Affiliate marketing is the easiest way to make money online. I say ‘easiest’ because most of the hard work has already been done for you.
All that’s left is just getting the products in front of your customers, encourage them to buy, and you earn a commission–even if it’s at 2:00 AM in the morning!
Successful blogs like Smart Passive Income, ShoutMeLoud and Making Sense of Cents make thousands of dollars every single month. Most of this income comes from promoting products and services.
Free affiliate programs are not created equal. Some will deliver, and others won’t. So, it’s up to you to shift through and select the best affiliate programs to make money in your niche.
On that note, I have put together an ultimate list of the top affiliate programs for bloggers and content creators.
What is an affiliate program?
An affiliate program is a program that pays you commissions when you promote a merchant’s products or services.
Many people neglect affiliate marketing because they feel that it is a waste of time, and others don’t even know what it is or how it works. If you feel that it’s a waste of time, I’m here to prove to you that affiliate marketing works.
Money earned from affiliate marketing is passive income. I call it passive because you are not exchanging your time for money. This is income you can earn at 2:00 am in the morning while having fun with your friends or even while on vacation.
Now, let’s have a look at the best affiliate programs for bloggers that you can take advantage of starting today to increase your blog income.
65+ HIGH PAYING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
There are thousands of programs that new bloggers can join, but you can get a head-start on your income after reviewing this highest paying affiliate programs list.
Best Affiliate Programs for Bloggers
1. Bluehost Affiliate Program
Bluehost is a web hosting company with a high paying affiliate program. They pay out over $5 million in commissions to bloggers each year.
As an affiliate, you’ll earn $65 for every new customer sign up that has a 60-day cookie.
Bluehost has committed affiliate managers who are ready to offer you support and personalized advice when you need it.
Top bloggers like Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents earn over $40,000 from the Bluehost affiliate
Click here to join the Bluehost affiliate program and start earning residual income today!
2. Shopify Affiliate Program
Shopify is an e-commerce platform perfect for creating and managing online stores. They also have a high paying affiliate program that can earn you recurring commissions for months on end. Shopify has a 30-day cookie.
Here’s a breakdown:
You will earn the first two months of a customer’s paid subscription fee (which is about $598) on standard plans and 100% bounty which pays $2,000 for new Shopify Plus referrals.
Earning referral income from Shopify is easy. Just join the Shopify affiliate program then wait for your account to be approved.
Once it’s been approved, a unique affiliate link will be sent to you. Use that link to promote Shopify to your audience. You can do this on your website, on social media or even in YouTube videos.
Click here to join the Shopify affiliate program and make up to $2,000 per sale!
3. TAILWIND AFFILIATE PROGRAM
Tailwind is a Pinterest scheduling tool that can earn you 15% recurring commission on every sale that they get through your affiliate link. They have a 90-day cookie that allows you to get the 15% on all the transactions.
Want to use Tailwind yourself? Get the 1-Month FREE trial here.
Want to become an affiliate?
Join the Tailwind affiliate program and start earning monthly income!
4. TEACHABLE AFFILIATE PROGRAM
Teachable is an online teaching platform perfect for course creators and bloggers. When you join the Teachable affiliate program, you’ll start earning monthly recurring income.
They will be sending you 30% recurring commissions for one full year, for all the new customers you send their way. The money you earn will be deposited straight to your PayPal account. No questions asked.
Click here to join Teachable and start earning monthly recurring income!
5. CONVERTKIT AFFILIATE PROGRAM
6. Hostgator Referral Program
This website was first hosted via Hostgator and I loved it! I highly encourage you to promote Hostgator if you are a beginner and make some money while at it.
They do things a little differently, though. They pay per signups. 1 to 5 qualifying sign ups earn you $25 per signup and 21+ signups earn you $125 each. They have a 60-day cookie.
They pay per month and each month you receive your payment via check or PayPal.
Click this link for an in-depth Hostgator tutorial!
Click here and start earning with Hostgator!
Want to start a blog but don’t know how to go about it? Click here to start a blog on WordPress and be one of my lucky readers who gets a discounted price of $0.01 the first month. You will pay 1 Cent to get web hosting at HostGator. That’s $10.94 off!
