Commission in shillings. Payouts to M-Pesa.
Coded Idea builds MLM and network marketing software for companies in Kenya: distributor sign-up, genealogy, commission rules based on product sales, a Kenya shilling (KES) wallet ledger, and payout runs to M-Pesa, Airtel Money and bank accounts through your own Safaricom or payment-provider account.
Ready-to-launch MLM software starts from ₹15,000 (about KSh 20,600 or US$160) and custom builds from ₹35,000 (about KSh 48,000 or US$370). We work from Mohali and Bengaluru, India, with Kenyan clients online.
Based in Mohali, Punjab (Sector 127) and Bengaluru. No office in Kenya. Prices are in Indian rupees; shilling and US dollar figures are approximate, at ExchangeRate-API rates of 5 November 2026 (US$1 = ₹94.62 = KSh 129.8).
Product sales in, M-Pesa payouts out.
- Product orderKSh sales volume
- Commission ruleProduct volume only, no joining fees
- KES walletLedger entry per distributor
- Finance approvalInside your software, before any API call
- M-Pesa B2CResult recorded per distributor
Paying distributors through M-Pesa B2C: what the software has to handle
Safaricom’s Daraja B2C API sends money from a business shortcode to customers’ M-Pesa numbers; Safaricom also calls it bulk disbursement. To use it live, your company applies to Safaricom for a Bulk Disbursement Account and a B2C shortcode, or converts an existing paybill or till to a one account. The account, the shortcode and the money stay yours. We build the software that drives it.
Safaricom’s B2C FAQ says manual approval is not required for API-initiated B2C requests.
What we build: So approval lives in your software: finance sees the run total, top earners and held accounts, and releases the run. Nothing is sent before that.
The B2C API is asynchronous: it acknowledges the request at once and posts the result to your callback URL.
What we build: Each payout line keeps its own status (queued, sent, paid, failed), updated from the callback, with a status query for anything stuck.
Safaricom asks for a unique OriginatorConversationID on every request, to avoid double disbursement.
What we build: We generate one per distributor per run, and a line marked paid cannot be sent again.
Safaricom lists KSh 10 minimum and KSh 250,000 maximum per B2C transaction, and a KSh 500,000 daily and balance limit on the customer side.
What we build: Commissions above your limits are held, split or sent by bank transfer under rules you set, instead of failing silently.
B2C reversals are not supported through the API; they are done manually on the M-PESA portal.
What we build: One more reason to approve before release. A manual reversal is recorded against the distributor’s ledger so the books still balance.
B2C payments debit the Utility account of your shortcode, not the Working account.
What we build: The run screen shows the total to be paid before release, so finance can top up the Utility account first.
You can also pay through a payment provider instead of, or alongside, a direct Safaricom integration. We build the payout step on the route you choose, under your own merchant account and KYC:
| Route | What its own documentation says | What we build around it |
|---|---|---|
| Safaricom Daraja B2C (direct) | Payments from a business shortcode to a registered M-Pesa customer’s number; needs a Bulk Disbursement Account and B2C shortcode, or a paybill or till converted to a one account | A direct integration on your own shortcode, with per-line status and the run total shown before release |
| Flutterwave (Kenya) | KES transfers to mobile money (M-Pesa, Airtel Money, T-Kash) and to Kenyan bank accounts; bank transfers are enabled on request | One provider for M-Pesa and Airtel Money distributors, plus bank payouts once Flutterwave enables them on your account |
| Paystack (Kenya) | For Kenyan businesses, transfer recipients are M-Pesa mobile money numbers; bank-account recipients are not available in Kenya | M-Pesa payouts with a stored recipient code per distributor |
| PesaLink (bank transfers) | Instant account-to-account transfers, 24/7, across 80+ banks, SACCOs and other institutions, up to KSh 999,999 | A bank payout route for commissions above M-Pesa limits, through your bank’s business channel |
Provider features, limits, fees and approvals change. We confirm them on your own accounts during setup. Source pages: Safaricom Daraja B2C · Flutterwave Kenya mobile money transfers · PesaLink
Are pyramid schemes illegal in Kenya? What we could verify, and what we could not.
General information, not legal advice. Ask a Kenyan advocate to review your compensation plan before launch.
We did not find a Kenyan statute written specifically for direct selling or multi-level marketing (checked 5 November 2026). What is on the official record are regulator warnings and a general consumer rule, and they point at one question: does a distributor’s money come from selling products, or from recruiting people and taking their money?
