Key takeaways: Best Affiliate Networks by Use Case
- Best overall: Awin (which now includes ShareASale's merchants)
- Best for complete beginners: Amazon Associates
- Best ClickBank alternative for digital products: Digistore24
- Best for bloggers and content sites: Awin or FlexOffers
- Best for SaaS and recurring commissions: PartnerStack
- Best for big-brand physical products: CJ Affiliate
- Best for high commissions: ClickBank (up to 75%+ on digital offers)
- Best for fast payouts: ClickBank (weekly) or FlexOffers (Net 7 for qualifying publishers)
- Best for outdoor and sporting goods niches: AvantLink
If you want the reasoning behind each pick, every network gets a full review below, with the same criteria applied to each so you can compare them honestly.
Picking an affiliate network is one of those decisions that looks small and isn't. Choose well and you're promoting offers that actually convert for your audience, getting paid on a schedule you can plan around. Choose badly and you spend three months building content for a program that rejects your application, or worse, a network that quietly shuts down.
I've been promoting offers through affiliate networks since the early 2000s, and I've made (and watched students make) most of the mistakes on this page. My first real commissions came through ClickBank, and I still earn through networks on this list today.
So here's the short version, then the long one. We've ranked these by use case rather than a single 1-to-15 list, because "best" depends entirely on what you're promoting and where you're starting from. A brand-new blogger and a SaaS review site need completely different networks.
One more thing before we start. A Forrester study found that 39% of affiliates use three or more networks. That matches what I see with successful Affilorama members: you'll probably end up with two or three of these, not one.
Affiliate Network Comparison Table
All figures as of June 2026. Networks change their terms often, so treat thresholds and commission caps as "verify before you build your business plan around it."
| Network | Best For | Product Type | Approval Difficulty | Commission Model | Min. Payout | Payment Speed | Main Drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awin | Most affiliates, most niches | Physical + digital | Moderate ($5 refundable deposit) | RevShare, some CPA | ~$20 | 1st & 15th monthly | Per-merchant approval still required |
| CJ Affiliate | Established content sites | Mostly physical, big brands | Moderate-hard | RevShare, CPA | $50 | ~Net 20 monthly | Tough on brand-new sites |
| Amazon Associates | Beginners, product reviewers | Physical (almost everything) | Easy to join, must make 3 sales in 180 days | RevShare (1–10% by category) | $10 (direct deposit) | ~60 days after month end | Low rates, 24-hour cookie |
| Impact | Brand partnerships at scale | Physical, SaaS, services | Moderate-hard | RevShare, CPA, custom | Varies by program | Varies (often Net 30+) | Built for pros, not first-timers |
| PartnerStack | SaaS / B2B affiliates | Software subscriptions | Easy-moderate | RevShare, often recurring | ~$5 | Monthly | Useless outside B2B software |
| Rakuten Advertising | Premium retail brands | Mostly physical | Moderate-hard | RevShare | $50 | After merchant pays Rakuten | Unpredictable payment timing |
| FlexOffers | New sites that big networks reject | Physical + digital, 10,000+ advertisers | Easy-moderate | RevShare, CPA | $25 | Net 60 standard, Net 7 for top publishers | Standard payout is slow |
| ClickBank | Digital products, beginners | Digital + supplements | Very easy | RevShare up to 75%+, CPA | $10 | Weekly | Offer quality varies wildly |
| Digistore24 | ClickBank-style digital offers | Digital + some physical | Very easy | RevShare up to 70%+ | $50 | Up to weekly | Smaller marketplace than ClickBank |
| eBay Partner Network | Collectibles, second-hand niches | Physical, 1B+ listings | Moderate | RevShare (1–4%) | $10 | Monthly | Very low rates, 24-hour cookie |
| Avangate (2Checkout/Verifone) | Software and digital tools | Software, SaaS | Moderate | RevShare up to 85% | $100 | Monthly | High payout threshold |
| AvantLink | Outdoor / sporting goods sites | Physical, premium brands | Hard (~1/3 accepted) | RevShare (~10–15% typical) | $25 | Monthly | Needs an established site |
How we chose these networks
Every network here was evaluated on the same six criteria: advertiser quality, commission structure, payout reliability and speed, approval difficulty, tracking and reporting, and whether it's still actually operating as described (more on that than you'd think; see the graveyard section below). I've personally held accounts on the majority of these platforms, and where I haven't, we've drawn on documented experiences from Affilorama members and the support threads in our community. Networks that have closed, merged, or stopped accepting publishers were removed from the main list, and we've explained each removal rather than quietly deleting them.
What Is an Affiliate Network?
An affiliate network is the middleman between you (the publisher) and the companies whose products you promote (the merchants or advertisers). Instead of applying to hundreds of brands one by one, you join the network once, then access its catalog of affiliate programs. The network handles tracking, reporting, and, critically, paying you.
