12 Best Affiliate Programs and Networks in the UK (2023 Update)

In a world of affiliate programs, UK brands have launched some of the best and most successful.

From 2018 – 2020, affiliate marketing spending in the UK increased by one-third, from £471 million to £627 million. And there’s no sign of it slowing down any time soon.

Want to earn your cut? You’re in luck, because we’ve rounded up the top programs and networks for UK affiliate marketers, bloggers, influencers, and social media users. Whether your digital audience is interested in consumer products or B2B services, you’re sure to find the perfect fit.

UK Affiliate Programs and Networks

1. Amazon Associates UK
2. eBay Partner Network
3. Shopify
4. Fiverr
5. Etsy
6. Awin
7. CJ Affiliate
8. Rakuten Advertising
9. ShareASale
10. Skimlinks
11. FlexOffers
12. Impact

1 Amazon Associates UK

It’s fair to describe Amazon as a “leading online store.” In fact, it’s damning the company with faint praise. 

Amazon UK is Britain’s biggest ecommerce platform, with net sales of over $17 billion in 2021. That means the UK is Amazon’s second-biggest European market, behind Germany.

Over 66,000 UK SMEs sell via the platform, with the number of products on Amazon UK standing at more than 600 million. Those products are available across countless categories, from beauty and fashion to home and garden.

Sure, Amazon is a massive deal. But does it run the best affiliate program for UK affiliates?

The company’s affiliate program, Amazon Associates, pays varying commissions across its product categories. Currently, rates range from 1% on games consoles to 20% on Amazon Games (click here for an up-to-date list of Amazon’s UK commission rates).

Technically, Amazon Associates only offers a 24-hour cookie window, which is pretty poor. However, if a customer clicks your affiliate link and adds a product to their cart within 24 hours, you’ll still earn a commission if the order is placed within the next 90 days.

Commissions are paid via direct deposit, Amazon.co.uk gift certificate, or check roughly 60 days after the end of the month in which the sale occurred.

(Like the sound of Amazon’s affiliate program? Check out our in-depth Amazon Associates review.)

• URL: Amazon Associates UK
• Commission rate: 1% – 20% per sale
• Cookie duration: 24 hours
• Payment methods: Direct deposit, gift certificate, check
• Products sold: Pretty much anything you can imagine

2 eBay Partner Network

eBay is a veteran of the ecommerce world, starting way back in 1995 as an online auction website. 

Things have changed a little since then. Today, eBay has 1.4 billion product listings at any given time, 80% for totally new merchandise. In total, the company has 183 million registered buyers across 190 markets.

While it’s pretty small fry compared to Amazon, eBay is massive by anyone else’s standards, with annual net revenues in the UK hitting $10.4 billion in 2021.

Like Amazon Associates, eBay frequently changes its commissions, with rates varying from one product category to another. Currently, eBay partners earn 1% on real estate purchases and 4% on fashion and cars, with other categories falling between those rates. (Click here for an up-to-date list of eBay Partner Network commissions.)

Also like Amazon, eBay has a stingy 24-hour cookie window. On the plus side, eBay’s Partner Network tools offer various ways to boost sales, including category-specific creatives, regular deals and promotions, and detailed sales reports.

(Want to get paid for promoting eBay? Read our review of the eBay Partner Network.)

• URL: eBay Partner Network
• Commission rate: 1% – 4% per sale
• Cookie duration: 24 hours
• Payment methods: Electronic Funds Transfer, PayPal
• Products sold: New & used B2C products

3 Shopify

Shopify is a commerce platform that helps customers grow and manage their businesses. Merchants in over 175 countries use it to build an online store and drive sales through multiple channels, including web, mobile, and even in-person.

According to Store Leads, there were 151,547 live Shopify stores in the UK as of Q4 2022, with the number increasing by 50% year on year.

The Shopify affiliate program is managed through Impact Radius, a global affiliate marketing network. It pays a flat commission of $150 per online sale and has a 14-day cookie window.

Shopify offers various affiliate marketing tools and resources, including ready-made lead magnets and creatives. It also has a personal affiliate dashboard showing detailed performance insights.

Before applying, be aware the program is only open to people who: 

• Own and run an active website
• Have an established audience
• Can create original content, such as blog posts and online courses

You should also have experience using Shopify or another ecommerce platform. 

