The Best Affiliate Networks & Platforms For 2024

Affiliate marketing can be a great way to monetize your website traffic. But to maximize your earnings, it’s important to find products that are a good fit for your audience.

And the best place to start your search is on an affiliate network. Affiliate networks connect publishers with thousands of different brands. Once you sign up, you can browse tons of different affiliate programs and, when you find a product you want to promote, join the program in a few clicks.

There are many affiliate networks out there and not all of them will be the right fit for your business. Some specialize in digital products, others in physical products. They also vary in terms of things like average commission rates, payout timescales, and merchant verticals. 

To help you narrow down your options, we’ve compiled this roundup of the best affiliate networks on the market. Below, you’ll find all the details you need to know about each one.

Top affiliate networks & platforms – summary

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#1 – ShareASale

ShareASale is our overall top pick for the best affiliate network. It was voted the best CPS (cost per sale) network in 2022 — and for good reason!

It has one of the largest databases on this list, with over 16,550 merchants and countless affiliate programs for both digital and physical products in 39 different consumer categories. Whatever your vertical is, you should be able to find plenty of suitable products to promote on ShareASale.

There’s a good mix of large brands and niche retailers on the affiliate network. Here are some merchants you might have heard of: Etsy, Groupon, Honey, Buzzfeed, Cricut, Nectar, and Reebok.

Pretty much anyone with an audience can join ShareASale. It’s suitable for all types of creators and publishers including bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and social media influencers. Signing up for the affiliate network is very straightforward but you’ll also have to apply to each program you want to join separately through the platform.

It’s easy to sort through the available programs using ShareASale’s search tools and filters. You can see key metrics like commission rates and average earnings per click (EPC) for every program at a glance.

There’s not much to dislike about ShareASale. The biggest downside is that because it’s such a great affiliate network, it’s very popular, which means more competition. With over 225,000 publishers on the platform, it can be tough to find a product worth promoting that your competitors don’t already know about.

Key details

• Number of merchants: 16,550+
• Niches/products: Huge range of physical and digital products in 39 different niches.
• Commission rates: Varies depending on the merchant (typically between 5% and 20%)
• Cookie window: Varies depending on the merchant
• Minimum payout: $50

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#2 – Amazon Associates

Amazon Associates is probably one of the best affiliate networks in this list, if not the world. Once you sign up, you can promote (and earn commissions on) almost anything sold on Amazon.

Given that there are over 1.9 million sellers are over 12 million products listed on Amazon, there’s no shortage of options to choose from. You can promote pretty much anything you can think of, from toothbrushes to consumer electronics and automobiles. 

Commission rates vary depending on the product category. For example, at the time of writing, direct qualifying purchases of products in the ‘Home’ category pay commissions of 7%, Electronics pay 3-4%, and video game consoles pay just 1%.

Some categories (like game consoles) have very low commission rates compared to other affiliate networks, which is the biggest drawback of Amazon Associates. 

However, while commission rates are low, it somewhat makes up for that with its super high conversion rates. 

Amazon is the most popular online retail site in the world and commands over 40% of all ecommerce sales in the US, which means a good chunk of your audience will likely already trust the platform and may already shop there regularly. As a result, average conversion rates tend to be much higher than other programs.

Another great thing about Amazon Associates is that it uses universal cookies. Affiliates earn a commission on any product the consumer buys within 24 hours after clicking their link, including products you’re not promoting.

For example, if you’re promoting a fishing kit on your blog, and your visitor clicks the link but doesn’t buy it. Then, a few hours later, they buy something completely unrelated—like a washing machine—from Amazon, you’ll still earn a commission on that purchase. Cool, right?

Just bear in mind that Amazon Associates has strict terms and conditions, so you’ll need to make sure you’re compliant before signing up. If you want to monetize international traffic, you’ll also need to sign up to the local version of Amazon in each different country separately (e.g. .com, .co.uk, .jp, etc.)

Key details

• Number of merchants: 1.9 million+
• Niches/products: Anything sold on Amazon (physical products)
• Commission rates: 1% to 20% depending on the product category.
• Cookie window: 24 hours
• Minimum payout: $10

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#3 – eBay Partner Network

eBay Partner Network is eBay’s answer to Amazon Associates. Once you sign up, you can earn commissions on any item listed on eBay.

eBay is another ecommerce giant with over 25 million global sellers and 1.4 billion product listings, which obviously gives you access to a humongous product selection. Some of these products are listed as auctions, but 90% are sold as ‘buy it now’ items.

