For a long time, ClickBank was the big cheese in the digital products market.
But times have changed, and your affiliate needs can also change.
For the average affiliate, ClickBank just doesn’t have the same variety of offers it once had.
One issue is that other platforms are directly competing with ClickBank. Maybe it’s time to spread your wings and check out what ClickBank alternatives are.
Here are just a few to consider. And not just a long list of affiliate networks unrelated to ClickBank or what they do.
ClickBank Alternatives
- Amazon Associates
- Rakuten Advertising
- JVZoo
- Skillshare
- Avangate
- Market Health
- eBay Partner Network
- ShareASale
- CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction)
- Udemy
1 Amazon Associates
The biggest problem facing ClickBank right now – and possibly the reason you’re here – is that they’re struggling to maintain credibility.
That’s not because of the way the business is run. But rather because of the products they allow to exist on their network.
This is not a problem for Amazon — they’re known and trusted, and some might even say customers love them. There’s also the huge benefit of Amazon having a staggering number of products in stock at any time, with something to suit most niches.
Another bonus is that Amazon’s affiliate program has a very low barrier to entry. So, you don’t need to be an established affiliate already making a full-time income to apply.
The only downside is that Amazon’s commission rates are far lower than ClickBank’s. Sometimes as low as 3%.
But even with that in mind, Amazon Associates is still one of the best affiliate programs on the planet.
- Signup URL: Amazon Associates Program
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: 24-hours
- Product types: Pretty much anything you can think of
- Payment terms: Net 90
2 Rakuten Advertising
Formerly known as Linkshare, Rakuten Advertising is another primary affiliate network. It’s right up there with ShareASale and CJ, but affiliates chasing easy commissions on Amazon usually overlook it.
And there’s nothing wrong with that, especially because they’re leaving lots of untapped offers on Rakuten for you to work with.
Again, most of these physical and digital offers are from big brands like Lego, Nvidia, Microsoft, Lyft, Macy’s, and JetBlue. And there are 1,000 more to choose from, including monthly new offers.
Rakuten isn’t concerned with having the most advertisers – it’s far more interested in having the best.
If you’ve gotten used to getting paid twice a month by ClickBank, you’ll probably find yourself pretty frustrated because Rakuten pays out once every two months. And if there’s any query over the validity of earned commissions (they think you’re gaming the system), it could take five months for you to get paid.
- Signup URL: Rakuten Advertising
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: Varies
- Product types: Physical products and digital services
- Payment terms: Net 60
3 JVZoo
JVZoo is similar to ClickBank in that you’ll only find digital products in their ‘Marketplace.’ But they’re different from ClickBank because every product is for a singular audience: affiliate marketers.
So, while they might have ‘Health’ and ‘Self Improvement’ categories, these are PLR (Private Label Rights) article packs destined to be dumped into some article rewriter.
It’s not that there’s anything inherently wrong or illegal about that, but it’s so that you know what to expect in advance.
It also makes this a perfect place to look for offers if you’re already in the IM market.
Also, many of the products on JVZoo pay 50%+ commission rates on products that typically cost $97.
Does earning $45 per referral sound good to you? That’s exactly why many affiliate marketers push JVZoo offers — it’s not for your benefit.
- Signup URL: JVZoo affiliate program
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: Varies
- Product types: Software products
- Payment terms: Instant
4 Skillshare
Skillshare has been around since 2010, but they’ve only recently made waves in the digital product industry. Some of that might be due to ClickBank not being quite the force it used to be.
You get a scaled-down version of Udemy, although they seem less driven by profit.
There’s more community feel here, backed up by 30,000 online courses. And those courses cover everything from business analytics and entrepreneurship to how to play guitar.
The big difference between these guys and ClickBank affiliate programs is that you pay a single monthly fee instead of per product.
So, $16 gives you access to every course via Skillshare Premium. That’s a great deal for customers but a kind of shitty deal for you as an affiliate.
Because the maximum you can make per referral is $7, affiliate marketers should treat this as a bolt-on program and not their primary source of income.
- Signup URL: Skillshare affiliate program
- Commission rate: $7 per lead
- Cookie duration: 30 days
- Product types: Online courses
- Payment terms: Net 30
5 Avangate
What sets Avangate apart from most other affiliate networks is that they only represent software offers, making them similar to ClickBank.
They’re also often completely overlooked by affiliates who are too busy chasing offers on the bigger networks. So this means you have a much better chance of finding untapped opportunities there.
It is worth mentioning that many of the software products you’ll find here are somewhat niche.