Beyond this, Shopify is open to working with all types of affiliates, including course creators and educators, influencers, and review sites.

Applications are manually reviewed by Shopify’s affiliate team and are typically processed within five business days.

(Do you have what Shopify’s looking for? Learn more in our Shopify affiliate program review.)

• URL: Shopify affiliate program
• Commission rate: $150 per online sale
• Cookie duration: 14 days
• Payment methods: Direct deposit, PayPal
• Products sold: Ecommerce technology

4 Fiverr

Fiverr is a marketplace for freelancers selling digital services, from content creation and graphic design to branding and web development. It’s used by a bunch of massive brands, including Facebook, Google, and Netflix.

As of September 2022, the number of active buyers using Fiverr stood at 4.2 million — up by 3% year on year.

The Fiverr affiliate program has a 30-day cookie window and two main commission structures:

• Fiverr CPA pays fixed commissions of $15 – $150 per sale, depending on what category your buyer purchases from.
• Fiverr Hybrid pays a $10 CPA plus a 10% revenue share for 12 months.

Fiverr offers three further ways for affiliate marketers to make money online. Fiverr Business pays a $100 CPA once the account hits $100 in spend plus a 10% RevShare for 12 months, Fiverr Learn offers a 30% commission for online course sales, and Fiverr Affiliate pays a 10% share of every referred affiliate’s earnings for a lifetime.

The platform also has a dedicated affiliate program for influencers, which pays up to 100% more commission than the “standard” program. But you need at least 5,000 subscribers to join.

The company pays commission balances of under $1,000 via PayPal and Payoneer, while commissions of $1,000+ are paid through wire transfer. It has a minimum payment threshold of $100.

(Think Fiverr could be the affiliate program for you? Find out in our Fiverr affiliate program review.)

• URL: Fiverr affiliate program
• Commission rate: $15 – $150 CPA, or $10 CPA + 10% RevShare
• Cookie duration: 30 days
• Payment methods: PayPal, Payoneer, wire transfer
• Products sold: Digital services

5 Etsy

Etsy is basically eBay for unique creative products, with a marketplace full of vintage pieces and handcrafted items. It’s used by approximately 7.5 million active sellers, including about 960,000 in the UK.

Committed to sustainability, Etsy is powered by 100% renewable electricity, right down to the energy that powers its global offices and remote worker employees.

Etsy’s UK affiliate program pays a flat 5% commission for publishers and has a 30-day cookie window.

Affiliate partners get access to various tools and resources, including category-specific banners, curated pages, affiliate newsletters, and tracked links to any product or page on Etsy. It offers multilingual affiliate support in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

(Think Etsy could be the perfect fit for your digital audience? Check out our Etsy affiliate program review.)

• URL: Etsy affiliate program
• Commission rate: 5%
• Cookie duration: 30 days
• Payment methods: Check, international wire, ACH
• Products sold: Unique creative goods

6 Awin

Awin is one of the world’s largest affiliate networks. It’s also one of the most popular, having won Publishers’ Choice of Network at the Performance Marketing Awards 14 times in the past 16 years.

The Awin group comprises Awin — formerly Affiliate Window and Zanox — plus Affilinet and ShareASale, another big affiliate network. The group has amassed 241,000+ active publishers, with 260 affiliates joining the network daily, and paid out £920 million in commissions in 2022.

Awin is home to 21,200 advertisers across dozens of B2B and B2C product and service categories, including finance, fashion, computing, and web hosting.

Awin has a dedicated offering for influencers. This includes a “payment on influence” model that pays a fixed commission for every sale you’re involved in — even if you didn’t deliver the last click. The network is open to all types of publishers, from bloggers and vloggers to social media users and even mass media partners.

The platform employs a publisher success team dedicated to helping affiliate marketers improve performance, including offering support for Awin’s various publisher solutions and tools.

• URL: Awin affiliate network
• Payment methods: BACS, international wire transfer, ACH
• Brands: MyProtein, LookFantastic, Marks & Spencer, Clarks, The Hut Group, Asos, Glossybox, Boots, boohoo

7 CJ Affiliate

CJ Affiliate — formerly known as Commission Junction — is another popular affiliate network. Founded in 1998, it’s also one of the oldest affiliate networks. The platform is favored by some of the world’s largest advertisers, attracting twice as many IR500 brands as its closest competitor.

