13 Best Influencer Affiliate Programs & Networks

Influencer affiliate programs are great for everyone involved.

• Brands reach more people.
• Influencers earn money from sales.
• Followers get good product suggestions.

Most people trust recommendations from friends, family, and influencers over brands.

There are many affiliate programs to pick from. Choosing the right ones for your audience and niche is key to making money.

This post looks at top influencer affiliate programs for different niches. But first, let’s see what sets influencers apart from affiliate marketers.

Influencers vs. Affiliate Marketers

Influencer marketing teams up famous social media users with brands to promote stuff. Influencers grow big followings on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook. They cover lots of areas like fashion, beauty, health, fitness, and more.

Affiliate marketing is when content creators partner with brands. They use various channels like blogs, websites, podcasts, and emails. They focus on bringing in traffic, and you can find affiliate programs for almost any topic.

Influencers often get paid upfront or with freebies for promoting brands. But affiliate marketers earn money from leads and sales through special links.

Both need to build trust, but influencers focus on engaging with their community. Meanwhile, affiliate marketers aim to provide useful info and recommendations.

There’s some crossover because both create content, promote stuff, and use tracking links.

Influencer Affiliate Programs & Networks

1. CJ Affiliate

CJ Affiliate, formerly known as Commission Junction, is a big player in affiliate marketing, especially for retail brands. They work with twice as many top eCommerce companies in North America as their closest competitor.

Commissions start at about 5% per sale, but CJ Affiliate pays out over $1.8 billion in commissions annually, offering significant earning potential if your marketing strategy is effective. Influencers can get higher commissions from select premium brands.

Payment options include paper check, direct deposit, or Payoneer, available in over 150 currencies.

Getting paid involves reaching a $50 commission threshold. Commissions earned in a month are usually locked and paid out in the next payment cycle, around the 20th for all currencies, and around the 28th for USD, GBP, and EUR.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

2. ShareASale

ShareASale is a popular affiliate network used by about 21.8% of affiliate marketers. It’s mainly for businesses selling to consumers and has over 21,200 retail affiliate programs covering 39 categories. These programs are often available worldwide.

Affiliates earn commissions ranging from 5% to over 50%, depending on what they promote. Payment options include checks (if you earn over $50), direct deposit, bank transfer (with a $29 fee), or Payoneer. Payments are made on the 20th of each month for the previous month’s earnings, unless the merchant delays it.

You can contact ShareASale via email anytime. They also provide free training webinars and marketing resources.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

3. Amazon Associates

Amazon’s affiliate program, Amazon Associates, is a popular choice for influencers looking to monetize their content. With over 350 million products available, it’s a go-to for lifestyle influencers, bloggers, and reviewers.

Signing up is straightforward. You just need to provide basic details about your website or app. However, there’s a catch: you must make three sales within your first 180 days to be approved, and they can’t be self-generated.

The commission rates vary from 1% to 20% per sale, depending on the product category. Payments are made approximately 60 days after they’re earned, through bank transfer, check, or Amazon gift card.

While Amazon’s one-day cookie window isn’t ideal, you have 90 days for customers to convert after clicking your affiliate link.

• Commission rate: 1% – 20%
• Referral window: 1 day

4. Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten is a big affiliate marketing network that focuses on brands in retail, direct-to-consumer, finance, and travel. It’s been voted the best affiliate network by mThink for 11 years straight.

Rakuten is a major player, attracting top brands. It provides great support and tools for affiliates to make more money. Signing up is easy—just share some basic info about yourself and your website.

Commission payments can be received through direct deposit, PayPal, or check, with a minimum threshold of $50. Payments are made on a NET 60 basis, meaning you get your commissions 60 days after earning them.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

5. Awin

Awin is a global affiliate marketing network with over 21,200 advertisers across various niches. They also own ShareASale.

Awin offers a deep link generator to track any product link or image. They provide a weekly newsletter with the latest advertiser promotions and vouchers.

Commission rates vary, and payments are made via bank transfer, wire transfer, or Payoneer. There’s a minimum payment threshold depending on the currency you’re paid in, starting from £20, €20, or $20.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

6. ShopStyle Collective

ShopStyle Collective is a platform focused on fashion affiliate marketing, offering two programs for influencers:

1. Standard Program: This program aimed at newcomers to influencer marketing. It uses Cost Per Click (CPC) model.

2. Advanced Program: This program geared towards experienced influencers. It utilizes Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) model, paying a percentage of every order.

Thousands of brands use this platform to connect with influencers, each setting their own commission rates. Commissions for the CPA program are calculated on the total checkout price (minus shipping and taxes). Sales are confirmed within 60-90 days, and commissions are paid monthly via PayPal if you meet the US$25 threshold.

To join, you need to be 18+, have original shoppable content, an engaged audience, and consistently create new blog/social media posts. ShopStyle may terminate inactive accounts, with a $5 admin fee deducted.

