1. Home ›
2. Blog ›
3. Affiliate Sites ›
4. 120+ Best Recurring & High-Paying Affiliate Programs by Niche

120+ Best Recurring & High-Paying Affiliate Programs by Niche

Recurring affiliate programs pay you a commission every time a referred customer renews, not only on the first sale. Below are 120+ recurring and high-paying affiliate programs in 32 niches, from web hosting and email marketing to finance and travel, with the commission terms for each.

Most affiliate marketing sites start with one-time programs such as Amazon Associates or ClickBank, where you are paid once per purchase. Adding recurring offers turns one referral into income that keeps arriving, which makes a site’s earnings steadier and easier to value.

Already earning from affiliate links? Our free business valuation calculator estimates what your site is worth in a minute or two, based on data from the 2,684 businesses sold on our marketplace.

What Counts as a Recurring or High-Paying Affiliate Program?

A recurring affiliate program pays you a share of every payment a referred customer makes, for as long as they stay subscribed or for a set period. It is common with software, hosting, VPNs, online courses and other subscription products.

A high-paying affiliate program pays a large amount per sale, through a high percentage, a high-priced product, or both. The strongest programs combine the two: a solid rate on a product people keep paying for.

Recurring vs One-Time Commissions: Which Pays More Over Time?

One-time commissions pay more on day one. Recurring commissions usually pay more over the life of a customer.

For example, a 30% recurring commission on a $50 monthly plan pays $15 a month. If that customer stays for 12 months, one referral earns $180. A one-time $100 commission pays more up front and nothing after.

Why recurring commissions work:

• Income builds month on month as referrals add up.
• Earnings are steadier, so a quiet month for new sales hurts less.
• Each piece of content keeps paying after the first sale.

What to weigh against them:

• The first payment is often smaller than a one-time bounty.
• Payouts stop when customers cancel, so product quality matters.
• Programs can change their terms or close, which cuts off future payouts.

Most strong affiliate sites mix both: one-time offers for products people buy once, recurring offers for tools readers use every month.

How to Judge Commission Quality Before You Join

A high percentage means little if customers cancel fast or the program pays late. Check these points before you apply:

• Recurring length: lifetime, or a fixed window such as 12 months.
• Cookie window: how long after a click a sale still counts as yours.
• Payout terms: minimum payout, payment schedule and payment method.
• Retention: a tool people keep using pays for longer than one they cancel after a month.
• Approval and caps: who gets accepted, and whether earnings are capped.
• Fit: promote products your readers already need, ideally tools you use yourself.
• Transfer terms: special rates agreed with an affiliate manager may not pass to a new owner, and some networks must approve the buyer if you sell the site. See how affiliate sites make money.

Best Recurring Affiliate Programs by Niche

Programs are grouped by niche. Each entry shows the commission terms the program published. Confirm current terms on the program’s own page before you apply, as programs change their rates and some close.

For more niches, see our lists of travel affiliate programs, fashion affiliate programs, pet affiliate programs and fitness affiliate programs. New to affiliate marketing? Start with the best affiliate programs for beginners.

• Web Hosting
• CRMs and Automation
• Email Marketing
• Ecommerce
• VPNs
• Landing Pages
• WordPress
• Live Chat
• Chatbots
• Social Media Management
• Design and Graphics
• SEO Tools
• Online Courses
• Payment Processors
• Time Tracking Software
• Marketing Tools
• Cloud Storage
• Webinars
• Recruitment
• Advertising
• Affiliate Program Management
• Podcasts
• Making Money Online
• Project Management
• Cryptocurrency
• Finance
• Fundraising
• Food and Beverages
• Real Estate
• Travel
• Education
• Beauty

Web Hosting

All businesses need a hosting provider so they can store data on their servers.

As more businesses create an online presence, the web-hosting market is pretty competitive for pricing, quality, and customer service.

If someone already has a hosting service, they’ll probably be reluctant to change because of how much work is needed to migrate the data to a new provider.

