Joining and using various affiliate programs over the last 15 years has been one of my primary strategies for monetizing my content and creating a passive income from my articles, videos, and podcasts. During those years I’ve learned many things, but the most difficult part of using affiliate marketing was always finding the search for the best program or network.
I’ve used many different affiliate programs and networks (or platforms) over the years. Some of them managed to generate a passive income that lasted years, while others failed, costing valuable time, resources, and sometimes money. Although I won’t get into much detail, as I am already writing a beginner’s guide on affiliate marketing in which we will go even deeper, it’s crucial to do research and choose a popular and profitable niche, create a website, and fill it with high-quality content.
The same goes for influencers, bloggers, podcasters, and other types of content creators looking at monetizing their content using affiliate marketing. Even if you’re promoting the best product, it’s not going to get you any sales if no one is searching for it or you’ve created the wrong strategy. With that in mind, here are some of the best affiliate programs and platforms that I’ve used during all of those years, and still using, that you may find useful for your affiliate marketing strategy.
1. Impact
I fell in love with Impact the moment that I started using the affiliate platform. It has a modern and easy-to-use interface, it takes only a few minutes to complete the registration and customize your account and publisher profile, and they’re pretty quick at accepting new applications. After registering, you’ll have access to over 2,500 merchants that you can apply as an affiliate, and if get accepted, start promoting their products or services.
Impact also provides all the tools you’re going to need to monetize your content even further, from creating your own custom affiliate links to accessing and using all the available banners, images, videos, emails, coupon codes, articles, sponsored text, and text links that merchants provide to publishers. Those pre-made assets can make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to the visual part of your content.
Discovering and applying to new affiliate programs within Impact is pretty straightforward, and you can do that by going to Brands -> Find Brands, and either seeing them all or quickly searching and filtering your results based on categories, relationships, payout models, features, and more. There’s also a reports page from which you track your best and worst-performed links and affiliate programs, clicks, actions, sale amounts, earnings, and more.
Apart from all of that, Impact has some of the most popular merchants in the world, including Addidas, Uber, Revolut, eBay, Lenovo, Microsoft, Canva, and Disney Streaming, just to name a few, making it difficult to overlook. In addition, the platform always pays on time, and I never had any issues using it.
What I liked:
- Modern and easy-to-use interface.
- It’s easy to discover and apply for partnerships with brands.
- Great reports that are understandable for new users.
- Affiliates can request coupon codes for specific campaigns.
- They have tons of assets (banners) in different sizes that any publisher can use.
What I disliked:
- I accidentally created multiple inner accounts inside the same account, and it’s now difficult to understand with which account I am applying for new partnership requests (on the plus side there is an ID to separate them).
2. AWIN
One of the main reasons why I added AWIN to the list is because the affiliate network works with some of the most popular brands in the world, some of which are created for specific countries. For example, let’s say that you’re Greek, looking at brands that ship in Greece or already have set up their offices in the country, you’ll find many brands that operate in this specific country, including Spartoo, Stradivarius, Zooplus, and Hawkers, just to name a few.
Nevertheless, AWIN has nothing to envy from the other competitive affiliate networks, as it is a platform that includes more than 25,000 advertisers and 270,000+ publishers from all over the world. In fact, AWIN closed the year 2022 with a total of 200 million in sales made through its network.
It will only take you a few minutes to create a new account on the affiliate network. Once you do, go ahead and fill in all the necessary information on your profile, which will also be visible to brands before they choose to approve or decline your partnership requests. The more detailed the information you enter, the more approvals you’ll probably get.
What I liked:
- Easy to use interface.
- Tons of available affiliate programs to join.
- Search by region, sector, product feed, payment status, and more.
- Many tools are provided to create links, feeds, etc.
- Detailed reports to keep track of your performance.
What I disliked:
- Many of the inner pages are somewhat outdated, and I’d like to see a design improvement.
3. ShareASale
Just like the AWIN I mentioned above, ShareASale is one of the first stops for the majority of affiliate marketers. Surprisingly, the two affiliate networks share the same statistics, as ShareASale reports that it has more than 25,000 merchants and 270,000+ publishers, closing 2022 with 200 million in sales through its network.
But even though the two companies share similar statistics, their environments are completely different. You will find some of the best-known brands in the ShareASale network, while the platform is ideal mainly for bloggers who are interested in promoting web hosting companies, newsletter services, etc.
The good thing about ShareASale’s interface is that it makes searching for new merchants a matter of minutes, while it provides in bold font the commission that the company provides for each sale. There is a large list of online stores and companies that belong to different categories, which you can navigate with ease and only check those that are within the framework of your topic.
What I liked:
- 25,000+ merchants that publishers can connect to.
