How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Digistore24 is the closest ClickBank shape, digital products, high ticket offers, and open affiliate approval, with a strong European base.
- Impact, CJ, Awin, ShareASale, and Rakuten run brand programmes instead: lower commissions per sale than digital offers, but household names and steadier conversion.
- JVZoo matches ClickBank's internet marketing niche with instant commissions; Amazon Associates matches its beginner friendliness with small percentages and strict rules.
- The honest note first: most affiliates on every network here earn little or nothing. Network choice matters far less than traffic, trust, and offer fit.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Digistore24 | Digital products, global sellers | Free to join | Yes |
 Impact | Brand partnerships at scale | Free to join | Yes |
 ShareASale | Mid size brands, easy start | Free to join | Yes |
 CJ Affiliate | Enterprise brand programmes | Free to join | Yes |
 Awin | Global brand network | Free to join | Yes |
 Rakuten Advertising | Premium retail brands | Free to join | Yes |
 JVZoo | Internet marketing launches | Free to join | Yes |
 Amazon Associates | Beginner friendly product links | Free to join | Yes |
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The best ClickBank alternatives
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- Digistore24 is ClickBank's closest structural twin, a marketplace of digital products, courses, coaching, software, and events, where affiliates browse offers with conversion statistics and promote with open or quick approvals. It is strong in the German and European markets and expanding in the US, and it handles VAT and global payment plumbing that individual vendors cannot. Payouts run on schedules with thresholds, and its cart and upsell tooling serve vendors the way ClickBank's does.
Watch out for- The US catalogue is thinner than ClickBank's in some niches, particularly the supplement and make money categories that dominate ClickBank's marketplace. Quality varies by vendor here as everywhere in digital marketplaces. Commission and refund terms are set per product and need reading offer by offer, and high headline commissions reflect high refund rates on some offers.
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- Impact runs partnership programmes for large brands across retail, travel, finance, and software, with modern tracking, contracting, and payment handled inside the platform. Affiliates with real audiences get direct brand relationships, negotiated rates, and product feeds rather than a public marketplace to browse. For creators and media businesses moving up from marketplace scraps, Impact is where affiliate marketing becomes a partnerships business. Its reporting and attribution tooling are the most modern in this list.
Watch out for- There is no open marketplace to wander: brands approve partners individually, and new affiliates without traffic or a clear channel are routinely declined. Commissions on physical and brand products are far below digital marketplace percentages. The platform's sophistication expects a professional operator
- Casual link droppers get nothing from it.
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- ShareASale, part of Awin's group, is the friendly mid market network: thousands of merchant programmes across retail, home, fashion, and services, with an interface affiliates have praised for decades, clear programme terms, and consolidated payments once you pass its threshold. Approval is programme by programme but approachable for smaller publishers with a real site. For affiliates leaving ClickBank for real world products with honest conversion rates, it is the standard first stop.
Watch out for- Commissions are retail sized, single digits to perhaps twenty percent, which shocks affiliates raised on digital product percentages until they see the conversion difference. Programme quality varies and some merchants run their programmes on autopilot. The interface, while loved, shows its age next to Impact's.
#4
CJ Affiliate
Best for: Enterprise brand programmes
Visit cj.com
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- CJ, formerly Commission Junction, is the veteran enterprise network: large retailers, travel, and finance brands, deep link tools, product catalogues, and decades of payment reliability. Affiliates who qualify gain programmes unavailable elsewhere and reporting that treats affiliate revenue as a serious channel. Its publisher development and compliance standards also mean the brands on CJ answer their mail, a practical virtue veterans rate highly.
Watch out for- Approval standards are the strictest of the brand networks, and accounts without activity or traffic face review and removal. Nothing here resembles ClickBank's instant promote anything model. Commission rates are brand rates, and the platform's complexity serves established publishers more than beginners.
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- Awin is the global sibling in the same group as ShareASale, with particular depth in European retail, fashion, travel, and telecom programmes, plus a growing US presence. Publishers join free, with a small refundable verification deposit historically used to deter fraud, and gain cross border programmes with tracking and payments in local currencies. Affiliates with international audiences find programmes here that US only networks cannot offer.
Watch out for- Overlap with ShareASale confuses newcomers about which door to use, and programme terms differ between the two despite the shared parent. Retail commissions and cookie windows are set by advertisers and are often short. Beginners face individual programme approvals as everywhere in brand affiliate marketing.
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- Rakuten Advertising curates premium and luxury retail, fashion, beauty, and travel brands, with a reputation for programme quality and publisher support. Affiliates in style and lifestyle content find brands here that fit high intent audiences, and its tools, including link shorteners and product showcase builders, suit content publishers. Payment reliability across decades is its quiet credential.