The platform provides marketing materials and tools, including Android and iOS apps for on-the-go affiliate link creation and performance monitoring.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

7. Refersion Marketplace

Refersion Marketplace is an affiliate network with many influencers and marketers actively seeking partnerships in four main niches: Health & Wellness, Food & Beverage, Fashion & Beauty, and Home & Furnishings.

It collaborates directly with brands, often offering higher commissions than traditional affiliate networks and influencer platforms. Over 25,000 affiliates use it.

Commissions vary by program, starting at around 5% and going up to 70% per sale for certain products. You can receive commissions through PayPal, gift cards, or bank transfers.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

8. MagicLinks

MagicLinks is an affiliate network that connects influencers with big brands like ASOS, Glossier, and Nordstrom, focusing on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

As a MagicLinks creator, you can collaborate with over 5,000 brands in five categories:

1. Lifestyle
2. Beauty
3. Fashion
4. Home
5. Tech

Brands decide their own commission rates and cookie windows. MagicLinks makes it simple for you by ranking partners on a 0-5 scale based on 12 factors like commission and cookie length. They pay you through PayPal on the 1st of the month if you’ve earned at least $50 in locked commissions.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

9. LTK (Formerly Rewardstyle/LikeToKnow)

Formerly two networks, LTK is now a hub for 6,000+ brands, 200,000+ creators, and millions of shoppers, especially appealing to lifestyle influencers.

LTK Creator offers the following benefits:

• Personalized shop visible to 300,000 monthly LTK App users.
• Retargeting capabilities for audience re-engagement.
• Tools for creating special links and collections.
• Small business support and one-on-one growth consulting.
• Content creation tech for shoppable content on closed platforms.

To become an LTK Creator, you need a public social media profile, an engaged following, and high-quality content. Commission rates and cookie windows vary, with payments every two weeks on Fridays if you hit the $100 threshold.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

10. Amazon Influencer Program

The Amazon Influencer Program is like Amazon Associates, but with a focus on social media influencers. You still earn commissions and get real-time reports through Associates Central. The best part? You get your own Amazon page with a special link (amazon.com/shop/influencerhandle).

The Amazon Influencer Program is available in these eight countries:

1. US
2. UK
3. India
4. Canada
5. France
6. Spain
7. Italy
8. Germany

When people buy from your page, you earn commissions, just like with affiliate links. This is handy for promoting products on platforms like Instagram where you can’t use regular links.

• Commission rate: 1% – 20%
• Referral window: 1 day

11. Canva

Canva, a popular graphic design platform with 18 million users, offers pre-built templates for banners, graphics, and ebooks.

While Canva offers a free tier, they pay design influencers to promote their premium plan, Canva Pro, priced at $12.99 monthly or $119.99 annually for one person.

Commission rates depend on the plan sold:

• Monthly plan: 80% commission for the first two months.
• Annual plan: 25% commission when the user is charged for the annual membership.

Around 25% of visitors to Canva’s landing page create a free account, and 23% of those start a free Canva Pro trial. Among trial users, 56% end up buying a subscription.

Canva seeks partnerships with design influencers, online graphic design educators, and sites with over one million monthly visits. Commissions are paid via PayPal or e-transfer within the 30-day cookie window.

Customer support is available 24/7 via email and live chat. You can sign up for Canva’s affiliate program through the Impact affiliate network.

• Commission rate: 80% on monthly plans, 25% on annual plans
• Referral window: 30 days

12. ShopYourLikes (SYL)

ShopYourLikes (SYL) is a retail-focused affiliate marketing network with over 100 retailers and 2,500 influencers. They’ve raked in over $500 million in sales, boasting big names like Walmart, Target, and Macy’s.

SYL operates on a CPC model, meaning influencers get paid for each valid click they generate. Your earnings per click vary based on tracked clicks and sales, with top performers earning the highest commissions.

Payments, usually issued around 45 days after month-end, are sent via PayPal if you’ve made at least $25 in sales.

• Commission rate: Varies
• Referral window: Varies

13. TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy provides tools to help YouTube creators boost views and subscribers. Trusted by over 10 million creators and brands like Adobe and BBC.

They offer a free version, but you’ll earn commissions promoting their paid plans, starting at $4.99 monthly or $47.88 yearly.

For every sale you make, get a 30% recurring commission for the account’s lifetime, with a lifetime cookie window.

TubeBuddy has three affiliate tiers:

• Standard: Available automatically, with a $10 payment threshold.
• VIP: Available after 50 sales, with a $10 minimum payout and a free one-year star level upgrade.
• Super: Available after 250 referrals, with no minimum payout and a free lifetime legend level upgrade.

All commissions are paid via PayPal once the license has been active for over 30 days, with payments issued between the 1st – 15th of each month.

• Commission rate: 30% recurring
• Referral window: Lifetime

Final Words

Influencers have a big advantage in affiliate marketing. While most affiliates spend a lot of time trying to build an audience and only a few make good money, influencers already have a dedicated following.

But it’s not just about having followers or making content. You also need a reliable way to get traffic that isn’t dependent on social media algorithms. That’s where having a website comes in handy.

If you need more guidance, sign up for my online business coaching.