Ever feel like paid ads are draining your budget with little to show for it? You’re not alone. That’s exactly why affiliate programs are so powerful — you only pay when someone actually makes a sale for you. No wasted spend. No guesswork. Just results.
And here’s the kicker: the affiliate marketing industry is worth over $17 billion and still climbing every year. Businesses of all sizes are cashing in — and you don’t have to be Amazon to get in on the action. You can create your affiliate program from scratch and turn it into a growth engine for your business.
For SaaS companies, e-commerce stores, and digital creators, launching an affiliate program isn’t just a tactic—it’s a strategic move to unlock scalable, sustainable growth. In this guide, I’ll walk you step by step through how to create your own affiliate program — from setting smart goals and commissions to picking the right software and finding partners who will genuinely promote your brand.
What Is an Affiliate Program (In Simple Terms)?
An affiliate program is a performance-based marketing arrangement where you pay commissions to other people (affiliates) for sending you customers. They promote your product using special tracking links, and when someone buys through that link, the affiliate earns a commission.
Think of it like this: instead of hiring a traditional sales team with salaries, benefits, and overhead, you’re building a commission-only team that works for you from anywhere. You don’t pay for effort — you only pay for results.
The players are straightforward:
- You (the merchant): the business owner with something to sell.
- The affiliate: the partner who promotes your product.
- The customer: the person who buys because of the affiliate’s promotion.
This setup is a win-win. Affiliates get paid for recommending products they believe in, and you gain new customers without gambling on ad spend.
Should You Create an Affiliate Program?
Before you jump in, it’s worth asking: is an affiliate program actually right for your business?
The truth is, affiliate marketing isn’t a magic switch. It works best when you already have a proven product and happy customers. If your offer converts well, affiliates will be eager to promote it. But if your product isn’t validated yet, even the best affiliates won’t save it.
Businesses that typically succeed with affiliate programs:
- SaaS companies with recurring subscriptions (affiliates love recurring commissions).
- Ecommerce brands selling physical products with healthy margins.
- Digital creators offering online courses, templates, or memberships.
Red flags that mean you should wait:
- Very thin profit margins (you’ll struggle to offer commissions).
- No clear pricing strategy yet.
- A brand-new product with zero social proof.
Here’s a quick gut-check: if you can confidently sell your product yourself, chances are affiliates can too.
The Foundation – Planning Your Affiliate Program
Before you touch software or write a single line of copy, you need a solid foundation. A profitable affiliate program isn’t built on guesswork — it’s built on clear goals, solid numbers, and a smart look at the competition.
Define Your Goals
“More sales” sounds nice, but it’s not enough. You need SMART goals:
- Specific: Instead of “increase revenue,” aim to “acquire 100 new paying customers through the affiliate channel.”
- Measurable: You must be able to track your progress. For example, “Increase affiliate-driven sales to account for 15% of total monthly revenue.”
- Achievable: Be realistic. If you’re just starting, aiming for 1,000 new affiliates in the first month is probably not feasible. A goal of recruiting 20 high-quality affiliates is a better start.
- Relevant: How does this program support your broader business objectives? If you’re looking to enter a new market, the goal could be “Partner with 10 key influencers within your target niche.”
- Time-bound: Set a deadline. “Achieve a 5% conversion rate on affiliate traffic within the next six months.”
Know Your Numbers (The Financials)
You can’t build a profitable program on guesswork. You need to understand two critical metrics:
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): How much total revenue does an average customer generate for your business over their entire relationship with you?
- For a subscription business, this might be (Average Monthly Revenue per Customer) / (Monthly Churn Rate).
- For e-commerce, it might be (Average Order Value) x (Number of Repeat Sales) x (Average Retention Time).
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much do you currently spend to acquire a new customer through other channels (like paid ads, content marketing, etc.)?
Knowing your CLV and CAC is crucial. It tells you the maximum amount you can afford to pay in commissions while remaining profitable.
