Cookie Duration in Affiliate Marketing: Find Your “Sweet Spot”

Let’s talk about cookies—and not the fresh-baked kind. No, I’m talking about affiliate cookies.

Affiliate cookies are small text files that track when a user purchases through an affiliate link. They help you attribute credit to your affiliates so you can properly pay them for sending you a new customer.

Depending on your affiliate program goals, you can set your cookies to have different “durations” for how long after a click you attribute credit to the affiliate. In this guide, we’ll talk about what cookie duration is, why it matters, and how to find the perfect “sweet spot” for your cookie duration (pun intended).

Let’s dive in!

What is Cookie Duration in Affiliate Marketing?

In affiliate marketing, cookie duration is the length of time a tracking cookie is active in a user's browser. It's also known as a “cookie window”. If the user makes a purchase during this window, the associated affiliate earns a commission.

How It Works:

A potential customer clicks on an affiliate link.
A tracking cookie is stored on their browser or device.
The cookie remains active for a set duration (e.g., 24 hours, 30 days, or even lifetime).
If the user makes a purchase within that time frame, the affiliate gets credit for the sale.

You can set your cookie duration in Trackdesk by going to Settings > Tracking > Conversion attribution.

Types of Cookie Durations:

Short Duration (24-48 hours): Found in Amazon Associates and similar programs. Best for low-ticket items and impulse buys.
Medium Duration (7-30 days): Most common cookie duration. Used by many standard affiliate programs.
Long Duration (60-90 days or Lifetime Cookies): Often found in high-ticket affiliate programs, luxury goods, or software subscriptions.

Why Setting the Right Cookie Duration is Crucial for Success

Setting the right cookie duration means striking a balance between your brand's interests and your affiliate incentives.

You need a cookie window long enough that it encourages affiliates to want to work with you and nurture their leads, but short enough that it still falls on the affiliate to put in the effort to close the sale.

Longer cookie durations are attractive to affiliates because they increase the chance the affiliate will be attributed credit for the sale, and thus help them earn more.

As an affiliate myself, I look for a minimum of 7-day cookie durations because people often need to see an item multiple times over several days before making a buying decision (depending on the price and other factors). But I’m especially happy about 30+ day cookies.

Shorter durations (under 7 days) can be good for your bottom line because you’ll attribute fewer overall sales to your affiliates, meaning fewer payouts. It also reduces the risk of more complex tracking and cookies being overwritten by another affiliate.

However, many affiliates won’t even touch affiliate programs this short (unless you’re Amazon and you can do whatever you want) because it can be difficult to get people to buy within 24-48 hours of a click.

When in doubt, a 30-day cookie duration is a good starting point. You can always test different durations to find the ideal balance (we’ll talk more about this in the next section).

How to Choose The Best Cookie Duration: 6 Factors to Consider

Setting the right cookie duration isn't just about picking a random time frame—it should align with your product type, sales cycle, and the expectations of your affiliates.

Here are six key factors to help you determine the ideal cookie duration for your affiliate program:

1. Product or Service Type

The type of product or service has a big impact on cookie duration.

High-ticket items (e.g., luxury goods, SaaS subscriptions) – These purchases typically involve extensive research and multiple touchpoints before a customer commits. A longer cookie duration (60 days to 6 months) ensures affiliates are credited for the sale.
Impulse buys (e.g., low-cost products, fast-moving consumer goods) – These require less deliberation, so a shorter duration (24 hours to 7 days) can work well.

Certain industries also have standard expectations. For example:

Crypto & investment platforms often have 6-month cookie durations because users need time to research and fund their accounts.
E-commerce & physical products typically range from 30-60 days, depending on the product price and repeat customer behavior. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule (like Amazon, which only gives affiliates a 24-hour cookie duration).

But there are other factors to consider when choosing a duration besides your product type.

2. Your Typical Sales Cycle

Your cookie duration should align with your customer’s overall lifecycle journey—not just how long it takes them to check out, but how it takes them to go from first discovering your brand to buying from you.

How Long Do Users Stay in the Funnel?

Before setting a cookie window, analyze how long it typically takes a potential customer to go from first interaction to purchase. This includes:

The time spent researching your product.
The number of touchpoints required before conversion.
Whether customers tend to make impulse purchases or deliberate, high-consideration decisions.

For example, I offer high-ticket coaching services to my clients. Affiliates of my brand are given a 60-day cookie because it can take my customers a few weeks to a month of watching my videos and seeing my content before they finally decide to buy.