Watch out for- The catalogue is deliberately narrow, so affiliates outside its categories find little. Approval is selective, and smaller publishers may not clear the bar for the brands they want. As with all brand networks, percentages are modest and earnings depend on audience purchasing power more than link placement.
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- JVZoo is ClickBank's closest neighbour in spirit: software and training products for online marketers, launch driven promotions with leaderboards, instant commission payments on many offers through its payment integrations, and open affiliate sign up. Marketers inside the make money online niche find its launch calendar and vendor relationships match how that world actually buys. Its academy and community functions serve beginners in the niche.
Watch out for- The niche is the limit and the warning label: internet marketing products carry the category's refund rates and reputational hazards, and promoting them ties your name to their quality. Outside that niche the catalogue thins quickly. Instant payments depend on the vendor's setup, and new affiliates face approval by individual vendors for many offers.
Starting priceFree to join
Free planYes
What we like- Amazon Associates is where most affiliates start: nearly any physical product on earth, links a reader already trusts, and conversion rates no other retailer matches because the store does the selling. Joining is free and approval light at first, with a qualifying sales requirement in the first 180 days. For content sites reviewing physical products, it remains the baseline programme every other network is compared against.
Watch out for- Commissions are small, single digit percentages by category, and the cookie window is famously short at 24 hours. Amazon changes rates and terms unilaterally and has cut them before, and its operating agreement is strict: no links in email or offline media, no price quotes without care, with account closure the standard penalty. Build on it, but never build only on it.
How we chose
We compared affiliate networks on catalogue type, digital versus brand, approval model, payout reliability and thresholds, tracking quality, and niche fit, and we included both of ClickBank's shapes: digital marketplaces (Digistore24, JVZoo) and the brand networks most affiliates graduate to. We deliberately excluded earnings claims from every entry, because network marketing pages present top earner results that say nothing about a new affiliate's prospects.
How to choose the right ClickBank alternative
Choose by what your audience already wants to buy, not by commission percentage. A seventy percent commission on a product nobody buys pays zero; a five percent commission inside content your readers trust pays rent. If you create content in the digital product niches, start on Digistore24 alongside ClickBank and compare the same offers' conversion and refund behaviour. If you publish reviews, tutorials, or lifestyle content, apply to ShareASale or Awin first for approachable approvals, add Amazon for product coverage, and graduate to CJ and Impact when your traffic gives brands a reason to say yes.
Then protect the business you are building. Disclose affiliate relationships plainly, regulators in the US and elsewhere require it and audiences reward the honesty anyway. Keep records for taxes from your first payment, since networks report income and surprises at tax time are self inflicted. Diversify across at least two networks and one direct programme if you can, because accounts close and rates change. And hold the long view: the affiliates who earn meaningfully almost always own an audience asset, a list, a channel, a site with search traffic, built over years. The network is a pipe; the audience is the business.
Frequently asked questions
How much can a beginner realistically earn?
Usually nothing at first, and small amounts for longer than the gurus suggest. Affiliate income follows audience size and trust, which compound slowly. Many beginners earn under a hundred dollars in their first months of real effort; a minority build to meaningful income over years. Treat any programme, course, or vendor page implying quick or typical high earnings as advertising, because regulators have repeatedly found such claims unsubstantiated.
Which network pays the highest commissions?
Digital marketplaces, ClickBank, Digistore24, and JVZoo, show the highest percentages, sometimes half or more of the sale price, because digital products have no unit cost and vendors price refunds and marketing into the commission. Brand networks pay single digit to twenty percent on physical goods with far higher conversion. Percentage is the least useful number in the comparison; earnings per click on your actual traffic is the real metric.
Do these networks pay reliably?
The established names here, CJ, Awin, ShareASale, Rakuten, and Impact, have paid publishers for decades, on monthly cycles after thresholds and advertiser payment clearing. Marketplace payouts on Digistore24 and JVZoo depend partly on vendors and refund holds, so read the current schedule. Amazon pays about sixty days after the sale month. Keep your own ledger regardless; networks are counterparties, not banks.
Can I join several networks at once?
Yes, and most working affiliates do. Nothing in standard network terms forbids multi network membership, though individual brands sometimes run exclusive programmes on one network, which is a reason to join several. Track which links belong to which network, and follow each network's rules on link placement and disclosure, since the strictest rule that applies to a given link governs it.
Why was my affiliate application declined?
Brand networks approve publishers who show a real channel, a site or audience with content, traffic, and fit for the programme. Thin sites, coupon scraping models, and trademark bidding histories are common decline reasons. Build the content asset first, apply with a short honest pitch about your audience, and reapply as you grow; declines at the start are the industry's normal state, not a verdict.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.