7. Namecheap Affiliate Program
Namecheap is an accredited domain registrar, SSL certificate seller and web hosting service provider that has been in business since 2000. You get 15% commission every time a new customer makes a purchase through your affiliate link. Payment is made 30 days after a purchase has been done.
Click here and start earning with Namecheap!
8. Leadpages Affiliate Partner Program
Leadpages is a high-converting landing page software used by businesses to capture emails and generate more leads. They have an amazing affiliate program based on a recurring commission model. For every new customer who signs up for Leadpages through your affiliate link, you earn a 30% recurring commission for life, unless the customer cancels the subscription.
Click here to start earning 30% recurring commissions on Leadpages!
9. Bigcommerce Affiliate Program
BigCommerce is an online store software used to create beautiful storefronts on behalf of their customers. They have robust and modern in-built tools and apps that can turn your boring store into a marketplace that everyone wants to buy from thus increasing sales.
The affiliate program has a 90-day cookie. You earn $1.50 per registration and up to $1,500 per sale.
Click here to start earning with the BigCommerce affiliate program!
10. Liquid Web Affiliate Program
Liquid Web is a managed web hosting company providing the best hosting solutions to medium-sized and large online businesses. They have a 90-day cookie period and you can earn up to $1,500 per sale.
There are two ways to access the program. You can use CJ by Conversant or get access through the Impact Radius platform. I love the Impact Radius platform. It’s easy to use and has lots of offers too.
Click here to join Liquid Web affiliate program!
11. WP Engine Affiliate Program
WP Engine claims to be the best in WordPress Hosting and I believe them. They will pay you $200 per referral or 100% of the first month’s payment. This is massive, in my opinion. They have a 180-day return cookie.
And, did I mention that if you refer 60 people you get $1,500 extra? They sure know how to take care of their affiliates! To get signed up as an affiliate, you first have to get a Share-A-Sale account. I cover the best affiliate networks below so you don’t get stuck.
12. Siteground Referral Program
Siteground seems like the new kid on the block and everyone is talking about them. They use the same process that Hostgator uses. They pay per signups.
1 to 5 qualifying signups earn you $50 per signup and 21+ sign-ups earn you $125 each. One thing I love about their program is they pay weekly and no minimum monthly sales. You get paid what is owed, however small.
13. BeRush Affiliate Program
SEMRush is an online marketing platform offering competitive research services to all digital marketing professionals all over the world.
They created the BeRush affiliate program which can earn you 40% recurring commissions on every new user you bring their way. Payments are sent out twice a month through PayPal or Wire Transfer.
14. Elegant Themes Affiliate Program
Elegant Themes is a company known for creating modern premium WordPress themes. Their affiliate program has over 30,000 affiliates and they pay out $3,000,000 every year.
They have a 50% commission rate plus recurring payments. Meaning, you get paid for the initial payment, which is 50%, then every time a customer renews a service you still get commissions for that too. They have a 180-day return cookie.
15. Studiopress Affiliate Program
StudioPress offers high-quality themes and plugins to their customers just like Elegant Themes does. You get 35% commissions for theme sales and tiered flat-rate commissions for StudioPress sites ranging from $75 or $150 per site. They have a 60-day cookie and you get access through the Share-A-Sale platform.
16. Godaddy
GoDaday is also a domain registrars. You can join their affiliate program through CJ Affiliate by Conversant or Zanox Affiliate Network. Sale commission is 40% of all product sales made through your affiliate link.
17. Dreamhost
This is an award-winning web hosting company that has been in business since 1997. That’s a long, long time to build a business!
As a Dreamhost affiliate, you will make $120 for each referral and you don’t even have to be a customer to promote their services. They have a 60-day cookie. So, why not spread the word and start earning some extra cash!
18. Aweber
Partner with Aweber as an affiliate and make 30% recurring commissions. You get your payments every single month and they have a 365-day cookie.
19. MailerLite
Refer customers to MailerLite and earn 30% recurring commissions. They have a minimum payout of $120. Once you hit that limit you can request a withdrawal and it will be sent straight to your PayPal account.
