Do you want to make money but don’t know how? Affiliate marketing programs are a great way to start! In this article, you’ll find a list of the best affiliate programs to help you make the right choice.

How Do Affiliate Marketing Program Works?

Affiliate marketing programs consist of three parties:  the merchant, the affiliate network, and the affiliate.

Merchants provide goods or services that need to be sold.

The network serves as the platform where the merchant is indirectly connected to the affiliates.

Depends on how much the merchant is willing to pay, the network will delegate the marketing process to its affiliates who will then direct their audience to the merchant.

This is where your golden opportunity lies. By becoming an affiliate, you get to earn money by promoting companies’ products on your blog. It’s also hassle-free as you don’t have to worry about the production and distribution process.

Check out this article to know more about the ins and outs of affiliate marketing.

Three Types of Payment Models

Affiliate platforms usually offer three types of payment methods. They determine the amount of commission an affiliate will receive by the end of the campaign. Each model has its pros and cons, so it’s better to know them first before choosing which platform you want to join.

Here are the three most common payment models that you will most likely encounter:

  • Pay-per-sale — The commission originates from a percentage of the total sales. Companies who sell physical and digital products usually use this model.
  • Pay-per-click — This model relies on the number of clicks the ads on your site get. Aside from promoting products and services, the objective is to drive traffic to a specific website.
  • Pay-per-lead — Sometimes, you don’t even need to sell a product to get a commission. Companies use this model to promote free trials and subscriptions to increase their brand awareness.

How Much Can I Make From Affiliate Marketing?

How big is your audience? What about your blog traffic? Can you score a good campaign deal?

These are few among many questions that could affect your earnings. Like every other business, you won’t be successful overnight.

Earning nothing during the early period of your affiliation is common. But, it’s also common to get $3000 per day once you snatch a great campaign deal or broaden your audience.

The bottom line is that you won’t know until you try.

So, why don’t you give it a shot?

18 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs in 2019

There are a lot of platforms that offer great affiliate programs. We will cover 19 of the best ones, complete with their pros and cons for your future consideration.

1. Hostinger Affiliates

hostinger affiliate programAs one of the biggest web hosting providers on the market, Hostinger’s affiliate marketing program aims to solidify that reputation. With the pay-per-sale payment model, you can get a commission rate of 60% per sale at the minimum without having to pay a registration fee.

The best features of Hostinger affiliate program include:

  • No registration fee — Start earning money without making any investment.
  • Flexible marketing platform — You can put the banner affiliates both on your blog and social media.
  • Fixed commission rate — No hidden backdoors. You’ll get what you earn.
  • Long tracking cookie duration — You have 30-day window time to convince your audiences to make a purchase since the moment they click on the referral link.

Its limitations are as follow:

  • Pay-per-sale term — The commission is only valid if the customer doesn’t cancel their plan in the next 35 days after purchase.
  • High payment threshold — The payment will only be available for withdrawal once you reach $100 minimum limit.

2. 000webhost Affiliates

000webhost affiliate marketing programLike Hostinger, 000webhost focuses on their hosting plan sales. Considering what the company offers is free, you don’t have to push your campaign too hard for it to sell. You can earn $5 for every referral made via the referral link.

Its perks include:

  • Flexible marketing platform — You can put the affiliates link both on your blog and social media.
  • Forum finder tool — Increase your conversion rate by promoting in high-traffic forums.

Be aware of its limitations:

  • Partnership limitations — You’re not allowed to participate in other affiliate marketing program during the affiliation period with 000webhost.
  • High payment threshold — The payment will only be available for withdrawal once you reach $100 minimum limit.

3. Shopify Affiliate Program

shopify affiliate marketing programOriginally established as an ecommerce site, Shopify has broadened its business scope and became an ecommerce platform for other entrepreneurs. As such, its affiliate marketing program focuses on plan sales. You can earn up to $2000 for each Plus referral as their top-tier plan.

The affiliate marketing program’s best features include:

  • The flexibility of marketing platform — You can put the affiliates link both on your blog and social media.
  • Low payment threshold — The payment is available for withdrawal once you reach $25 minimum limit.
  • Monthly revenue share — You get 10-20% recurring commission per month as long as the referral remains a paying customer.

