Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn passive income. Your website acts as a virtual salesman, allowing you to make money without having to manage a product or deal with fulfillment.
In this article, I’ll list the top 25 free affiliate programs, and provide a brief overview of each to help you earn money from your promotions.
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Brevo
Brevo, formerly known as Sendinblue, is a Software as a Service (SaaS) marketing platform that helps businesses communicate with customers through various channels, including email marketing, SMS, chat, WhatsApp, and CRM.
With over 180,000 active users worldwide, Brevo offers a partner program catering to three specific groups:
- Bloggers
- Agencies
- Incubators/venture capitalists.
For bloggers, you earn a fixed €5 for each free signup, even if the referred customer doesn’t make a purchase. In addition, if the referred user eventually subscribes on a recurring basis, you get an extra €100.
You can monitor all your earnings in real time, and payments are disbursed on a monthly basis.
Commission: €5 for a free account referral + €100 for a subscription purchase
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal or bank transfer
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is an email marketing tool designed to help customers grow their customer base through tools like landing pages, forms, and newsletters.
With over 611,109 creators sending over 2.5 billion emails monthly, ConvertKit offers affiliates a high payout for referrals.
As a ConvertKit affiliate, you can earn a recurring 30% commission for a maximum of 24 months for every referred user who becomes a paying customer.
Their monthly subscription plans span from $15 to over $2,000, making the income potential highly attractive.
Commission: 30% recurring for 24 months
Cookie life: 30 days
Payout methods: PayPal
Liquid Web
Liquid Web is a premium web hosting and dedicated server solutions provider, serving 45,000 customers across 150 countries.
Their affiliate program provides commissions of 150% of the monthly hosting cost, with a minimum payout of $150.
The commission amount varies depending on the hosting plan selected, allowing you to earn several hundred dollars per sale. Moreover, there’s a 50% bonus for prepaid plans.
For example, if you refer a customer to a $399 per month Dedicated Hosting plan, you would earn a $599 commission, unlike other webhosting affiliate plans that only pay a small percentage of the sale.
Commission: $150 for each sale, or 150% of managed hosting cost
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal
HubSpot
HubSpot’s is an award-winning CRM, marketing, sales, and customer service software company.
Their affiliate program offers three tiers, each with increasing earning potential and rewards:
- HubSpot Affiliate: Earn a 30% recurring commission for up to 1 year for each sale.
- Super Affiliate: Get a 30% recurring commission for up to 1 year for each sale, plus extra bonuses for achieving 100+ monthly signups.
- Elite Affiliate: Qualify for a custom commission rate for achieving 200+ monthly signups.
HubSpot’s subscription plans range from $50 to over $3,000 per month and are entirely managed through Impact, a popular affiliate platform.
In addition, the program provides a welcome bonus of up to $80 USD to affiliates during their initial 30 days of participation.
Commission: 30% recurring for 1 year
Cookie life: 180 days
Payout methods: PayPal or direct deposit
Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates is the most widely used affiliate program, offering commissions ranging from 1% to 10%, depending on the category.
The best part about Amazon Associates is that it’s a well-known and trusted brand, making it easier to attract customers. Amazon also has high conversion rates, especially during the holiday season, and its vast product selection caters diverse businesses.
The highest commission rate is at 20% for Amazon Games, followed by 10% for Luxury Beauty.
In addition, Amazon introduced the Amazon Influencer Program, an extension of the Associates program tailored for social media influencers.
This program offers similar benefits to the Associates program, along with a personalized Amazon page to showcase recommended products to your followers.
Commission: 1% to 20% (varies by product category)
Cookie life: 24 hours
Payout methods: Bank account, cheque, or Amazon Gift Certificate
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a fully hosted ecommerce SaaS company that lets you set up your own online store and sell physical or digital products online.
Currently, there are approximately 45,000 live stores using the BigCommerce platform.
When your referral purchases a BigCommerce plan, you receive a commission equal to 200% of the customer’s first monthly payment.
BigCommerce has three Essential plans at $29, $79, and $299 monthly. This allows you to potentially earn up to $600 per referral on their most expensive Essential plan.
BigCommerce also offers an Enterprise plan with pricing available upon request. For Enterprise customers, the commission is a flat $1500.
Commission: 200% of the customer’s first monthly payment or a fixed $1500 for Enterprise customers
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal
Shopify
Shopify is a fully managed ecommerce platform that allows you to create an online store without any coding or web design skills.