Here’s why this matters: If your CLV is $500 and profit margin is 60% ($300 profit), offering a $100 commission is sustainable. If your CAC with ads is $150, paying affiliates $100 is not just sustainable — it’s a win.
Analyze Your Competition
You are not operating in a vacuum. Your potential affiliates have other options. See what your competitors are doing:
- Do they have affiliate programs? If so, find their affiliate landing page (it’s often in the website’s footer).
- What’s their commission structure — Are they offering a percentage, a flat rate, or recurring commissions?
- What’s their cookie duration? This is the period during which an affiliate will receive credit for a sale after a user clicks their link. 30, 60, or 90 days are common.
- What marketing materials do they give affiliates?
Your goal isn’t to copy them but to create a more attractive and competitive offer. If your competitor offers 20% one-time commissions, consider 25% or, better yet, 15% recurring. Affiliates love long-term income streams.
Structuring Your Program – The Key Details
Now that your foundation is set, it’s time to nail down the core components of your affiliate program. These details will live inside your affiliate agreement and will determine how attractive your program looks to potential partners.
Commission Structure
This is the heartbeat of your program. The way you pay affiliates has to strike a balance: motivating them while keeping your margins healthy. Here are the most common models:
- Percentage of Sale
The classic setup. Affiliates earn a percentage of each sale (e.g., 20% of a $100 product = $20 commission). Works great for ecommerce and one-off digital products. - Flat Rate
A fixed payout for a defined action (e.g., $50 for each customer who signs up for a pro plan). Simple, predictable, and popular for lead-gen offers or high-ticket services. - Recurring Commissions
The holy grail for subscription-based businesses (SaaS, memberships). Affiliates don’t just earn once — they get paid every month their referral stays subscribed (e.g., 20% recurring). This model creates long-term motivation because affiliates see it as building passive income. - Tiered Commissions
A gamified approach that rewards performance. For example:- 1–10 sales/month = 20% commission
- 11–30 sales/month = 25% commission
- 31+ sales/month = 30% commission
Top affiliates love this because it pushes them to go harder, knowing bigger rewards are waiting.
Pro tip: Whatever structure you choose, make it clear and competitive. Affiliates won’t promote you if your payout looks weak compared to what else is out there.
Cookie Duration (Cookie Window)
When someone clicks an affiliate link, a small file called a “cookie” is stored in their browser. That cookie is what tells your system, “Hey, this sale came from Affiliate X.”
The cookie duration is simply how long that tracking stays active.
- Short windows (e.g., 7 days): Not very appealing. Many buyers don’t purchase on their first visit, so affiliates may feel they’re losing out.
- Standard windows (30–90 days): The sweet spot for most industries. It’s long enough to capture delayed purchases and signals fairness to affiliates.
- Extended windows (180 days or even lifetime): A powerful way to attract top affiliates — especially for high-ticket items or products with long buying cycles.
Rule of thumb: The longer your cookie duration, the more affiliates trust that they’ll actually get credit for the customers they send you.
Payout Terms and Thresholds
Nothing kills affiliate motivation faster than messy or delayed payments. Set clear payout terms upfront so partners know exactly when and how they’ll get paid.
- Payout Schedule
Decide how often you’ll pay affiliates. The most common is Net-30 — paying 30 days after the month ends. This gives you time to process refunds or cancellations before releasing commissions. Some programs offer Net-15 or even faster payouts for top performers as an incentive. - Payment Methods
Affiliates want convenience. PayPal is the global go-to, but it’s smart to also offer direct bank transfers (ACH or SEPA). If you’re targeting international affiliates, consider flexible options like Wise or Payoneer. - Minimum Payout Threshold
To avoid drowning in admin work from $3 payments, set a clear minimum threshold — usually $50 or $100. Affiliates only get paid once they hit that mark. It keeps things simple for you and encourages affiliates to push for higher volume.
Pro tip: Be transparent. Post your payout schedule, methods, and thresholds on your affiliate landing page so there are no surprises.
