Some top affiliate programs come and go, others stand the test of time. But the most important things is what’s profitable now & what suits your business needs at the moment.
What Are Affiliate Marketing Programs?
This is an awesome tactical flashlight, and in my opinion, you should buy it.
To do so, click the following affiliate link for the most updated prices.
Once you complete the purchase, I will get a small commission from the flashlight producer. I didn’t make it myself, I’m not that crafty. But by sharing my opinion about this flashlight I’ve helped the producer. So they pay me money.
These are affiliate programs in a nutshell.
Affiliate marketing programs, similarly to affiliate networks, provide you with offers you can promote online. Unlike the latter, affiliate programs serve as additional sales channels for big companies. People can just sign up to these programs, get a link, and convince others to click it on their blog/videos/review sites.
You can identify these links because of the ‘ref=’ or ‘referrer=’ part embedded in them. Hover over such links with a mouse button on landing pages and you will easily identify this type of links.
This parameter tells the product owner who they owe this sale to. Like any good businessmen, the product owner has to track sales to manage their business effectively.
P.S. Don’t buy this flashlight. And that is a dummy link to prove a point.
Or is it?
Disclaimer: There are no actual affiliate links in this article.
Types of Affiliate Marketing Programs
Affiliate programs vary in terms of how and where they are advertised. Based on that, we can distinguish the following types of affiliate programs:
- Social – These programs work best when advertised on social media either via paid traffic or influencers.
- Search – Affiliate offers are discovered via the search engine, organically or by paid advertising.
- Content – This type of affiliate program is advertised on articles, review sites or blogs, hidden in a text.
- Coupon – Many sites gather coupons and discounts, and an affiliate program may offer exactly that.
- Email – You have probably received hundreds of these. Email affiliate programs are still a big contender.
Everything that I have just described should be taken into consideration to make a fully informed decision.
Or you can simply read my ranking.
The Ranking of the Best and Highest Paying Affiliate Programs
You can read the following ranking in the voice of the WatchMojo lady or people from WhatCulture: “And here are our top picks for the e-commerce vertical”:
E-commerce Affiliate Programs
1 – CJ Affiliate
It’s the go-to place to find offers from various vendors. Many of the programs from other verticals are partnered with CJ Affiliate. They claim that they have a record 400-day cookie lifetime, but an affiliate marketer has to remember that many partner programs use a shorter lifetime.
Cookie duration: 400 days
Minimum payout: $50 (Direct Deposit) / $100 (Check)
When you get paid: 20th of each month
2 – ShareASale
It shares a similar business model to our number one. ShareASale has even more offers to choose from than CJ Affiliate (6000 to 3000). The only reason it has fallen short of the first place is the ridiculously long cookie lifetime CJ Affiliate claims to have.
Cookie duration: 365 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: 20th of each month
Having even more offers than Amazon, it would seem like the perfect place for any affiliate. However, because of the auction model used by the majority of sales and the ridiculously short cookie lifetime, it cannot go any higher than the fourth place.
Cookie duration: 1 day
Minimum payout: $10 (Direct Deposit) / $100 (Check)
When you get paid: end of the month
4 – ClickBank
It is a decent affiliate program that sells digital products. Because of this, their commission for an affiliate marketer is very generous (40%) and it is calculated not as a percentage of what ClickBank earns (which is 7.5% plus 1$) but as a percentage of the offer owner’s revenue. Additionally, the payout is made twice a month, which is always welcome.
Cookie duration: 60 days
Minimum payout: $100
When you get paid: on Friday
One of the biggest affiliate programs on the planet. It has all the offers there are (around 12 million). The only problem is Amazon Associates program short cookie lifetime. Amazon had also recently cut down its commission rates by half, hence the relatively low rank. Chek out our article on advertising on Amazon and the other one about Amazon Associates program alternatives.
Cookie duration: 1 day
Minimum payout: $100
When you get paid: 60 days after end of the month
1 – Paxful
Paxful is a crypto marketplace where you can trade your currency with other people. What Paxful offers their affiliates is the option to build your own network of affiliates. You earn a recurring fee for people you have invited (50%) and a smaller fee for people they have invited (10%). Note that this percentage is only from escrow fees but, on the other hand, they last a lifetime.
Cookie duration: 1 day
Minimum payout: $10 in the affiliate wallet can be transferred to the Paxful wallet. Once the amount in the Paxful wallet reaches $300, it can be withdrawn at any time.