- Joint public notice by CBK, CMA and other financial regulators (25 August 2020)It warned about online pyramid schemes, including entities styled as online global networking companies that recruit members of the public to join and make cash deposits. In its words:
The encouragement to recruit new members in order to receive more benefits is a characteristic of a fraudulent pyramid scheme.
It also reminded the public that regulated financial institutions need a licence from a financial sector regulator, in addition to a business permit. - CBK and SASRA notice on deposit-taking and pyramid schemes (6 April 2017)The Central Bank of Kenya and the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority described themselves as
the sole licensing authorities for deposit-taking institutions in Kenya
, and warned about entities that persuade people to place money with them and promise quick, abnormally high returns. A plan in which members put in money expecting returns looks like deposit-taking, not selling. - Competition Act, 2010, section 55It is an offence, in trade, to falsely represent that goods or services have benefits they do not have, or to make a false or misleading representation about price. That covers the product and price claims a company and its distributors make.
Software cannot make a plan lawful. It can make sure the plan your advocate has reviewed is the plan that runs:
| What the official record points at | How the software can reflect it |
|---|---|
| Benefits for recruiting new members (CBK, CMA and others, public notice of 2020) | Commission is calculated from product order volume only; joining or registration fees are left out of every commission base; recruitment-only bonuses can be switched off |
| Members placing money and expecting returns (CBK and SASRA notice of 2017) | No deposit, investment-package, ROI or daily-income features; the wallet holds earned commission only, never member deposits |
| False claims about benefits or price (Competition Act, 2010, section 55) | Product descriptions and prices are managed centrally by the company; distributor pages show approved text only |
| Product returns | A returned or refunded order reverses the commission it created, up every level it paid |
| Questions from a regulator, your bank or your auditor | A dated audit log of plan-rule changes, payout runs and admin actions, plus an exportable copy of the active plan rules |
Official texts: Joint public notice, CBK and others (2020, PDF)CBK and SASRA notice (2017, PDF)CBK notice on the VASP Act 2025 (PDF)
Distributor data under the Data Protection Act, 2019
Kenya’s Data Protection Act, 2019 set up the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (section 5). Under section 18, no one may act as a data controller or data processor unless registered with the Data Commissioner, subject to registration thresholds the Commissioner sets. Check with the Commissioner’s office whether your company has to register.
The Act asks for personal data to be limited to what is necessary (section 25) and, by default, only the data needed for each purpose to be processed (section 41). Under section 48, personal data can go to another country only on the conditions the Act sets, such as proof to the Data Commissioner of appropriate safeguards. That matters when your platform is hosted outside Kenya or supported by a team in India like ours.
One detail catches many MLM sign-up forms: the Act counts family details, including the names of a person’s children, parents or spouse, as sensitive personal data. A nominee or next-of-kin field collects exactly that.
Official text: Data Protection Act, 2019 (ODPC)
What we set up
- Role-based access, so a branch or support team sees only what it needs.
- Nominee and next-of-kin fields off by default, and switched on only if your process needs them.
- M-Pesa numbers, bank details and ID numbers kept out of exports by default.
- Hosting with a major cloud provider in the region you choose; you own the code, data and accounts.
English panels, with a Kiswahili option for your distributors
Under Article 7 of the Constitution of Kenya, Kiswahili is the national language, and Kiswahili and English are the official languages. We build the admin and member panels in English. A Kiswahili member panel, or a switch between the two, can be scoped as part of a custom build: you supply or approve the translations and we wire them in, including SMS and email templates.
Pick the compensation plan first. Then the software.
Send us two or three worked examples from your plan (a product order, a return, a rank change). We check the software against them before launch.
Binary
Two legs, pair matching on product volume; send us your carry-forward, flush and capping rules with a worked example.
Binary MLM software ↗Matrix
Fixed width and depth with spillover; tell us the matrix size and what happens when a level fills.
Matrix MLM software ↗Unilevel
Unlimited frontline, commission by level on product volume; suits catalogue-led companies with many small orders.
Unilevel MLM software ↗Generation
Commission that follows leadership generations; tell us how a new leader cuts off a generation.
Generation MLM software ↗Hybrid
Two or more plan rules running together; quoted separately after the walkthrough.
Hybrid MLM software ↗Crypto
Wallet and token logic.
Kenya note: the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act No. 20 of 2025) took effect on 4 November 2025 and names the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority as the regulators that license virtual asset service providers. Any crypto wallet, exchange or payout in your plan may need a licensed partner. Check your structure with a Kenyan advocate before launch; we make no promise that a given structure is allowed.