Like Amazon, conversion rates on eBay Partner Network are high but the average commission rates are pretty poor. They vary depending on the product category but the best you can hope for is just 4%. However, the good news is there are a few ways you can earn money on top of direct commissions.

You can also get paid incentive credits, flat fees for form completions, and bonuses based on the types of visitors you send.

If you’re curious about the platform, check out our post on eBay statistics.

Key details

• Number of merchants: 25 million
• Niches/products: A huge range of physical products
• Commission rates: 1-4% + bonuses
• Cookie window: 24 hours
• Minimum payout: $10

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#4 – PartnerStack

Next up, we have PartnerStack—an all-in-one partnership platform that connects SaaS businesses with publishers, and without a doubt the best choice if you’re hoping to sell digital products.

PartnerStack only has around 200 merchant programs on the platform—substantially less than the other affiliate networks we’ve looked at so far. However, the difference is that all these 200 affiliate programs are for products in the SaaS sector.

You’ll find promotional opportunities for SaaS products like:

• CRMs
• HR solutions
• Marketing tools
• Landing page builders
• Automation software
• Chatbot tools
• Accounting apps
• Email marketing solutions
• Social media marketing tools
• And more!

Some of the big-name Merchants on Partnerstack include Sprout Social, Unbounce, Keap, Elementor, and Omnisend. 

And the best thing about promoting SaaS products like this is that commission rates tend to be much higher than physical products. For example, if you sign up for Elementor’s program through PartnerStack, you can earn 50% of new plan purchases that you drive. In fact, most programs on the affiliate network offer rates of around 25%-50%, which is much better than other affiliate networks.

Commission structures are flexible, so in addition to percentage-based commissions, some merchants offer flat-fee commissions of up to $2,000 per sale. 

Key details

• Number of merchants: 200+
• Niches/products: SaaS products only
• Commission rates: Varies between merchants (typically between 10% and 50%)
• Cookie window: 90 days
• Minimum payout: $5

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#5 – Awin

Awin is a huge name in the affiliate marketing industry, and it’s also the parent company of our top pick, ShareASale. Whilst the two platforms are independent, and play host to a different catalog of brands and merchants, they are quite similar when it comes to operation and reputation. 

Awin works with over 16,000 merchants, including some of Europe’s biggest brands including BT Broadbands, Marks and Spencers, and ASOS. Awin mainly features brands in Europe and other global regions, whereas Shareasale is more US-centric, so if your audience is primarily outside of the US, then Awin may be the best option for you.

Commission rates on Awin vary from brand to brand, but on average most companies offer around 5% commissions. Similarly, the cookie durations also vary between merchants. One good thing to note about Awin is that the minimum payout is just $20 which is a lot lower than many other platforms.

However, there is also a $5 fee to apply to become an Awin publisher, so that’s something to keep in mind when deciding whether this is the right affiliate network for you.

Key details

• Number of merchants: 16,500+
• Niches/products: All niches from travel and lifestyle to electronics and utilities
• Commission rates: Varies
• Cookie window: Varies 
• Minimum payout: $20

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#6 – CJ Affiliate

CJ Affiliate is another extremely popular affiliate marketing platform. CJ Affiliate partners with some of the world’s most well-known stores including Barnes and Noble and Office Depot. In addition to physical products, they also partner with some well-known digital product companies too, including Grammarly and Inuit Turbotax. 

CJ affiliate claims that their publishers and marketers make over $1.8 billion in commissions each year collectively, and over 4 million affiliate relationships are created annually using the platforms. 

This affiliate marketing platform also includes a range of tools to help make your affiliate marketing efforts more successful. For example, you can use cookieless cross-device tracking, deep linking tools, and product widgets to help you to optimize and track customer journeys with ease. You can also make use of advanced analytics features to improve your marketing strategy.

Getting started with CJ affiliate is quick and easy. You can sign up for free, and start selecting the merchants you’d like to work with. However, you will need to be pre-approved by each merchant before you can start promoting them. 

Key details

• Niches/products: Travel and lifestyle, home goods, and more. Some digital products too.
• Commission rates: Varies
• Cookie window: Varies
• Minimum payout: $50

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#7 – Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten Advertising is a big name in affiliate marketing, and it’s the perfect platform for marketers looking to promote big brands, such as Walmart, Clarins, and Net-A-Porter.

