Best SaaS Affiliate Programs – High Ticket, Recurring & More

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

By  •  9 min read

SaaS is a market that has been exploding over the last decade.

In fact, it’s estimated that 78% of small businesses are already investing in at least one SaaS product. And that number is only going to rise.

As an affiliate, this is a massive opportunity. Why?

Because you can promote products that solve business needs while earning recurring commissions.

Yep, that’s right; most SaaS products pay recurring commissions because they use a subscription model.

Throughout this article, we’re going to walk you through the best SaaS affiliate programs.


Best SaaS Affiliate Programs

ClickFunnels Affiliate Program

The ClickFunnels affiliate program is one of the most popular ones on this list.

And you’ve probably seen affiliates promote this thing if you have been around in the internet marketing space.

It pays up to a 40% recurring commission rate, and you can even win a dream car once you have referred 100-200 customers… That’s a pretty cool incentive.

Plus, it comes with a TON of affiliate materials like banners, different funnels, and even emails that you can use to promote it.

But here are a couple of downsides to the program.

For example, you can’t promote ClickFunnels directly until you have sold at least $1,000 per month of another “One-funnel away challenge.” Or, after a change in 2019, your commission rate starts at 20%, and you have to work toward the 40%.

Overall, it’s an excellent affiliate program with lots of material and potential – so it deserves its spot on this list.

And the upside of promoting the other products is that you STILL get the commission if they purchase ClickFunnels too. So you can end up earning more, which is pretty cool.

Their affiliate program is hosted on their website, and you can sign up here.Commission Rate

  • Commission Rate: 40%
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 45 Days
  • Platform: Private
  • Affiliate Manager: Yes

SEMrush Affiliate Program

SEMrush is one of the most popular all-in-one search engine marketing tools on the market.

It helps users analyze their own and competitors’ traffic sources, plus a whole lot more.

The SEMrush affiliate program is one of the best SEO affiliate programs because it offers a tasty commission of up to $200 per sale. Plus, it also provides a lot of support for its affiliates, as well as additional incentives.

The commission attribution is last-click, so whoever makes the sale – gets paid.

We are also very impressed by the materials the SEMrush affiliate program gives you:

  • Banners
  • Ebooks
  • Widgets
  • Several Offers/Campaigns

This means you have lots of different places you can send your traffic to. We also love how specific some of the landing pages are – for example, if you are analyzing competitors’ SEO traffic, you can send your referrals to a page that addresses that.

These specific landing pages will make it likelier for your traffic to convert.

The program is hosted on ShareASale – so you can also use Afflytics to track your sales next to all your other affiliate programs.

Want to find more SEO affiliate programs? Check out 12 Best SEO Affiliate Programs

  • Commission Rate: $200 Flat
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 120 Days
  • Platform: ShareASale
  • Affiliate Manager: Yes

Hubspot Affiliate Program

Hubspot is the largest all-in-one marketing SaaS tool there is, and it’s estimated to be worth $34.41 billion.

So compared to other SaaS products, it has the advantage that it’s more known and trusted.

The software helps users with inbound marketing such as:

  • Blogging
  • Email marketing
  • Webinars

Basically, just generating and converting different traffic sources.

In terms of the affiliate program, it’s pretty decent, too, as it comes with a 15% recurring commission OR a 100% flat rate of the first month.

It doesn’t sound quite as much as the others on this list. But it is one of the industry’s most recognized brands, so your conversion rates will be very high.

Plus, according to their website, the average commission payout in 2020 was $276.  That doesn’t sound too bad, right?

You can sign up for their partner program, hosted on their ImpactRadius, via the button below.Commission Rate

  • Commission Rate: 15% recurring or 100% flat
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 90 Days
  • Platform: ImpactRadius
  • Affiliate Manager: Yes

GetResponse Affiliate Program

GetResponse is one of the best email marketing affiliate programs.

Why?

Because it offers high commissions and a TON of promotional material such as:

  • Banners
  • Email ads
  • Infographics
  • Videos and more

What we also like about GetResponse is that you can choose between the bounty commission rate and recurring:

  • Bounty: Get paid $100 per paid referral you make
  • Recurring: Get Paid 33% of all the revenue you generate.

Pretty tasty if you ask us. The cookie duration is also a long 120 day period, so that’s another big advantage it has.

The affiliate program is hosted privately on their website so that you can sign up there.

  • Commission Rate: 33% or $100
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 120 Days
  • Platform: private
  • Affiliate Manager: Yes

Freshbooks Affiliate Program

Freshbooks is one of the most popular bookkeeping software for small to medium-sized businesses.

However, unlike many competitors, it also has a KILLER affiliate program with many excellent incentives.

You can earn up to $10 per trial sign-up and up to $200 per paid plan referral.

