9 Best Affiliate Networks For Bloggers in 2024 – Earn with these Top Platforms!

Are you a blogger looking for ways to make money and grow your business?

Then it’s time to look into the best affiliate networks to help get your business to build success!

Affiliate marketing has been around almost as long as blogging, but now more than ever, it’s becoming one of the most powerful tools for making money online.

Whether you’re an up-and-coming blogger or an established author who needs some extra cash, finding a great affiliate network is key to your success.

To help you on your blogging journey, we’ve selected 9 of the best platforms for 2024, that offer fantastic opportunities and incentives to bloggers everywhere.

Keep reading to find out which networks are right for you!

Let’s get started!

What to Look for in an Affiliate Network

Having a good affiliate marketing strategy will always pay off in the long run for your business.

Below are a few things that you need to consider when you start your search for the best affiliate networks to join.

Niche-Based Products

When looking for these top affiliate networks, be sure to choose products or services that your audience will actually want.

In reference to affiliate networks, be sure to check out their full list of products. Do they have a list of affiliate products that are within the niche topic of your site?

It’s difficult to build your dream affiliate business around 1 or 2 products, so if a particular network doesn’t offer a bunch of products that can generate affiliate sales from your audience, think twice about joining.

Affiliate Commissions

When you research affiliate companies to match the niche you’re in, you’ll want to know the facts about their programs.

Some bloggers will automatically look for high-paying affiliate marketing programs, but these aren’t always the best programs for bloggers.

These types of programs may pay high commissions, but you might see less money, because of the difficulty to move the product.

A good rule of thumb is to choose a program that has a reasonable commission rate and payment terms that you can work with.

In your search, you’ll want to see if you can find the most lucrative affiliate programs, that your readers are actually interested in.

You’ll want to know:

• The percentage rate for the commission
• How you’ll get paid, whether its direct deposit, check or PayPal
• If they have minimum payouts (I’ve seen some that have a payment threshold of $100 when the commission is roughly $9 a pop – it’s going to take a while to reach the $100 bucks)
• When you’ll get paid (most affiliate programs will pay Net +30, meaning 30 days after the sale. Some go as far as Net +60 or +90)

90 days is a long time to wait – choose wisely!

High-Quality Platform

In the search to find the best affiliate networks for your business, one thing that helps ease the stress is to find programs that have professionally built management tools and software.

Simplicity would be a good place to start. When you’re first starting out as a new affiliate, you’ll want to make things as easy on yourself as possible.

I’m not going to name, names, but some of these affiliate networks and affiliate programs need a feedback form, so I can tell them that their system is confusing, complicated, and needs a bath to remove all the crap.

Even with me being a veteran blogger, I still get lost and confused with some of their freakin’, crappy setups. They need to simplify them.

Signing up for an affiliate program should be easy as filling out a form, which they usually are. After you’re approved is where the stink starts to happen with its outdated and confusing interface.

Having a NON-user-friendly software interface can be a nightmare, to say the least. Where do I go to get my affiliate links? Which link do I click on to see if I received a commission?

My God, people, ask your mother to navigate your platform to see if she can figure it out, if not, fix it!

OK, off my soapbox!

Now that I’m done whining, the point I’m trying to make is that when it comes to choosing an affiliate program, don’t just choose an affiliate because of its, high commission rate.

You may be setting yourself up for more stress than you want!

A Good Support Network

Like anything else when it comes to the digital age, there are things that can go wrong to where you need to contact support.

If any situation arises, it’s good to have someone to talk to, to find out what’s going on.

A good affiliate program should have a phone number, chat, or at the least a dedicated email address where they say they’ll get back to you within 24 -48 hours.

My God, I’ve seen some programs that if you write to them, you’ll maybe get an answer a week later, or no answer at all! How does that help me in my crisis?

If the program or network doesn’t have a good support system, maybe it’s one you should pass on. They’ll get the hint one day when they start losing affiliate marketers because they don’t have any way to support their bread and butter.

Moral of the story! Even if the platform is simple to use, if they don’t have a good support network, consider moving on to the next one.

Otherwise, you’re going to be kicking yourself, which can cause bruising, and I don’t want you to blame me.

Best Affiliate Networks For Bloggers

Let’s start with the Mammoth of ALL the Top Affiliate Networks!

1. Amazon Associates Network

I don’t believe there’s a person on the planet, who’s been online before, that doesn’t know who Amazon is.