Thankfully, there are different types of hosting providers to choose from. Shared, private servers cost less than dedicated hosting providers and could be a good choice for smaller businesses if they’re looking for a more reliable option compared to some of the bigger names out there.

• Liquid Web: Earn up to $1,500 per sale.
• RoseHosting: $50–$500 per sale plus 10% lifetime recurring commission.
• Nestify: $150 per sale.
• VirMach: 10–25% recurring commission, depending on the product.
• Kinsta WordPress Hosting: up to $500 initial payout plus 10% recurring commission.
• Cloudways: up to $125 per sale or $30 + 7% commissions each month for the customer.

CRMs and Automation

Businesses are prioritizing the building of meaningful connections with customers now more than ever. The right sales prospecting and forecasting tools can help nurture leads through your sales funnel.

You might have encountered a couple of popular CRM tools, like Hubspot and Salesforce.

Finding the right CRM software will help you keep all your contacts in one place so you can manage potential leads and previous customers.

• ActiveCampaign: 20–30% recurring commission for up to 12 months.
• Jotform: 30% recurring commission for the first year.
• ONTRAPORT: 25% recurring commission.
• ActiveTrail: 15% monthly recurring commission.
• Wishpond: 30% recurring commission.
• Hubstaff: up to 30% recurring commission for 12 months.
• Pipedrive: 20–30% recurring commission for the first 12 months.
• Kommo (formerly amoCRM): 35–50% lifetime recurring commission, plus 100% on your first sale.
• Capsule: 20% recurring commission.

Email Marketing

Email marketing remains one of the best digital marketing channels for driving high-converting traffic and revenue. Some entrepreneurs have even started businesses based entirely on an email list.

Also known as email autoresponders, these tools help you manage your emails to nurture leads or send weekly newsletters. This category is easier to promote because the programs tend to offer free trials, which makes signing up a low commitment for users.

The churn rate is low since businesses tend to stick to one email marketing tool once they subscribe to a service. Choosing a tool to promote depends on other factors, such as whether they provide pop-up notifications, help with landing pages, and the type of customer support available.

• AWeber: up to 50% recurring commission for the lifetime of each paid account (30% base, rising with referral volume).
• Benchmark: 30% recurring commission for up to 30 months (one-time 30% on annual plans).
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit): 50% commission for each customer’s first 12 months, plus 10% lifetime recurring once you refer 10 paying customers a year.
• GetResponse: up to 60% recurring commission for 12 months (40% base, rising with sales volume).
• MailerLite: 30% monthly recurring commission, $120 payout threshold.
• Sendlane: 14-day free trial; 30% monthly recurring commission.
• Sendloop: 40% recurring commission ($750 one-time for Enterprise plans).
• Moosend: up to 40% recurring commission for as long as the customer pays (30% base, tiered by referrals).

Ecommerce

We’re seeing a lot of buyers wanting a piece of this pie, as ecommerce business sales have increased year-on-year since 2018. In 2020 alone, we sold 114 e-commerce businesses.

Many affiliate programs help people get started in e-commerce by opening an e-commerce storefront if they have no programming experience.

While Amazon FBA is one of the most popular business models we’ve seen bought and sold in our marketplace, the e-commerce tools listed below can help any entrepreneur set up his or her own storefront and start selling products online.

• Shopify: up to $150 per qualified referral.
• Samcart: 30% commission for up to 2 years on each new paid user.
• SendOwl: 50% recurring commission for the first year.
• Payhip: 50% recurring commission.
• Wholesale2b: 30% commission on each referred customer’s first month of membership.
• EasyStore: 100% first month, 20% recurring commission.
• Sellfy: 25% recurring commission.
• Dropified: 20% recurring commission.
• Debutify: 25% of the first payment and 15% of monthly renewals for up to 12 months, up to 40% with bonus tiers.
• Spocket: 20–30% lifetime recurring commission, depending on tier.

VPNs

To give you an idea of how useful VPNs are, over 31% of Internet users have VPNs. They can be used to access news and information if someone is in a geolocked area.

