Affiliate marketing works, but almost every "best programs" list you will find is quietly out of date. Commission rates get cut, bonuses get withdrawn and programmes get restructured, and nobody goes back to correct the article.
So every figure below was checked against the programme's own page on 6 August 2026, and each entry links to the official terms so you can confirm it before you build anything around it. Where a programme does not publish a number, this page says so rather than inventing one.
What Has Changed Recently
Four things worth knowing, because plenty of currently ranking articles still have them wrong:
- Shopify has withdrawn the $2,000 Shopify Plus bounty that appears in most lists. The affiliate programme now pays up to $150 per referral on Basic, Grow and Advanced plans.
- Semrush no longer pays a flat $200. It is now $100 to $300 per sale depending on the product, rising to $450 at the Platinum tier.
- Amazon's standard rates top out at 10%, on Luxury Beauty. The "up to 20%" figure still quoted widely has not been accurate for years, and most categories sit between 1% and 4.5%.
- eBay's rate card runs to 6%, not 4%, and is set by sub-category and region.
How To Compare Programmes Properly
The commission rate is the least useful number in the table. Three others matter more:
Earnings per click. What you actually make per hundred clicks after conversion and refunds. A 40% commission on something nobody buys pays less than 4% on something people buy constantly. Most networks publish EPC and it is the only figure that compares two programmes fairly.
Reversal rate. The proportion of approved commission later clawed back through refunds and cancellations. Free trials and money-back guarantees mean software and VPN programmes reverse more often than physical goods, and a dashboard full of pending commission is not the same as money.
Attribution. Nearly everything runs on last click. If your reader clicks your link and then a coupon site's link before checking out, the coupon site is paid. This is the main reason a long cookie window is worth less in practice than it looks on paper.
The 10 Best Affiliate Programs In 2026
Ordered roughly by how straightforward they are to earn from, not by headline rate.
1. HubSpot
Commission: 30% recurring, capped at 12 months · Cookie: 180 days · Payout threshold: $10
The most generous terms in B2B software, and the 180 day cookie is the longest here by some margin, which matters because business software has a long consideration period. The catch that most lists omit is that the 30% recurring commission is capped at twelve months rather than running for the customer's lifetime. Best for anyone writing about marketing, sales or CRM.
Official HubSpot affiliate terms
2. Semrush
Commission: $100 to $300 per sale, $10 per trial · Cookie: 120 days · Payout threshold: Via Impact
Now tiered rather than flat: $100 to $300 per subscription depending on the product, up to $450 at Platinum, plus $10 for a free trial activation. The trial payment is worth more than it sounds, because it earns from readers who are only curious. Runs on Impact with last click attribution and a 120 day window.
Official Semrush affiliate terms
3. Shopify
Commission: Up to $150 per paid plan referral · Cookie: 30 days, 400 for trial conversions · Payout threshold: $10
Still one of the best-known programmes, but read the current terms rather than an old article: up to $150 per referral on paid plans, and the old Shopify Plus bounty is gone. The genuinely useful detail is that a free trial signup can be tracked for up to 400 days if the store later converts. Approval is selective.
Official Shopify affiliate terms
4. Amazon Associates
Commission: 1% to 10% by category · Cookie: 24 hours · Payout threshold: $10
The easiest programme to join and the hardest to earn well from. Rates run 1% to 10% by category, most sit between 1% and 4.5%, and the window is 24 hours. It survives on volume and on the fact that you earn from everything else in the basket. Note the requirement to make qualifying sales within 180 days of joining or the account closes.
Official Amazon Associates affiliate terms
5. Tripadvisor
Commission: At least 50% of Tripadvisor's commission · Cookie: 14 days · Payout threshold: $50
Unusual and often misdescribed. You are paid when a reader clicks out to a booking partner, whether or not they book, and you receive at least 50% of the commission Tripadvisor earns. That makes it far more forgiving than a booking-based programme, though earnings per click-out vary with the partner, hotel and season. 14 day window.
Official Tripadvisor affiliate terms
6. NordVPN
Commission: Up to 100% first term, 30% on renewals · Cookie: 30 days · Payout threshold: $10
Up to 100% of the first term, and 30% on every renewal, which is close to the highest first-sale rate in mainstream affiliate marketing. The trade-off is that VPN is one of the most saturated niches on the internet, so ranking for the obvious terms is genuinely hard. Commission confirms 30 days after purchase, if the account is still active.
Official NordVPN affiliate terms
7. eBay Partner Network
Commission: 1% to 6% by category and region · Cookie: 24 hours · Payout threshold: $10
Worth considering precisely because most people ignore it. The rate card runs 1% to 6% by sub-category and region, and eBay covers used, refurbished and collectible goods that Amazon does not, which suits niche and hobbyist content. The 24 hour window and per-transaction earnings caps are the limitations.
Official eBay Partner Network affiliate terms
8. Rakuten Advertising
Commission: Set by each merchant, no single rate · Cookie: Set by each merchant · Payout threshold: $50
A network rather than a single programme, so there is no one commission rate: each merchant sets its own terms, cookie window and approval criteria. Useful for reaching large retail brands that do not run their own affiliate scheme. Expect to apply to each merchant individually.