That’s very good, especially for software where the most expensive plan is around $40 per month.

Besides the high commission rate, FreshBooks also offers a range of resources to its affiliates, including:

  • Article ideas
  • Social Media Tips and Strategies
  • Email & Newsletter Ideas
  • Performance Tracking and Insights
  • And More

And check this out: The affiliate program is hosted on ShareASale, so you can integrate it with Afflytics to track your earnings.

You can sign up for their affiliate program below; it usually takes between 1-2 business days for your application to become processed.

  • Commission Rate: 33% or $100
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 120 Days
  • Platform: private
  • Affiliate Manager: Yes

Shopify Affiliate Program

Shopify is one of the easiest ways for businesses to start their e-commerce store.

And it’s one of the SaaS companies that almost every marketer, business owner, and Entrepreneur knows – because it’s THAT popular.

As an affiliate partner, you will get a 200% commission on the first month’s payment.

While it might not look as attractive as some of the recurring options on this list, Shopify is a widely recognized brand, just like Hubspot.

This means your conversions may be higher – which kind of makes up for it not being a recurring commission.

  • Commission Rate: 200% Flat
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 30 Days
  • Platform: private
  • Affiliate Manager: Yes

Sprout Social Affiliate Program

This list would not be complete if we didn’t have a social media management platform, but we do: Sprout Social.

We included it because it offers all the major platforms and has an excellent commission structure.

I also used it back when I was managing clients’ social media accounts and found it to be highly user-friendly and packed with excellent features.

The commission structure is just as exciting as the software, as it offers $75 on the first month PLUS 15% on the next 6 monthly payments.

This means, even on the basic plan, you should earn around $155 per referral, as long as your referral stays the first 6 months.

And just like some of the other marketing automation tools on this list, you should be able to promote this to a wide audience.

Their affiliate program is hosted on Commission Junction and has a cookie period of 30-days.

You can apply to become an affiliate via the link below.

  • Commission Rate: $75 on first month + 15%
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 120 Days
  • Platform: CJ Affiliate
  • Affiliate Manager: Undefined

Sage Affiliate Program

Sage is another accounting software with a decent affiliate program.

Similar to Freshbooks, the software helps businesses manage their accounting and payroll. But the affiliate program is where it varies. While it only offers a 7% commission on sales, you earn around $7.50 per trial.

The cookie duration is 30-days – so overall, the Sage affiliate program should be a nice little side earner for you.

We also like the Sage affiliate program because it can pay out the commissions in any currency. So in case you are overseas, this could definitely be an advantage.

  • Commission Rate: 7% + $7.50 per trial
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 30 Days
  • Platform: private
  • Affiliate Manager: Undefined

Thinkific Affiliate Program

Thinkific is one of the most popular membership site builders on the market.

It gives users everything they need to create, market, and sell their membership sites.

It’s packed with a ton of features such as:

  • Surveys & engagement tools
  • Content hosting (MP4, PDF, etc.)
  • Full-membership customization and much more

And it offers all these features on some pretty affordable pricing plans too.

Their affiliate program is pretty sweet, too, as it offers a recurring commission of 30% and a 90-day sticky cookie.

So with the Thinkific affiliate program, you could earn up to $1700 per referral per year… Pretty nice.

The program is hosted on the Partnerstack affiliate network, and you can apply to become an affiliate via the button below.

  • Commission Rate: 30%
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 90 Days
  • Platform: Partnerstack
  • Affiliate Manager: Yes

 Conversion.AI Affiliate Program

Conversion.AI is a Saas content automation tool that has blown up recently.

It’s known as one of the most effective AI content writers and helps users write:

  • Emails
  • Blog posts
  • Social media posts

Businesses spend thousands on content – so a tool that can help them save money?

Yeah, it’s going to convert well.

The affiliate program is decent, too, as it pays a 30% recurring commission for life.

You can apply to become a partner on their website, where they will ask you a few questions about your audience and how you want to promote it.

Just like some of the others on this list, you can give your referrals a trial option, making it easier to convert them.

  • Commission Rate: 30%
  • EPC: Undefined
  • Cookie Length: 30 Days
  • Platform: private
  • Affiliate Manager: Undefined

Summary

That’s it! We hope you have enjoyed our list of the best SaaS affiliate programs. Finally, we just wanted to summarize the list to give you an overview of the best SaaS affiliate programs:

Best accounting Saas affiliate programs: Freshbooks, Sage

Best Marketing SaaS affiliate programs: SEMrush, Hubspot, GetResponse, Sprout Social, Conversion.Ai

Best Website & Funnel-building SaaS affiliate programs: Shopify, ClickFunnels, Thinkific

Austin manages a portfolio of niche websites. He has been building and selling websites for many years now. Connect with Austin on Twitter and LinkedIn.