Worth separating three terms beginners mix up constantly:
An affiliate network (Awin, CJ, Impact) aggregates many merchants' programs under one login and one payment system. You usually still apply to individual merchants inside it.
An affiliate program is a single company's offer, run either through a network or independently. The [Adobe affiliate program] is a program; it happens to run on a network.
An affiliate marketplace (ClickBank, Digistore24) is a self-serve variant where you can grab a tracking link for almost any listed offer instantly, no per-merchant application. Faster to start, but the quality filter is mostly you.
Why this matters: marketplaces get you earning links on day one. Networks get you better brands but make you earn the access. Most affiliates who last end up using both, which is why so many run three or more platforms at once. If you're still deciding what to promote in the first place, sort that out before joining anything; our lesson on finding profitable affiliate programs covers the order of operations.
How to Choose the Right Affiliate Network
This is the part most "best networks" lists skip, and it's the part that actually determines whether you make money. Here's the framework I teach, in the order that matters.
1. Match the network to your niche, not the other way around. If you write about hiking gear, AvantLink beats every "bigger" network on this list because that's where the outdoor brands live. Niche fit beats network size every time. Haven't picked a niche yet? Do that first: finding your niche.
2. Check advertiser quality before commission rates. A 75% commission on a product with a 40% refund rate pays worse than 8% on something people keep. Read the sales pages you'd be sending traffic to. Would you buy from them? Early in my career I promoted a high-gravity ClickBank offer purely on the commission math; the refunds ate roughly a third of what I earned that quarter, and it taught me to check the sales page before the payout table.
3. Compare payout thresholds against your realistic early earnings. A $100 minimum payout (Avangate) means a beginner might wait six months to see their first deposit. A $10 minimum (ClickBank, Amazon, eBay) means you feel real money fast, and don't discount how much that matters for motivation.
4. Understand the cookie window. That's how long after a click you still get credited for a sale. Amazon and eBay give you 24 hours. Many network merchants give 30 days or more. For considered purchases (a $1,500 mattress, enterprise software), a 24-hour cookie quietly costs you a large share of your commissions.
5. Be honest about approval difficulty. CJ, Rakuten, and AvantLink want established sites with traffic. If you launched last month, start with Amazon, ClickBank, Digistore24, or FlexOffers, earn some proof, then apply upward. Getting rejected isn't a verdict on you; it's a sequencing problem.
6. Check the boring stuff. Payment methods available in your country. Tax forms (W-9 for US affiliates, W-8BEN for the rest of us). Whether the network requires a website at all. And FTC disclosure rules apply no matter which network you pick; our compliance lesson covers what you legally need on the page.
The most common mistake isn't picking the "wrong" network. It's joining six at once, getting overwhelmed, and promoting nothing well. Pick one or two, get your first commissions, then expand.
The 12 Best Affiliate Networks
Each review uses the same structure so you can compare like with like. Figures current as of June 2026.
1. Awin (now including ShareASale)
If we had to pick one network for the most affiliates, this is it. Awin connects you to roughly 30,000+ advertisers across retail, travel, finance, telecom, and a healthy slice of digital offers. It absorbed ShareASale's merchant base when that platform completed its migration into Awin, so brands you used to find on ShareASale (Grammarly-tier SaaS, thousands of niche ecommerce stores) now live here.
Pros: Enormous merchant choice, reliable twice-monthly payments, a genuinely good dashboard, strong in both US and European markets.
Cons: The $5 deposit confuses people (it's a spam filter, not a fee), and some premium merchants are picky about new sites.
Verdict: The safest "first serious network" recommendation we can make. Join it alongside a marketplace like ClickBank and you've covered most bases.
2. CJ Affiliate
CJ is where the household names are: thousands of advertisers including major retail, travel, and tech brands. The reporting is the best in the industry; you can analyze the path to purchase in ways most networks simply don't offer.
Pros: Premium advertisers, deep reporting, dependable payments.
Cons: Beginners get rejected from the programs they actually want, and support is contact-form-only, which is frustrating mid-campaign.
Verdict: Apply once you have traffic to show. Before that, you're wasting application slots.
3. Amazon Associates
Still the most common first network for a reason. You can join in an afternoon and link to a meaningful chunk of everything sold on Earth. The catch is well known: commission rates run roughly 1–10% depending on category (most sit at the low end), and the cookie lasts 24 hours.
Pros: Universal brand trust, world-class conversion rates, you earn on everything in the cart for 24 hours, not just what you linked.
Cons: Low rates, short cookie, slow payments, and Amazon has cut commission rates before with little notice.
Verdict: Great training wheels and a solid supplementary income layer. Risky as your only income source. Our Amazon affiliate marketing lesson goes deeper on making the low rates work.