Rakuten partners with over 1000 brands, so no matter what your business niche, you’re sure to find a high-quality affiliate that works for you using the platform. In addition to its high-quality brands, Rakuten also offers some useful features that can help to improve and strengthen relationships between marketers and brands. 

For example, Rakuten uses an AI matchmaking tool to recommend ideal partnerships based on data insights. They also offer a variety of commissioning methods and offer extensive support to help publishers plan and improve their marketing efforts. 

With Rakuten, brands are free to choose their own commission rates and cookie duration, so these figures vary quite a lot depending on the brands you choose to partner with. Also, Rakuten is great for marketers that are just getting started, as the minimum payout amount is just $50, which is low compared to some major competitors.

Key details

• Number of merchants: 1000+
• Niches/products: Travel, luxury products, beauty and skincare, and more.
• Commission rates: Varies
• Cookie window: Varies
• Minimum payout: $50

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#8 – Evoleads

Evoleads is another great affiliate network, especially if you’re hoping to promote products in the dating or finance vertical.

The affiliate network has tons of CPA, CPL, and CPS offers to choose from across a wide range of niches, but many of their best programs are in the financial and adult niches. Think dating sites, insurance policies, loans, etc. If these are the kinds of products your audience might be interested in, it’s definitely worth checking out. 

These types of products also tend to convert really well and have higher commission rates than other categories, which is great.

Another thing we like about Evoleads is their excellent support. Once you sign up, Evoleads’ affiliate managers will be there to provide expert insight and help you to make the most out of your affiliate marketing campaigns. 

You’ll need to earn at least $10 before you can cash out and payouts are made automatically every week. 

Key details

• Number of offers: 3,000+
• Niches/products: Finance, dating, and other niches
• Commission rates: Varies depending on the merchant
• Cookie window: Varies depending on the merchant
• Minimum payout: $10

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#9 – FlexOffers

FlexOffers is a popular affiliate network with a great reputation amongst both advertisers and publishers alike.

Once you sign up, you’ll get access to over 12,000 affiliate programs from both big and small brands. There’s a good variety of product offers to choose from across various niches, but it’s especially good for technology, fitness, and fashion products. 

Some of the brands you’ll find on FlexOffers include HP, Dell, Nike, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Sephora, Samsung, Hulu, and Wayfair. You can even join Microsoft’s affiliate marketing program via FlexOffers.

FlexOffers provides partners with all the tools they need to make their affiliate marketing campaigns a success, like deep linking, product feeds, reporting tools, and more. 

You can use the Flexlinks feature to save a ton of time. Instead of creating referral links manually, you can simply enter a code snippet to automatically find un-monetized links to brands and replace them with your referral links.

The comparison widget is another cool feature, especially if you’re a blogger who often posts product reviews and roundups. It allows you to set up a product comparison table showing the prices of the product you’re promoting in all the different stores you’re an affiliate for. 

The default payout is NET 60, which means you’ll get paid for commissions earned during the month 60 days after the month’s end. However, top-performing affiliates can qualify for the advanced payments service, which enables you to receive payments early (either 7 days later or 30 days later, rather than 60).

Key details

• Number of merchants: 12,000+
• Niches/products: Wide variety of niches (but especially great for technology products)
• Commission rates: Varies depending on the merchant
• Cookie window: Varies depending on the merchant
• Minimum payout: $25

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#10 – Pepperjam

Pepperjam is a lesser-known affiliate network that is growing in popularity. It plays host to a wide range of merchants, including clothing brands like Aeropostale, Nordstrom Rack, and Puma. One of the most interesting things about Pepperjam is the Ascend Affiliate Cloud.

 

This is the company’s own dedicated affiliate manager tool that aims to automate some of the more repetitive elements of affiliate marketing, make life easier for affiliates, and improve conversion rates for brands. Commission rates and cookie durations are set by each brand, so they vary quite a lot. The minimum payout for Pepperjam earnings is $25. 

Key details

• Niches/products: Fashion, homeware, electricals, and more.
• Commission rates: Varies depending on the merchant
• Cookie window: Varies depending on the merchant
• Minimum payout: $25

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#11 – Avangate

Avangate is a great choice for marketers looking to promote primarily digital goods and products.

Avangate is a dedicated affiliate network for digital products and includes affiliates for a wide range of software solutions, digital products, online courses, and more. In total, Avangate works with over 1200 digital merchants, which include top names including Manycam, Wondershare, Movavi, Nero, and Mondly.