- Easy-to-use interface with lots of options and tools.
- Discover all affiliate programs by category.
- Simple to understand reports.
What I disliked:
- Somewhat outdated design.
4. TravelPayouts
TravelPayouts is probably the best-known affiliate network for travel bloggers and people who travel and want to make money promoting anything travel-related. From flights, hotels, car rentals, tours, and activities, to travel websites and services, at TravelPayouts you will find everything related to travel and travelers.
Some of the affiliate programs at TravelPayouts provide up to 54% commission on each sale while giving you access to tools such as widgets and banners that you can place in various places on your blog. However, most affiliate programs on TravelPayouts tend to provide low commissions, and in my testing, I was able to find just 62 affiliate programs.
But what will you find at TravelPayouts? Well-known companies have created their own partners, from the programs you will find Booking.com, GetYourGuide, Trivago, Tripadvisor, Tiqets, Kiwi, Trip.com, and others.
What I liked:
- Easy-to-use interface with light and dark mode.
- Neat design.
- Best for travel content creators.
What I disliked:
- There are only 62 affiliate programs to join as of this moment of writing (thankfully, most of them are pretty popular and hard to overlook).
5. Booking Affiliate Program
If you’re a traveler or writing about anything travel-related, then Booking.com is absolutely necessary for promoting millions of hotels around the world. Publishers have the opportunity not only to create customized affiliate links but choose between all the available banners, search boxes, map widgets, flight banners, and review score widgets that Booking.com has created.
Moreover, Booking’s affiliate program includes more than 28 million accommodations, plus transport options, and even attractions in over 60,000 locations, a number no travel blogger can easily overlook.
“Whether it’s a hotel or a tree house, a last-minute ticket to an attraction, or a car rental to get around – we have it.”
Booking.com.
As the commission goes, the Booking.com affiliate network offers a 25% commission for each sale, a number that can be increased based on your sales. Simply put, the more sales you make through their affiliate program, the more commission you’re going to get.
- Under 151 sales: 25% commission for each sale.
- 151+ sales: 35% commission for each sale.
- 501+ sales: 40% commission for each sale.
The platform also offers detailed reports with clicks and sales, promotion tools such as widgets and banners, as well as a search box that you can place on your website.
What I liked:
- Simple to use platform for creating basic affiliate links.
- You get the chance to receive a bigger commission based on your sales.
What I disliked:
- The design and widgets are somewhat outdated.
6. TripAdvisor Affiliate Program
Apart from being a great tool for travelers looking at their next adventure, helping millions of people to discover new ideas and destinations, TripAdvisor is great for travel content creators too. Their affiliate program includes more than 1.4 million places to stay and more than 795 million reviews, making it one of the most popular travel websites in the world.
When it comes to earning as a publisher, TripAdvisor offers a 50% commission for each completed booking, and you will also receive money for each click on their customer links. According to TripAdvisor, for every 170 clicks you will receive $60, for every 6100 clicks you will receive $1,720, and for every 870 clicks you will receive $550.
What I liked:
- High commission for each completed booking, get paid with clicks!
- Easy-to-use interface.
What I disliked:
- Nothing as of this moment.
7. PartnerStack
PartnerStack includes a marketplace with more than 200 brands you can work with. It is an affiliate network with a minimalist, modern, and neat management interface, which makes browsing and managing your affiliate programs a breeze.
Although a very modern network, one of the most irritating things that has not changed is the registration that publishers must go through to start promoting merchants. Every time you want to send an application, you must fill in all the information from the beginning, while you must also answer the mandatory questions that each merchant asks separately.
This means that with each application, you will have to fill in the link of the website, social networks, and any other website from which you will promote the products or services, and answer questions such as, “How did you find out about the program us?”, “How do you plan to promote our products?” and “Describe how you will promote our products in one proposal”.
With all that in mind, if you don’t mind spending a few minutes each time applying for each program, and the network’s small list of merchants doesn’t bother you, this is a great affiliate network.
What I liked:
- Modern, minimal, and friendly interface that’s easy to navigate.
- You can easily join any affiliate program, or discover what’s available.
- Easy-to-understand reports.
What I disliked:
- A small number of available affiliate programs.
8. Rakuten
With more than 25 years of experience in the field of affiliate marketing, Rakuten Advertising is one of the oldest networks on this list. In addition, affiliates will have access to over 150,000 merchants, which the affiliate network has organized into different categories and sections so that you can easily browse based on your interests and/or niche.
In addition to the huge number of partners that the network provides, among them are also Microsoft, Samsung, HP, Udemy, MacAfee, ESET, and many more. Of course, you will be able to see the information of each program, such as the commission they give and if it is possible to increase the money you make from sales based on the extra benefits provided by each individual program.