The Affiliate Agreement (Terms & Conditions)
Your affiliate program isn’t just about commissions and links — it needs a rulebook. That’s where your affiliate agreement comes in. Think of it as the contract that protects both you and your affiliates by spelling out exactly how the partnership works.
While it’s always wise to get a legal professional to review it, here are the essentials your agreement should cover:
- Commission details: rates, cookie duration, payout terms, and thresholds.
- Valid actions: define what counts as a legitimate sale or lead (so there’s no confusion about what gets paid).
- Promotion guidelines: make it clear what affiliates can and can’t do. For example, you may forbid bidding on your brand name in Google Ads or using spammy tactics like email scraping.
- Confidentiality & IP rights: protect your brand assets, content, and proprietary information.
- Grounds for termination: outline what behaviors will get affiliates removed from the program.
Bottom line: A solid affiliate agreement saves you from headaches later. It sets expectations early and ensures both sides are playing fair.
Choosing the Right Software or Platform
With your program structure in place, it’s time to pick the tool that will actually track clicks, sales, and commissions. Managing an affiliate program manually with spreadsheets is a recipe for disaster. It’s prone to errors, incredibly time-consuming, and lacks the trust and transparency that affiliates demand. You need dedicated affiliate management software that makes your program seamless
Here are five strong options to consider, each suited for different types of businesses:
1. Trackdesk
Trackdesk is a modern, no-nonsense affiliate marketing platform built for businesses that want robust features without drowning in complexity. It’s flexible enough to work for SaaS, ecommerce, and info-product businesses, making it a strong all-rounder.
Key Features:
- Real-time tracking: Up-to-the-minute reporting on clicks, conversions, and commissions.
- Flexible commission rules: Set up recurring, tiered, lifetime, or even MLM-style commissions.
- Automated payouts: Integrates with PayPal and Wise so affiliates get paid quickly and reliably.
- Fraud detection: Advanced systems to spot and stop shady activity before it costs you money.
- Custom affiliate dashboards: A branded, user-friendly portal where partners can track performance and grab marketing assets.
Who It’s For:
Small to mid-sized businesses — especially SaaS, Startups and ecommerce — that want advanced tracking and payout options without paying enterprise-level prices. If features like coupon tracking, postback URLs, and multi-tier commissions are on your wishlist, Trackdesk is a strong contender.
Get Started with Trackdesk here
Read Also: Trackdesk Review: Key Features, Pricing & Who It’s Best For?
2. ThriveCart
ThriveCart isn’t just an affiliate platform — it’s a full-blown shopping cart solution with a powerful affiliate center built right in. It’s especially popular because of its one-time payment model: pay once, and you own it for life. No recurring monthly fees.
Key Features:
- Lifetime deal: One-time payment gives you permanent access (a huge cost-saver long term).
- Checkout + affiliate tracking: Since it doubles as your cart, every sale is tracked seamlessly. No missed commissions.
- Second-tier affiliates: Affiliates can recruit others and earn a small cut of their sales, helping your program grow organically.
- Automatic payouts: Easily schedule and pay affiliates via PayPal.
- Customizable rules: Set unique commission rates per product and create affiliate links pointing to any page on your site.
Who It’s For:
ThriveCart shines for course creators, digital product sellers, coaches, and consultants. If you sell ebooks, courses, memberships, or similar digital products — and want an all-in-one checkout + affiliate solution without monthly fees — ThriveCart is hard to beat.
Get Started with Thrivecart here
3. Rewardful
Rewardful is a sleek, straightforward affiliate and referral program platform built with SaaS companies in mind. Its biggest strength? It connects directly with Stripe, making setup and tracking almost effortless. Their tagline says it all: “Set it and forget it.”
Key Features:
- Seamless Stripe integration: Syncs with your Stripe account in minutes and automatically tracks subscriptions, upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations — commissions are always accurate.
- Simplicity first: Designed to do one thing exceptionally well: manage affiliate programs for Stripe-based businesses. Clean, intuitive, and easy to use for you and your affiliates.