Is Amazon the best affiliate program for you, and your affiliate business, you be the judge.

Amazon started spreading its wings back in 1994. I know, I know, you’re asking, was there even Internet back then?

Yes, there was an Internet, but you could actually hear it thinking about starting up. It was noisy back then, just ask your folks if you don’t know what I mean.

On July 5, 1994, in the state of Washington, Jeff Bezos created his company known as Cadabra, which was changed to Amazon a few months later.

Read the story to find out why, it’s pretty nuts.

Amazon Associates (their affiliate program) has been around for more than 20 years.

Although Amazon’s percentage rates want to make you head for your medicine cabinet for Ibuprophen, they’re still one of the most popular affiliate networks on the net.

Amazon has you covered with not just books, but movies, music, household goods, and so much more. You name it, they most likely have it, and at the best prices available anywhere.

With its simple affiliate program, if you find a product that your audience might like, you can sell it and receive a commission for the sale.

Now, mind you, the commission scale is much lower than most other affiliate networks and programs, but they do have one nice thing about them.

When a person uses your affiliate link to check out the product you’re referencing on your site, if they fill their cart with $2000 worth of stuff, you get a commission for all of it. Pretty nice, huh?

Amazon, in my opinion, is the best affiliate marketing program for beginner bloggers.

Amazon also has, probably the best support for affiliate marketers in the business, so if something doesn’t look right, you can always get assistance.

Commission Rate: with Amazon, it varies between 1% to 20% depending on the category of the product. Here’s the link to their categories and percentages page.

Payments: Direct deposit, Amazon gift card, or a check.

Minimum Payment Threshold: $10

Payment Date: Net +60 (60 days following the end of the calendar month in which commission was earned)

Cookie/Tracking: 24 hours with an exception – “the customer purchases a Product by adding a Product to the customer’s shopping cart and completing the order for that Product no later than 89 days after their initial click-through of the Special Link”

Who It’s Best Suited for: In my opinion, Amazon is best suited for beginner bloggers wanting to start earning affiliate commissions.

Pros

• Easy to sign-up
• Brand recognition – everyone knows who Amazon is
• Unlimited products to promote
• Easy to collect your money via direct deposit, gift card or check

Cons

• The low commission rates suck, meaning you must have high volumes of traffic to make it worth your while
• The 24-hour window for the person to make a purchase via your affiliate link unless they happen to add a product to their cart to come back later

Get started with Amazon Associates today!

2. Clickbank Network

The Clickbank affiliate network is one of the largest networks that focus solely on digital products and new product launches.

This network houses over 6 million unique digital products that are at the forefront of entrepreneurs. In a nutshell, they are a specialty company that has a reach of 200 million customers worldwide.

If your blog concentrates on solely digital products, then this is the one for you.

Is Clickbank the best affiliate network for digitally delivered products? Considering there are plenty of others out there yet to reveal, it’s a judgment call.

Commission Rate: Varies from merchant to merchant

Payments: Direct deposit, check, or wire transfer

Minimum Payment Threshold: “The default payment threshold at ClickBank is $100, but it can start as low as $10. This number varies by the affiliate network or affiliate program.”

Payment Date: Net +60

Cookie/Tracking: 60 Days

Who It’s Best Suited for: Beginner bloggers to seasoned bloggers wanting to sell digital products via their blog, email list, or social media accounts

Pros

• Being approved for affiliate programs is easy
• Higher payouts than other affiliate networks
• Lots of programs that offer recurring commissions
• You’ll receive help promoting products using a proven merchant’s landing page
• Simple to sell products via social media or your email list

Cons

• Outdated software
• High refunds on many digital products, so choose wisely

Get started with Clickbank today!

3. ShareaSale Affiliate Network

With ShareaSale having close to 4000 merchants and counting, it’s one of the largest affiliate networks available.

With an average of 260 merchants adding their programs each month to ShareaSale, any blogger can find a product to meet their needs.

Operating out of Chicago, Il, since the year 2000, ShareaSale has built a reputation based on honesty, and fair business practices.

ShareaSale merged with Awin back in 2017 to provide more opportunities internationally and domestically.

ShareaSale is a great opportunity for bloggers starting out with affiliate marketing that are wanting a great selection of digital and physical products to add to their portfolio of products to sell.

I personally have been very pleased with my turnaround of sales through their network. It’s been easy and trouble-free receiving commissions.