Things that you need to keep in mind:

  • Limited customer support — If you’re selling their themes, you’re responsible for answering the customer’s questions as well as fixing the bugs that appear during their subscription period.
  • Strict partnership terms — The company will reset all revenue share payments if you fail to sell one of their plans every 12 months.

4. Amazon Associates

amazon affiliate marekting program

Being one of the biggest online retailers in the world, Amazon will surely have something to sell that fits your target audience.

Like Hostinger, the commission is earned based on the number of successful sales made through your affiliate link. The registration process is straightforward and also free of charge.

The best features of this affiliate marketing program include:

  • Wide selection of product — Promote products that align with your blog’s niche to have a better chance of targeting your audience.
  • Reputable company — You don’t need to build brand awareness to push the ads.
  • No registration fee

Its limitations are as follow:

  • Different fixed price per product category — The commission rates range from 1% (video game-related products) – 10% (fashion goods and Amazon Coins) per sale.
  • Low commission rate — Unless you promote products that have a high commission rate like clothes or furniture, you won’t get much from this affiliate program.
  • Short tracking cookie duration — The cookie only lasts for 24 hours.

5. eBay Partner Network

ebay affiliate marketing programThe eBay affiliate marketing program is very similar to Amazon’s. With more than 1.1 billion listings, you get a ton of goods to sell based on your blog’s niche.

Since eBay has quite a stellar reputation, you don’t need to work as hard to build brand awareness.

eBay Partner Network offers 50-70% commission rate for every product that you sell.

Its perks include:

  • Niches-less ads — Due to their wide selection of products, this program is suitable for almost all niche-specific sites.
  • Low payment threshold — The payment is available for withdrawal once you reach $25 minimum limit.
  • Additional marketing tools — Features like RSS Feed Generator, Promotion and Sales Portal, and Product Feeds will help you gain more sales through your blog.

Be aware of its limitations:

  • Strict partnership terms — While the registration is free, this program is known to approve high-traffic sites only.
  • Short tracking cookie duration — The cookie only lasts for 24 hours.
  • Marketing tools limitations — You need to pay special attention to the products you sell as they can become unavailable at any time.

6. Avantlink

avatlink affiliate programAs an affiliate marketing network, Avantlink is a great place to get affiliate deals with reputable merchants.

With over ten years of experience, they have pretty much got everything right in crafting a program that benefits both merchants and independent affiliates.

The program’s best features include:

  • Additional marketing tools — Robust features like Contextual Ad Tool, Merchant Ads Generation, and Custom Link Builder let you build custom links that work even on mobile gadgets.
  • Ability to monetize old content — With Affiliate Link Encoder, you get to monetize your old content using specific keywords that will trigger ads to your products.
  • Transparency — You get to know the merchant’s detailed overview before deciding whether or not you want to work with them.

Things that you need to keep in mind:

  • Strict partnership terms — While the registration is free, the company itself states that only 30% of applicants are approved to join the program.
  • Slow customer support — Since there’s no real-time customer support, it can take a longer time for them to get back to you.

7. CJ Affiliate

cj affiliates affiliate marketing programHaving 20 years of experience in the field of affiliate marketing programs, Commission Junction Affiliate will surely benefit you.

Merchants determine the amount of commission the affiliate gets, so you’ll have a better chance of earning higher commissions if you work with big brands.

The best features of CJ affiliate marketing program include:

  • Huge affiliate network — Having a lot of merchants means that you have the freedom to choose who you want to work with based on their commission rate and country of origin.
  • Marketplace management — Both the merchant and affiliate get to review ads placements and monitor their progress.
  • Open communication — The network encourages merchants to interact with affiliates in creating better content for both parties.

Its limitations are as follow:

  • Strict partnership terms — This cuts back a significant number of applicants who don’t live up to their standard.
  • One-sided dependency — You should directly contact the merchant for any product and merchant-related questions as CJ Affiliate won’t be your mediator.
  • Dormant account fee — The network charges a $10 dormant account fee if you fail to get a commission at least once every six months.

8. Clickbank

clickbank affiliate programFocusing on digital product sales, Clickbank has become one of the largest online retailers on the market.

Their wide selection of ebooks and software products makes it suitable for niche-specific sites to join their affiliate marketing program.

The affiliate marketing program’s perks are:

  • Niches-less ads — Due to their wide selection of digital products, this program is suitable for almost all niche-specific sites.
  • High commission rate — Earn up to 75% commission per sale.
  • Flexible withdrawal threshold — Set as low as $10 to withdraw your payment.