CJ’s figures make for impressive reading. The network reaches over one billion customers monthly, drives 14+ billion “meaningful interactions” annually, and pays out more than $1.8 billion in yearly publisher commissions.

Once you sign up for CJ Affiliate, you can join individual affiliate programs with a single click, so it’s quick and easy to start promoting your favorite products.

The affiliate network welcomes various types of publishers, including bloggers, social media users, email marketers, vloggers, and more.

CJ offers various tools to boost performance, including a deep link generator that creates tracking links directly from a brand site. Alternatively, the platform can auto-detect and convert an existing URL into a trackable referral link.

(Find out more about the network in our in-depth CJ Affiliate review.)

• URL: CJ Affiliate network
• Payment methods: Direct deposit, check, Payoneer
• Brands: Sainsbury, Argos, Puma, Dell

8 Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten is a Japanese advertising and technology company that runs one of the world’s largest affiliate networks. It clearly does it well, because Rakuten has been voted the industry’s top affiliate marketing network for 11 successive years.

Rakuten specializes in retail, D2C, finance, and travel-related affiliate programs. It has over 150,000 active publishers and a team of network development specialists who actively reach out to potential affiliates and partners.

The company’s innovative technology allows affiliates to offer a personalized experience to website visitors by linking to the most relevant products and services. It can also automatically convert standard advertiser links into trackable — and commissionable — affiliate links.

Rakuten offers a host of educational tools and training materials, helping affiliates start earning straightaway.

(Learn more in our Rakuten affiliate network review.)

• URL: Rakuten Advertising affiliate network
• Payment methods: PayPal, direct deposit, check
• Brands: Fully, OPI, Virgin Wines, Udemy, COS, NARS Cosmetics

9 ShareASale

ShareASale is another of the big affiliate networks. Unlike other affiliate networks, it specializes in retail-related affiliate programs across over 39 consumer categories.

The network often works with smaller, lesser-known brands — although it still partners with some high-profile advertisers, such as Allbirds and Reebok.

As we’ve already noted, ShareASale is part of the Awin group. Over 260 new affiliate programs join the network every month, so it’s worth checking back regularly to keep up with all the latest offers.

The ShareASale network accepts applications from traditional affiliates, bloggers, vloggers, influencers, podcasters, and website owners. However you plan to reach your audience, ShareASale gives you the tools to monetize your reach.

ShareASale affiliates can access various performance-driving resources, including: 

• An expert publisher management team
• Custom affiliate tools
• Real-time reporting that tells you when someone has clicked a link or made a purchase

(Could ShareASale be the network for you? Find out by reading our ShareASale review.)

• URL: ShareASale affiliate network
• Payment methods: Check, direct deposit, international direct deposit, wire transfer, Payoneer
• Brands: Rockford Collection, Plus CBD Oil, Harber London, Smart Nora

10 Skimlinks

Skimlinks is a little different from other affiliate networks. Describing itself as a content monetization platform, it works with over 50 networks — including Awin, Rakuten Advertising, and CJ Affiliate — to bring you a massive selection of merchants in one place.

According to its figures, Skimlinks works with 60,000 publishers and 48,500 merchants worldwide, generating £1.9 million in sales daily.

In 2021 its parent company, Connexity, was acquired by Taboola — a global content discovery platform.

As you’d expect, Skimlinks offers various tools to help affiliate marketers. 

When you browse any merchant website, the Skimlinks Editor Toolbar highlights their commission rate and automatically generates affiliate links. Moreover, its affiliate hub includes real-time reports showing clicks, revenue per merchant, and your top-performing content.

Another key point: Skimlinks negotiates exclusive deals with merchants, often offering higher commission rates than other affiliate networks.

• URL: Skimlinks affiliate network
• Payment methods: Direct deposit, PayPal
• Brands: Hello Fresh, Sephora, Dream Cloud

11 FlexOffers

FlexOffers is — you guessed it — an affiliate network. It works with over 10,000 advertisers through 65 networks and more than 75,000 publisher programs, with new brands added daily across 25+ categories and 27 geographies.

