> AffiliateOS Help Center. Index of every article for AI tools: https://www.affiliateos.ai/help/llms.txt

# Install offers: paid once, at install

Offers and the feed · For publishers · Updated 30 October 2026
Web version: https://www.affiliateos.ai/help/offers/install-offers-paid-once

An install-paid offer pays you once, when the user installs and opens the app. Its later steps pay you nothing: each one still sends a postback with the player's reward, so you can keep crediting the player.

> Figure: Example: Tidewater Games pays for a Harbor Blocks install, AffiliateOS records the tap from Pebble Rewards, matches the install, sends Pebble Rewards a signed postback with payout 4.20, and Pebble Rewards credits the player 1,500 pebbles.

## How to spot one

- **In the Offer API:** `isPaidOnInstall` is `true`, `installPayoutUsd` holds what the install pays you and the install step in `goals` carries the same amount.
- **On the Offers page:** the row reads **Paid once, on the install** with the amount **per install**, and the offer's page shows an **install** badge.
- **Install plus one thing:** some offers pay once on a step that asks for more than the install, such as installing and making a first cash-out. They read **Paid once, after install + one action**, priced **per conversion**. Still one payment.

## Worked example

Pebble Rewards shows Harbor Blocks through the Offer API. Player `u_48213` installs it on an iPhone in Texas at 2:09 PM, then keeps playing.

| Step | `payout` on the postback | `user_payout` | Pebble Rewards credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Install | 4.20 | 1.50 | 1,500 pebbles |
| Finish the tutorial | 0 | 0.50 | 500 pebbles |
| Reach level 10 | 0 | 1.50 | 1,500 pebbles |
| Reach level 40 | 0 | 6.00 | 6,000 pebbles |

Example, at 1,000 pebbles per $1. Amounts are made up. Here the advertiser set every player reward, the install's included. Where no reward is set, the install posts back with `user_payout=0`: what the install pays you is yours.

Pebble Rewards earns $4.20 at 2:09 PM and nothing after. Every later postback says what to give the player, and Pebble Rewards decides how its currency shows it.

On the Hosted Offerwall the same steps arrive differently: `revenue` carries your earnings (4.20 at install, then 0), and `payout` and `user_payout` carry the player's reward.

## The Install only list

Asking for `segment=install` (on the **Offers** page, **Install only**) is not the same as filtering on `isPaidOnInstall` yourself. The segment also:

- leaves out installs that pay under $0.25,
- leaves out a few sign-up and purchase deals that happen to pay on an install,
- always includes app campaigns advertisers set up on AffiliateOS themselves, which pay on events after the install.

Use the segment when you want our install list, and the field when you want the plain signal. Add `sort=install_payout` to put the best installs first.

## Edge cases

- **The user taps again after installing.** Once the install has been credited, the link sends them to the app's store page, where the button reads Open, instead of the tracking link. That tap can't convert, so it doesn't count as a click in your reports.
- **The install is taken back.** A reversal repeats the install's `action_id` with `status=reversed`. Deduct what you credited for it.
- **Accounts paid per step.** If your account is set up to be paid per step, no offer pays at install: the install step reads $0.00 and the later steps carry your payout. The **Offers** page then has no **Install only** switch and no **Sort: Install payout**. See [Multi-step offers](https://www.affiliateos.ai/help/offers/multi-step-offers).
- **Later steps after the offer leaves the list.** Players who already installed keep playing, and their steps still post back. Store `offer_name` and `conversion_name` from each postback.

> **You're paid once, at install.** Later steps reward the player, not you. Through the Offer API or a link they post back with `payout=0` and `user_payout` set to the player's reward; on the Hosted Offerwall, `revenue=0`. Offers paid per event list what each step pays you, step by step.