Forge Partner Program Terms

These are the terms that govern your participation in the Forge Partner Program, operated by Forge Development Studio LLC ("Forge," "we," "us"). By submitting a partner application, or by accepting these terms in your partner dashboard, you ("Partner," "you") agree to them.

1. Relationship

You are an independent contractor, not an employee, agent, or franchisee of Forge. You choose your own hours, methods, and places to work. Forge sets no quotas, schedules, or territories. Field Kit lists and briefs are suggestions only. You may work for others. You pay your own costs.

You have no authority to bind Forge, to represent yourself as anything other than an independent Forge partner, or to quote prices or commitments outside the published pricing on forgedev.studio. This is a 1099 relationship for US partners.

2. Commission

2.1 Rate and base

You earn 25% of the monthly plan fee each customer you refer pays Forge, for as long as that customer stays and keeps paying. The plan fee does not include usage overage, sales tax, or one-time fees.

2.2 Free trials

Nothing is earned during a free trial, because the customer pays nothing. Commission starts with the customer's first paid plan fee.

2.3 Single level only

The Forge Partner Program is single level. You earn commission only on customers you refer yourself. There is no downline, no multi-level or tiered structure, no sub-affiliate commission, no override on referrals made by other Partners, and no pay for recruiting Partners. There is no signing bonus and no other bonus or flat payment.

2.4 Refunds and disputed charges

No commission is earned on money that is refunded. If a customer disputes a charge with their bank, the commission on that charge is held until the bank decides, and none is earned if the bank decides for the customer. Commission already paid out on money that is later refunded, or lost in a dispute, is deducted from your next payouts.

2.5 Self-referrals prohibited

You may not refer yourself, related entities, or businesses you own or control, and no commission is earned on them. Forge may withhold commission on any sale flagged as a self-referral.

3. Payouts

Forge pays commission on the 15th of each month for customer payments received before the 1st of that month. There is no minimum payout. Payouts are made through Stripe Connect to the account you link from your partner dashboard.

Before your first payout you must give Forge a completed Form W-9 or your taxpayer identification number, which Stripe collects when you connect your account. Commission is held until you do. If the law requires it, Forge withholds 24% of payouts when no taxpayer identification number is given. Forge reports your commission on Form 1099-NEC when required.

It is your responsibility to keep your payout information current in the partner dashboard. Forge is not liable for payouts sent to information you have not updated.

4. Attribution

Attribution is first touch. When a prospect clicks your referral link, a signup by that prospect within 90 days is credited to you. If a prospect clicked more than one Partner's link, the first Partner link they clicked keeps the credit for its 90 days. Attribution also follows the partner code carried with the checkout. A sale taken in the Forge Field Kit is credited to the Partner who owns that visit.

Attribution disputes are decided by Forge in good faith based on the available tracking and payment records.

5. How you promote Forge

5.1 Tell people Forge pays you

Tell people Forge pays you. Put it where they see it before they click or buy, for example: "I earn a commission if you sign up." Do not post reviews of Forge as a customer.

5.2 Email and texting

Every email you send about Forge must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act: an honest sender, subject line and content, the sales footer from the partner kit with Forge's postal address, a working way to opt out, and no further email to anyone who opts out, honored within 10 business days. Do not send text messages, or make automated or prerecorded calls, to anyone who has not agreed to receive them.

5.3 Door-to-door visits

Get any business license or solicitor permit your city or county requires. Tell each owner your name and that you are an independent Forge partner. Leave when asked. Do not knock where a No Soliciting sign is posted.

5.4 AI demo calls

Place an AI demo call to an owner's phone only after the owner agrees in writing on the tablet. Before any demo starts, tell the owner it is a demo and that the conversation is recorded.

5.5 What you may not do

• Run paid ads using Forge's brand name or trademarks without written permission
• Bid on Forge's brand keywords in search advertising
• Make earnings claims, guarantees, or representations about Forge product performance beyond what is published on forgedev.studio
• Send unsolicited bulk email (spam) or messages in violation of CAN-SPAM, GDPR, or any applicable law
• Misrepresent yourself as an employee or direct representative of Forge
• Negotiate prices, contract terms, or SLAs with prospects on Forge's behalf

6. Partner kit

The partner kit (the field playbook, leave-behind, pitch deck, email templates, landing page template, banner kit, call script and social posts) is licensed for use in your promotion of Forge only. You may customize the co-branded landing template with your logo and contact information. You may not redistribute, resell, or use these materials for other products or services.

7. Confidentiality

Non-public information you receive through the program is confidential: your partner dashboard data, what the Field Kit shows about businesses and owners, customer information, and Forge's internal costs and systems. You may not disclose it except as needed to make a sale for Forge. Forge's published prices and these terms, including the commission structure, are not confidential.

8. Information about businesses and owners

Information about businesses and owners that you get from the Field Kit or from Forge may be used only to sell Forge's products. You may not add it to your own mailing lists, sell it, or use it outside this program.

9. Ending the agreement

Either party may end this agreement at any time, with or without cause, by written notice (email suffices).

• If you leave, or Forge ends the agreement without cause, you keep earning commission on customers you referred before it ended, for as long as each one stays and keeps paying, under these terms.
• If Forge ends the agreement for cause (fraud, self-referral, spam, or false claims about Forge), your commission stops on the date of the notice.
• Your access to the partner dashboard, the Field Kit and the partner kit ends, and you must stop using Forge's trademarks and materials.
• Commission earned before the agreement ends is paid on the normal schedule, subject to section 2.4.

10. Changes to these terms

Forge may update these terms periodically. Material changes to commission structure or payout terms apply only to conversions signed on or after the change's effective date; existing conversions are grandfathered under the terms in effect when the conversion occurred. You will be asked to accept each new version in your partner dashboard.

11. Liability

Forge's total liability to any Partner for any claim arising from this agreement is capped at the total commission paid to that Partner in the 12 months preceding the claim. Forge is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or lost-profit damages.

You indemnify Forge against claims arising from your promotional activity, including any representation you make to a prospect outside of published Forge materials.

12. Governing law

This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, United States. Disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Fulton County, Georgia.