4. Impact
Impact (impact.com) is less a marketplace and more a partnership platform that big brands use to run their programs: think major SaaS companies, retailers, and travel brands. For affiliates, it means direct-ish relationships, flexible contracts, and modern tracking.
Pros: Premium brands, clean interface, flexible payout scheduling once earnings flow.
Cons: No central "marketplace" feel; you're assembling individual partnerships, which takes time.
Verdict: Where you graduate to. Many of the highest-paying tech and SaaS programs now live here.
5. PartnerStack
The B2B SaaS specialist. If your audience is businesses (marketing teams, developers, founders), PartnerStack hosts the affiliate programs for hundreds of software companies, and many pay recurring commissions: a slice of the subscription every month the customer stays. See our lesson on recurring commissions.
Pros: Recurring revenue compounds beautifully. One article reviewing a popular tool can pay you monthly for years.
Cons: Single-vertical. B2B sales cycles are also slower, so patience required.
Verdict: If you're in B2B at all, join it. Recurring commissions are the closest thing this industry has to genuinely passive income.
6. Rakuten Advertising
The former LinkShare. Rakuten runs a deliberately curated network: fewer advertisers than Awin or CJ, but skewing premium retail (fashion, beauty, department-store brands).
Pros: Quality brands, good tooling (deep linking, ad rotation), strong reputation.
Cons: That payment timing. When you're budgeting around affiliate income, "whenever the merchant pays us" is a real weakness.
Verdict: A strong second or third network for retail-heavy niches. We wouldn't make it the foundation.
7. FlexOffers
The underrated workhorse. FlexOffers aggregates 10,000+ advertisers, accepts newer sites that CJ and Rakuten reject, and assigns publishers an account manager, which is rare at this tier.
Pros: Easy entry, huge advertiser variety, human account support.
Cons: That Net 60 standard payout. The Net 7 you may have read about elsewhere (including on the old version of this page; our mistake) applies to premium publishers, not everyone.
Verdict: A pragmatic early-career network. Use it to access brands that won't approve you directly yet.
8. ClickBank
The original digital marketplace, and still the easiest place on the internet to get an affiliate link. Up to 75% commissions (sometimes higher for whitelisted affiliates), a $10 payout threshold, weekly payments, and the Gravity score to gauge what's actually selling.
Pros: Instant access, very high commissions, fast reliable payments, no website strictly required to join.
Cons: Quality control is on you. There's gold in the marketplace and there's junk, sometimes on the same page of results.
Verdict: Still the best on-ramp for digital products. Learn to filter offers properly (our ClickBank lesson covers reading sales pages and Gravity) and it remains a workhorse decades in. My own first meaningful affiliate income came through ClickBank, and it's still in my rotation.
9. Digistore24
The closest thing to a true ClickBank alternative on this list. German-founded, now strong in the US market, same model: open marketplace, digital-heavy catalog, high RevShare commissions, automated payouts.
Pros: High commissions, fast payments, strong European offer selection ClickBank doesn't carry.
Cons: Smaller marketplace; same buyer-beware quality variance as any open marketplace.
Verdict: If you like the ClickBank model, run both. Different catalogs, same workflow, double the offer pool.
10. eBay Partner Network
eBay's in-house program, and a genuine niche weapon: it's one of the only ways to earn commissions on collectibles, vintage, refurbished, and second-hand goods.
Pros: Unique inventory no other network touches, low payout threshold.
Cons: Low rates and a 24-hour cookie. You need volume or high-ticket items to make it pay.
Verdict: A specialist tool. In the right niche (vintage cameras, trading cards, used outdoor gear) it's quietly excellent.
11. Avangate Affiliate Network (2Checkout / Verifone)
The software specialist. Avangate's marketplace is dense with security tools, utilities, and B2B software, and the commissions are the headline: up to 85% on some products. (Editor: confirm current branding and terms at publish; this network has changed owners more than once.)
Pros: Some of the highest percentage commissions anywhere, useful coupon-creation feature for your audience.
Cons: That $100 threshold is the highest on this list, and the catalog is narrow.
Verdict: Excellent if software is your lane. Skip it otherwise.
12. AvantLink
The boutique pick. AvantLink concentrates premium outdoor, sporting goods, and lifestyle brands and pairs them with genuinely good affiliate tooling (custom link builders, data feeds).
Pros: Brand quality, above-average physical-product commissions, you can browse programs before applying.
Cons: Selective approval and limited live support.
Verdict: Worth building toward if you're in its verticals. A 12% commission on a $400 tent beats most of what general networks offer.
Networks That Closed, Merged, or Changed Names
This section exists because most "best affiliate network" lists, including a previous version of this very page, keep recommending platforms that no longer exist. Updating this page taught us something: staleness is the most common failure in this content category, so check the date on any list you read (including ours).
PeerFly shut down in 2019. Any list still recommending it hasn't been touched in years.
