---
updatedAt: 2026-08-25T11:21:03.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://developer.coingate.com/llms.txt
---

# Payout Links Overview

A payout link lets you pay someone who does not have a CoinGate account and whose payout details you do not know. You create the link for an amount, CoinGate reserves that amount from your ledger account and returns a URL, and the recipient chooses the currency and payout method themselves when they open it.

This is the difference from a [Send Request](https://developer.coingate.com/reference/send-request-overview): a send request needs a beneficiary with a saved payout setting, a payout link does not.

## Before you start

You need an active ledger account with enough balance to cover the amount and the fee. Ledger account IDs come from [List Ledger Accounts](https://developer.coingate.com/reference/ledger-accounts).

## How it works

1. **Create the link.** Call [Create Payout Link](https://developer.coingate.com/reference/create-payout-link) with the ledger account, the amount, the purpose, how long the link stays open for collection, and the recipient's email address.
2. **CoinGate reserves the funds.** The amount is converted to the ledger account currency and deducted immediately, so the money is committed the moment the link exists, not when it is collected.
3. **Deliver the link.** The response contains `payout_link_url`. Set `send_email: true` to have CoinGate email it to `recipient_email`, or leave it off and deliver the URL yourself.
4. **The recipient collects it.** Only the `recipient_email` address can collect the link, and the recipient has to confirm the payout from that address before it is sent. They pick the currency and payout method at collection time, which is why the response has no payout destination on it.
5. **Track the outcome.** Poll [Get Payout Link](https://developer.coingate.com/reference/get-payout-link) or set a `callback_url` and let CoinGate push every status change to you. See [Payout Link Statuses](https://developer.coingate.com/reference/payout-link-statuses) and [Payout Link Callback](https://developer.coingate.com/reference/payout-link-callback).

## Amounts and fees

Two amounts appear on the payout link object:

| Field                  | Meaning                                                                                      |
| :--------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `input_amount`         | What you asked for, in `input_currency`.                                                     |
| `balance_debit_amount` | The value the recipient collects, in the ledger account currency (`balance_debit_currency`). |

The total reserved from your ledger account is `balance_debit_amount` plus the processing fee in `fees.service_fee.amount`. Fees are always added on top of the payout, so the recipient collects the full `balance_debit_amount`.

## Getting the money back

The reserved amount returns to the ledger account it came from when the link is [canceled](https://developer.coingate.com/reference/cancel-payout-link) or when it expires uncollected. A link can be collected until the end of the day, UTC, that `expires_at` falls on — `expires_in_days` accepts 1 to 7 days.

## Payout approvals

If payout approvals are enabled on your account, a new link is created in `draft` and has to be approved in the dashboard before the recipient can collect it. Links created through the API require **two different approvers**: the API authenticates with a key rather than a user, so CoinGate cannot tell who made the call and requires a second person to sign off.

With approvals off, links are created in `pending` and can be collected straight away.

> 🚧 Important: use a real, working recipient email address
>
> The recipient confirms the payout from the `recipient_email` address you send on the link. A temporary, disposable or mistyped address leaves the recipient unable to approve the payout, so the link sits uncollected until it expires and the reserved amount returns to your ledger account.