Be aware of its limitations:

  • Dormant account fee — Clickbank will charge $1 per pay period after 90 days of no commission. The fee will gradually increase the longer you remain inactive.
  • Refund policy — The long refund window allows a lot of room for commission cancellation to happen as well.

9. Rakuten Linkshare

rakuten linkshare affiliate programHere’s another affiliate marketing program worth checking out. Due to its nature, Rakuten Linkshare encourages direct communication between the merchants and the affiliates.

Advertisers decide the commission rate, so your reputation and blog traffic could affect the quality of the deals you snatch.

The program’s best features include:

  • Huge affiliate network — Freedom to choose who you want to work with based on the commission rate.
  • Training and tools — Aside from users’ tool, you will also get to participate in educational webinars and video tutorials.
  • Management support — The network requires every advertiser to assign a dedicated manager who will assist the marketing process and protect your brand.

Things that you need to keep in mind:

  • No clear pricing — Pay attention to every available campaign as they tend to offer different commission rates.
  • Strict partnership terms — The network tends to work with established merchants and affiliates only.

10. VigLink

vig link affiliate marketing programWant to monetize outgoing links? VigLink’s monetization service allows you to do just that.

You can get a referral commission without having to sign up with affiliate marketing programs. All you need to do is focus on the quality of your content and let VigLink do the rest.

The best features of VigLink include:

  • SEO-friendly system — The ads won’t hinder your traffic.
  • Instant approval — No complicated registration process and additional fees.
  • Affiliate search tool  — VigLink will scan your content to find as many affiliate links to add.

Its limitations are as follow:

  • Partial commission — VigLink takes 25% commission per referral earning.
  • Low-paying affiliate programs only  — You won’t find high commission rate deals here.
  • No control over affiliate links  — While they usually add links that are relevant to your content, there’s still room for error.

11. ShareASale Affiliates

share sale affiliate marketing programWith this affiliate marketing program, you get a wide selection of products to choose from. The commission rate is stated from the beginning, so you know how much you can get out of the deal.

Its perks include:

  • Various payment models — You get to choose the affiliate marketing program based on their commission rate and payment model.
  • Sustainable business programs — You can join green programs and support eco-friendly merchants.

Be aware of its limitations:

  • High payment threshold — The payment will only be available for withdrawal once you reach $50 minimum limit.
  • Dormant account fee — ShareASale will charge $25 per month after six months of no commission and login activity. The account will be terminated once there’s no balance.

12. PeerFly

peerfly affiliate marketing programAs one of the biggest and best cost-per-action networks, PeerFly gives you access to various affiliate marketing programs with high commission rates.

Their unique commission model opens more opportunities to get money through multiple actions other than the sales alone. Peerfly is also great for newbies as they provide free training and tools to adjust much faster.

The program’s best features include:

  • Cost-per-action perks — Depends on the advertiser, you get 40%-50% commission for sending a lead to them or pushing a sale.
  • Filter by device — Pick device-specific deals to drive more traffic to your referral links.
  • Engaged community — Join their forum to exchange professional marketing methods and get personal feedback.

Things that you need to keep in mind:

  • Competitive platform — Due to the size of the network, you will have to compete with other affiliates to get better deals.
  • Strict partnership terms — Not only will you find it hard to join, but you can also be permanently banned once you violate their terms.
  • Paid-membership forum — You need to pay $20 per month to become a member.

13. BeRush (SemRush Affiliate Program)

berush affiliate marketing programAs one of the best Software as a Service (SaaS) companies on the market, SemRush’ online visibility management software has a broad audience.

The affiliate marketing program focuses on plan sales with 20%-40% commission per sale.

The best features of BeRush include:

  • Monthly revenue share — You get 40% recurring commission per month as long as the referral remains a paying customer.
  • Multi-language promo materials — They are provided in English, Russian, German, Spanish, and French.
  • Standard payment threshold — The payment is available for withdrawal once you reach $50 minimum limit. The minimum commission is $39.98, so it shouldn’t be too hard to reach the threshold.

Its limitations are as follow:

  • Pricey product — Unless you’re very persuasive or have the right target audience to sell SemRush plans, you will have a hard time here.
  • Niche-specific product — Their software isn’t something everyone needs on a daily basis.

