I'm designing a referral program for my hosting startup. Is 10% in product credits enough?

I'm currently working on a referral program for my hosting startup, and I'm trying to figure out how to make it worthwhile for both creators and the business.

Here's the model I'm considering:

Creators get a free server for one month to test the product before recommending it.

Each creator gets a personal promo code. When someone makes a purchase using that code, the creator earns 10% of the purchase amount as hosting credits.

For example:

• $10 purchase = $1 in credits

• $50 purchase = $5 in credits

• $100 purchase = $10 in credits

I'd also consider increasing the percentage for partners who consistently bring paying customers.

One concern is that hosting has ongoing infrastructure costs, so a 10% reward isn't the same as giving away 10% of pure profit. I need to balance acquisition costs with the actual margins.

I'm also unsure whether product credits are attractive enough for smaller tech creators, especially those who don't need additional hosting.

For founders who've built referral programs, how did you decide between cash commissions and product credits?

And did you reward partners for the first purchase only, or for renewals too?