contract prices the round's referred revenue in alpha and sets one rate for every affiliate in it: up to the full $1 of alpha per $1, or less if the referred revenue outgrows the pool that round. After the hold, your reward is sent to your coldkey automatically as alpha stake.

Because you're paid in alpha, a reward's dollar value moves with the market after the round closes. The [litepaper](https://saygm.com/affiliates/litepaper) walks through the full calculation with a worked example, along with holds, refunds, eligibility and the program's trust assumptions.

## Why SayGM Is an Easy AI Gateway to Recommend

If you've ever pointed a teammate toward [an AI gateway](https://saygm.com/models) or answered "what should I use instead of OpenRouter" in a Discord thread, you were already doing the work this program pays for. The difference now is that the recommendation is trackable and compensated instead of just goodwill.

If you're evaluating [openrouter alternatives](https://saygm.com/vs/openrouter) for your own stack in the first place: SayGM is hardware-verified privacy instead of a policy promise, at rates that are at or below what the model maker itself charges. As of this writing, **SayGM runs about 24% cheaper than OpenRouter** across the models compared once its credit-purchase fee is counted, though the gap varies by model (check out [the live comparison](https://saygm.com/vs/openrouter) for more).

If you're speaking with other developers about AI gateway solutions, the affiliate program is a way to be compensated for it.

## How to Get Started

Curious what you could make first? The reward estimator on the [SayGM affiliate page](https://saygm.com/affiliates) lets you slide in how much your referrals might spend and shows roughly what you'd earn at today's price.

1. **Sign in to the SayGM affiliate dashboard** with Taostats, using your Bittensor coldkey. Don't have one yet? The [SayGM wallet guide](https://saygm.com/affiliates/wallet-guide) walks you through setting one up.
2. **Pick a handle** for a short link like `saygm.com/r/yourname`, and add a separate link for each channel you post in.
3. **Share your link** wherever developers evaluating [an LLM gateway](https://saygm.com/blog/introducing-saygm-an-ai-gateway-built-like-a-vault) are already looking: tutorials, videos, newsletters, Discord or X.
4. **Be upfront about it.** Let your audience know you earn a reward when they use your link. Clear disclosure keeps the program trustworthy for everyone.
5. **Track your referred revenue, rewards and payouts** in the dashboard.

Affiliates agree to the [program terms](https://saygm.com/affiliates/litepaper). Spam, misleading claims or anything that damages SayGM's reputation can lead to pending rewards being cancelled and links being suspended.

## Common Questions

### How does the SayGM affiliate program work?

Affiliates share a referral link. When referred developers top up their SayGM balance, the affiliate earns a share of a pool of alpha funded by subnet emissions, up to $1 of alpha per $1 paid, for 30 days from each customer's first top-up.

### How much can you earn as a SayGM affiliate?

Up to $1 of alpha for every $1 a referred customer pays (valued at the round's closing price), for 30 days from each customer's first top-up, with no limit on how many paying customers you bring in. If a developer you refer spends $1,000 in their first month, that's up to $1,000 worth of alpha for you, and every top-up they make through day 30 keeps counting.

### When are SayGM affiliate rewards paid?

After the round closes and a hold passes: 7 days for crypto top-ups and 120 days for card top-ups. Payouts then arrive automatically as alpha stake in your coldkey, with SayGM covering the transaction fees.

### Can you refer yourself to SayGM?

Yes. Self-referral is allowed and follows the same eligibility and cap rules as any other referral.

## Start Referring

The program has a nickname: SayGTM, as in go-to-market. SayGM's growth runs through the people who recommend it, and now they share in it.

Click "Get Your Referral Link" on the [SayGM affiliate page](https://saygm.com/affiliates), grab your link, and share it with the next developer who asks what you're using for model access.

## About SayGM

SayGM is a drop-in inference gateway for teams who don't want to just take a company's word that their prompts are private. Every request is routed through a hardware-verified confidential environment - not even SayGM can see what's inside it. That's not a policy, it's provable. Swap in your existing OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini code and you're covered in minutes, at transparent, published rates with no hidden markup.

Say gm to AI at [saygm.com](https://saygm.com/).

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