Affiliate marketing is fast becoming one of the most lucrative industries. Worth billions of dollars, it is unsurprising that influencers and content creators increasingly turn to it to improve their income stream.
One of the leading niches driving this growth is SaaS (Software as a Service) affiliate marketing. With its vast array of innovative products and high-earning potential, the SaaS industry offers some of the most profitable affiliate programs available today.
To set you on the path to success quicker, I have curated 20 of the best SaaS affiliate programs you can join today in this guide. All you need to do is select the one that suits your interest and start earning.
What is a SaaS affiliate program?A SaaS affiliate program is a type of affiliate marketing program specifically designed for SaaS products. In this model, affiliate marketers promote a SaaS product—such as CRMs, transcription tools, or scheduling software——and earn a commission for each customer they refer who subscribes or purchases the product.
To get started, the merchant provides the affiliate with a unique link and dashboard for tracking sales, while some also offer marketing materials and an expert affiliate manager to assist.
Criteria for selecting the top SaaS affiliate programs
While it may be tempting to choose any SaaS affiliate program boasting high commissions, things might be different from what they seem from afar when you go deeper. For starters, below are some of the factors to consider before signing up:
Relevance: To give yourself the best chance of success in affiliate marketing for SaaS, choose programs that align with your audience’s interests and needs. For instance, if your content centers around digital marketing, a SaaS tool for social media management or SEO would be a good fit.
Competitive commission: Affiliate marketing generally is no child’s play, as it requires a great deal of time, effort, and dedication. So, the commission should be worth it. It is not necessarily about the highest commission but a competitive one on par with the industry standard.
Reputation of the SaaS provider: Since your reputation is associated with the products you promote, choose SaaS providers known for reliability, quality, and customer satisfaction. Check reviews, ratings, and feedback about the SaaS product to gauge its reputation. Ideally, test the product yourself to ensure it meets high-quality standards.
Cookie duration: The cookie duration is the time the tracking cookie remains active on the device of a potential customer after clicking an affiliate link. The longer the cookie is, the better, as this ensures you are credited with the sales or leads recorded within that period. The best SaaS affiliate programs often provide at least 30 days, while some offer even longer durations.
Marketing resources: Programs that provide marketing resources—such as banners, logos, swipe files, and landing pages—make it easier to start promoting effectively. Some programs even assign dedicated marketing experts to help you succeed.
20 Best SaaS affiliate programs to choose from
Below is a list of the best affiliate programs covering different niches that you can leverage to make money.
1. Notta
Notta is an AI-powered tool that automatically transcribes meetings, interviews, podcasts, and any audio and video into accurate text. With a support of 50+ languages, it attracts a global user base. This software also generates a concise summary from the lengthy transcript, so users can grasp the key points quickly. It is ideal for both individual and business use.
Notta boasts one of the best SaaS affiliate programs you can come across. The onboarding process is effortless and takes about 60 seconds. After signing up, you can access the Impact affiliate dashboard to track your performance in real-time. One of our successful affiliates makes $10,000+ per month!
What’s more, affiliates can immediately start promoting Notta without the hassle of creating marketing materials from scratch. The program provides ready-to-use assets such as text links, coupons, and banners, with regular updates to ensure a smooth experience.
2. Mailmodo
Mailmodo is an email marketing platform that allows marketers to send emails in an interactive format consisting of calendars, shopping carts, and other interactive elements. This software prides itself on being the world’s first no-code AMP email platform.
Mailmodo’s affiliate program is among the highest paying in the SaaS industry, as affiliates earn a 20% recurring commission on every referral.
What’s more, Mailmodo offers creative marketing ideas and materials that will help you educate your audience on different platforms. They also provide a dedicated team of affiliate managers to help you understand their product and how to promote it.
3. Hunter.io
Hunter.io is an all-encompassing email outreach software that helps users find and verify professional email addresses associated with specific domains or individuals. It is widely used in sales and marketing to streamline outreach efforts.
Getting started with Hunter.io’s affiliate program is easy, as you get your unique tracking link and dashboard within a few minutes. However, they are not known to provide any marketing material. But with the brand’s reputation (used by bigwigs like Microsoft and Canva), you shouldn’t have problems marketing it.