For online businesses, they can be useful to perform keyword research based on different locations.

• PureVPN: 35% recurring commission.
• Nord VPN: 100% first month, then 30% recurring commission.
• TorGuard: 30% recurring commission.
• Private Internet Access: up to 33% commission on new sales.

Landing Pages

While having a whole site chock full of content might be great, some online businesses only really need a small set of pages or even a single landing page to generate recurring income. Some small businesses might need just an opt-in with an email capture form.

Although a business owner might only need to build one landing page, someone who flips online businesses will likely need to create many landing pages for their newly acquired assets. These tools are easy to use, allowing anyone to create a landing page without knowing coding.

• LeadPages: 30%, 14-day trial.
• ClickFunnels: 30% monthly recurring commission.
• Instapage: 40% of the first year on annual plans and 15% after that, or 30% of the first year on monthly plans.
• Landingi: 20% commission for the first 12 months.
• Kartra: 40% recurring commission for the first 12 months.

WordPress

WordPress is still one of the oldest and most popular CMS systems used by affiliate marketers around the world. However, it’s not a perfect system that can be used on its own. Many services streamline and improve WordPress to automate tasks, optimize the front end and back end of a site, and improve a site’s design. These tools include themes and plug-ins, and they’re usually annual subscriptions.

• Thrive Themes: 35% commission on new sales.
• Elegant Themes: 50% recurring commission.
• Premium Coding Themes: up to 50% commission.
• Access WP: 10% recurring lifetime.
• Zen WP: 8% Lifetime commissions—$3,000 bonus for every 100th customer.
• Memberium: 10% lifetime.
• MemberPress: 25% commission on each referred customer’s first sale.
• MemberMouse: 25% commission on the initial purchase.
• Superb Themes: up to 50% commission, plus commissions on yearly renewals.

Live Chat

Providing top customer service can be a crucial factor in winning and keeping repeat customers. Having live chat functionality on your site gives your business an advantage over those that don’t, as 92% of customers feel satisfied with live chat. Having live chats opens opportunities for conversational marketing at any hour of the day.

• Provide Support: 30% recurring commission.
• JivoChat: 30% recurring commission.
• LiveAgent: up to 30% recurring commission, tiered by accounts sold per year, plus a $5 bonus for joining.
• Online Chat Centers: up to 50% first commission, 20% recurring after.
• LiveChat: 20% recurring commission.
• Olark: 20% commission on new customers, recurring on renewals for up to 1 year.
• Crisp: 20% commission for 1 year on each new Essentials or Plus subscription.

Chatbots

Like live chat, chatbots are another way to provide customer service, except you don’t have to be present to help your customers. Chat bots simulate conversations online, and you can use tools to create your own chatbot with customized scripts.

It might be answering common questions around a product or service or pointing users to where they can find more information. The most well-known example is Facebook Messenger.

• Collect.chat: 30% recurring commission, $50 for every 10 referrals.
• Customers.ai (formerly MobileMonkey): 10% recurring commission for the life of the subscription.

Social Media Management

Social media is often an underutilized traffic source because owners aren’t familiar with how to use the right accounts to drive traffic to their storefront or site.

Building a social media presence could increase visitors to your business and increase revenue. There are three billion people who use social media, which means there’s huge potential to create an addressable audience.

Social media management tools help users schedule posts and provide analytics to see which types of posts convert the most.

• AgoraPulse: 15% commission on each new customer’s first-year contract value.
• SocialPilot: 20% recurring commission for one year, up to $306 per customer.
• Tailwind: up to $120 for each new customer you refer, plus milestone bonuses.
• VidIQ: 15% lifetime recurring commission, up to 25% as your sales grow.
• Planable: 15–25% commission on active subscriptions for their first 6 months (Ambassadors Program).

Design and Graphics

Even if your mind is as blank as the empty canvas in front of you when it comes to designing something, you can create unique and interesting creative assets with design tools.