Pepperjam was acquired by Partnerize in 2020 and rebranded as Ascend. The Pepperjam network as previously described doesn't exist; Partnerize now operates as an enterprise partnership platform.
ShareASale completed its long-planned migration into parent company Awin. Its merchants didn't vanish; they moved. If you had favorite ShareASale programs, look for them inside Awin (review #1 above).
Market Health, JVZoo, LinkConnector, and MaxBounty, which appeared on older versions of this page, were removed from the main list either because their offer quality, relevance, or momentum no longer justifies a top-12 spot for our readers, or because their model (CPA media buying, in MaxBounty's case) suits paid-traffic specialists better than the content publishers this guide serves. If CPA networks are your direction, we cover them properly in our CPA and CPL networks lesson.
Best Affiliate Networks for Beginners
If you're starting from zero, here's the honest sequencing.
Join first (no traffic needed): ClickBank, Digistore24, and Amazon Associates. All three approve almost everyone, have low payout thresholds, and let you practice the full loop: pick an offer, create content, place a link, watch the data. Just remember Amazon's 3-sales-in-180-days rule.
Join once you have a site with some content: Awin and FlexOffers. Both are reasonable with newer publishers, and they open up real brands.
Save for later: CJ, Rakuten, Impact, AvantLink. Apply when you have traffic numbers worth showing. Rejection now just costs you time.
Don't have a website at all? ClickBank and some Digistore24 offers can work with email or social traffic, though we'd still push you toward building a site; it's the asset everything else compounds on. Our lesson on affiliate marketing without a website covers the honest tradeoffs.
Best ClickBank Alternatives
ClickBank is on our list and we recommend it. But if you're specifically looking to expand beyond it, or it doesn't fit your niche, here's the targeted answer:
- For digital products with the same easy-access model: Digistore24. Nearest like-for-like swap.
- For software specifically: Avangate, with commissions that rival or beat ClickBank's percentages.
- For physical products: Awin or Amazon Associates, depending on whether you want brand programs or the everything store.
- For SaaS and recurring revenue: PartnerStack. Nothing on ClickBank compounds the way a recurring B2B commission does.
- For CPA offers: That's a different model (you're paid per action, like a lead or trial, rather than per sale) and a different list; start with our CPA and CPL networks guide.
The mistake to avoid is leaving ClickBank because of offer-quality frustration and joining another open marketplace expecting curation. Marketplaces are open by design. If you want vetting, you want a network like Awin or CJ, and you'll trade away the instant access to get it.
FAQs
Amazon Associates for ease and trust, ClickBank for commission size and speed of payment. Many beginners run both: Amazon for physical product mentions, ClickBank for a flagship digital offer. Add Awin once your site has some content.
Per sale: ClickBank, Digistore24, and Avangate, where 50–85% RevShare on digital products is normal. Over a customer's lifetime: PartnerStack, because recurring SaaS commissions keep paying monthly. "Pays the most" depends on whether you're measuring one check or twelve.
Almost all of them, yes. Awin's $5 deposit is refunded into your account on approval. If a "network" charges real membership fees to affiliates, be skeptical.
Not for ClickBank or Digistore24, and Amazon accepts social channels and apps. CJ, Rakuten, AvantLink, and most Awin merchants effectively require an established site. You'll have more options, better approvals, and a real asset if you build one.
Eventually, yes; remember that 39% of affiliates use three or more. But sequence it. One or two until your first commissions, then expand. Six dashboards and zero sales is the classic beginner failure mode.
ClickBank is an open marketplace (instant links, variable quality). Awin and CJ are curated networks (apply per merchant, better brands). Impact is a partnership platform (closer to direct deals with big brands). Marketplace, network, platform: increasing quality, increasing barriers.
Typically direct deposit, wire, Payoneer, or check, on cycles from weekly (ClickBank) to 60+ days (Amazon, FlexOffers standard). US affiliates file a W-9; international affiliates usually a W-8BEN. Every network has a minimum payout threshold, listed in our table above, and that threshold matters more than beginners think.
Final Recommendation
Here's the decision, made for you by situation:
Brand-new and want momentum: ClickBank plus Amazon Associates. Get the first commission, however small. It changes how seriously you take everything else.
Content site with growing traffic: Awin as your foundation, FlexOffers to fill brand gaps, and keep one marketplace offer for high-commission upside.
Digital product focus: ClickBank and Digistore24 in parallel.
SaaS or B2B audience: PartnerStack first, Impact as you grow. Prioritize recurring commissions over headline percentages.
Physical products, premium niche: CJ or Rakuten once you qualify; AvantLink if you're in outdoor/sporting goods.
Whatever you choose, the network is the easy 10% of this business. The other 90% is picking a niche people spend money in, building content that earns trust, and getting traffic to it. That's the part we've spent twenty years teaching.
Mark Ling
