The affiliate program intelligence platform.

What is an affiliate program in 2026

An affiliate program is a partnership where a company pays a commission every time a customer arrives through a tracked link or code. The affiliate places that link in their content, audience members click through, conversions are tracked, and commissions are paid out on a defined schedule. The mechanism has been around since 1996 when Amazon launched the first major program, and the total industry now exceeds 30 billion dollars annually with thousands of programs across nearly every consumer and B2B vertical.

Programs vary on three structural axes. Commission type can be flat per sale, percentage of sale, recurring monthly, hybrid combining one time plus recurring, or pay per lead. Cookie window determines the attribution period, typically 30 to 120 days from the user's click, with longer windows favoring high consideration purchases. Tier structure is single tier (only your direct sales) or two tier (also called sub affiliate, where you earn on commissions generated by affiliates you referred to the program).

The strongest economic combination in 2026 is recurring commission plus long cookie plus two tier on a sticky subscription product. ConvertKit pays 30 percent recurring with a 90 day cookie. Kinsta pays $50 to $500 bounty plus 10 percent monthly recurring plus 10 percent on second tier with a 60 day cookie. FreeTTS pays 30 percent recurring with a 60 day cookie and a sub 3 percent refund rate. These numbers compound differently than a flat one time bounty, even when the headline percentage looks similar.

The two tier sub affiliate model explained

A two tier affiliate program pays a percentage of commissions earned by affiliates you refer to the program. Tier one is your direct sales. Tier two is your share of referred affiliates' sales. Rates typically range 5 to 30 percent of the second tier affiliate's commission. The structure is legal in the United States, EU, UK, Canada, Australia, and most jurisdictions. It is distinct from multi level marketing because there are exactly two levels (not endless layers) and earnings come from real product sales (not recruitment fees).

The math at scale is genuinely interesting. Suppose 1,000 affiliates click through a directory page to sign up to ClickFunnels under your sub affiliate link over 12 months. Industry conversion to active affiliate runs 8 to 12 percent, so roughly 100 active referred affiliates. Average active affiliate produces $200 monthly in commissions. At 5 percent second tier, this cohort generates around $1,000 monthly in tier two income with effectively zero ongoing work after the initial referral content was published. The compounding stacks across multiple programs and across cohorts year over year.

Programs in our directory currently offering two tier worth knowing: Builderall at 30 percent on second tier (the highest rate), Kinsta at 10 percent monthly lifetime, VeePN at 10 percent, ClickFunnels at 5 percent, Systeme.io at 5 percent lifetime, PixVerse at 5 percent lifetime, ProtonVPN at 10 percent, SendOwl at 10 percent, Groove.cm at 10 percent. The complete list with verification dates lives at the two tier programs hub.

Why this directory exists when twelve others already do

Several directories already list affiliate programs. affiliate.watch lists 862. AffiliList claims over 10,000. OfferVault aggregates 50,000 plus CPA offers. The structural problem with most existing directories is verification fidelity. Most scrape program pages once, never re-check, and the data goes stale within months. Affiliates discover this the hard way when a program listed at 30 percent commission with a 60 day cookie turns out to actually pay 20 percent on a 30 day cookie. The directory's data was two years old.

This is the reason serious affiliate operators rely on private Telegram groups, Slack channels, and forum threads instead of trusting public directory data. The aggregated public knowledge exists; nobody has organized it with current verification at scale.

What this directory does differently:

• Manual verification every 30 to 60 days. Not scraped. A human reviews each program's actual affiliate page, cross references network terms, and updates the listing. Last verified date appears on every program page. This is slow which is why this directory has 864 listings rather than 50,000. Quality over breadth.
• Public payout reliability scores. Every affiliate network gets a letter grade A through F based on community submitted payout receipts, network history, and monthly reliability checks. Sample sizes shown. Methodology public. Featured listings do not influence reliability scores.
• Two tier as a primary filter. Most directories tag two tier programs but bury the filter or omit it entirely. The two tier filter is a first class control on this site because that single feature determines whether the long term math compounds or not for many serious affiliates.
• Server rendered HTML. Every page is plain HTML readable by AI crawlers (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) without JavaScript execution. Schema markup is rich on every page (Product, Review, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Organization, AggregateRating). Content is structured for citation, not just viewing.
• Disclosure on every page. Affiliate relationships are disclosed at the top of every program review and in the dedicated disclosure policy. Featured listings are tagged paid placement separate from editorial rankings.

