If you’re brand new to affiliate marketing & yet to join your first affiliate program, you might wonder if affiliate programs are free to join.
And if you are wondering that, don’t worry because you’re certainly not alone. New students here at Commission Academy often ask us if affiliate programs cost money to join.
In fact, we get asked it so frequently that we decided to publish this blog post to answer the question in detail once & for all. On this page, we’ll explain how you can find legitimate, free affiliate programs to join.
Are Affiliate Programs Free?
Yes, legitimate affiliate programs will indeed be completely free to join. After all, these companies are eager for you to promote their products.
A legitimate affiliate program will never charge a fee except in very rare circumstances (which we’ll explain more about below).
So if you’ve found an affiliate program & they’re asking you to pay a fee to join, the chances are that the particular program you’re trying to join could be a scam.
And sadly, we’ve seen many affiliate program scams over the years.
But don’t let that dishearten you because whilst there are some scam affiliate programs out there, affiliate marketing in itself is not a scam & there are many legitimate affiliate programs that you can join.
In fact, we’ve listed many affiliate programs right here on our blog, including:
- Best $100 commission affiliate programs
- Best instant payout affiliate programs
- Best high-ticket affiliate programs
And many more. Plus, further on in this blog post, we’ll explain how you can find free affiliate programs.
But first…
Can You Promote Affiliate Links For Free?
The other bit of good news is that not only can you join affiliate programs for free, but you can also promote your affiliate links for free, too.
For example, you could share affiliate links on Facebook.
Or alternatively, you could use a link in bio tool & add an affiliate link to your social media bio.
But in this instance, whilst you can indeed promote your affiliate links for free, it’s not necessarily the most effective way to go about affiliate marketing.
Instead, we recommend investing a small amount of money & creating a website so that you can earn more money by creating content.
And this particular method could set you on your path to becoming a millionaire with affiliate marketing.
That’s why we teach it in our free affiliate marketing course.
But yes, technically, you can indeed join affiliate programs for free & on top of that, you can promote your affiliate links for free.
So, in essence, you can get started with affiliate marketing for free, without any upfront costs whatsoever.
However, there are some (very rare) instances when a legitimate affiliate program may ask for some money upfront for you to get access.
That brings me to the next point.
When An Affiliate Program May Cost To Join
In most instances, affiliate programs will be free to join. In over 10+ years of doing affiliate marketing, I have only ever come across ~2 legitimate programs that required new affiliates to pay a fee.
One of those companies is a company named Awin.
Awin charge a 1 EUR/GBP/USD (or equivalent) fee for new affiliates joining their affiliate network & they do this to protect their network from fraud.
Take from their info page, here is why they claim they do it:
- Credit or debit card providers have had to verify your identity in order to issue a card which adds an extra layer of verification that we can use to ensure the applicant is truly the person applying to join the network. We accept any credit or debit card providers, including American Express. Awin does not have access to any card details as this is handled by a secure third-party provider who verifies associated information for us.
- Implementing a payment within the sign-up process helps us deter unscrupulous users from signing up with multiple accounts and therefore helps to keep our applications dedicated to genuine affiliates.
But the good news is that the fee is refunded back to you with your first affiliate payout.
So, quite clearly, you can see that, in this instance, the fee is legitimate. It’s very small, and it’s paid back out when you reach your first payment.
Awin is also a huge company that’s trusted by many affiliates.
But in general, if an affiliate program asks you to pay a fee to join, you should give them a wide berth & look for an alternative as it’s highly likely to be a scam – especially if it’s a large amount or a recurring amount being asked for.
That brings me to the next point…
Where Can You Find Free Affiliate Programs?
Finding free affiliate programs is very easy. All you need to do is head to Google & run a search for your affiliate niche and add the words “affiliate program” at the end.
For example, if your affiliate niche was birdwatching, you would simply type in “birdwatching + affiliate program” & run a search.
Then, you’d see a list of affiliate programs show up, as shown below:
Alternatively, you could browse the Commission Academy blog. We’ve published hundreds upon hundreds of affiliate programs for every niche imaginable.
You can find affiliate programs such as:
- Kickboxing affiliate programs
- Fitness equipment affiliate programs
- Bowling affiliate programs
- Kayaking affiliate programs
And more, but you likely get the idea.
The Bottom Line
Whilst there are some extremely rare exceptions, such as the one highlighted above, legitimate affiliate programs are nearly always completely free to join.
And if an affiliate program does ask you to pay a fee to join, you should certainly do your due diligence before handing over any money because it’s highly likely a scam.
You see, finding affiliates isn’t easy, and so affiliate programs (legitimate ones) are generally desperate to get new affiliates to join.
So why would they charge a fee?
Well, the simple answer is they wouldn’t. But hopefully, after reading this post, you can see that now & hopefully, this post has been insightful for you.
Of course, if you happen to have any questions or comments don’t hesitate to leave them below.