Official Rakuten Advertising affiliate terms
9. Teachable
Commission: 30% recurring, capped at 12 months · Cookie: 30 days · Payout threshold: Via PartnerStack
30% recurring for twelve months, run through PartnerStack with a 30 day cookie. Narrow but valuable if your audience is building an online course, because course creators tend to stay subscribed and the recurring payments accumulate quietly.
Official Teachable affiliate terms
10. Fiverr
Commission: CPA by category, or a fixed fee plus revenue share · Cookie: 30 days · Payout threshold: $100
Two commission models: a CPA that varies by service category, or a hybrid of a smaller fixed fee plus a share of revenue. The hybrid is usually better if your readers buy repeatedly rather than once. Fiverr does not publish full current figures publicly, so check the dashboard terms after applying.
Official Fiverr affiliate terms
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Talk To Sales →The 10 Programmes Side By Side
All figures checked 6 August 2026. Rates change without notice, so confirm on the official page.
| Programme | Commission | Cookie | Threshold | Strength | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | 30% recurring, capped at 12 months | 180 days | $10 | Long cookie, high-value SaaS customers | Commission stops after one year |
| Semrush | $100 to $300 per sale, $10 per trial | 120 days | Via Impact | Large flat payouts, generous window | Flat fee, so no recurring income |
| Shopify | Up to $150 per paid plan referral | 30 days, 400 for trial conversions | $10 | Strong brand recognition | Approval is selective |
| Amazon Associates | 1% to 10% by category | 24 hours | $10 | Converts almost anything a reader buys | Low rates and a 24 hour window |
| Tripadvisor | At least 50% of Tripadvisor's commission | 14 days | $50 | Pays on click-out, not on a completed booking | Earnings vary with partner and season |
| NordVPN | Up to 100% first term, 30% on renewals | 30 days | $10 | One of the highest first-sale rates anywhere | Crowded, heavily competed niche |
| eBay Partner Network | 1% to 6% by category and region | 24 hours | $10 | Enormous inventory, including used goods | Short window and per-transaction caps |
| Rakuten Advertising | Set by each merchant, no single rate | Set by each merchant | $50 | Access to large retail brands | Terms differ on every programme |
| Teachable | 30% recurring, capped at 12 months | 30 days | Via PartnerStack | Recurring income from course creators | Narrow audience |
| Fiverr | CPA by category, or a fixed fee plus revenue share | 30 days | $100 | Choice of commission model | Higher payout threshold |
The Part That Decides Whether Any Of This Pays
Affiliate income is a function of traffic, and traffic is a function of rankings, which depend partly on how quickly your pages load. A comparison page carrying twenty product images and three tracking scripts is exactly the kind of page that fails Core Web Vitals, and an affiliate site that does not rank earns nothing regardless of how good its commission rates are.
It is worth reading our guide to what faster pages are actually worth alongside this one, because the arithmetic is the same: a small improvement in conversion applied across all your traffic usually beats chasing a slightly higher commission rate on one programme.
FAQs
It depends whether you want size or frequency. NordVPN pays up to 100% of the first term, which is among the highest single payouts available. Semrush pays $100 to $300 per sale. HubSpot and Teachable pay 30% recurring for a year, which can total more per customer but arrives slowly. The largest headline rate is rarely the most profitable once you account for how often your audience actually converts.
Anything from 30 days upward is comfortable, 90 days or more is generous, and 24 hours is hard work. HubSpot's 180 days and Semrush's 120 days are at the good end. Amazon and eBay both use 24 hours, which means a reader who bookmarks a product and buys it at the weekend earns you nothing.
For high-volume review and comparison content, yes, because Amazon converts extremely well and you earn on whatever else lands in the basket. For most other sites, no. Standard rates run from 1% to 10% depending on category, with the majority of categories between 1% and 4.5%, and the window is only 24 hours.
Regularly, and usually without much notice. Amazon has cut category rates several times, Shopify has restructured its programme and withdrawn its old Plus bounty, and Semrush has moved from a single flat fee to a tiered range. This is why every figure on this page carries the date it was checked, and why you should confirm terms on the official page before building content around a programme.
Earnings per click is what you actually make for every hundred clicks you send, after conversion rate and refunds. A 40% commission on a product nobody buys pays less than 4% on something people buy constantly. Most networks show EPC, and it is the single most useful number for comparing two programmes honestly.
The share of your approved commissions that later get clawed back because of refunds, cancellations or chargebacks. A programme with a high reversal rate can look excellent in your dashboard and much worse in your bank account. Software and VPN programmes usually have higher reversals than physical goods, because of free trials and money-back guarantees.
Yes. In the UK the CMA requires it under consumer protection law, and in the US the FTC requires a clear and conspicuous disclosure. It must be near the link, not buried in a footer. Failing to disclose risks penalties and, in practice, removal from the programme.
Fewer than most people do. Two or three that genuinely match what your audience is trying to buy will outperform a dozen that do not, because relevance drives conversion far more than the headline rate. Add programmes when you have content that would naturally recommend them.
They can, but slowly. Most programmes approve you without traffic requirements, but earnings follow search visibility, and that takes months. Amazon is stricter than most, requiring a number of qualifying sales within your first 180 days or your account is closed.
Most programmes, Semrush included, pay on last click. If your reader clicks your link, then later clicks someone else's coupon link before buying, the other affiliate is paid and you get nothing. It is why coupon and deal sites capture a disproportionate share of commission, and why a long cookie window helps less than it appears.
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