How affiliatejob compares to other directories

Six factors to evaluate before joining any affiliate program

Before committing content effort to any program, run through this six point checklist. The same framework applies whether you are picking your first program or adding the fifteenth program to an established stack.

1. Cookie duration matters more than commission percentage

A 50 percent commission with a 24 hour cookie is worse than a 20 percent commission with a 90 day cookie for almost every audience. Most affiliate sales close on the second, third, or eighth visit, not the first. A short cookie wipes out tracking before the buyer makes a decision. Optimal: 30 day minimum, 60 to 90 days preferred, lifetime cookies are exceptional and rare.

2. Recurring beats flat for subscription products

If the underlying product is a monthly subscription, demand a recurring commission. ConvertKit pays 30 percent recurring forever. Kinsta pays 10 percent monthly recurring lifetime. These programs feel slow at first because the first sale produces only $10 to $40 in commission, but compounded over 18 to 36 months of typical customer lifetime, recurring beats flat one time programs by 3 to 5x on lifetime payout per converted customer.

3. Tracking platform reliability matters

Programs on Impact, PartnerStack, and ShareASale typically pay reliably and on time. In house tracking platforms range from excellent (Kinsta, FreeTTS via Creem, ConvertKit) to problematic (some smaller programs). Search the program name plus payout or scrubs on Reddit and AffiliateFix to see real affiliate experiences before committing significant content effort.

4. Read the terms for restrictions

Some programs prohibit promotion of direct competitors. Booking.com historically did this for hotel affiliates. iGaming programs are restrictive about competitor promotion. SaaS programs rarely restrict but may prohibit specific traffic sources (paid search on brand keywords, certain ad networks, content with specific claims). Read the restrictions section before signing the agreement.

5. Check the minimum payout threshold

If a program pays out only when accumulated balance reaches $100 or more, and traffic is small, payments may never actually arrive. Some programs hold thresholds at $500. That balance sits frozen until activity grows. Lower thresholds (under $50) are friendlier to new affiliates. The minimum payout threshold is documented on every program page in this directory.

6. Look for second tier where available

If a program offers a sub affiliate tier, the long term math beats most non tiered programs at the same headline percentage. The compounding from referring 5 to 10 active affiliates exceeds most direct sales activity for typical operators. Filter for two tier on this site to get a shortlist instantly.

Who uses affiliatejob

Trying to be specific because vague positioning helps nobody. The eight types of professionals who get the most value from this directory:

Bloggers and content writers in B2B niches

Writers covering SaaS, hosting, productivity tools, AI software, design tools, marketing platforms. Filter by category, sort by payout reliability, identify a shortlist in five minutes. The data tables save hours of research per program decision.

YouTubers in tech, business, or finance

Video descriptions are prime affiliate real estate. Filter for programs with high one click conversion, decent commission percentage, and 60 plus day cookies because YouTube viewers research before buying. Programs tagged creator friendly do not punish video content or demand pre approval.

Newsletter operators

Beehiiv, Substack, ConvertKit publishers with engaged but small lists. Filter for programs with personalized affiliate dashboards, low minimums, and ideally recurring or two tier so the math compounds without massive volume.

Paid traffic buyers and media buyers

Operators running Facebook, TikTok, native, and search ads to affiliate offers. EPC, conversion windows, and network reliability all matter. The Networks page with A through F reliability grades is the primary tool for this audience.

SaaS founders evaluating partner programs

Pre launch research on what competitors offer, which networks they use, and what commission rates work in a category. Browse the relevant category, see the spread, set the offer in the top quartile. Then submit the new program at /submit.

Affiliate managers and partner ops

In house affiliate program operators wanting visibility with serious affiliates rather than couponers. Submitting a program here puts it in front of professional operators. Featured listings push to top of category for higher visibility.

Comparison site builders

Operators building review sites for VPNs, hosting, password managers, AI tools. The category pages and individual program reviews provide the structured data needed to feature 3 to 5 programs per category.

Recruiters sourcing affiliate marketing talent

Hiring affiliate managers, partnership ops, and performance marketing leads. The directory shows which networks operate in which verticals and which programs have brand recognition with affiliates. Job board functionality launches in late 2026.

How program data is verified

Every program in this directory goes through a five step verification, every 30 to 60 days. The methodology is public so users can audit the process and call out errors.

The full methodology including how reliability scores are calculated and what counts as a community payout report lives at /methodology. Errors get fixed within 48 hours of being reported via [email protected].

FAQ: the questions asked most often