20. Social Warfare
Sign up with Social Warfare affiliate program and make 30% commission on every sale you refer.
21. Getreponse
As a GetResponse affiliate, you will earn 33% recurring commissions on every paid account referred by you. They have a 120-day return cookie.
22. Sendowl
Make 20% recurring commissions when you refer customers to SendOwl.
23. Sam Cart
As a Samcart affiliate, you get 30% recurring monthly commissions and payments are done every 30 days
24. Grammarly
Grammarly affiliate program is run by Share-A-Sale and CJ Affiliate by Conversant. You make $0.20 when a new customer signups and $20 when they purchase a premium plan. They have a 90-day return cookie and offer bonuses to top performers.
25. 99Designs
Earn $55 for each converting customer you bring to 99Designs. They have more than 5,500 affiliates and they have paid out $250,000.
Click here to start earning with 99Designs!
26. Picmonkey
The PicMonkey affiliate program is run through Share-A-Sale. They pay 50% sale commissions and have a 30-day return cookie.
More of The BEST AFFILIATE NETWORKS for Bloggers
27. FLEXOFFERS
FlexOffers is a top affiliate program similar to Panthera. They’ve been in business for over 10 years and won the 2016 top 10 best performing affiliate programs.
They have a huge list of products that you can promote no matter the niche that you are in. I love how easy and user-friendly their dashboard is. You are able to see how much traffic or impressions you are getting from your offers and how much money you earn every single day.
Another cool thing that’s made me love FlexOffers is their recent partnership with Payoneer for easy access of funds. This is good news, most especially for people who reside outside the United States.
These are the products I promote on FlexOffers:
28. SHARE-A-SALE
Share-a-Sale is one of the largest affiliate marketing networks out there with over 3,900 verified merchants. It has been in business for over 17 years and has high-profiled merchants with a great reputation. Sale commission depends on the merchant but they range from 3% to 20% of the total amount. And lead commission ranges from $0.01 to $200.
A merchant like WP Engine pays as much as $200 per sale. Payments are sent out on 20th of every month via Check or Direct Deposit.
Whether your niche is fashion, cooking or gardening, you still are at the right place. They have all sorts of affiliate programs to fit your type of audience. So, why don’t you give Share-A-Sale a try today?
I’m yet to sign up with this affiliate network but a few of the good offers you can find here are:
29. MAXBOUNTY
MaxBounty is a well known cost per action (CPA) affiliate marketing website that connects publishers (affiliates) with advertises just like we’ve seen with , Share-A-Sale or FlexOffers.
They’ve been in business since 2003 and offer a wide range of products that you can promote. If you are a new blogger, I would encourage you to start with the survey offers. They are easy to promote and will earn you money the quickest.
While signing up to the MaxBounty affiliate program, their application process was a bit strict. I filled out the form with all the information accurately filled in. Then, one of their affiliate managers scheduled me for a Skype call where I had to answer a bunch of questions regarding the niche I was in, traffic sources I was going to use, and things of that nature.
After that, my account was approved and I started promoting affiliate products almost immediately.
30. Impact Radius
This is an affiliate marketing company that connects advertisers and publishers just like other companies I’ve mentioned above.
Brands like Hostgator and 99Designs realize that it’s not easy to track sales and affiliate commissions on their own, and so they look for third parties to help them out. That’s where Impact Radius comes in.
Impact Radius has a multi-layered tracking system that brings in 17% more earnings than basic cookie systems do.
31. Viglink
VigLink is among the best affiliate marketing websites that automatically convert your existing outgoing links into affiliate links on a blog. They have access to lots of affiliate programs all over the world.
You don’t need to get signed up with any of the affiliate programs directly. VigLink takes care of everything by connecting and tracking affiliate links from all those affiliate networks automatically.
Join VigLink here and start earning from home!
32. AMAZON ASSOCIATES
This is also another great affiliate marketing network that will pay you commission (referral fees) when a customer buys products through your affiliate link.
Sale commissions are given depending on the product categories. Some pay 4% and others pay 10 or 12% per sale. Payments are done via check, direct deposit, gift certificates or Payoneer if you are a non-US citizen. With check, they charge $15 processing fee and the amount should be above $100.