When you get paid: At any moment, provided that there’s a minimum payout amount in the wallet.
2 – CoinMetro
It offers a varied commission rates of 10 – 40% of their fees (which are varied, but usually around 1.5%). The good news is that those fees are recurring. On top of that, CoinMetro runs a prize-pool raffle of 2% of all affiliates earnings and each month, one lucky affiliate gets the pool.
Cookie duration: N/A
Minimum payout: 1$
When you get paid: Immediately
3 – CryptoHopper
It allows you to earn a steady 10% commission of each referred subscription. This is a recurring commission that you will get for as long as the referred user pays for their account. For signals, there is a 15% commission rate.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
4 – LedgerWallet
Similarly to the number 3 on our list, you get a 10% commission for all referred sales. The lower spot is a result of lack of another threshold, like for signals with CryptoHopper.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: €50
When you get paid: monthly
5 – Coinbase
Coinbase gives its affiliates 50% of their fees of referred users. The fees vary but they oscillate around 1.5%, The only problem is that you will get this commission for the first 3 months only. This is a huge downside when comparing to other higher ranked platforms.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $10
When you get paid: monthly
Dating Affiliate Programs
1 – Cupid media
Not the winner you expected, huh? They are not a well-known brand, such as their lower-ranked competitors. But they run a lot of niche dating services, which makes them a better choice than the mainstream dating programs. Both the commission and cookie lifetime is above average in this vertical.
Cookie duration: N/A
Minimum payout: no minimum
When you get paid: monthly
2 – People media
The close runner-up. The thing that prevented it from gaining the first spot was a slightly lower commission rate (50% to 75%). Like its winning competitor, People media also operates niche dating services.
Cookie duration: 120 days
Minimum payout: $100
When you get paid: monthly
3 – Eharmony
The commonly recognized brand. Their 20% commission rate is a modest one but the 45 day cookie lifetime may be of some consolation.
Cookie duration: 45 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: 20th of each month
4 – EliteSingles
A tough niche to operate, but this may be an advantage if you feel confident enough. They use a fixed commission, 7$, but it is rewarded not on sale, but on a completed personality test. So the conversion rates should be higher. This program can be found on CJ Affiliate.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
Web Hosting Affiliate Programs
1 – WPengine
Like with all programs from this vertical, commission is fixed for every subscription plan they have. The minimum 200$ payout value is nothing when compared to the staggering 7,500$ maximum. The half-year cookie lifetime is very good and the brand is recognizable.
Cookie duration: 180 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
2 – Liquid web
It has slightly worse conditions than the winner (still rather impressive $150 – $3,000) but it’s still a very good and popular affiliate program.
Cookie duration: 90 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
3 – Cloudways
Another solid affiliate program with much more modest commission ($50) but a very long cookie lifetime.
Cookie duration: 90 days
Minimum payout: $250
When you get paid: 10th of each month
4 – Siteground
The fourth and fifth place should be shared ex aequo between Siteground and Kinsta affiliate programs. The thing that elevated Siteground a tad higher are customer-friendly weekly payouts.
Cookie duration: 60 days
Minimum payout: no minimum
When you get paid: weekly
5 – Kinsta
Last but not least but not first. Same commission (50$) and a cookie lifetime (60 days) as Siteground, but you have to wait a whole month to receive your payout.
Cookie duration: 60 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
Educational Affiliate Programs
1 – Coursera
Sometimes the most recognizable are the best, and that is the case of Coursera. The average 32.5% commission rate is the best in the industry and a cookie life is a reasonable 30 days. They don’t have as many courses as Udemy, but I will stick with a more generous commission structure.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
2 – Udemy
The online platform with the biggest number of courses available. Shame that they couldn’t outbid Coursera’s commission. 20% is still ok though.
Cookie duration: 7 days
Minimum payout: N/A
When you get paid: monthly
3 – Skillshare
The skill-learning platform with fixed commissions, $10 per signup. It doesn’t sound like much but the big number of courses makes it easy to advertise.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $10
When you get paid: 16th of each month
4 – DIY.org
Formerly known as Jam, this platform hosts courses aimed at kids. It’s a smaller market than, for example, Coursera, but it’s also a less explored one. You get $5 for every sign-up.
Cookie duration: 14 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
5 – Teachable
This platform actually targets teachers. If you feel comfortable with this market, you will get 30% commission for every signup done within 90 days.
