How To Earn Cash In Wealthy Affiliate And Cash Out
I have seen many new members asking how the process goes to make and cash out their WA earnings. In this post I will explain and show you how to earn cash in Wealthy Affiliate, plus how and when to cash out.
HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY INSIDE WA?
THE WA AFFILIATE PROGRAM
There are a few different ways you can make money inside Wealthy Affiliate. The most lucrative way is within the WA Affiliate Program, referring people to WA. Every time someone joins through your affiliate link you get $1.00.

However this $1.00 is part of your "Affiliate Referral Credits" and cannot be earned unless you are promoting Wealthy Affiliate. There is also a threshold of $20.00 before you can exchange the affiliate credits for cash.
If the person who joined through your affiliate link up grades to a Premium Membership, either monthly or yearly, you will gain a commission either monthly or yearly for as long as that person remains a Premium Member.

If someone who joins WA through your affiliate link and they become Premium, you will earn recurring $23.50 per month or $235.00 per year. If Premium Plus you will earn recurring $47.00 per month or $270.00 per year.
THE WA ACTIVITY POINTS PROGRAM
A relatively new feature within Wealthy Affiliate is for every member to earn points from your activity on the platform. Depending on the amount of points, they will become Cash Credits. You need to be Premium to Cash Out.

At the top of the screen within WA you will see something similar to the above image. This gives you a quick glimpse into how many Points & Earnings you have gained within the current month. These two will reset to 0 each month.
Click on the tab that says "Earnings" and you will be taken to the "Payouts" section of your Leaderboards stats area. It will look similar to the image below. At the end of each month, the amount you earn will appear as PENDING.

It is important to note that the amount you earned is rounded DOWN to the nearest dollar amount. So if by the end of the month you have earned $20.50, you will be paid $20.00, so try to be aware of that and be more active.

That money you have earned will remain Pending for 1 to 4 days and once it clears, Wealthy Affiliate will pay it into your Cash Credits Account within your internal $ WA Affiliate Program. Click on "Payout Method Credits" to view.

Once you click on the Payout Method Credits tab you will see your Earnings have been added to your Cash Credits total. In the image above I have 162 Credits which equals $81.00 Cash. It takes 2 Credits to equal $1.00.
Sometimes I don't cash out right away. I let the total increase each month. I'm currently saving that amount to add it to my affiliate commissions to pay for my WA yearly membership. Then I will cash out before the end of the month.
BE PATIENT & EARN MORE CASH

There are 2 good reasons why I don't cash out as soon as WA pays me my Earnings.
Reason 1). When you Cash Out it doesn't go to your PayPal until the 1st of the following month. Example. If you Cash Out on Nov 1st you will not get that money deposited into your PayPal until Dec. 1st.
Reason 2). If you have referrals, they may buy or renew their website domain. That will add another $1.00 to the total. Also If you win one of Kyle's Weekly Challenges, you could gain another $25.00 in Cash Credits.
In the image above, on Sep 27, 2025, one of my referrals renewed their website domain. That's an added $1.00 and on Oct 10, Kyle sent me $25.00 for winning one of the weekly challenges. It's worth it to wait.
I normally don't cash out until 2 days before the end of the month. This way I can wait as long as I can, get any last minute earnings and still Cash Out before the end of the month, so I get paid into my PayPal on the 1st of the month.

RECAP
1) You have to be a Premium or a Premium Plus member to Cash Out your Earnings
2) Your Earnings are round down to the nearest whole dollar amount. Earn $20.50 = You are paid $20.00
3) It can take 1 - 4 days for your Earnings to go from "Pending" to "Paid" into your Earnings page
4) There are two ways to earn: Affiliate Commissions from Referrals & Cash Credits from community points activity
5) Payment by WA into your PayPal happens on the first of every month
6) Be patient and wait to Cash Out until near the end of the month to maximize potential Earnings
7) You must Cash Out your Cash Credits before the end of the month to receive earnings in your PayPal on the 1st
I hope this has explained everything you need to know on how to earn cash in Wealthy Affiliate and Cash Out. If you have any questions on what I have shared here or answers I didn't reveal, please leave your comments below.
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Recent Comments
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It was my pleasure, Myra. I hope this helps all newbies and others who want to know how and when to cash out their earnings.
Yes, I have had many referrals here. Not all of them are still active but I still have enough that more than pays for my yearly membership.
You are welcome Terry! I am happy to have brought some clarity to this topic of Cash earnings within the community.
Wow! Thank you so much, Rob. This was very much needed. I do have a question—can I choose a different payment method besides PayPal? And how do I set up my preferred payment method?
Thank you Jocelyn. I am happy you enjoyed reading my post. I realize many members have been asking the questions that my post tried to answer.
As far as another method instead of PayPal, I don’t believe there is another way for WA to pay you. You will have to consult with Kyle. He would know better than I would.
However, I am curious to find out that answer. The next time I see Kyle in the live chat, I am going to ask him and see what he says. Is there a reason why you don’t want to use PayPal?
Thank you! Yes, your post really helped answer a lot of the questions many of us had.
I just personally prefer using something other than PayPal, that’s why I asked.
If PayPal is the only option, could you guide me on how to set it up properly?
And thank you for checking with Kyle — I appreciate that!
You are welcome Jocelyn. I asked Kyle in Chat last night and he said that they can also pay members through Bankwire but it seems that the cash out threshold has to be far higher than through PayPal because there is a $30.00 charge that WA must pay to send a member their money. You can view Kyle's chat responses in the attached images.
You are welcome Jocelyn. I asked Kyle in Chat last night and he said that they can also pay members through Bankwire but it seems that the cash out threshold has to be far higher than through PayPal because there is a $30.00 charge that WA must pay to send a member their money. You can view Kyle's chat responses in the attached images.
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So I've only been back long enough to have 2 months of payout history. They both say Pending still and each were under $1. I'm assuming they won't go through because they were less than $1? And only months with more than the minimum of $1 will be applied? Not a big deal but every little bit helps and I'm just looking for clarification. Thanks :)
I believe the minimum payout for commissions is $10 👍🏼
Correct. You have to generate more than $1.00. They will not pay out any amount less than $1.00