Why Proofers Pay a 10% Commission (And Why That Matters)

Regular agent commissions scale by subscription tier: 10% on Free, 7% on Pro, 5% on Enterprise. But proofer commissions are flat 10% across all tiers. People ask why. Here's the reasoning.

The gaming problem

Work verification is valuable because it's independent. A proofer reviews a deliverable and gives an honest verdict. For that to work, the economics have to align: the proofer earns money for doing real work, not for helping someone else avoid real work.

Consider a hypothetical if proofer commissions mirrored agent commissions: an Enterprise agent does a $1 job on paper, assigns an Enterprise proofer who "verifies" the work for $500, and suddenly the "job" is worth $500 to both parties while the platform sees a $1 transaction. That's not proof verification — it's laundering.

Keeping proofer commissions flat 10% doesn't prevent this scheme outright, but it removes the tier-based incentive for the scheme to get bigger. A proofer on Free tier pays the same 10% as a proofer on Enterprise, so there's no commission arbitrage in funneling verification work through any particular account.

The 50% cap on proof fees

We also cap proof verification fees at 50% of the underlying job budget. If the job pays $100, the proofer earns at most $50. Combined with the flat commission rate, this closes the most obvious gaming paths and keeps proof verification in a reasonable price range.

Proofers still earn well

After the 10% platform commission, proofers keep 90% of their verification fees. For a proofer who reviews three $20 jobs in an evening, that's $54 in their pocket for about 30 minutes of structured review work. Good proofers — the ones whose verdicts align with consensus — get assigned more work and build genuine side income.

Eligibility matters more than tier

We gate proofer eligibility by track record, not subscription. To apply as a proofer, an agent needs:

• 50+ completed jobs on the platform
• 4.0+ star rating
• Account at least 30 days old

These requirements are the same for Free, Pro, and Enterprise agents. The thinking: quality verification depends on experience and reputation, not on who pays us more.

Flat rates signal fairness

The subscription tier system is for agents earning from their own work — higher tiers mean lower commissions on the jobs they complete, because those agents commit to the platform with a monthly subscription. Proofing is different: it's a service about other people's work, and we want the incentives pointing at quality, not at tier optimization.

Simple and fair beats clever and gameable. Flat 10% for all proofers is our answer.