Unlike other similar platforms, Rakuten’s management environment is not one of the most modern you will get your hands on, and it often tends to lag when loading pages or browsing through the available programs. Still, it’s pretty stable and once you get used to its environment, you’ll be able to send requests and manage the merchant’s creatives with ease.
What I liked:
- Many popular brands that are hard to overlook.
- You can search and find specific links without leaving the platform.
What I disliked:
- The loading times and scrolling through the available affiliate programs could see improvements.
- The “Performance Reports” page could see an improvement.
9. CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate was founded in 1998, which means that they had two decades to improve their program and provide reliable services to their affiliates and merchants. With more than 3,000 merchants, this is a highly developed and powerful affiliate network.
The good thing about CJ Affiliate’s admin environment is that you can’t get lost easily. Everything is in the right place and it’s easy to search through the marketplace for all the available affiliate programs. Unfortunately, the design is somewhat outdated, and I’d love to see some improvements.
For affiliates who use PayPal as a way to receive their payments, unfortunately, CJ Affiliate does not support this payment method. However, all the statistics provided by the platform work in real-time, which means that you will see the numbers change live as the orders from your links are completed.
What I liked:
- There are many well-known companies that you can promote through the CJ Affiliate platform.
What I disliked:
- Outdated design, slow loading times, and a laggy scrolling experience when navigating through the available affiliate programs.
- Many affiliate programs provide as low as 2% sale commissions.
10. ClickBank
More than 100,000 affiliates worldwide have chosen ClickBank as their number one affiliate network, and the number one stop to discover new programs and brands. The company has been around for 25 years and has paid out more than $5.7 billion to its affiliates so far.
By signing up as an affiliate, you will have access to over 4,000 available products, available from thousands of different sellers. Each program includes its own creatives and its own affiliate links, while detailed statistics are provided to track your sales from each program.
Some programs on ClickBank can pay you up to $150 for each sale, which means the network is a great way if you’re interested in quickly making as much money as possible.
What I liked:
- High commission for specific affiliate programs.
- Mobile-friendly interface which makes navigation on smaller screens as good as it gets.
- If you can generate $250K in gross sales on ClickBank in a calendar year, you’ll also join ClickBank’s Platinum Program.
What I disliked:
- Nothing as of this moment.
11. Amazon Associates Program
The Amazon Associates Program is ideal for anyone interested in promoting products that are available on Amazon. It is probably the largest and most well-known online store in the world, which provides creators, publishers, and bloggers alike with a great way to make money from affiliate sales.
Since Amazon is one of the most well-known companies in the world, most people are already familiar with its website and the reliability it has provided over the years. Therefore, it is easier to promote products from well-known online stores than from unknown ones. And with millions of products available to all affiliates, the Amazon Associates Program is undeniably one of the best in the business.
However, just like the design of Amazon.com, the management environment of the Amazon Associates Program is a little outdated, but once you get the hang of it, you won’t have a problem using it.
What I liked:
- Millions of available products.
- It’s easy to create new custom affiliate links.
- Easy-to-use interface for new affiliates.
What I disliked:
- Somewhat outdated design.
- I’d like to see more (and well-designed) widgets and banners.
12. eBay Partner Network (EPN)
The eBay Partner Network (aka EPN) is similar to the Amazon Associates Program mentioned above, as it gives publishers access to all of the 2+ billion listings other users and companies have submitted on eBay. It comes with a modern and neat interface and has over 132 million buyers in 190 markets.
Although this is an online store that primarily focuses on selling second-hand items – often listed by individuals – you’ll also find hundreds of businesses and shops promoting their products and services through eBay.
In recent years, eBay has also become the number one stop to buy online programs, activation keys for operating systems like Windows, games, digital products like eBooks and Guidebooks, and many more. So, whatever it is that you want to promote, someone is probably already selling it through eBay.
What I liked:
- A modern and well-designed interface that it’s easy to use.
- Over 2 billion available listings for various categories/niches.
- Gets updated daily with hundreds of new products.
What I disliked:
- Nothing as of this moment.
13. Partnerize
Partnerize has joined forces with Pepperjam and BrandVerity to create a global and leading affiliate marketing solutions provider – and so far, they’ve been doing great. It is one of the most well-known affiliate networks worldwide, with more than 1,750 merchants.
Every year, Partnerize combined with the ecosystem it has created with other affiliate networks, generates more than 7 billion dollars in transactions. The entire ecosystem gives affiliates access to over 750,000 partners, a number too large for any serious marketer to accept.
