5 Top Affiliate Marketing Programs Like ClickBank

Connecting with businesses that offer commission-based pay is one of the biggest hurdles for affiliate marketers. Intermediary platforms exist to solve this problem: They allow businesses and affiliate marketers to team up and grow their respective businesses.

Depending on your marketing niche, you have many options to choose from when it comes to intermediary platforms. Explore affiliate marketing programs like ClickBank and Round Sky to learn which is right for you.

What Is ClickBank?

ClickBank is one of the most popular intermediary options out there. It is an ecommerce platform tailored for affiliate marketers. When an item is sold from the platform, three parties see a percentage of the sale:

ClickBank, which takes a small hosting fee
The product seller, who owns and lists the product
The affiliate, who promotes the products in exchange for a commission

ClickBank is unique from many other ecommerce platforms because it only hosts products for which affiliates make a percentage of the sale. It isn't an open marketplace where users can browse and select products from a catalog. Rather, it acts as a hosting platform for sellers and affiliates to do business together.

Because of ClickBank's unique model, commission percentages are relatively high for affiliates—sometimes up to 75%.

What Are ClickBank Alternatives?

ClickBank may be one of the biggest names in affiliate marketing, but it isn't the only one. Many platforms have affiliate programs you might like to try—even some big ecommerce names you'll recognize. If ecommerce products don't fit into your marketing niche, alternatives like Round Sky rely on lead generation instead, read on below..

1. Round Sky

The downside of ClickBank and many other affiliate programs is that the consumers need to buy something for the affiliate to get paid. That means the consumer has to share their credit card information, which they may be hesitant to do, and they'll need to have extra money they can spare.

With Round Sky, you get to promote loan type products to consumers who are interested in getting a loan from a lender online. So if someone is interested you can connect that consumer with a RoundSky brand and you could get paid up to $250 per lead, not per sale, per lead. That means that no credit card is required, and you will earn the commission just from someone submitting their information.

Benefits: Up to $250 per lead, not per sale, consumers don't need to enter credit card information, weekly/monthly payouts via ACH/paypal/wire/check.

2. Amazon Associates

Most people already know Amazon is the world's largest online retailer. That is the biggest selling point of their affiliate program, Amazon Associates.

The platform has millions of products and billions of sales each year, which makes it easy to convert leads into purchases and make money over time. The nature of the giant also means that it often has low commission percentages, sometimes as low as only 1% of a sale.

Amazon is an excellent way for new affiliate marketers to dip their toes into the industry. The familiar platform can help you try out new features or products in a low-stakes way.

3. Walmart Affiliates

Walmart is another big name with an affiliate program. While it isn't quite as ubiquitous as Amazon, its online presence has grown substantially in the last several years. Like other big retailers, its brand recognition and the sheer number of products available on the site give it a competitive advantage for many marketers.

Walmart gives a three-day cookie window during which affiliates can earn commissions from users who use their link. This is generous compared to platforms like Amazon, which has tracking cookies that expire after 24 hours.

Walmart has a low barrier to entry for affiliate marketers, which makes it a great choice for newbies. You can use it to see what works best for your audience or as a simple addition to your other marketing efforts.

4. eBay Partner Network

eBay rounds out the top retailers on this list. eBay offers benefits similar to those of Amazon and Walmart, with name recognition and a wide variety of products. However, the eBay auction model gives it a unique spin on affiliate marketing.

As an auction-based site, eBay offers commissions for sales and bids on ongoing auctions. The cookie window used to be generous compared to other platforms to accommodate bidding patterns, but the platform recently adjusted it to a standard 24 hours. Customers now must make a "buy it now" purchase or bid within 24 hours of clicking the affiliate link in order for you to make a commission from it.

eBay is an excellent website for new marketers who want to try out something a little different before going all-in on an affiliate-specific platform.

5. Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten has been in the marketing world for over 25 years, and its network of partnerships shows its depth of experience. It has over 150,000 partners marketers can work with to earn commissions. Plus, it also has an in-house team of experts and trained AI to help you grow your business.

Rakuten works best for marketers who want to use industry insights to keep up with trends or explore new market niches.

What Is Round Sky?

Round Sky doesn't work under an ecommerce model like ClickBank and its alternatives. Instead, we give affiliate partners a commission for qualified leads. Send leads to our personal loan lenders, and we'll pay out your commission, with a generous 45-day cookie window, not 24 hours or 3 days like the companies above. That means if you send a consumer, and they come back up to 45 days later and fill out the form, you'll still get paid!

Under the Round Sky model, consumers don't actually have to purchase something before you get paid. This allows Round Sky to offer fast payouts for quick ROI and potentially steady growth. You can earn up to $250 for each lead you provide.