Crypto MLM software ↗Starting prices, with shillings shown for comparison
These are starting prices, not an all-features bundle. Your final quote is written after the plan walkthrough.
Ready-to-launch
from ₹15,000about KSh 20,600 · about US$160An available plan structure that fits your rules after review
Custom development
from ₹35,000about KSh 48,000 · about US$370Compensation rules, operations or integrations needing a tailored build
Crypto MLM
from ₹30,000₹45,000 custom · about KSh 41,100 (KSh 61,700) · about US$320 (US$475)On-chain logic, wallet behaviour, contract review
Hybrid and enterprise
quoted separatelySeveral plans, entities or large migrations
Shilling and US dollar figures are approximate conversions at ExchangeRate-API rates on 5 November 2026 (US$1 = ₹94.62 = KSh 129.8) and will change with exchange rates. These are starting prices, not an all-features bundle; your final quote is written after the plan walkthrough. M-Pesa, Flutterwave, Paystack and bank charges are set by those providers and paid by your company; hosting and domain are confirmed in your written quote.
Compare all tiers on the MLM software price guide.
A Kenyan project, run online from Mohali and Bengaluru
Coded Idea is a software company founded in 2020 that has delivered 100+ projects. Our offices are in Mohali (Sector 127, Punjab) and Bengaluru. We do not have an office in Kenya.
Time difference: East Africa Time (EAT, UTC+3) is 2 hours 30 minutes behind India (IST, UTC+5:30). A 12:30 call in Mohali is 10:00 in Nairobi, so most of a Nairobi working day overlaps with ours.
Walkthrough
A video call where you take us through the plan, products and how you pay distributors.
Fit check
Plan rules, products, distributor levels and payout route checked against the package.
Set-up with a written plan
Scope, deliverables and timeline agreed in writing before work starts.
Training and support
Your admin team is trained online and supported closely through the first weeks.
MLM software in Kenya: questions we get asked
Are pyramid schemes illegal in Kenya?
This is general information, not legal advice. We found no Kenyan statute written specifically for MLM or direct selling. Kenya’s financial regulators, including the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority, have publicly warned that encouraging people to recruit new members in order to receive more benefits is a characteristic of a fraudulent pyramid scheme. CBK and SASRA also warn against unlicensed entities that take money from the public and promise quick, high returns. Ask a Kenyan advocate to review your compensation plan.
Do you have an office in Kenya?
No. Coded Idea’s offices are in Mohali (Sector 127, Punjab) and Bengaluru, India. We work with Kenyan clients online through video calls, screen-share demos, WhatsApp and email. Nairobi is 2 hours 30 minutes behind India, so a 12:30 call in Mohali is 10:00 in Nairobi.
How much does MLM software cost for a Kenyan company?
Ready-to-launch MLM software starts from ₹15,000 (about KSh 20,600 or US$160) and custom builds from ₹35,000 (about KSh 48,000 or US$370). Crypto MLM starts from ₹30,000, or ₹45,000 custom. Hybrid and enterprise work is quoted separately. Shilling and dollar figures are approximate, at exchange rates on 5 November 2026. Provider fees and hosting are confirmed in your written quote.
Can the software pay distributors through M-Pesa?
Yes. We build the payout step on your own Safaricom B2C shortcode through the Daraja API, or on your Flutterwave or Paystack account. Commission goes to a shilling wallet first, your finance team approves the run inside the software, and each payout’s result is recorded from the provider’s callback. Flutterwave also lists Airtel Money for Kenyan transfers, and larger amounts can go by bank transfer.
Can you build a crypto MLM plan for a Kenyan company?
We build crypto MLM software, from ₹30,000 or ₹45,000 custom. Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 took effect on 4 November 2025 and makes the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority the licensing regulators for virtual asset service providers. A crypto wallet, exchange or payout in your plan may need a licensed partner. Confirm your structure with a Kenyan advocate before launch.
What should I prepare before the first call?
Your compensation plan document, your product list and prices, how you want to pay distributors (M-Pesa, Airtel Money or bank transfer), whether you already have an M-Pesa paybill, till or B2C shortcode, and whether you are launching new or replacing existing software. Please do not send real distributor phone numbers, M-Pesa or bank details before a contract.
Send us your plan. We will show you the build.
Choose your plan type, how you pay distributors and your stage. We reply with the next step and a starting price that fits.
Please leave real distributor phone numbers, M-Pesa and bank records out of your first message.