- Referral program support: Run “give $20, get $20” customer referral campaigns alongside your affiliate program without extra tools.
- One-click payouts: Pay affiliates instantly via PayPal Mass Payments or Wise.
Who It’s For:
Rewardful is tailor-made for SaaS and subscription businesses running on Stripe. If you want simplicity, automation, and a direct pipeline from your billing system to your affiliate program, Rewardful is a no-brainer.
4. PartnerStack
PartnerStack isn’t just an affiliate platform — it’s a full Partnership Relationship Management (PRM) system built to help B2B SaaS companies scale. Instead of managing just affiliates, it supports resellers, referral partners, and entire partner ecosystems.
Key Features:
- Partner ecosystem management: Create unique groups and tiers for influencers, agencies, resellers, or traditional affiliates — each with their own commission rules and resources.
- Built-in marketplace: Tap into PartnerStack’s marketplace of thousands of B2B-focused affiliates and partners who can apply to your program, making recruitment dramatically easier.
- Automated onboarding & payouts: From sign-up to first sale to payment, everything runs smoothly on autopilot.
- Deep CRM & API integrations: Connects with HubSpot, Salesforce, and other tools so you can track the full customer journey from partner referral to closed deal.
Who It’s For:
PartnerStack is made for established B2B SaaS companies that want to move beyond simple affiliate programs and build a true partner ecosystem. If you’re serious about scaling through affiliates, resellers, and agencies all at once, PartnerStack is the go-to choice.
5. Impact
Impact is one of the most advanced partnership platforms on the market, trusted by enterprise brands like Airbnb, Shopify, and Uber. It’s designed for companies that want more than just affiliate management — it’s a full partnership automation platform that supports affiliates, influencers, media partners, and more.
Key Features:
- Partnership automation: Manage every type of partner — affiliates, influencers, ambassadors, and media houses — from one platform.
- Global marketplace: Access a massive network of affiliates and partners already using Impact, making recruitment faster.
- Advanced tracking & attribution: Multi-touch attribution, cross-device tracking, and flexible commission models give you a clear picture of ROI.
- Fraud protection: Built-in systems to detect fake traffic or suspicious activity.
- Flexible payouts: Handles global payouts in multiple currencies and payment methods, ensuring smooth operations for international partners.
Who It’s For:
Impact is built for large, fast-growing companies with serious budgets that want to scale their affiliate or partner programs on a global level. If you need enterprise-level features, robust fraud prevention, and access to one of the biggest partner marketplaces, Impact is the platform to beat.
Related: 14 Best Affiliate Recruitment Tools for Maximized Growth
Affiliate Software Comparison
| Platform | Best For | Key Strengths | Pricing Style | Ideal User Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trackdesk | SaaS, ecommerce, Startups, info-products | Real-time tracking, flexible commission rules (recurring, tiered, MLM), fraud detection, branded dashboards | Subscription (affordable vs. enterprise tools) | Small to medium businesses |
| ThriveCart | Course creators, digital product sellers, coaches, consultants | Lifetime deal (no monthly fees), checkout + affiliate tracking in one, second-tier affiliates, customizable rules | One-time payment (lifetime access) | Solopreneurs & small businesses |
| Rewardful | SaaS & subscription businesses using Stripe | Seamless Stripe integration, automatic subscription tracking, referral program support, one-click payouts | Subscription | Small SaaS teams that want simplicity |
| PartnerStack | Established B2B SaaS | Full PRM system, partner marketplace, CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce), supports affiliates + resellers + agencies | Subscription (enterprise-level) | Scaling B2B SaaS companies |
| Impact | Large, enterprise brands | Global partner marketplace, multi-touch attribution, advanced fraud protection, international payouts | Enterprise pricing | Big brands with global reach |
Recruitment & Onboarding – Building Your Affiliate Army
You’ve nailed your program structure and picked the right software. Now comes the fun part: finding the right people to champion your product and getting them up to speed fast.