Amazon is one of the largest online marketplaces for selling just about anything. Bloggers and online sellers love Amazon because it’s highly reputable and has been around for the longest time.
They have over a million products that you can promote to your audience. You do this through the Amazon Associates affiliate program that can earn you up to 10% in advertising fees.
And that’s not all, if a client gets to a product page, through your link, but skips it and buys a different product(s) instead, you get a commission for that or those other products, as well. How cool is that?
Want to become an Amazon affiliate?
Click here to become a member and start earning affiliate commissions!
33. RAKUTEN MARKETING NETWORK
Rakuten is another amazing affiliate website that’s been voted number 1 for 7 consecutive years. The Rakuten Marketing affiliate network connects advertisers with publishers to reach new audiences and encourage repeat purchases.
It’s easy to get set up. Just go to the Rakuten affiliate program sign up page then fill in your contact details. You will receive an email containing your username and password that you will be using every time you want to access affiliate offers to promote
They work with global brands like:
- Wal-Mart
- Sephora
- Macy’s
- Best Buy
Join Rakuten and start promoting offers here!
34. AWIN
Awin is a global affiliate network that empowers advertisers and publishers to grow their online businesses. It was started in 2000, has 13,000 advertisers, 100,000 publishers and generated $148 million in 2017 alone.
They won a good number of awards for their excellence in service delivery, and one worth mentioning is the Blue Books Top 5 CPC Networks in 2017.
35. CJ Affiliate by Conversant
Formerly Commission Junction, this is a great affiliate marketplace that you can use to monetize your content and make money.
It connects advertisers (brands and companies looking to sell their products and services) and publishers (blog owners like you and I looking to promote those products to our audience then get commissions when someone purchases through our affiliate links.
Signing up takes just a few minutes. Once your application is received, you get access to the CJ account manager where you start applying to affiliate programs that you like. They pay on 20th of every month and the minimum payout is $25.
36. JVZoo
JVZoo is an instant commission platform that operates just like ClickBank, making it one of the best affiliate programs for new bloggers. You make commissions when you promote other people’s products. Here, you get the opportunity to make money both as a seller and as an affiliate.
As an affiliate, you get access to the JVZoo affiliate library and you can even make 100% sale commissions on the products you promote. If a product has a sales funnel, you get paid for the initial product plus all other products tied to that single product. Payments are done directly to your PayPal account from the vendor’s account.
Note:Â One con I find with JVZoo is payments are delayed especially if you are a beginner.
37. Clickbank
Clickbank is a global internet retailer that was founded in 1998 with over 200 million customers worldwide. It got the Top 100 e-Retailers in the US and Canada Award in 2015. It focuses mainly on digital information products.
Sale commissions are set by the vendors but they range from 1% to 75%. The default payout threshold is $100 but you can set your own if you prefer. Once this threshold is reached, a payment will be sent to you.
38. CREATIVE MARKET
Creative Market is an online marketplace used to sell products like vector patterns, photos, WordPress themes, fonts etc. When you become a Creative Market affiliate, you earn 10% of every purchase new customers make for a full year.
Another interesting angle to this is that, when the customers you referred come back to buy from Creative Market again, you get 10% commissions on those other purchases, as well. Join the Creative Market affiliate program today
39. Apple Affiliate Program
Earn commissions when your customers buy Apple products like iPhones, iPads, Apple TV and accessories. The amount you make will depend on how much your customers spend. The more they spend, the more money you will make.
Also, you can take advantage of new releases and seasonal promotions to make more money. Apple is a big brand that’s recognized worldwide and many people like buying their products. It won’t be hard to get sales.
iTunes Affiliate Program is another one that you can check out. Your application will be reviewed after 5 business days then access granted.
Online E-Courses & Ebooks with Affiliate Programs
40. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
The online course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is amazing. It will teach you everything you need to know about affiliate marketing. For you to qualify as an affiliate, you must be enrolled as a student first. Sale commission is 40%.
Click here to start earning with Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing!
41. Transcribe Anywhere
You can join TranscribeAnywhere affiliate program and make 20% commissions for every sale you get. This is a high ticket product and the payouts are good and you don’t need to be a transcriptionist to promote it.