4. Hotjar
Hotjar is a product experience (PX) insights platform that analyzes visitors’ behavior, needs, and collects user feedback through on-site surveys. These insights enable businesses to optimize their site for enhanced user experience, performance, and ultimately, higher conversions.
To join Hotjar’s affiliate program, you need to fill out an application form first. If you are deemed a good fit, you will be sent an invitation to join their affiliate program hosted on PartnerStack within two weeks.
Once joining in, you will receive specific training and support from their experts. This will help you hone your skills, providing you with better opportunities in the marketing field.
5. HubSpot
HubSpot is a household name in the marketing industry that offers a suite of tools designed to assist businesses in marketing, sales, customer service, and content management. It helps businesses bring in leads and monitor performances.
HubSpot boasts one of the best B2B SaaS affiliate programs in terms of commission, thanks to the steep price of its products. Also, it runs a tiered structure, allowing you to earn bonuses with more sales.
To improve things, this program provides demo videos, brand materials, landing pages, copy samples, banner ads, and much more to help you get started quickly.
6. Typeform
Typeform is software for online form building and surveys. Its forms boast refreshingly unique designs and other visuals, such as video content and follow-up questions, that make customers want to fill them out.
The Typeform affiliate program is ideal for beginners looking to earn quickly from affiliate marketing for SaaS. You get an instant $20 payment for every referral before getting a recurring monthly commission that can reach $500. Additionally, you can trigger the payout immediately after one successful referral.
7. Social Champ
Social Champ is an AI-powered social media management tool. It is an all-encompassing tool that can be used for bulk uploads, integrations, workflows, repeat posting, auto RSS, and so much more.
Joining the Social Champ affiliate program is effortless, as you only need to fill out a quick form, and you will receive feedback after a few minutes. Once your application is approved, you get a unique link, personal dashboard, marketing resources, and a dedicated affiliate manager.
Finally, Social Champ gives you $50 after every five referrals, motivating you to want to do more.
8. Unbounce
Unbounce is a landing page builder for marketers and agencies. With its drag-and-drop builder, users can create a landing page that converts in a few minutes. It also allows no-code A/B testing, provides real-time analytics, and boasts an AI optimizer that help get the best from their landing pages.
Unbounce’s affiliate program is enticing for potential customers, as they get up to 35% discount on the annual plan if they register through your link. As an affiliate, you also get a 35% recurring commission for every referral. What’s more, you will have access to their dedicated team of affiliate experts to provide constant support.
9. GetResponse
GetResponse is an all-in-one email marketing tool that helps businesses collect contacts, nurture leads, optimize campaigns with analytics, and convert leads to customers. It is the dream of every digital marketer and business owner.
GetResponse offers two kinds of programs: the recurring program with a default 33% commission and the bounty program with a fixed upfront payment of up to $150 per sale. You will have access to a real-time dashboard to monitor and optimize your activities.
10. Wix
Wix is one of the world’s leading website publishing software, with over 200 million users worldwide. It allows people with little to no technical knowledge to build and host a functional website without writing a line of code.
Upon signing up for its partnership, Wix offers you marketing materials and tools to help you get going quickly. You also get an intuitive dashboard where you can check traffic and payment and manage your campaigns. This, plus its high commission, is why it is considered one of the best b2b SaaS affiliate programs.
11. Intuit QuickBooks
Intuit QuickBooks is a finance software built to help small businesses manage their bookkeeping tasks and keep track of their finances. This software can track your expenses, create customized invoices, run reports, and perform more financial tasks.
Unlike many other programs, QuickBooks gives its affiliates discounts at all times, making it easy to entice prospective customers. Also, you get access to the brand logo and website banners, giving your page the authenticity it needs to attract referrals.
12. Thrive Themes
The Thrive Themes suite is one of the must-have tools in the arsenal of WordPress website developers. The suite contains a wide array of themes and plugins that help build a fully customized WordPress website in no time.
The Thrive Themes partnership program boasts one of the lowest payout thresholds at just $20. Also, you can work with the company on joint marketing actions like writing articles and hosting webinars. All in a bid to help you get better.
