Turn your readers into income with affiliate marketing programs
You already have readers. The right affiliate programme turns their attention into income, so choose it before the next six months of reviews go in.
If you are a content creator, publisher or agency building recurring revenue, the programmes below are the ones we have seen actually pay out for clients and for our own sites. We checked every rate against the official programme page on 26 September 2026.
Pick the right affiliate programme first time
Every month promoting the right product is content that earns, and the choice keeps widening.
Compare the commission rate last: a 50 percent commission pays when your readers want the product. Three filters matter more:
- Product fit: does your audience already buy something close to this, or would you be introducing a new category from scratch?
- Cookie window: 30 days or more gives attribution room to work, and for subscription products recurring commissions matter more than one-time payouts.
- Brand trust: a review of Amazon or HubSpot needs far less convincing than one for a brand your reader is meeting for the first time.
The programmes below balance those three factors, grouped by the audience they suit. Terms change often, so always check the official page before you rely on a number in any article, ours included.
Retail and ecommerce programmes
For readers who buy physical products or want to sell them.
Amazon Associates
The Amazon affiliate programme remains the default for product reviewers, with US commission rates from 0 to 10 percent depending on category; most categories sit at 4 percent. The low percentages are offset by Amazon's high conversion once visitors land there, and by earning on anything the visitor adds to their basket within 24 hours.
Good for: review sites, gear blogs, how-to channels with product roundups.
Shopify
Shopify pays up to $150 per qualified merchant referral, tracks clicks for 30 days, and follows a free-trial signup for up to 400 days while it converts to a paid plan. The audience pool is large for anyone producing ecommerce, dropshipping or entrepreneurship content.
Good for: ecommerce tutorials, store-building courses, small-business advisors.
Marketing software programmes: recurring and per-sale commissions
Software pays best when the commission recurs: a customer who stays keeps paying you.
HubSpot
The HubSpot affiliate programme pays 30 percent recurring commission for up to one year, with a 180-day cookie. Because HubSpot's plans scale from starter to enterprise, a single large referral can earn far more over twelve months than a flat bounty would.
Good for: B2B marketers, CRM reviewers, sales operations content.
Semrush
The Semrush programme, run on Impact, pays up to $300 per subscription sale and $10 per free trial, with higher payouts at loyalty tiers and a 120-day cookie. The payout is a flat amount per sale, and the cookie is one of the most generous in SEO tooling.
Good for: SEO blogs, digital marketing courses, agency case-study writers.
ClickFunnels
The ClickFunnels affiliate programme pays 30 percent recurring commission for the life of the customer, which ClickFunnels works out at $44.10 to $89.10 a month per referral across its three plans. Users who build funnels rarely migrate away, so commissions compound.
Good for: course creators, coaches, sales-funnel consultants.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Email platform Kit, formerly ConvertKit, pays a recurring commission on each referral. Third-party reports of the rate and duration disagree, so check the current terms on Kit's page before promoting it. The creator-focused positioning makes it a natural fit for newsletter-driven audiences.
Good for: creators, bloggers, newsletter writers, podcasters.
Creator and freelance platforms
For an audience that makes and sells its own work.
Teachable
Teachable pays 30 percent recurring commission for a full year on each sale, with a 30-day cookie. Teachable says its partners earn $450 a month on average and many earn $1,000 or more.
Good for: online-course creators, teachers, membership-site operators.
Fiverr
The Fiverr affiliate programme offers a one-off payment per first-time buyer that varies by service category, or a hybrid model mixing a smaller one-off payment with a revenue share. The breadth of services makes it easy to slot into almost any content niche.
Good for: freelancer-audience blogs, small-business how-to channels, productivity writers.
Hosting programmes
Site owners rarely move host, so a referral is worth more than its size suggests.
Kinsta
Kinsta pays a one-time bonus of up to $500 per referral plus 10 percent monthly recurring commission for life, with a 60-day cookie. The hosting is aimed at serious WordPress sites, which filters the audience towards paying customers who stay.
Good for: WordPress developers, agency owners, performance bloggers.
Bluehost
Bluehost pays a flat $65 per qualified sale with a 30-day cookie. The structure is simple and the brand is well known, which matters when you write for a non-technical audience starting their first site.
Good for: beginner blogging guides, WordPress tutorials, small-business starters.
Compare the 10 programmes on commission and cookie length
Shortlist on the two numbers that decide what a referral is worth: commission and cookie length.
| Programme | Commission | Cookie | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Associates | 0 to 10% per sale | 24 hours | Product reviewers |
| Shopify | Up to $150 per merchant | 30 days | Ecommerce content |
| HubSpot | 30% recurring (12 months) | 180 days | B2B marketers |
| Semrush | Up to $300 per sale, $10 per trial | 120 days | SEO bloggers |
| ClickFunnels | 30% recurring (lifetime) | Not stated | Course creators |
| Teachable | 30% recurring (12 months) | 30 days | Course creators |
| Kinsta | Up to $500 plus 10% recurring | 60 days | WordPress pros |
| Kit | Recurring, check current terms | Check page | Creators, newsletters |
| Fiverr | Per-buyer fee or hybrid | Check page | Freelancer content |
| Bluehost | $65 flat | 30 days | Beginner bloggers |
Commission and cookie terms checked on each programme's official affiliate page on 26 September 2026. Kit and Fiverr did not publish terms we could confirm, and ClickFunnels does not state a cookie window on its programme page.
Sources: Amazon Associates, Shopify, HubSpot, Semrush, ClickFunnels, Teachable, Kinsta, Bluehost
Where new affiliates can protect their margin in 2026
The margin is won between the visit and the click out. Three habits make the difference in almost every campaign we audit.
The first is writing reviews from direct experience. Google's helpful content system and the E-E-A-T framework reward first-hand use, and an article about a tool you use yourself holds its ranking far longer.
The second is matching search intent. A "best of" article targets comparison intent; a single-product review targets decision intent. Give each its own article, which is why we map intent before writing, as described in our guide to search intent mapping.
The third is investing in email marketing. A mailing list captures visitors before they click out, so a reader who arrived from search comes back to your next recommendation.
Test one programme before you scale
The next step is small on purpose. Pick the one programme that best matches your existing audience. Build five pieces of useful content around it. Track clicks, commission and churn. Then decide whether to scale or switch.
If you want help building an affiliate content strategy or designing a 360 marketing plan around it, book a discovery call. You can also read more about how we work with clients.
