What Is Affiliate Marketing? (2026 Guide)
Affiliate marketing is a way to earn a commission by recommending a brand's product: the brand gives you a tracking link, and when someone buys through it, you get paid the share or flat amount its program sets. This guide explains who is involved, how a sale is tracked, and the different ways programs pay, with a real, verified example of each.
How we make money: some links on this page are tracked so we can see which programs readers choose. Rankings are never paid for.
Who is involved
Every sale involves the brand that sells the product, the affiliate who recommends it, and the customer who buys. Many programs add an affiliate network or tracking platform that records clicks and sales and pays affiliates on the brand's behalf; others run the program themselves.
A tracking link carries your ID. When a reader clicks it, the brand records the visit, often with a cookie, and a purchase within the cookie window is credited to you. A longer window gives a reader more time to decide while the sale still counts as yours.
What the registry shows
- Pay a recurring commission
- 382 of 566
- Pay for the customer's lifetime
- 137 of 566
- Pay once per sale
- 131 of 566
- Publish a cookie window
- 327 of 566
- Median cookie window
- 60 days
- Middle half of cookie windows
- 45 to 90 days
- Approve every applicant automatically
- 63 of 566
- Review applications by hand
- 252 of 566
- Pay by PayPal
- 260 of 566
The ways programs pay
Commission is set by each program's terms, not by a market rate. These are the main shapes you will meet, each with an example from the programs below:
A flat amount per sale
A fixed sum for each referred customer, sometimes larger for bigger plans. Nestify pays a flat amount per successful referral, more when the referral's monthly billing passes a threshold.
A share of the first payment
A percentage of the customer's first invoice, paid once. hosting.com pays a share of a new customer's first invoice on hosting products, up to a cap per sale.
A share of every payment for a set period
A recurring commission that stops after a fixed time. Visme pays a share of every transaction from a referred paying customer for a year.
Recurring programsA share for the customer's lifetime
A recurring commission with no end date while the customer keeps paying. Pikzels pays a share of all payments from your referrals, for life.
Lifetime commission programsTiers that rise with volume
The rate or amount steps up as you send more sales. GreenGeeks pays a flat amount per hosting sale that rises with the number of sales you make in a calendar month.
In-house programs and networks
Some brands run their affiliate program themselves, so you sign up on their site and they pay you directly. Others list their program on a network or run it on affiliate software, which handles approval, tracking and payouts. Each program page on OpenAffiliate says which one a brand uses.
Programs to start with
One program for each way of paying described above, with the terms we verified and the day we last checked them.
Nestify
Example of a flat amount per sale
Nestify provides managed WordPress hosting for website owners and businesses. It pays a flat amount per successful referral, a larger one when the referral's monthly billing passes a threshold and a smaller one for smaller plans, tracked in a portal and paid through PayPal.
Not for: Recurring income: each referral pays once.
- You earn
- $50 or $150, one-time
- Cookie
- Not published
- Payout
- Not published
- Runs on
- Its own program
hosting.com
Example of a share of the first payment
hosting.com is a web hosting company with shared, managed WordPress and WooCommerce, managed and unmanaged VPS, dedicated and reseller hosting, domains and SSL certificates. It pays a share of the customer's first invoice on hosting products, up to a cap per sale, and a smaller share on reseller hosting, Windows hosting and domains, approved once the customer stays active for a set period.
Not for: Brand-name PPC: bidding on the hosting.com name, its variations or misspellings is not allowed.
- You earn
- 50% one-time
- Cookie
- Not published
- Payout
- Net 60, $100 minimum
- Runs on
- FirstPromoter
Visme
Example of a year of payments
Visme is a visual content platform for presentations, documents, infographics, charts, reports, forms and social media graphics. It pays a share of every transaction from referred paying customers for a year, by PayPal each month, and applications are typically reviewed within a few business days.
Not for: Search ads: no paid search or pay-per-click campaigns on any keyword, branded or not.
- You earn
- 25% recurring for 12 months
- Cookie
- 60 days
- Payout
- Net 60, $150 minimum
- Runs on
- FirstPromoter
Pikzels
Example of a lifetime commission
Pikzels is an AI thumbnail maker for YouTube that turns a prompt into a thumbnail, recreates thumbnails that already work, scores them on viewer behavior and keeps your style consistent. Its program on FirstPromoter pays a share of all payments from your referrals, for life.
Not for: Self-referrals: they are canceled.
- You earn
- 20% recurring for life
- Cookie
- Not published
- Payout
- Monthly, $50 minimum
- Runs on
- FirstPromoter
GreenGeeks
Example of tiers that rise with volume
GreenGeeks is a web hosting company with shared, WordPress, WooCommerce, reseller and VPS hosting, dedicated servers, a website builder and domains. It pays a flat amount per hosting sale on a monthly ladder, where each new tier applies to every sale that month, and a reversed sale drops the month to the tier below.
Not for: Short-lived signups: a referral who does not keep an active account for the required period, or is refunded early, is deducted.
- You earn
- $50 to $100, tiered
- Cookie
- Not published
- Payout
- Net 60
- Runs on
- Its own program
Rules that trip people up
How a program pays is only part of its terms; the rules decide whether a sale counts. These come from the programs above:
Disclose every affiliate link
In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides say that a connection your audience would not expect, such as being paid for a sale, must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. Their own example is a blogger whose reviews include affiliate links: the reviews should clearly and conspicuously disclose the compensation. Source: FTC Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR § 255.5.
FAQ
What is a cookie window?
It is how long after a click a purchase still counts as yours. If a reader clicks your link and buys within the window, the sale is credited to you; after it, it is not. Each program sets its own window, and the program blocks on this page show it where the program publishes one.
What is the difference between an affiliate program and an affiliate network?
A program is one brand's offer: its commission, cookie and rules. A network or affiliate platform hosts many brands' programs and handles tracking and payouts for them. Some brands run their program themselves instead.
Is a recurring commission better than a one-time one?
Neither is better by itself. A recurring commission keeps paying while the customer stays, which suits products people keep for a long time; a one-time commission pays once per sale. Compare the full terms, including how long recurring payments last.
How do affiliates get paid?
Each program sets its payout method, schedule and minimum, such as PayPal or bank transfer once a month after you pass a threshold. The program blocks on this page show the payout terms each brand publishes.