14. NinjaOutreach Affiliate Program

ninja outreach affiliate marketing programCompared to other companies in this list, NinjaOutreach provides a rather unique service. Their affiliate marketing program targets businesses, agencies, and link builders with influencer marketing and outreach needs.

You can see this as a hindrance or a challenge, but their 20% monthly recurring commission is not something to be missed.

Its perks include:

  • High commission rate — Considering the price of their most basic plan, 20% recurring commission per month is a great deal.
  • Standard payment threshold — The payment is available for withdrawal once you reach $100 minimum limit. While the threshold seems a bit steep, the monthly recurring commission will get you there in no time.

Be aware of its limitations:

  • Specific target audience — This can be quite challenging if you’re not a part of an influencer network in the first place.
  • Pricey product — Again, this will further limit your target audience.

15. Hubspot Affiliate Program

hubspot affiliate marketing programFocusing on the sales of software products for marketing, customer service, and CRM, their affiliate marketing program offers various perks. Make use of their creative inventory to help boost your earnings and get $250-$1000 per sale.

The affiliate marketing program’s best features include:

  • High commission rate — As there’s no minimum sales or commission limit, you get what you earn.
  • Long tracking cookie duration — You have 90-day window time to convince your audience to make a purchase.
  • Multi-language promo materials — They are provided in English, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Japanese.

Things that you need to keep in mind:

  • Commission tracking limitation — HubSpot won’t be able to track commissions that don’t start or end on .com.
  • Selective commissions — No commission on discounted products.

16. Leadpages Partner Program

leadpages affiliate marketing programFrom hosting service to virtual workshops, Leadpages’ plans cover everything you need to boost an online presence.

Their target audience ranges from independent entrepreneurs or small scale businesses to enterprises.

The affiliate marketing program’s perks include:

  • High commission rate — Earn 30% recurring commission per month as long as the referral remains a paying customer.
  • Webinar purchase — Commission also applies to weekly live Leadpages webinar.
  • Long tracking cookie duration — You have 30-day window time to convince your audiences to make a purchase since the moment they click on the referral link.

Be aware of its limitations:

  • Limited payment method — The commissions are only paid using US Dollars via Paypal.

17. Elegant Themes

elegant themes affiliate marketing programElegant Themes focus on WordPress themes. Not just that, there are also a ton of plugins to build and optimize your site.

As this company already has a massive following in the WordPress community, you only need to market the themes and plugins to the right audience.

The affiliate marketing program’s best features include:

  • High commission rate — Earn 50% commission per sale and yearly renewal commissions.
  • Long tracking cookie duration — You have 180-day window time to convince your audience to make a purchase.
  • Standard payment threshold — The payment is available for withdrawal once you reach $58 minimum limit. Memberships start at $69 per year, so it shouldn’t be too hard to reach the threshold.

Things that you need to keep in mind:

  • Fierce competition

18. ConvertKit Affiliate Program

convert kit affiliate marketing programConvertKit is an email service provider. Their affiliate marketing program is a great way to boost your income!

The plans start at $29 per month, and you can get a 30% recurring commission every time your referrals renew theirs.

ConvertKit affiliate marketing program’s best features include:

  • No registration fee — It’s free and effortless to join the program.
  • Long tracking cookie duration — You have 60-day window time to convince your audience to make a purchase.
  • No payment threshold — ConvertKit will send your commission on the second of every month.

Its limitations are as follow:

  • Long commission confirmation — The commission will only be available 30 days after the purchase.
  • Limited payment method — The commissions are only paid via Paypal.

Conclusion

While there’s a ton of affiliate marketing programs you can join, it would be better to identify your goals first and then go from there.

If you’re a casual blogger who wants to dabble with affiliate marketing without taking any significant risks, you can join Hostinger Affiliates, 000webhost Affiliates, or Amazon Associates.

Once you have a decent number of followers, eBay Partner Network or Avantlink can be a fun and rewarding challenge for you.

To dive deeper into the world of affiliate marketing, you can join high-commissioned programs like PeerFly and Shopify.

Or join affiliate programs that could go along with your blog’s niche. After all, you don’t want to drive away your audiences with ads that don’t match with your collective interests.

In the end, the best way to find the right program is by trying new things and learn from past experiences.

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