42. Proofread Anywhere
You can also join the Proofread Anywhere affiliate program and earn 30% commission for every new sale you get. It’s also a high ticket product that can earn you good money, and you don’t need to be a proofreader to promote.
43. Gina Horkey’s Digital Products
Gina has different products that you can promote and make good money while at it. You get 40% sale commission on any of those products.
Payouts are done on 15th and 31st of every month via PayPal Mass Pay. She has a 365-day return cookie. See the list below of the products I personally promote
- 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistance Success
- 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Sucess
44. Elite Blog Academy
The Elite Blog Academy has an affiliate program but it is by invite-only. It’s mostly for students who have undertaken the course.
45. Ultimate Bundles
This is a library of amazing products and services. You earn 40% commission when your readers buy any bundle. Affiliates apply by filling out a form – then get approved manually.
46. Suzi’s Digital Products
Suzi offers 50% sale commission on Blog By Number, 40% sales commission on Income Journey and 30% commission on Make Money with Amazon Associates e-book.
- Blog By Number
- Make Money with Amazon Associates
- Income Journey
47. The Selling Familly Products
You get 50% commission on all products and payments are sent out every 1st of every month for the previous month’s sales.
Other high paying affiliate programsÂ
48. More Free Affiliate Programs
- Building a Framework:Â The Ultimate Blogging Handbook
- Strategies Worth Sharing
- Internet Scoping School
- Traffic Transformation
49. Theme Forest
For you to become an affiliate with ThemeForest, you have to get an Envanto account. They claim to pay out $3,000,000 per year. When you refer a customer and they buy or add credit to any of the Envanto sites, you get a 30% commission.
50. MyTheme Shop
You make 55% commission per sale and 2-tier lifetime 10% commissions when you refer customers to buy products on MyThemeShop. They have a 60-day return cookie offering monthly payouts with no payout limit
51. Bluchic
Bluchic has beautiful themes suitable for female entrepreneurs. You get a 25% sale commission when you promote their products. Payments go out automatically every 15th of every month for sales made in the previous month. This is done through PayPal and you must have a verified PayPal account
52. DIY Themes
This service is run through Share-A-Sale. They pay 33% sale commission on all Thesis license themes and they have a 60-day return cookie.
53. Pretty Darn Cute
When you refer customers to Pretty Darn Cute you get 25% sale commission and 5% 2-tier program. It has a 30-day cookie.
54. Gravity Forms
Earn 20% sale commission when you refer customers to Gravity forms.
55. Memberpress
MemberPress rewards its affiliates in three different ways. An active member with a Developer License gets 30% recurring commission.
Those who are active with a Business License earn 20% recurring commission and those who are not active get 10% recurring commissions. They have a 60-day return cookie and payments are done at the first of each month via PayPal
Quick Tips to Help You Find the Best Affiliate Programs
1. Make sure that they are related to your niche.
Don’t just take affiliate links and slap them on your website or promote them to your audience because the commissions are high. Relevance is key. Make sure the offers can solve your visitor’s problems.
2. How great is their customer support?
Are they reachable via email or Skype if need be? Join affiliate marketing programs for bloggers that have good customer support
3. How are their commission rates, pay periods, and payment methods?
A company like Bluehost is amazing when it comes to commissions rates. They pay $65 per sign up as you will see below and they pay on time via PayPal. Hostgator, on the other hand, takes forever to pay. Do put this into consideration before applying to a program.
4. A learning center.
A good number of companies have training materials like tutorials and guides to help you promote the products or offers with ease.
5. Read terms and conditions and be familiar with their rules and regulations.
A company like Amazon is very strict when it comes to adhering to their rules. Failure to disclose that you are promoting their affiliate products and your account may be deactivated. And, we don’t want that. Do we?
6. Choose 5 or 10 best affiliate programs or networks to work with.
Having a thousand programs on your website is not practical and definitely not professional. You need to be focused and choose a few offers that your audience can resonate with.
Related: 20 of The Best Facebook Groups for Bloggers
If you have a blog that’s receiving a decent amount of traffic, you should look for the best affiliate programs for bloggers to monetize. If not, then you will be leaving so much money on the table.