You’ll find everything from web marketing software to home security solutions, payment processing, and anti-virus software. And the fact that these products are usually very niche means they pay bigger commissions than equivalent ClickBank products do.
- Signup URL: Avangate affiliate program
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: Varies
- Product types: Software products
- Payment terms: Net 30
6 Market Health
Market Health is an affiliate network aimed squarely at the health and beauty market. This is great, but what does this have to do with finding alternatives to ClickBank?
CB was the leading network for promoting digital products for over a decade. However, they have also recently started representing physical products, specifically health and wellness supplements. These are also among the best-selling offers on ClickBank right now.
Market Health is like ClickBank for affiliates who only want to sell supplements.
The commission rates on offer are also comparable with those found on ClickBank. Typical offers pay affiliates around 50% commission or $50 per sale.
- Signup URL: Market Health affiliate program
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: 30 days
- Affiliate network: In-house
- Product types: Health supplements
- Payment terms: Net 30
7 eBay
eBay might not be the first affiliate network that springs to mind when looking for alternatives to ClickBank.
There’s a method to the madness. ClickBank is best known for its digital products and, more recently, for shipping physical health supplement products.
Most marketers assume eBay only stocks “pre-used” products, but around 80% of the items sold on the platform are brand new. And that includes a wide range of software products, digital courses, and health supplements.
You will need to filter through the digital offers to remove obviously pirated software and other questionable items. There are many legitimate offers to work with there, but not necessarily any big brands.
Plus, eBay has something like 1.3 billion active listings at once.
- Signup URL: eBay Partner network
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: 24-hours
- Product types: Everything
- Payment terms: Net 30
8 ShareASale
With ShareASale, we will move towards the more traditional affiliate marketing networks, as in those that deal predominantly with physical products.
You may know that ShareASale is quite popular. In fact, according to our affiliate marketing statistics page, it’s the third-most-popular affiliate network.
However, some might not know that this network has once represented several eBook publishers. I used to make pretty good money promoting a “cure” for acid reflux through a 5-page microsite that had zero backlinks.
These days, however, ShareASale focuses more on traditional physical offers. However, you’ll find plenty of digital products on their platform, specifically software products.
These include some pretty varied offers like software for landlords, educational software, video editing products, etc.
So, there’s something to suit almost every niche from the 4,500 advertisers on the platform. And yes, that even includes affiliate marketing.
- Signup URL: ShareASale affiliate network
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: Varies
- Product types: Physical products and digital services
- Payment terms: Net 30
9 CJ
For ClickBank affiliates, working with CJ will be the exact opposite of what they’re used to.
There is an application process. You can be refused – lots of new affiliates are.
Even when approved, you must apply to each advertiser separately. But it’s worth the effort because you’ll get access to well-known brands that you’ll never find on ClickBank.
A word of advice: Do not apply to Commission Junction unless you have a site with established traffic and rankings. Joining the network is not a requirement—they’re happy with most legitimate applications.
However, most advertisers on the network approve established sites much faster than brand-new ones.
The downside is that only a few if any, affiliate programs on CJ pay 50% – 75% commission rates.
Rates of 5% to 10% are far more typical of what you can expect. You’ll compensate for this with higher conversion rates for a range of name-brand products and services.
- Signup URL: Commission Junction
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: Varies
- Product types: Physical products and digital services
- Payment terms: Net 30
10 Udemy
The last of the ClickBank alternatives on our list is Udemy. They provide a platform for course creators who don’t want to use ClickBank.
Typically, they don’t want to be associated with the “get rich quick” gurus doing the rounds there. But people still want to be able to get a fast-track education in stuff.
Want to learn how to heal using your Angel powers? Udemy has that covered.
So, the fringe stuff is taken care of here and on ClickBank, and Udemy has 130,000 courses in its portfolio. Meaning you have tens of thousands of potential products to promote.
- Signup URL: Udemy affiliate page
- Commission rate: 15%
- Cookie duration: 7 days
- Product types: Online-only courses
- Payment terms: Net 60
Conclusion
So, there are ten viable ClickBank alternatives if you need new products to promote.
My gut feeling is that ClickBank has had its 15 minutes of fame and is slowly losing ground to its competitors.
Udemy and Skillshare are serious competitions, with pricing being the main factor. Market Health is dominant in the health supplement affiliate market.
So, now is a good time to look for ClickBank alternatives.
The last thing you can afford to do as an affiliate is put all your financial eggs in one basket.
After all, there are many ways to make money with affiliate marketing, so why restrict yourself to just one?
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