Creator programme terms
Last updated: September 2026
Written to be read rather than survived. If anything here is unclear, ask before you sign up — hello@thepantrybutler.com.
The two tiers
| Founding | Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | 30% of net | 20% of net |
| How long | For as long as that subscriber stays | 12 months per subscriber |
| Places | 10, then closed for good | No limit |
| Everything else | Identical — collection page, creator link, dashboard, credit, cook-backs, the Verified badge. | |
“12 months per subscriber” means per subscriber
Each person you bring earns you commission for twelve months from their first payment. Not twelve months from the day you joined. Someone you refer in your third year earns exactly the same as someone you refer in your first week.
What “net” means
Your percentage is of what we actually receive, not of the sticker price. Every subscription is $49.99 a year — but we never see all of it, because whoever processes the payment takes a cut first, and how big that cut is depends on where the person signed up.
| They subscribed… | Who takes a cut | Their fee | We receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the iPhone or Android app | Apple or Google | 15% −$7.50 | $42.49 |
| On the website, by card | Stripe | 2.9% + 30¢ −$1.75 | $48.24 |
That is the whole reason those two numbers differ. Apple and Google charge us roughly four times what a card processor does for the same $49.99. Nothing about you, your rate or your audience changes between those two rows — only who handled the money.
Which is why we do not pass that difference on to you
You cannot control whether somebody taps your link on a phone or a laptop, you cannot see which happened, and it is not a measure of anything you did. Paying you a share of whichever rail they picked would mean two creators doing identical work get different cheques and neither can find out why.
So we use one figure for every subscriber, $43.50 — between the two, slightly above the App Store one. Whatever device they used, you earn the same:
| Per subscriber, per year | |
|---|---|
| Standard — 20% | $8.70 |
| Founding — 30% | $13.05 |
Ten subscribers is $87 a year at standard, $130.50 at founding, and you can work out any other number without knowing anything about payment processing.
We would rather absorb the difference than hand you a number you cannot plan around. What we will not do is calculate on the $49.99 sticker price: paying a share of money we never received is how a revenue share quietly goes underwater, and an arrangement that cannot survive is worth less to you than one that can.
When you get paid
- Only after we have been paid. A free trial earns nothing. Commission starts when a subscriber's money reaches us.
- Quarterly, through Stripe. You will need a Stripe account; they handle the tax paperwork, not us.
- Above $25. Smaller balances roll into the next payout rather than being lost.
- Reversals reverse. If a subscriber charges back or refunds, commission on that subscription stops. We will not claw back anything already paid to you.
Your recipes stay yours
- Nothing here is exclusive. Keep posting wherever you post.
- You are not required to post about us, ever. Promote us if you want to; the commission exists either way.
- You can ask us to remove your collection at any time and we will.
- We credit you on every recipe of yours a cook saves, whether or not you are in this programme.
The Verified badge
It certifies two facts: that we confirmed you control your account, and that you agreed to be here. It is not a claim that your recipes are original to you, not a review, and not a food-safety assurance. Because creators in this programme can earn commission, the badge marks a commercial relationship — see our disclosure. The full definition is here.
Keeping it
Once a year we will email to confirm three things, and it takes a minute:
- You still control the account we credit.
- Nothing has changed about those recipes being yours to share.
- You still want to be here.
We will not ask how often you post. Whether you are active on your own channels is your business, not ours, and a quiet month says nothing about whether cooks are still making your food. The only performance signal we look at is the one in our own app: are people still saving and cooking your recipes.
If a confirmation goes unanswered we will chase it, then the badge lapses quietly. We do not publish reasons for removing a badge, and a lapsed badge is not a statement about anybody.
Changes, and what is locked
We may update these terms. If a change reduces what you earn, it applies only to subscribers referred after we tell you, never retroactively.
The founding rate is locked for life. Thirty percent, for as long as each subscriber stays, whatever happens to this page or to the company.
The plain version
We are small. We would rather tell you what we can actually do than promise something impressive and quietly not do it. Your name stays on your work, you get honest numbers instead of flattering ones, and you get paid out of money we have really collected.
These terms sit alongside our general Terms and Privacy Policy. The Pantry Butler is operated by My Media Matters LLC.
← Back to the creator programme