This comprehensive list contains high paying affiliate programs and the best affiliate programs for bloggers to make money.
Know other best affiliate programs that are not listed here? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
Love this post… Thankyou for such a great list of affiliate programs, will definitely be trying some of them out. X
I’m glad to hear that Anita! I wish you all the best. Regards
Hi Rachel,
You mentioned Viglink in the list of “others to check out”. I just want to give a little warning so your readers don’t go through what I experienced.
Viglink has 3 different affiliate options, and it’s important which ones you choose. In one of their options, they pick up on words in your blog and add their own affiliate links to these words. I can see some instances where this might be great.
However, I write a blog for nursing home volunteers. They picked up on the word “nursing” and added a ton of links related to baby care! After contacting customer service it was all straightened out, and I continue to use Viglink on my site, but it was very frustrating at the time.
Hello Diane. Thank you for pointing that out. I’ve noticed a similar scenario with my content. Viglink needs to find a way to sort that issue. I will contact them and bring this to their attention. Regards.
Mindblown. Definitely going to bookmark this page when I’m signing up for affiliate programmes. Thank you very much 🙂
So glad to hear that Rachel!Would be happy to know how it goes
Great list. Its frustrating to get approved to some affiliate networks and not get approved. Here’s another affiliate program you can add to the list. Instant approval. It’s a PLR membership site. You get paid even if your customer signs up only for free trial. If they pay, you get 20-50%. To be honest, I earn more from the Free trial signups than the paid ones.
Thank you for the comment, Emily but I do not touch on the topic of PLR on my blog. I’d appreciate it if we just stick to the topic of discussion, which is work from home companies. Thank you.
Hey friend, thanks for this informative blog on content creators, your blog is very informative for me. Thanks again.
Most welcome!
I tried some of them but find it too complicated to apply like Amazon and Jvzoo. I preferred the one that can copy and paste to your site with the affiliate link embedded. That is more easier for nontechnical bloggers. This is a good article
Hello Mann,
I always advice affiliate marketers to select affiliate programs that are suitable for you, you content and your audience. Amazon and JVZoo works for some people and not others. Try programs like Hostgator, Bluehost, Namecheap etc.
Love it! Always great to have such lists, to see if I didn’t miss any 🙂
Awesome! I’m happy to hear that Sophie!
Thank you for this helpful post Virginia! I am a new blogger and am trying to get monetizing down. I was just planning on looking at signing up with HostGator today. After reading your post I going to get it done! Thank you!
You are most welcome Sheila! Monetization is very important especially if you’re getting a decent amount of traffic on your blog. I would encourage you to sign up with other programs like iGain, Flexoffers and ShareaSale in addition to Hostgator. I wish you all the best!
This is a great list and I’m happy to see Envato Market on here. I use the Total theme for all three of the websites I manage and LOVE IT!!!
Happy to hear that Kate!
I cannot tell you how helpful this is. I’m bookmarking this page and making sure to look into these programs, thank you!
http://www.joi-knows-how.com
Happy to hear that Joi! I wish you all the best
Thanks for this great list! I recently signed up for FlexOffers and ShareASale, but many of the others are new to me. Do you have favorites on the list?
Flex Offers and ShareASale are good companies. Did you get accepted? Another great one is iGain. I will write a post about it in the future. Well, hosting companies and domain regestras are good ones because people are always creating blogs and they must buy domains and hosting. But, as a beginner, I would advise you to start with Flex Offers and iGain. They have cost per action offers in that when someone signs up for the promotions you promote you make a sale. And the payout is good.
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I was accepted by Flex Offers and ShareASale. I’ll take a look at iGain next.
That’s great! You can get started with Flex Offers. It’s newbie-friendly. I wish you all the best.
Affiliate programs intimidate me a bit because my follower numbers are not exceptionally high! Which would you recommend for a relatively ‘young’ blogger?
Hello Talisa,
You don’t have to be intimated . Just choose products and services that you use like hosting companies (Hostgator, Bluehost etc), email marketing companies (aweber, convertkit), domain name companies (Namecheap, GoDaddy). Basically something you’ve bought and used and it’s working out for you.