On the other hand, many brands I’ve worked with that sell low-cost items like phone accessories or household goods only have a 7-day cookie because most purchases happen within hours or days. It doesn’t take as much convincing to buy a vase as it does an expensive software or coaching.

But what if you’re not sure of your lifecycle?

Use Data to Determine the Right Duration

You don’t have to guess—use Google Analytics, affiliate tracking software, or CRM data to determine your average time-to-conversion. Here’s how:

If you have conversion tracking set up in Google Analytics, you can look at your Days to key event data in the Attribution Paths report to see how long it takes users to convert after their first visit.

In Google Analytics, click Advertising on the left.
Go to Attribution > Attribution paths.
Select the date range and key events (conversions).

Pro Tip: When setting your cookie duration, add a buffer. If your analytics show that most conversions happen within 45 days, set your duration slightly longer—around 60 days—to accommodate for delays.

Does Your Sales Funnel Require Lead Nurturing?

Some products require ongoing marketing to turn leads into customers. If your funnel involves…

Email sequences (drip campaigns, onboarding emails)
Retargeting ads (Facebook/Google remarketing)
Free trials or consultations before purchase

…then you’ll want a longer cookie window to reflect the actual buying journey.

For example, SaaS businesses often nurture leads for 30-90 days before conversion, meaning a minimum 60-day cookie helps ensure affiliates get credit for their referrals.

3. Competitor’s Cookie Durations

As an affiliate myself, I always compare affiliate programs to decide which to promote—and I’m not alone. We always consider cookie duration when deciding which brands to promote.

The fact is, if your competitors offer a longer cookie window than you, you’re going to lose potential affiliates. So let’s make sure you’re ahead of the competition.

Here’s how to check the cookie policies of other brands in your industry:

Many companies list their cookie duration directly on their affiliate sign-up or program terms pages. Search for "[Competitor Name] affiliate program". If the cookie duration isn’t listed, check their FAQ section or terms and conditions.
If the information isn’t available publicly, the best way to find out is to join the program yourself.

If you don’t know who your competitors are, you can check affiliate marketing forums like affLIFT, STM Forum, Warrior Forum, or Reddit (r/affiliatemarketing) to find potential competitors. You can also search affiliate networks like ShareASale, Impact, or CJ to find other options.

4. Marketing Strategy Alignment

Your ideal cookie duration also depends on whether your marketing strategy is more focused on acquisition or retention.

If your main goal is to attract new customers quickly and drive conversions at a high volume (acquisition), a shorter cookie window of 7-days or less may be best. Again, this works best with low-cost or trendy items that sell quickly and don’t require a lot of thought before buying.

But if you’re more focused on long-term affiliate retention and loyalty, a longer duration of 30-90 days is a better option.

5. Affiliate Relationships

You want strong affiliates who advocate for your brand, right? Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m much more likely to promote the brands who show me they care about our relationship.

Because of that, even if a short cookie window makes sense for you (if you sell low-cost, quick-moving products), it might still be better to have a longer window to make your affiliates happy.

Be kind to your affiliates, and they will become an asset for you!

6. Attribution Models

How sales are attributed determines which affiliate gets credit for a conversion. Different programs use different attribution models, which can impact how long your cookie should last.

Let me explain…

Last-Touch Attribution (Most Common)

The last affiliate link clicked before a purchase gets full credit. This model favors retargeting ads, coupon sites, and email marketers who engage users right before they buy.

Since only the final interaction matters, shorter cookie durations (7-30 days) are often enough.

First-Touch Attribution

The first affiliate who refers a customer gets credit, even if they don’t make the final click before purchase. This model benefits content creators, bloggers, and SEO-driven affiliates, as they often introduce users to a brand early. Longer cookie durations (60-90+ days) work best to ensure proper attribution.

Multi-Touch or Split Attribution

Some programs distribute commissions across multiple affiliates based on their role in the sales funnel. If your brand uses multi-touch tracking, longer cookie durations help capture all contributing affiliates and fairly reward them. However, this can get complicated and be more expensive.

So if you use last-touch attribution, a shorter cookie window is often enough. But for first-touch or multi-touch models, longer cookie durations reward affiliates who bring in sales over time.

Launch Your Affiliate Program Today For Free with Trackdesk

Ultimately, the right cookie duration for affiliate marketing depends on a lot of factors. When in doubt, a 30-day cookie window is a great starting point. But it’s a good idea to test different durations to find the perfect balance of affiliate loyalty and reasonable payouts.

Ready to find the perfect cookie duration for your affiliate program? Try Trackdesk for free now.