They’re usually web-based apps that come with a library of templates and fonts while guiding you on how to create assets that meet social media guidelines.

• Snappa: 40% recurring commission.
• Depositphotos: 40% of a referral’s first purchase, then 15% of their purchases for 3 years.
• Designrr: 50% commission on first-year sales.
• Pixpa: 55% of referrals’ subscription fees in their first year (up to $216 per subscriber).

SEO Tools

SEO is a powerful inbound marketing channel that makes affiliate businesses hands off if you have good organic traffic from search engines.

SEO tools optimize your content to improve your organic traffic to your website or storefront.

• Semrush: up to $450 per sale, plus $10 per free trial activation.
• SerpStat: up to 30% recurring commissions.
• SEOPressor: 50% recurring commissions.
• Linkody: 30% recurring commissions.
• Mangools: up to 35% lifetime recurring commission.
• SEOClerks: 10% lifetime.
• FATJOE: 25% of the first order, then 10% lifetime commission on later orders.
• ProRankTracker: 20% recurring commissions.

Online Courses

E-learning is trending after the world has moved to remote work. It’s a growing industry with more information available than ever before.

People can learn new skills at their own pace, thanks to the large number of courses available.

• Teachable: 30% recurring commission for the first year.
• Thinkific: 30% lifetime recurring commission ($150 a month for Plus plans).
• LearnWorlds: 25% recurring commissions.

Payment Processors

SaaS businesses or e-commerce businesses need payment processors to process credit card payments or other types of payments, such as PayPal.

• Authorize.Net: monthly residuals on the difference between its buy rate and your sell rate.
• Merchant Focus: 20% recurring commissions.

Time Tracking Software

For remote working teams, time-tracking software can be useful for improving productivity.

• TimeDoctor: 30% recurring commission in year one, 15% in year two and 10% in year three.

Marketing Tools

Content marketing is powerful for building an addressable audience. Providing value for your target audience by teaching them how to improve their business or personal skills will make it more likely for them to engage in your services or buy your products.

• TubeBuddy: 15% recurring commission for as long as the referral stays active.
• ClickMagick: 35% lifetime recurring.
• Clicky: 20% recurring commissions.
• ConvertFlow: 30% recurring commission for the first 12 months.
• UpViral: 100% of the first monthly payment (50% on yearly plans), then 35% lifetime recurring commission.
• Right Message: 20% recurring commissions.
• Deadline Funnel: 33% recurring commissions.
• Mouseflow: 10% recurring commissions.
• Hunter.io: 30% recurring commission for the first 12 months.
• Pabbly: 30% recurring commission for as long as the customer stays active.
• Saleshandy: up to 25% lifetime recurring commission.
• Optmyzr: 10% lifetime recurring commission.
• Supermetrics: up to 20% recurring commission (15% for 1 year, rising to 20% for 2 years after 10 referrals).

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is an effective way to back up your business off-site in case something happens to your business.

• pCloud: 20% recurring commissions.

Webinars

Hosting webinars gives entrepreneurs a chance to establish their expertise while providing valuable information to attendees.

If you can secure high-profile guests to appear on your webinars, it can boost the profile of your business as well. Webinar tools assist with hosting, so you can focus on the webinar itself instead of worrying about the technology.

• Demio: 25% recurring commission for up to 3 years.
• ProProfs WebinarNinja: one-time commission of 40% on annual plans or 100% of the first month on monthly plans.
• EasyWebinar: up to 40% recurring commission (10% base, tiered by active referrals).
• ClickMeeting: up to 33% commission for up to 12 months on each new account.

Recruitment

Working remotely is becoming more popular. If you have a blog sharing the benefits of the digital nomad lifestyle, this could be a good option for you.

• Freelancer.com: a bonus equal to the net project fees on projects your referrals post in their first 100 days.
• Fiverr: $20–$50 per first-time buyer (up to $150 for Fiverr Pro).

Advertising

These types of affiliate programs connect advertisers with publishers. The software allows you to control your different ad campaigns.