Avangate also supports a ton of cool features that can help you to optimize your customer journey and improve conversions. For example, you can use deep linking to direct your customers to the checkout page. You can also take advantage of features like localized carts, advanced analytics, and more. 

With Avangate, the cookie duration and commission rate are chosen by the merchant. Cookie windows can be as short as 30 days or as long as 180 days. Commission rates vary quite a lot, but most are around 30-50%, with some as high as 75%. Also, you can cash out your commissions once you reach $100.

Key details

• Number of merchants: 1200+
• Niches/products: Digital goods and software solutions 
• Commission rates: Varies
• Cookie window: 30-180 days 
• Minimum payout: $100

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#12 – Peerfly

Peerfly is an innovative affiliate network that works on a cost-per-action model. Although Peerfly is a relatively small affiliate network, it includes some major brands like Uber, Booking.com, and Agoda. 

For marketers, there are over 2000 different offers and programs to promote, and Peerfly offers a bunch of perks such as free tools and training, accelerated payment options, and a custom tracking platform to improve the affiliate experience. 

Peerfly is easy to get started with, and you can expect to have your application reviewed within 3 days. The minimum payout on the platform is $50 and there is a range of different payment options available.

Key details

• Number of merchants: Over 2000
• Niches/products: A wide selection including travel, lifestyle, and more.
• Commission rates: Varies
• Cookie window: Varies
• Minimum payout: $50

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#13 – Refersion

Refersion Marketplace is an up-and-coming affiliate network launched by the popular affiliate marketing software company Refersion.

The platform aims to connect affiliate marketers with brands looking to pay a higher commission for marketing efforts. Unlike some other platforms such as Amazon Affiliates, Refersion allows each brand to set its own cookie duration and commission rates. As a result, commission rates can vary from as little as 5% to 15% or more. 

As Refersion Marketplace is the brainchild of Refersion, which focuses on affiliate marketing and tracking, the cookie tracking is second to none, so you can be sure that you’ll never miss out on a commission. They use a first-party cookie tracking procedure which helps brands stay on track when it comes to monitoring the efforts of their affiliate partners.

Product types on the platform vary, but there are mostly physical products available. You can find clothing brands such as L’Estrange London, food and beverage brands like Defy Foods, and even more niche options such as vehicle service brands like Vegas Carts and Performance.

Refersion is a smaller, and more close-knit affiliate network, but it is used by a wide selection of niche brands that could be perfect for your audience. 

Key details

• Niches/products: Home and garden, food and retail, clothing and accessories, and more
• Commission rates: Varies 
• Cookie window: Varies 

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#14 – Skimlinks 

Skimlinks is another affiliate network that’s perfect for busy publishers. Its innovative technology automatically ‘skims through’ your commerce content for you and adds in affiliate links automatically, so you don’t have to.

Traditionally, publishers had to generate referral links for their affiliate products and insert them into their blog posts, social media posts, or other promotional content manually. But if you’re a large-scale publisher with thousands of pages of content, adding in links manually just isn’t feasible.

That’s where Skimlinks comes in. All you have to do is install a piece of code on your website and Skimlinks will turn all your existing commerce links into affiliate links.

There are offers from over 48,500 merchants on the affiliate network, including leading fashion brands like John Lewis, Urban Outfitters, Sephora, Saks, Bookoo, and more. You’ll find many of the same merchants on other affiliate networks but Skimlinks negotiates its own exclusive rates, so you may be able to earn more through the platform.

Key details

• Number of merchants: 48,500+
• Niches/products: Wide variety
• Commission rates: Varies 
• Cookie window: Varies 
• Minimum payout: $65

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Final thoughts

When it comes to affiliate networks, you can join as few or as many as you like to suit your business needs. You can try out just one platform or source products from a range of affiliate platforms. 

If you’re still unsure where to start, why not choose one of our top four best affiliate programs. All three are easy to sign up for and offer a wide range of products. They are: 

• ShareASale – A well-known platform with a wide selection of physical and digital products.
• Amazon Associates – A good choice for physical products from a wide selection of vendors.
• eBay Partner Network – Great for promoting second-hand goods, with a wide range of products on offer.
• PartnerStack – The best option for those looking to promote marketing and business software. If you run a SaaS platform of your own, it would make an ideal platform to run your own affiliate program.

Also, if you’d like to learn more about affiliate marketing in general, I’d recommend reading our roundup of affiliate marketing statistics.

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