Cookie duration: 90 days
Minimum payout: N/A
When you get paid: daily/weekly/monthly
Gaming Affiliate Programs
1 – Razer
If you are a gamer, there is not much to say. The company that is synonymous with gaming accessories and equipment. For every purchase you facilitate, you get a 5% commission. And those gaming products are not cheap. It’s a 5% slice of a big cake.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: N/A
When you get paid: monthly
2 – Logitech
Known mainly for manufacturing gaming mouses and keyboards, yet they do so much more. Logitech is a more mainstream company than a specialized Razer, which should make promoting their offer easier. Their commission rate is only one percent lower than Razer’s.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: N/A
When you get paid: 45 days after the end of each calendar month
3 – Alienware
Part of the Dell empire, this company specializes in making gamer-oriented laptops. Very, very expensive laptops. 4% of the 3,000$ makes it worth the trouble. This program can be found on CJ Affiliate.
Cookie duration: 3 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
4 – Nvidia
If you’ve never heard of Nvidia, then you must be a Muggle. Or a console player. They are willing to share with you 2% of their revenue for a sale. The 90-day cookie lifetime leaves plenty of wiggle room to finalize a deal.
Cookie duration: 45 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
5 – Microsoft
Their gaming affiliate program offers similar conditions to Nvidia’s but a longer cookie lifetime (60 days). But everyone knows the brand for sure.
Cookie duration: 60 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
Online Marketing Tools Programs
1 – GanttPRO
A tool for project management and team collaboration offers great terms for their affiliates. Their commission is solid and recurring (50% for the first purchase, 20% for the recurrent ones). The 90-day cookie lifetime, support, and training for all new affiliates make it a noteworthy program to try.
Cookie duration: unlimited
Minimum payout: no minimum
When you get paid: monthly
2 – PromoRepublic
It’s a platform for managing social media channels that offers over 100,000 post templates. The average commission rate is 25% and they claim that affiliates typically reach between $40-$1500/month.
Cookie duration: 90 days
Minimum payout: no minimum
When you get paid: monthly
3 – Combin
This Instagram-focused marketing platform offers a 50% commission of its revenue for the first 6 months of membership.
Cookie duration: 180 days
Minimum payout: $400
When you get paid: monthly
This simple tool proposes simple terms. you get 50% of what the platform’s earnings are. Refer a more expensive solution, get more money. Simple as that.
Cookie duration: 180 days
Minimum payout: $500
When you get paid: monthly
VPN Affiliate programs
1 – NordVPN
Probably the most recommended VPN service on the web. Affiliates can earn a percentage of what the company gets after a user subscribes. 1-month plans are even rewarded with 100% commission rate! Commissions on renewals also apply. Having access to over 5,000 servers scattered around the globe, NordVPN affiliate program can be advertised globally. The affiliate cookie lifetime is industry’s average 30 days.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
2 – PureVPN
PureVPN boasts over 6,500 servers that ensure global coverage, and by implication, global conversions. The company makes sure that you won’t be left empty-handed by providing you with plenty marketing materials and a support from dedicated affiliate managers. The commission rate is 40% of the price of each sold plan.
Cookie duration: 90 days
Minimum payout: for payment via PayPal is $100 and for payments via bank wire transfer is $500
When you get paid: monthly
3 – ExpressVPN
The company’s 3,000 plus servers located in 94 countries are enough to ensure, that you can use and market ExpressVPN in all GEOs. The average commission rate is 24$ and it depends on the volume of traffic you send and the type of a subscription plan your visitors will choose. A 90-day cookie lifetime is a great outlier in the industry.
Cookie duration: 90 days
Minimum payout: $100
When you get paid: monthly
4 – Surfshark
Surfshark is one of the slightly lesser known but still popular VPN providers that puts a strong emphasis on user’s privacy and the unlimited number of devices you can use its services on. For its affiliates, Surfshark offers help in the form of tips and optimization support. 40% commission rate and 30-day cookie lifetime are industry’s standard.
Cookie duration: 90 days
Minimum payout: $100
When you get paid: monthly
The ‘globally-scattered-but-US-focused’ VPN provider is another company that relies heavily on affiliates to promote its services. They offer a decent 33% commission plus recurring commissions that last the whole lifetime of a consumer. It also provides its affiliates with banners and other marketing materials.