Affiliate partners can use FlexOffers’ various data feeds to access a database of more than 650 million products, while the company’s product feed tool delivers up-to-date information daily via API or FTP. Promotions are displayed in a dedicated feed, helping affiliates find the latest deals and coupons from all advertisers on the platform.

FlexOffers offers preferential terms for top performers, such as paying affiliates weekly. It also provides live affiliate support and strategic account management.

Want to earn more money through FlexOffers? The FlexRev-Share program offers a revenue-sharing model for affiliates who refer new businesses and concepts to the platform.

(Learn more about the network in our in-depth FlexOffers review.)

• URL: FlexOffers affiliate network
• Payment methods: Bank transfer, wire transfer, check, PayPal
• Brands: Audible, Cult Beauty, Antropologie

12 Impact

Impact is one of the best affiliate marketing platforms, connecting affiliates with 2,500+ partners across multiple product and service categories, including retail, travel, beauty, fitness, and financial services.

While it’s primarily an affiliate network, Impact also allows bloggers, publishers, and influencers to work with advertisers through brand campaigns and sponsorships.

Impact’s tracking technology allows affiliates to earn commissions through various actions, from travel bookings and retail sales to application installs and even phone calls.

Affiliates can access exclusive promotional codes through the platform. Once generated, you’ll earn commissions from all sales via your unique code — even if it originates from another website.

Commissions can be withdrawn on a set day or once your balance hits a predefined amount.

• URL: Impact Radius affiliate network
• Payment methods: PayPal, direct transfer, BACS
• Brands: Lenovo, TransferGo, Nectar, Dyson, HelloFresh

How to Start Affiliate Marketing in the UK

Still, want to earn money as an affiliate marketer in the UK? You’ve got two options:

• Dive in blindly, promoting the first affiliate programs and products that spring to mind.
• Plan your approach to help you reach an engaged audience interested in the products you recommend.

I don’t know about you, but option #2 sounds best to us.

“Planning your approach” means finding the best way to earn money from your chosen niche and audience. Building your own website is the most effective approach, but it’s not the only approach. 

You can also do affiliate marketing through social media. Just be aware that social accounts typically don’t generate much traffic unless they have a large established following. Some affiliate programs offer special terms for social influencers, while many affiliate networks are created with influencers in mind.

Not sure about the right approach for you? Learn more in our in-depth guide on how to become an affiliate marketer.

How to Find the Best UK Affiliate Programs

We’ve already done (some of) the hard work for you by listing 12 of the best affiliate programs and networks for UK affiliates. But there are thousands of other affiliate programs. 

Broadly speaking, there are two main ways to find them:

Join Affiliate Networks

Affiliate advertisers can change their terms and conditions — or even shut down their affiliate programs — overnight. So you’ll want to diversify your portfolio by promoting a handful of different programs.

The quickest way to find and join a bunch of different programs is to join an affiliate marketing network like CJ Affiliate, FlexOffers, and ShareASale. 

These networks connect affiliate marketers with advertisers. Each has thousands of programs segmented across dozens of categories, making it comparatively simple to find the top-performing affiliate marketing program in any given niche.

When you join an affiliate network, you can also feel confident that you’ll get paid on time. The only real downside is that each network charges advertisers a fee for its services, which could eat into your commissions.

When you join an affiliate network, you can feel confident that you’ll get paid on time. The only downside is that each network charges advertisers a fee for its services, which could eat into your commissions.

Research Individual Affiliate Programs

Alternatively, you can bypass the affiliate networks by researching affiliate programs individually. 

There are pros and cons to this approach. First and foremost, it takes more time to find each program. Also, if you join an in-house program, there’s a higher (but still pretty slim) chance you’ll get scammed out of your commissions. So you’ll need to do your due diligence to ensure the advertiser is legit.

On the flip side, you might be offered better affiliate marketing terms — including higher commission rates, more attractive promotions, and longer cookie windows — by joining directly rather than through an affiliate network.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are several factors to building a successful affiliate marketing venture in the UK.

Fortunately, your pals at Authority Hacker are here to help. We’ve spent the past decade building and selling affiliate websites across countless niches. Along the way, we’ve taught 11,000 students how to become better affiliate marketers. And we can do the same for you.

Sign up for our free training, and we’ll spill the beans on seven pro tips for building high-performing affiliate sites, including how to find profitable hidden niches.

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