Like BigCommerce, Shopify provides all the tools to set up and run an online store, including analytics, drag-and-drop builder, and web hosting.
At present, there are approximately 4.6 million live stores using Shopify.
Shopify has two affiliate programs:
- Shopify Affiliate Program
- Shopify Partner Program
The Shopify Affiliate program consists of content creators, course educators, influencers, and review sites that add a unique referral affiliate link.
Shopify pays you a fixed bounty of $150 for each qualified referral, irrespective of whether the customer opts for the $39/month Basic plan or the $399/month Advanced plan.
The best part is you have the flexibility to choose between receiving payments when your balance reaches a specific amount or on a bi-weekly basis.
As of June 2022, this program is powered by the Impact affiliate network.
The Shopify Partner program consists of designers, developers, marketers, and affiliates who use the Shopify platform to create ecommerce websites, themes, and Shopify apps.
Partners receive a recurring commission equivalent to 20% of the merchant’s monthly subscription fee.
Commission: $150 on every plan
Cookie life: 30 days
Payout methods: PayPal or direct deposit
SEMRush
SEMrush is a SaaS company specializing in SEO, backlink tracking, and competitive analysis tools for digital marketers.
Their affiliate program offers a flat $200 commission per subscription, regardless of the pricing plan your referral chooses.
For example, referring just ten people could potentially earn you $2,000 per month. In addition, SEMrush provides a generous 120-day cookie life.
SEMrush also offers $10 for every new lead and $0.01 for each new signup.
As an affiliate, you get access to exclusive SEMrush promotional materials available in five different languages. The application process is streamlined, with automatic pre-approval, allowing you to get started quickly.
Commission: $200 for subscriptions, $10 for free trials, and $0.01 for new signups
Cookie life: 120 days
Payout methods: PayPal or direct deposit
Kajabi
Kajabi is a SaaS company that offers tools for online course creation, membership management, marketing campaigns, landing page creation, and website design.
The Kajabi Partner Program is exclusively available to Kajabi users. As an affiliate, you’ll earn a 30% lifetime commission for every new member you refer to Kajabi who remains active beyond their trial period.
In addition, as you progress through various levels, you can unlock exclusive bonuses and special rewards.
Commission: 30% lifetime recurring
Cookie life: 30 days
Payout methods: PayPal or your preferred method
Teachable
Teachable is a user-friendly platform that enables creators to offer and sell online courses, coaching services, and digital downloads.
This leading e-learning platform boasts 18 million students and hosts 186 thousand active courses.
You can earn a 30% recurring commission on monthly subscription fees, ranging from $29 to $499 monthly. This means you stand to earn as much as $150 per sale.
Teachable states that their partners earn an average of $450 per month, with some making $1,000 or more monthly.
Commission: Up to 30% lifetime recurring
Cookie life: 30 days
Payout methods: PayPal
Elementor
Elementor is a drag-and-drop WordPress website builder that simplifies site customization without any coding. They offer a wide range of widgets, templates, design tools, and integrations to enhance your WordPress site.
In addition to its Elementor Pro plugin, Elementor has recently introduced hosting, providing users with a hassle-free hosting environment to complement their design needs.
Currently, Elementor boasts a user base of 8.5 million live websites.
Elementor’s affiliate program offers a competitive 50% commission for each sale. They offer three pricing plans for their Pro Plugin, priced at $59, $199, and $399 per year.
According to Elementor, some of their partners earn more than $10,000 a month, making Elementor an attractive affiliate program to explore.
Commission: 50% per sale
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal or your preferred method
Bluehost
Bluehost is a premium WordPress hosting site, with pricing starting at $3 a month to $14 a month.
Bluehost boasts a huge user base, serving over 2 million companies with a 4 star rating from WPBeginner.
Their affiliate program offers a generous commission of up to $140, depending on the referred plan type.
Commission: Up to $140 per referral
Cookie life: 60 days
Payout methods: PayPal
Wix
Wix is a fully hosted content management system, similar to WordPress, where they take care of all the technical and server-related aspects of running a website. Over 8.5 million websites use Wix.
Wix offers an attractive $100 commission per Premium referral, and there’s no limit to the number of people you can refer. This means that if you successfully refer 10 people, you’ve already earned $1,000.
However, there’s a minimum sales target of $300 per month to receive payouts. If your earnings are below this threshold, they will be retained in your account until you reach the specified benchmark.