• Monetag (formerly PropellerAds): 5% lifetime commission on referred publishers’ earnings.
• Voluum: up to 10% commission for every referred deal.
• ClickAdilla: 7% of referred advertisers’ ad spend.
• Infolinks: 10% recurring commissions.
• Adcash: 5% recurring commissions.

Affiliate Program Management

Having different affiliate programs generating revenue is recommended to lower the risk if an affiliate program that has the lion’s share of revenue lowers its commission rates. From one dashboard, you can manage the affiliate programs and see all your campaigns and reports.

• Tapfiliate: 20% recurring commission for the first 12 months, or $178 one-time per paying customer.

Podcasts

As with webinars, creating a podcast is another way to deliver value to your audience by deeply diving into specific topics. You can have different series, with each focusing on separate topics.

• Transistor Podcast Hosting: 25% recurring commission.
• Buzzsprout: $20 for every paid account you refer.

Making Money Online

Do you write about how to create extra income or how to start profitable side hustles? Teaching others how to make money online can help you earn more by promoting a recurring affiliate program and sharing what you have learned about how to make money.

• InboxDollars: $3.00 for each new sign-up and activation, plus 10% of your new and prior referrals’ earnings.
• Food Blogger Pro: up to 40% recurring commission.

Project Management

It can be difficult to manage a remote work team where each member is in a different time zone. These project management tools help your team collaborate by keeping all the team’s projects in one place.

• GanttPRO: 50% commission on the first sale.
• monday.com: up to 100% commission on each referred customer’s first-year sales (tiered).

Cryptocurrency

An increasingly lucrative investment asset, people are looking for new ways to invest in cryptocurrency as well as trending altcoins in the hopes of finding the next Bitcoin.

Affiliate programs include a combination of wallets and trading platforms.

• Coinmama: up to 30% of Coinmama’s commission on all your referrals’ purchases, for life.
• Changelly: 50% recurring commission.
• KuCoin: up to 60% commission on referred users’ trading fees, with permanent affiliate relationships.
• CoinLedger (formerly CryptoTrader.Tax): 25% recurring commission.

Finance

If you’re blogging about more traditional investment trading, such as stocks, you can earn high-paying commissions from each transaction from a repeat customer.

Some products help users manage finances or bookkeeping.

• LiveTrader: 30% recurring commission.
• HoneyMoney: $3 each month for five months if you refer for monthly plan/$15 per sale of the annual plan.
• Invoice Ninja: 50% recurring commission for three years.
• Libertex Affiliates: fixed commission for each qualified referral (up to $1200).
• PrimeXBT: 20% of fees lifetime.
• Binance: up to 50% commission on referrals’ spot, margin and futures trading fees.
• Ledger: 10% commission on hardware wallet sales.

Fundraising

The program listed below is helpful for fundraising campaigns used by politicians, nonprofits, and religious organizations.

• Donorbox: 15% recurring commission for the first 3 years.

Food and Beverages

The health and fitness industry is increasingly popular nowadays, as people look for ways to be healthier. This recurring affiliate program teaches people how to live healthier lifestyles in the kitchen.

• Plan to Eat: 20% recurring commission.

Real Estate

Another popular investment option is real estate. This recurring affiliate program helps investors find distressed assets more quickly through curated marketplaces.

• DealCheck: 30% recurring.

Travel

This affiliate program rewards you with recurring income if you write about exotic locations off the beaten path.

• Villiers: 30% recurring commission.

Want more travel offers, including one-time programs for hotels and airlines? See our full list of travel affiliate programs.

Education

This affiliate program provides resources for homeschooling and remote learning for children.

With more opportunities to work online, teachers or parents can create their own lesson plans by subscribing to gain access to a library of educational resources.

• SchoolhouseTeachers: 25% recurring commission.

Beauty

This affiliate program includes links for skincare, haircare, bath, and body products.

• Jade Bloom: 15% commission on first-time orders and 9% on every future order from that customer for life.