13. Brand24
Brand24 is the go-to tool for monitoring a business footprint on the web. The software helps users track their brand mentions on social media and the web and collects real-time data and analytics. With this, they can understand customers' needs, behaviors, and sentiments and how to meet their demands.
Brand24 affiliate program is known for its user-friendly style and the options it provides for all levels of affiliates. You will be given ready-to-publish marketing materials like banners. There is also a dedicated partner manager who supports you all the way.
14. Surfer SEO
Surfer is a highly-regarded SEO software loved by SEO specialists and content teams. It helps users through the keyword research, content creation, and optimization stages to create high-ranking quality content.
As a critical player in the marketing industry, Surfer provides its affiliates with everything needed to succeed. From regularly updated marketing materials to access to affiliate experts, you get more support than you can hope for. Finally, its tiered structure gives you bonuses and perks with more sales.
15. Prowly
Prowly is one of the leading PR and media relations software that allows you to pitch to journalists worldwide. With this tool, users can find relevant media contacts, build reports, create and disseminate press releases, and do more PR work.
Prowly prides itself on being the first SaaS affiliate program in the PR niche, so this program is perfectly suitable for content creators or PR agencies. What’s more, it pays via PayPal and wire transfer, and you get paid after just a single sale.
16. Inboxally
Inboxally is an email deliverability software marketers use to send outreach or cold emails to target audiences efficiently. This tool prevents your email from going to the recipient’s spam folder. Instead, it places it in the inbox, improving open rates and conversion.
Inboxally’s partnership is one of the best SaaS affiliate programs for a reliable income for a long time, thanks to the lifetime recurring commission. On average, affiliates earn up to $200 monthly per referral with Inboxally. To make things even better, if your referral upgrades to a higher plan, your commission will be upgraded accordingly.
17. Shopify
Shopify is a well-known e-commerce platform that lets you create an online store to sell and manage your products. It is known for providing rich features and apps, making it easy for businesses of all sizes to manage their stores.
Looking at pure numbers, the Shopify partners program is one of the most lucrative affiliate programs. This is because you can earn as much as 100% commission on your referral's first and second payments for the paid plans. Finally, aside from the usual promotion material, Shopify has an affiliate marketing course you can take after signing up as an affiliate.
Commission rate: Up to $150 for every subscriber who purchases any of Shopify’s store plans or the Point-of-Sales (POS) Pro plan at full price.
Cookie duration: 30 days
Brand reputation: Good, rated 4.4 out of 5 on G2
Apply here: https://www.shopify.com/affiliates
18. Moosend
Moosend is an email marketing tool that has taken campaign automation to another level. It can create personalized email experiences, automate campaign creation, and monitor performance for optimization.
Moosend has a dedicated affiliate resource center with many promotional resources, allowing you to promote the product effectively. You will also be given access to an intuitive dashboard to track your performance.
19. Frase
Frase is a specialized content marketing tool for creating high-ranking SEO content. This software uses AI technology to curate all related keywords to your main keyword and guides you through the frequency with which you can use them.
Being a Frase partner gives you access to a file with email copies and social media posts that are proven to help affiliates make sales quickly. To increase conversion rate, Frase allows referrals to try their software for just $1. This will enable them explore the tool's full functionality, leading to quicker decision-making.
20. Zendesk
Last but certainly not least on our list of the best SaaS affiliate programs is Zendesk - a renowned customer service platform. This software consists of live chatting, help desks, and several tools that help users meet customers' needs.
After you sign up for Zendesk’s affiliate program, you get high-level marketing materials and expert support. To keep affiliates motivated, it runs a tiered commission structure that allows you to earn more with increased sales.
Commission rate:10% or more
Cookie lifespan: 45 days
Brand reputation: Good, rated 4.3 out of 5 on G2
Apply here: https://www.zendesk.com/partner/
Start making money with these SaaS affiliate programs
The best SaaS affiliate programs go far beyond the 20 listed above, as you can promote many more products. However, you can never go wrong with the options above.
So, there is no better time to get started than today. Just click the affiliate page link to any of the products and begin the journey toward making cool cash from the comfort of your home.