Commission Rate: Varies from merchant to merchant

Payments: Direct deposit, check

Minimum Payment Threshold: $50

Payment Date: Net +30

Cookie/Tracking: 1 – 30 Days depending on the merchant

Who It’s Best Suited for: A blogger wanting a selection of new and emerging products and services to sell.

Pros

• Large selection of products and services to promote
• A shorter waiting period to receive your commission compared to other networks

Cons

• An outdated and not-so-user-friendly interface
• The approval process can leave you wondering, am I approved or not?

Get started with ShareaSale today!

4. Rakuten Advertising Network

With 25+ years of experience in the affiliate marketing industry, Rakuten knows how to connect its customers with products better than most affiliate networks available today.

Similar to Amazon, this affiliate network specializes in selling physical products online.

Rakuten offers a comprehensive selection of the world’s most recognized brands, like New Balance shoes, Sephora, Udemy, and Backcountry, just to name a few.

As one of the oldest and most dedicated affiliate networks, you’ll have access to more than 150,000 publishers and high-scale brands.

Rakuten has also been rated the #1 affiliate marketing network, 11 years in a row.

With its wide variety of products to choose from, Rakuten’s affiliate platform will help you optimize sales.

They’ll allow you to use their advanced marketing tools, such as rotating ads, as a form of A/B testing, and flexible linking options.

Using these tools will help you promote products, which will help increase conversions for your blogging business.

Commission Rate: Varies

Payments: PayPal, check or direct deposit

Minimum Payment Threshold: $50

Payment Date: Net +30 (commissions earned during the month of October, which are then invoiced in early November, would be authorized by the advertiser by November 30th with payment due to the network by December 30th.)

Who It’s Best Suited for: Blogger looking for similar products as you would see on eBay or Amazon.

Pros

• Large choice of well-known brands
• One of the most experienced affiliate networks to date

Cons

• The network can be slow to pay

Get started with Rakuten Advertising today!

5. CJ Affiliate Network

Established in 1998, CJ Affiliate (formerly known as Commission Junction) is a pioneer in the affiliate marketing industry, second only to Amazon.

With their main headquarters being based in Santa Barbara, California, and specializing in affiliate marketing technology and services, they’re one of the most well-known and recognized names in the world.

Fueled by the world’s largest brands like J.Crew, Barnes & Noble, Overstock, and Office Depot, CJ affiliate offers a network of close to 2500 affiliate programs.

CJ also provides you with state-of-the-art, technology designed to assist you in every possible way, especially if you’re new to the affiliate marketing world.

Commission Rate: Varies

Payments: Check or direct deposit

Minimum Payment Threshold: $50 for direct deposit

Payment Date: Net +30

Who It’s Best Suited for: Affiliate marketers with some experience

Pros

• Large choice of well-known brand names
• Reliable and advanced interface & reporting tools
• Get paid with on-time payments
• One of the most experienced affiliate networks to date
• Good support and helpful tutorials

Cons

• Not as user-friendly, and comes with a slight learning curve

Get started with CJ Affiliate today!

6. Flexoffers Affiliate Network

FlexOffers is a huge affiliate network that offers more than 10,000 affiliate programs.

With this affiliate platform, you’ll never run out of options. They cover popular affiliate products from virtually every niche.

From business to clothing and accessories, financial services, health and wellness, and so many more, you’ll be sure to find what you’re looking for to promote.

To help with your success, FlexOffers gives you a wide range of marketing options, data delivery options, along with a large payment structure to fit anybody’s requirements.

Commission Rate: Varies

Payments: PayPal, check, direct deposit, and wire transfer

Minimum Payment Threshold: $25

Payment Date: Net +60

Who It’s Best Suited for: Beginner bloggers just starting in affiliate marketing

Pros

• Perfect Solution for beginners with small amounts of traffic
• Covers virtually every niche
• The user-friendly platform even my mother can navigate

Cons

• You’ll have to wait 2 months or more for a payment

Get started with FlexOffers today!

7. Pepperjam Affiliate Network

Pepperjam is a leading affiliate network that bridges the gap between publishers and advertisers with its cutting-edge technology.

Although PepperJam may not be a name you’ve heard of, they’ve been a part of the affiliate marketing industry for many years and were acquired by the mega company, eBay in 2009.