Commission: $100 per Premium sale
Cookie life: 30 days
Payout methods: Wire transfer
eBay Partner Network
eBay, the second most popular online marketplace, has an affiliate program called eBay Partner Network.
This program offers commissions ranging from 1% to 4%, allowing you to earn a percentage of eBay’s revenue from each purchase, depending on the product category.
The highest commission rate stands at 4% for Parts & Accessories and Fashion categories. However, there are category-specific caps, most of which are well below $1,000.
Commission: 1% to 4% based on the product category
Cookie life: 24 hours
Payout methods: PayPal or electronic fund transfer
iSpring
iSpring is a software company that produces PowerPoint-based tools for e-learning content.
Their flagship product, iSpring Suite, is an award-winning authoring tool used for creating interactive ebooks, illustrated characters, online courses, quizzes, role-plays, and video tutorials.
Their affiliate program covers three products: iSpring Suite, iSpring Suite Max, and iSpring Suite Premium, priced at $770, $970, and $1970, respectively.
With a 10% commission rate, you can earn between $77 and $197 per sale. For example, if you refer ten customers to iSpring Suite, you can earn $970 monthly.
Commissions are verified and paid out every quarter.
Commission: 10% per sale
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal
Thinkific
Thinkific is a versatile platform that allows you to create, promote, and sell online courses, establish communities, and monetize memberships under your own brand.
As a Thinkific affiliate, you can earn a 30% lifetime recurring commission on all monthly or annual payments. Thinkific’s pricing plans range from $49 per month to $499 per month.
Payouts are processed after the 13th of each month, offering affiliate partners the potential to earn up to $1,700 per referral annually.
Moreover, you can offer your audience a 1-month free trial of Thinkific’s Pro plan by generating a special link via your Thinkific dashboard.
Commission: 30% lifetime recurring
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal or Stripe
GetResponse
GetResponse is a robust email marketing tool that enables you to create a mailing list, send newsletters, and automate the process.
In addition to email marketing, GetResponse provides features such as landing pages, opt-in forms, webinar hosting, a CRM tool, and a variety of other marketing automation tools.
GetResponse has two affiliate programs to choose form:
- Recurring: Continuous 33% commission.
- Bounty: Upfront $100 per sale.
Alternatively, you can promote GetResponse through CJ Affiliate and earn $1090 for each sale.
Keep in mind that the cookie duration in this affiliate program is 30 days, which is shorter than the 120 days offered in the in-house program.
Commission: $100 on each sale, or 33% of recurring subscriptions
Cookie life: 120 days
Payout methods: PayPal, bank transfer, or USD cheque
Pabbly
Pabbly is an online sales and marketing suite for email marketing, email verification, form building, subscription-billing, workflow automation, and app integration.
As a Pabbly affiliate, you can earn up to 30% lifetime recurring commission for each sale you generate for Pabbly. For instance, promoting the most popular plan, Pabbly Plus, which is priced at $399, can earn you $120 per sale.
Commission: 30% lifetime recurring
Cookie life: One year
Payout methods: PayPal or bank transfer
Unbounce
Unbounce is an AI-powered platform for creating and optimizing landing pages. They empower marketers to build and A/B test high-converting landing pages, all without the need for developers.
Unbounce’s affiliate program offers a 20% commission on recurring revenue for each customer you refer.
Moreover, your referrals get a 20% discount on their first three months using Unbounce, creating added value for them.
Unbounce also provides you valuable tools for success, including:
- A dedicated partner coach
- A customized dashboard for tracking progress
- Comprehensive training and promotional materials to ensure effective promotion of their business.
Commission: 20% lifetime recurring revenue
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal or direct deposit
Leadpages
Leadpages is a lead generation platform for making landing pages and websites that gather contact information and boost conversions.
Their affiliate program pays up to 50% recurring commissions for every new customer you refer. Leadpages offers two subscription plans, priced at $49 and $99 per month, as well as custom plans tailored to specific needs.
In addition, Leadpages occasionally runs special promotions, such as a $5000 bonus for affiliates who generate ten or more sales within a specified timeframe.
Commission: Up to 50% lifetime recurring
Cookie life: 90 days
Payout methods: PayPal or Stripe
AWeber
AWeber is an email marketing solution that simplifies mailing list management, newsletter design, email automation with ‘autoresponders,’ and provides statistical analysis.
Since its inception in 1998, over 120,000 individuals and businesses have used AWeber for their email marketing needs.