Where to Find Quality Affiliates
- Your existing customers – Your happiest customers are your best marketers. They already love your product, so turning them into affiliates is a natural next step. Send a targeted invite email highlighting how they can earn by sharing what they already use.
- Your website – Add a clear “Affiliate Program” or “Partners” page in your site’s main menu or footer. Keep it simple: outline the commission, benefits, and a direct link to apply.
- Industry bloggers & influencers – Find creators in your niche whose audiences overlap with yours. Skip the generic blasts and send personalized pitches that show you’ve done your homework.
- Competitor promoters – Search for content like “[Competitor] review” or “[Competitor] vs.” The writers and YouTubers behind those posts are already affiliate-savvy and may be open to promoting your product as well.
- Affiliate marketplaces – Platforms like PartnerStack include built-in marketplaces that can help you connect with experienced, ready-to-promote affiliates, especially in the B2B space.
The Application & Onboarding Process
- Application form – Keep it short. Ask for name, email, website/social handles, and a quick note on how they plan to promote you. The goal is to get quality applicants, not scare them away with a 20-question survey.
- Manual vetting – Always review applicants yourself. Check for brand alignment, audience fit, and weed out coupon sites or low-effort promoters.
- The welcome email – This is where you set the tone. Don’t just fire off a system notification — send a warm, personal message that includes:
- Their unique affiliate link
- A login link to their dashboard
- Access to your “Partner Kit” or resources
- A direct contact (affiliate manager or support email) so they know they’re not on their own
Related: How to Recruit Affiliates: 9 Proven Steps to Build a High-Performing Program
Equipping Affiliates for Success
Your affiliates’ success is your success. The more you arm them with ready-to-use resources, the faster they’ll start driving results. That’s where your Partner Kit (or asset library) comes in.
What to include in your Partner Kit:
- Logos & brand guidelines: High-res logos plus a quick cheat sheet on how to use them correctly (no stretched or pixelated logos floating around).
- Banners & creatives: A mix of professionally designed banners in standard ad sizes (300×250, 728×90, 160×600). Cover multiple styles — clean, bold, product-focused — so affiliates can pick what fits their audience.
- Email swipe copy: Pre-written email templates affiliates can adapt. Offer a few angles:
- A product review style email
- A limited-time promotion email
- A problem/solution narrative
- Social media copy: Plug-and-play posts for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook with suggested hashtags and graphics.
- Product information sheet: A simple doc with your product’s features, benefits, ideal audience, and standout selling points — so affiliates always represent you accurately.
Managing & Optimizing Your Program for Long-Term Growth
Launching your program is only the first step. Long-term success comes from consistent management, engagement, and optimization.
Here’s how to keep your program thriving:
- Communicate regularly – Send a monthly affiliate newsletter with updates, new creatives, upcoming promotions, and even shout-outs like “Affiliate of the Month.” It builds connection and healthy competition.
- Run promotions & contests – Keep things exciting with seasonal boosts. For example: a “Double Commission Month” or a leaderboard contest with cash or prizes for top performers.
- Monitor performance – Use your software dashboard to spot trends. Reach out personally to your top affiliates (the ones driving 80% of sales) and ask how you can help them grow. At the same time, nudge inactive affiliates with resources to get them moving.
- Prevent fraud – Lean on your platform’s fraud detection, but also stay alert. Watch for red flags like suspiciously high click-to-sale ratios or self-referrals. Your terms and conditions are your safety net, so make sure they’re clear and enforced.
Conclusion
Deciding to create your affiliate program is one of the smartest growth moves you can make. Instead of pouring money into ads that may or may not work, you’re building a network of partners who only get paid when they deliver results. It’s scalable, cost-effective, and builds credibility because the message comes from people your audience already trusts.
By following this framework — plan your goals, structure a competitive offer, pick the right tools, recruit quality partners, equip them with resources, and manage the program with care — you’ll have everything you need to launch a channel that drives steady, sustainable growth.
The effort you put in now pays off for years to come. Start today, create your affiliate program, and watch it become one of the most powerful engines for new customers your business will ever have.