Similar to Clickbank, publishers (product owners), can choose to share marketing tactics, which can help the affiliate marketer advertise and sell the affiliate’s product.

Once a year, Pepperjam network puts on a conference where affiliates and advertisers can get together and network. This includes the Pepperjam team.

Commission Rate: Varies

Payments: PayPal

Minimum Payment Threshold: $25

Payment Date: Net +60

Who It’s Best Suited for: New and experienced bloggers

Pros

• Easy-to-use affiliate dashboard
• Relationship building between affiliate and advertiser

Cons

• Less than 1000 advertisers

Get started with the Pepperjam Network today!

8. Maxbounty Affiliate Network

Maxbounty is a CPA (cost per action) affiliate network, which means that each affiliate advertiser will pay for a specific action.

Each advertiser will define what action the person visiting is required to take in order to receive a commission.

This action could be as simple as filling out a form or something more in-depth requiring the consumer to make a purchase.

For over ten years, MaxBounty has been a top-rated affiliate network that can be trusted for its reliability and excellence.

This reliable affiliate network presents a large array of 30,000+ affiliate partners with industries covering virtually every niche, but most well-known for the online dating, dieting, and real estate niche.

There are some CPA programs that will allot you a dedicated affiliate manager, which can help you dramatically increase your commissions. Some of the programs include certain web services such as software downloads and file sharing.

Commission Rate: Varies

Payments: PayPal, check, wire transfer, Payoneer prepaid MasterCard, direct deposit

Minimum Payment Threshold: $100

Payment Date: Net +15

Who It’s Best Suited for: Bloggers familiar with this model of affiliate marketing is a plus

Pros

• Chances to earn bonuses within 90 days when exceeding a certain level.
• Well-organized and up-to-date affiliate dashboard

Cons

• The application process can cause some undue frustration
• Support is lacking

Get started with Maxbounty network today!

9. Avangate Affiliate Network

Since 2006, Avangate has made digital products their specialty. Much like ClickBank, they solely promote virtual goods.

But, the difference between Clickbank and Avangate is that they specialize in software and digital goods.

You’ll have access to over 50,000 Software and Digital Goods Publishers that you’ll be able to partner with who will help you to increase your bottom line.

Some of their software’s are Bitdefender, Kaspersky, SEO Powersuite, and Wondershare, just to name a few of the multi-thousands available.

Avangate offers advanced marketing tools, hassle-free payouts, along with a dedicated account manager that will help you set up your affiliate program and find publishers best suited for your niche.

They also provide advanced reporting so you can track each sale from the first click.

Commission Rate: Varies

Payments: PayPal, check, wire transfer (paid in dollars or Euro)

Minimum Payment Threshold: $100

Payment Date: Net +20

Cookie/Tracking: 30 to 180 days depending on the vendor

Who It’s Best Suited for: Bloggers in the technical or software niche

Pros

• Hassle-free, 2Checkout system
• Easy to partner with publishers
• Easy to use and simplified interface

Cons

• Some of the digital products may be hard to sell

Get started with Avangate today!

Affiliate Marketing FAQs

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest and most lucrative ways for a blogger to earn money through their site, by marketing another company’s products or services.

The nice thing about making money with affiliate marketing is it can allow you the freedom to set your own hours and work from anywhere in the world.

What’s an Affiliate Program?

An affiliate program, also known as a referral program, is an arrangement between a merchant and, for our particular discussion, a blogger.

This arrangement between the merchant and blogger is for the blogger to promote the merchant’s products or services to their audience.

This process works by using promotional links, which are provided by the merchant, to place on the blogger’s site.

These special links, which create a small snippet of tracking code when clicked on, will lead directly to the merchant’s website page you’re linking to.

If the person who clicks on a promotional link makes a purchase, the blogger will earn a commission.

Affiliate Programs Vs Affiliate Networks

Affiliate programs can be found in two ways:

• Connecting with the company directly
• Connecting to the company through an affiliate network

So, what’s the difference between an affiliate network compared to an affiliate program?

As previously discussed, in general, an affiliate program is an arrangement between the advertiser and the blogger, where the blogger will receive a commission for referring the customer.

Meaning, with the affiliate program, you, as the blogger, will have a direct relationship with the company.

Example: SiteGround is the web hosting I use for this site. SiteGround is an affiliate program that I’m signed up with to promote, because of its superb hosting. In this case, I have a direct relationship with them.