AWeber offers a tiered affiliate program, with earnings increasing as you refer more customers.
If you refer up to ten accounts in a year, you’ll earn a 30% commission. For ten or more referrals, your commission increases to 40%. If you manage to refer 50 or more customers, you’ll receive a 50% commission.
There are two channels you can join to refer AWeber to your audience:
- In-house: Offers a lifetime 30% commission. Subscription plans typically range from around $14.99 to $899 per month.
- Affiliate network: Allows affiliates to earn up to $300 per account, but with a shorter 45-day cookie life.
Commission: Up to 50% lifetime recurring
Cookie life: One year
Payout methods: PayPal
Flywheel
Flywheel is a managed WordPress hosting platform with plans priced from $15 to $290 per month.
As a Flywheel affiliate, you can earn up to $500 per referral. They provide you with access to creative assets like banners, co-branded landing pages, and visually appealing social images.
In addition to referrals, you can generate income by creating a new demo site on Flywheel and transferring it to your client.
Commission: 300%, up to $500 per referral
Cookie life: 60 days
Payout methods: PayPal
GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is an environmentally conscious web hosting provider committed to sustainability.
They offset each unit of grid electricity usage with three times the amount of renewable energy through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Plus, they plant one tree for every hosting account created.
GreenGeeks offers a tiered affiliate program with generous commissions, including $50 for a single sale and $100 for six or more sales. If you refer ten or more customers, you can contact them for a custom commission rate.
Commission: Up to $100 for one to ten sales; custom rates for 10+ sales.
Cookie life: 30 days
Payout methods: PayPal
Fiverr
Fiverr is an online freelancing marketplace that connects businesses to freelancers.
Fiverr offers two affiliate plans:
- Fiverr CPS: $15 to 150 depending on what service your first-time buyer purchases.
- Fiverr Hybrid: A fixed $10 commission for the first-time purchase and a 10% revenue sharing for 12 months.
In addition, Fiverr has a few of its own products you can promote:
- Fiverr Pro: It provides access to hand-vetted talent trusted by major brands. You earn a $100 commission once the account reaches $100 in spend, along with a 10% RevShare for 12 months.
- Fiverr Logo Maker: $30 for each logo maker order.
With over 5.5 million users, Fiverr provides you with a campaign management dashboard and creative assets to promote their services.
Commission: $15-150 for each referral; or $10 + 10% recurring for 12 months; or custom rates based on the product
Cookie life: 30 days
Payout methods: Your preferred method
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an email and digital marketing tool tailored for business growth and scalability.
They offer many tools including automating email marketing campaigns, targeting new ecommerce customers, and sending follow-up emails to boost online store revenue.
Their affiliate program provides $5 for each qualified lead and an impressive $105 commission when your referral becomes a Constant Contact customer.
You can monitor your referrals, tracking how many sign up for a free trial, the conversion of leads to sales, and your monthly earnings from a single dashboard.
Commission: $5 for each free trial referral, and $105 for each new account referral.
Cookie life: 120 days
Payout methods: PayPal, check, electronic fund transfer, or direct deposit
How To Choose The Right Free Affiliate Marketing Programs For You
When choosing among free affiliate marketing programs in this post, consider your audience’s interests and create content around the tool or service.
Focus on what your website visitors or social media followers need and can benefit from.
When in doubt, starting an Amazon affiliate store is an easy way to begin because Amazon offers a vast selection to choose from.
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Steve Chou is a highly recognized influencer in the ecommerce space and has taught thousands of students how to effectively sell physical products online over at ProfitableOnlineStore.com.
His blog, MyWifeQuitHerJob.com, has been featured in Forbes, Inc, The New York Times, Entrepreneur and MSNBC.
He's also a contributing author for BigCommerce, Klaviyo, ManyChat, Printful, Privy, CXL, Ecommerce Fuel, GlockApps, Privy, Social Media Examiner, Web Designer Depot, Sumo and other leading business publications.
In addition, he runs a popular ecommerce podcast, My Wife Quit Her Job, which is a top 25 marketing show on all of Apple Podcasts.
To stay up to date with all of the latest ecommerce trends, Steve runs a 7 figure ecommerce store, BumblebeeLinens.com, with his wife and puts on an annual ecommerce conference called The Sellers Summit.
Steve carries both a bachelors and a masters degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. Despite majoring in electrical engineering, he spent a good portion of his graduate education studying entrepreneurship and the mechanics of running small businesses.