For more beauty and health offers, see these alternative beauty and health affiliate programs.

How Affiliate Sites Become Sellable Assets

An affiliate site with steady, documented earnings is a business you can sell. On Empire Flippers, the listing price is the site’s 12-month total net profit times a multiple, typically 1.7 to 5+. Recurring commissions help because steady, repeating income is easier for a buyer to verify and trust.

To list an affiliate site with us, you need:

• At least $24,000 a year in net profit and 12 months of earnings history.
• The same domain for the previous 12 months (affiliate, Amazon Associates and ad-based sites).
• Google Analytics or Clicky installed, and a monthly profit and loss statement. Our vetting team can help you prepare it.
• Tracked affiliate links, so a buyer can see what each one earns.

Affiliate businesses on our marketplace sell in 21 days on average. We vet the site, handle buyer questions and negotiation, and migrate the domain, hosting, content and monetization to the buyer. Our commission is a flat $10,000 on sales up to $70,000 and 15% up to $700,000, with lower rates above that. Read more on how to sell your affiliate site.

Looking to buy instead? Browse affiliate websites for sale or sites that earn from Amazon Associates.

Sell your Business Free Valuation

Recurring Affiliate Programs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the highest paying affiliate program?

There is no single highest paying affiliate program; it depends on your niche and how long customers stay. High-ticket programs pay the most per sale, while recurring software and hosting programs often pay the most over a customer’s lifetime. Compare the commission terms in the niche lists above and pick programs your readers will keep using.

What is a good recurring commission rate?

A good recurring commission rate is one that beats other programs in the same niche and keeps paying for as long as the customer stays. A slightly lower rate that pays for life often earns more than a higher rate that stops after a few months. Check the recurring length and cookie window, not only the percentage.

Should I choose recurring commissions or one-time payouts?

Choose recurring commissions for products people pay for every month, and one-time payouts for products they buy once. Recurring income grows as referrals add up, while one-time payouts bring more cash up front. Most profitable affiliate sites use both.

Are recurring affiliate commissions paid for life?

Not always. Some programs pay a share of every renewal for as long as the customer stays, while others stop after a set period such as 12 months. Read each program’s terms before you promote it.

Is Amazon Associates a recurring affiliate program?

No. Amazon Associates pays a one-time commission on each qualifying purchase, so a repeat buyer does not earn you ongoing payouts. Many sites pair it with recurring programs. See how the Amazon affiliate business model works.

Which affiliate programs are easiest to get approved for?

Programs with open sign-up through large networks are usually the easiest to join, while premium brands often review your site first. A site with useful content, real traffic and a clear niche gets approved more often. Our list of the best affiliate programs for beginners focuses on programs that are easy to start with.

How do I start affiliate marketing as a beginner?

Start with one niche you know, build a site with helpful content such as reviews and comparisons, then join two or three programs that fit your readers. Add recurring offers once you have steady traffic. Our guide to the affiliate marketing business model covers how these sites make money.

Can you really make money with affiliate marketing?

Yes, but income depends on traffic, niche and the programs you choose. See current affiliate websites for sale.

Can affiliate income increase a website’s value?

Yes. On Empire Flippers, a site’s listing price is its 12-month net profit times a multiple, typically 1.7 to 5+, so every dollar of steady profit adds to the price. Diverse traffic, tracked links and a long earnings history help the multiple. Get an estimate with our free valuation calculator.

Do affiliate commissions transfer when you sell your site?

Usually the affiliate accounts or links move to the buyer, but not every deal transfers. Special rates agreed with an affiliate manager may not pass to a new owner, and some networks must approve the buyer. Sellers should pass these deals on or value the site without them.

How do I sell my affiliate website?

You can sell an affiliate website through a broker such as Empire Flippers once it has at least 12 months of earnings history and $24,000 a year in net profit. We vet the site, list it, handle negotiation and migrate it to the buyer, and affiliate businesses sell in 21 days on average. Start with how to sell your affiliate site.