On the other hand, an affiliate network is more like an intermediary between you and the advertiser for the affiliate program.

These affiliate networks have access to thousands of affiliate programs all on one platform.

They will usually offer tools and a tracking system, which will help you create custom affiliate links, along with seeing your affiliate information all in one location.

One good example would be ShareaSale.

Because Share-a-Sale represents thousands of affiliate programs, it makes them the intermediary between you as the blogger, and the affiliate program(s) you’re advertising on your site.

How Do I Find Affiliate Networks or Programs to Join?

If you’re looking to promote products or services, a simple online search will reveal affiliate networks that specialize in exactly what you need.

If you were to search, “affiliate networks,” you’d come across a few sites like this one that’ll share their reviews of specific affiliate networks.

To find the affiliate network that’s right for you, and is sure to bring in a steady stream of income, set aside some time to read these reviews.

When you’re ready to find and join affiliate programs, you, as the blogger, will have a couple of choices.

As I previously mentioned, there are affiliate programs, and affiliate networks that have hundreds, if not thousands of affiliate programs under one roof, so to speak.

Some of these programs are self-hosted, meaning that the company has its own affiliate software that will track its program.

An easy way to find affiliate programs is to do a Google search by typing into the search box, your specific “[niche/brand] + affiliate program”.

A few examples could be, “fitness affiliate programs” or “software affiliate programs“.

Or you can be more specific by typing in something similar to, “AI writer affiliate program,” or “jasper affiliate program” if you know the name of the product.

In most cases, all you need to join an affiliate network or program is to have a website, which is a given if you’re a blogger.

You’ll also need a way to receive payments, whether it’s a checking account, direct deposit, or in the majority of cases, a PayPal account. You’ll have to check out the fine print to know.

It would be a good idea to have a company type of email address, I.E., [email protected], not a Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail account. Or for you old folks, not an AOL email account.

Having a commercial type of email address will make you look much more legitimate in the eyes of the company you’re applying for.

What’s a Cookie?

I don’t know about you, but a chocolate chip cookie that melts in your mouth is to die for!

In reference to a cookie for an affiliate program, a web cookie is a small block of code that is stored on your computer’s browser. And, is the way that your affiliate referrals are tracked with the company.

In a nutshell, this small bit of code is what’s going to help you make a commission.

When a person clicks on your affiliate link and visits the site of the product or service, a tracking code is applied to the person’s browser.

If that person makes a purchase right then and there, you, as the blogger with the affiliate link, will receive the commission.

Let’s say the person leaves the site, do you lose the commission if they return later, not using your affiliate link, but go directly to the site?

Not necessarily, not if they didn’t clear their browser’s cache. And, if they’re within the Cookie Duration Window.

What?

I know, right? Let’s talk about it!

What’s an Affiliate Link Cookie Duration?

The cookie duration is a certain amount of time that the affiliate company places on how long, into the future, they’re willing to give a commission when a person has previously clicked on your affiliate link, yet visits the site at a later time.

Example: If someone clicks on your affiliate link, but doesn’t make a purchase at that time, the company will place a digital fingerprint (cookie) that will help them recognize a person if they decide to return and make a purchase.

This way, you’ll still get credit for the sale, even if it was a week or a month later!

Now, these affiliate programs could specify 30 days, 60 days, or in some cases, 24 hours. This is something you’ll want to know because short durations don’t work well, people need time to decide.

For the 24-hour window, you better be a good salesperson, telling your reader that your kid needs a new pair of shoes, so they need to do you a favor, don’t wait, make a purchase today! (Insert Smiley Face)

Now that we’ve given you all the juicy details about what to look for, let’s jump into the best affiliate programs for bloggers.

What’s the Best Affiliate Network for Beginner Bloggers?

Amazon Associates is the ultimate affiliate network for beginner bloggers and seasoned professionals alike, with countless products and services tailored to your exclusive niche.

Furthermore, Amazon Associates offers an incredibly user-friendly platform making it a fantastic choice for those just starting out.

Conclusion

It looks like affiliate networks are here to stay, and bloggers have more choices than ever when it comes to working with one.

Whether you’re a professional blogger or just starting out, this list has something that’s perfect for you.

No matter which network you go with, we hope this information has helped you with making an educated decision about which affiliate network might work best for your particular needs.

Just remember, staying organized and keeping up with new trends will make all the difference in achieving your desired results.

Now strap in and get started!