Finally, it is important to mention the management environment of the platform, which is particularly modern and neat, easy to use for new affiliates, and allows you to easily manage all the programs you have subscribed to. The statistics will give you detailed information about the income you generate and the programs that generate the most money.
What I liked:
- Modern design with neat graphs.
- You can easily create custom deep links.
- A robust analytics page to keep track of your statistics, clicks, revenue, and more.
What I disliked:
- I’ve never found a way to join different affiliate programs with the same account, and I only got the chance to become an affiliate for WISE.
14. Surfshark VPN
With over 3200+ servers in 100 countries, secure and trusted Wireguard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN protocols, and an easy-to-use interface, Surfshark VPN is one of the best VPN services in the world. It’s been my number one choice for over a year now, and I’ve been using both the apps and browser extensions on all my devices.
It’s one of those apps that you want to always automatically start with your operating system and auto-connect to the closest and fastest VPN server. This is the best way to stay anonymous while surfacing and avoid getting hacked when you are connected to public Wi-Fi networks. And with one click, you immediately get access to any geo-restricted website or service, just by changing your IP address and selecting the preferred country.
Why choose to promote this service? For starters, it’s easier to promote an easy-to-use app that with 1 single tap/click will secure all your devices, it’s pretty useful for parents who want to secure their children’s devices, and you get unlimited devices in every single plan. Did I say they’re also pretty cheap?
What I liked:
- High-quality VPN service that keeps you secure with 1-click, making it easier to promote.
- Provides cheap plans which give you more opportunities to gain a higher number of sales.
- No-logs policy so your audience can feel safe.
- Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Routers, TVs, and more.
- Has browser extensions for even more flexibility or quick anonymous surfing.
- Unlimited device use for all plans.
What I disliked:
- Nothing as of this moment.
15. NordVPN
NordVPN is also a well-known VPN service with over 6,300 servers in 60 countries. In addition, the company provides a malware scanner tool, alerts about leaked credentials, and a tracker and ad blocker feature for an anonymous, safer, and faster surfing experience. NordVPN also has its own affiliate program that publishers can join and promote one of the world’s most-known VPN services.
They have an easy-to-use interface from which you can copy your affiliate links, customize them with IDs and parameters, and keep track of your statistics, including your clicks, sources, sales, etc. As of this moment, they give 40.00% commission per sale plus goals, and you can even get an 80.00% CPS for their Thread Protection plans, which is pretty high.
With all that in mind, anyone can get a subscription plan, download and install the app on their devices, and connect to a VPN server in any country they prefer with 1 click/tap. Last but not least, the company also has a no-log policy, which makes it even easier to promote.
What I liked:
- NordVPN is a well-trusted company that needs no introductions, making it easier to promote.
- Has a no-log policy and more than 6,300 VPN servers.
- Provides malware scan, includes a tracker and an ad-blocker, and alerts about leaked credentials.
What I disliked:
- Nothing as of this moment.
16. Linkwise
If you’re running a Greek blog, you’re interested in partnership with Greek companies, or even promoting Greek products and services to your Greek audience, then Linkwise is the king of affiliate networks in Greece.
Linkwise has over 320 affiliate programs that you can join with a click, it gives you access to a handful of tools for creating custom links, banners, data feeds, offer feeds, and even product widgets, which you can place in various places on your website. When it comes to joining an affiliate program, publishers must apply for a partnership, and the company will decide if they accept them or not – as it happens in most affiliate networks.
When it comes to statistics and reports, you can filter them by program, ID, type, and more. Publishers also get their own affiliate manager to ask any questions they may have, and they probably have the best and nicest support team I ever had the privilege of encountering.
What I liked:
- Has over 320 affiliate programs that publishers can join.
- Primarily focuses on the Greek market.
- You can choose between affiliate banners, text links, and widgets, and even create your own affiliate feeds.
- You can easily create custom affiliate links.
- There’s a Chrome extension (works great with Vivaldi Browser) that you can use to easily create and copy the affiliate link of any product in any e-commerce that you promote through the platform.
What I disliked:
- It’s only available in Greek.
I’ll keep updating this list with new affiliate programs and platforms as I use them. Unfortunately, not all of them are going to accept this website as an affiliate partner, so I may not be able to review them all.
What is your favorite affiliate program or platform? Did I miss recommending a specific platform that you’re using? Let me know in the comments down below, and I’d like to check out any recommendations you may have, and maybe include them in the list.
Uh, oh! Legal stuff! Yikes.. Yet important! Affiliate Links Disclaimer: Many of the links on my articles are affiliate links. That means if you click on one and make a purchase, I might earn a small commission, and I'll keep doing what I'm doing, reviewing everything with absolute honesty. Sounds good? Good.