Cookie duration: unlimited
Minimum payout: for payment via PayPal is $100 and for payments via bank wire transfer is $500
When you get paid: monthly
Recurring affiliate programs
1 – SEMrush
SEMrush is the number one place to go for all online marketers and content editors. But they are not the only ones that can benefit from it. SEMrush offers a recurring affiliate program with 40% commission rate and rewards on various user activities (trials, sign-ups).
Cookie duration: 120 days
Minimum payout: for PayPal is just $50 (for a Wire Transfer it is $1000)
When you get paid: monthly
2 – LongTailPro
Loved by marketers and SEO specialists, LongTailPro is a useful tool for anyone that wants to make their presence in an online world. Its affiliates get an easy to understand commission scheme: you get 30% of all sales and recurring transactions.
Cookie duration: 1 year
Minimum payout: $100
When you get paid: monthly
3 – Shopify
If you work in ecommerce, you know Shopify. A powerful solution for anyone that wants to set up an online store in minutes, it rewards an affiliate with 20% recurring commissions, or up to $2,000 per sale.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $25
When you get paid: monthly
4 – SocialPilot
A budget option for social media management software, SocialPilot is also a great fit for its affiliates who can earn up to 30% on all sales.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Minimum payout: $50
When you get paid: monthly
Best affiliate program for beginners
Feeling a bit lost? Still not sure where to start? No problem. Below you will find the list of the best affiliate marketing programs for beginners. They are very profitable and easy to run.
- Eharmony. Dating vertical is a typical starting point for most affiliates. Offers from this niche are easier to promote than, for example, web hosting services that may require using some tech language. And Eharmony is a recognizable brand.
- Coursera. The reasons for choosing this affiliate program are the same as above. Easy vertical and a recognizable brand, what more a newbie may ask for?
- Clickbank. Although their UI falls behind the current design standards and may be hard to master, they have a lot of tools that are helpful for newbies. On top of that, the offers are all newbie-friendly.
- CJ Affiliate. They are not the easiest platform to start with, for sure, but a lot of interesting offers should justify a steeper learning curve.
- Lemonads. With over 10,000 partners that include most recognizable high-tech companies, lemonads is a platform that is a great place to start for beginners that haven’t decided yout on the niche or vertical.
Affiliate Program FAQ
If you are not sure what cookie lifetime or affiliate commission is and how do these things matter, I will go over some affiliate program characteristics to address any doubts.
What is Affiliate Programs Commission?
The commission itself is usually a percentage of a sale. On some occasions, especially for web hosting products, the commission is a fixed price per sale.
There may be several additional factors that shape a commission of an affiliate marketer:
- The commission may increase if you sell more.
- There may be some promotions for new program joiners.
- The commission rate may be different for each product within one program: harder-to-sell products may have a higher commission.
Here’s the catch I’ve mentioned earlier: sometimes, often for metasearch engines such as Booking.com, the affiliate commission is calculated as a percentage of what this intermediary company (Booking.com in this example) earns, and not of what a customer pays.
It’s not such a sweet deal anymore. Think about it:
If Booking.com brags about the 20% average commission rate, it is not of the $2000 price for a 5-star hotel in Bali, but of the percentage that this hotel pays to Booking.com.
Booking.com takes 15% of their partners’ earnings. In this example, it would be $300. Your final commission of the price a customer pays is around 3%.
But I’m not mad.
3% of the $2000 hotel is still $60 just for putting one link on a web page. I can live with this, so can other affiliates and so can you.
What matters in my ranking is the final percentage of what a customer pays.
What is Cookie lifetime?
The second crucial factor of each program is the referral cookie lifetime. This rather technical term describes the time window from the initial click to the purchase in which you are eligible for the commission.
The rule of thumb is: the longer the time window the better for affiliates
A short cookie lifetime can make any program less appealing.
Take eBay.
An affiliate marketer can promote any product they have for a solid 5% commission.
Sounds good?
Not with the absurd 1-day cookie lifetime.
It’s eBay, they have auctions. The majority of them last for 7 days. It means that someone would have to click your affiliate link and make a purchase on the last day of the auction. Otherwise, you don’t get any commission.
Affiliate programs still tend to use the cookie technology, not like trackers such as Voluum that has introduced the direct tracking method. A method that is immune to:
- clearing cookies
- changing browsers
- cookie dying out.
eBay is an exception from the average lifetime of 60 days. Pay close attention to the cookie lifetime policy when choosing an affiliate program. I know I did in my ranking.
Why do payout conditions of affiliate programs matter?
Companies usually pay their affiliates on a monthly basis, with a few exceptions. If cash flow is a problem, you may be interested in joining an affiliate program that pays up more often than the rest.
The other condition for a payout is the requirement to reach a certain amount of money.
Yep, you not only have to earn something (and some companies even charge you if you don’t earn anything for a few months) but you have to earn above a certain threshold (usually $100) to access your money.
Companies don’t want to be bothered with small few-dollar payouts.
My ranking of the best affiliate programs rewards companies that make payouts more than once a month with extra points.
Take that, the majority of companies!
What are acceptance criteria?
Most companies welcome all affiliates. You just have to have any thematically-related web page that you may post their affiliate links on. But when some companies do impose restrictions they may do it with a bang.
The prime example is Airbnb. Their initial requirement for affiliates is to own a website that has at least one million visitors per month.
One million or they won’t even talk to you.
That’s where their generous (10% allegedly, although the exact value is kept a secret) comes from.
As I think that companies should give all affiliates a shot at promoting their stuff, I deducted some points based on the severity of acceptance criteria.
What business criteria I should take into consideration?
The points made above shine a light…
…shine… like the flashlight…. Get it? Here’s the link again: BUY NOW
Ok, moving on.
There are other things that matter but are harder to measure. The general business stuff such as:
- The size of a market. Most of the markets’ are worth millions or billions on a global scale. YoY growth is a much better indicator of market’s potential profitability. It’s not the size that matters, it’s the number of niches with low competition.
- The competition. Some competition is good, it is an indicator of a healthy market. But strong competition… yeah, you don’t need strong competition.
- Average EPC. This depends heavily on the market. For example, gaming computers and accessories cost a lot of money, so even a small percentage of commissions are worth a lot.
How to track affiliate programs?
Even top paying affiliate programs need to be tracked to make sure that the audience you target responds well to the program you promote.
Affiliate ad trackers such as Voluum can put your marketing efforts into hyperdrive mode, as they record and present all the important data that allow you to fine-tune:
- Traffic targeting options
- Ads and landing pages
- Campaign funnels
Moreover, Voluum allows you to automate various tasks to save you time to get more offers from our ranking. If you think that you don’t need an affiliate ad tracker, check out the article on how Voluum can help marketers with various use cases and scenarios.
What about referral programs?
A referral program is like an affiliate program. The goal is also to advertise a service, but this time, an advertisement is done by a service or product user, not by an external marketer.
Think about the platforms, services and applications affiliate marketers use. Many of them have referral programs. You can advertise them to your fellow marketers for some extra cash.
How do I create an affiliate marketing program?
It’s easy. If you have a product or a service of your own, you only need a way to track its success. You can use Voluum to create a partner network of your own. We know a thing or two about tracking!
Affiliate program opportunities to choose from
There are of course many more affiliate programs than just the ones I’ve listed. But the point was not to list them all but to find you the best affiliates programs from niches that are profitable even during or after pandemic.
All programs still should be tracked to correctly count your payouts. For that, I recommend Voluum – the best affiliate ad tracker on the market.
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9 comments
What partner would work best for Newitts.com seller of Sports Equipment in the UK
I am always amazed at the useful information you provide on this site. I have been considering affiliate marketing on my blog and this would be a good place to start. Thanks!
I am always amazed at the useful information you provide on this site.
Thank you Michal – excellent and informative blog post!
I found this affiliate that I like… cestlavieprints.goaffpro.com Only because the product is cool and I like to feel something about the products I promote…
Their products sell for up to $2500 USD… and with 10% commission, it seems pretty sweet and easy product to sell these days with everyone stuck at home… lol!
Do you recommend sticking to the tried and test global leaders (such as Amazon), or is it worth taking time to promote up and coming businesses?
thanks for the information brother
Great list here. Would love to see a business software affiliate program list in here!
Great information! Thank you for sharing. I’m trying to find a good affiliate program for my website. I currently have Amazon Associates but was looking to see what other opportunities may be out there. Thanks again.
Thank you Michal for the resources. I never really considered E-commerce affiliate programs when I made a list of 100+.
Again, Voluum was in top as one of the best software affiliate programs to promote and make money with decent commissions.
Will be looking forward to adding a little bit more from your resources.
Great listing! Thank you for such helpful info. I’m a blogger in ecommerce field and I’m constantly looking for new but trusted affiliate programs. My latest findings are Alidropship affiliate program and Divi. The first one is about software, second – themes.