Best affiliate programmes and networks in the UK

Affiliate marketing has been part of how we make money from Skint Dad for around a decade.

We’ve used Awin, Impact, Skimlinks, CJ Affiliate, Amazon Associates and eBay Partner Network, among others.

These days, Awin and Impact are the two platforms we use most. We generally find they give us a good choice of advertisers and their dashboards are relatively easy to use.

But if I was starting again today, I wouldn’t begin by asking:

Which affiliate network should I join?

I’d start with:

Which products, services and companies genuinely fit my audience?

Then I’d find out whether they have an affiliate programme and which network or platform runs it.

That’s one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned from actually doing affiliate marketing.

And it can generate meaningful income.

In 2025, one affiliate programme we ran through Impact paid Skint Dad £7,469.16 in commission.

That doesn’t mean somebody joining Impact today should expect to make the same. Skint Dad is an established site and this was an established affiliate relationship.

But it is a real example of money we’ve earned through affiliate marketing rather than a hypothetical earnings claim.

If you’re looking at other ways to earn online, take a look at our ways to make money online, or browse our best side hustles in the UK.

Last checked: September 2026. Affiliate programmes, commission rates, tracking rules and payment terms can change. Always check the current programme terms before applying or promoting a company.

Best affiliate networks and programmes at a glance

Platform/programme	Type	Best for
Awin	Affiliate network	Broad range of UK brands
Impact	Partnership platform	Large brands and direct partnerships
Skimlinks	Monetisation platform	Linking to lots of different retailers
CJ Affiliate	Affiliate network	Established global brands
Webgains	Affiliate network	UK and European advertisers
PartnerStack	B2B network	Software and SaaS
Amazon Associates	Affiliate programme	Product-led content
eBay Partner Network	Affiliate programme	Marketplace and second-hand products
Shopify	Affiliate programme	Ecommerce and business audiences

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a way of earning commission by recommending another company’s product or service.

You get a unique link, code or other form of tracking. If somebody follows your recommendation and completes the required action — such as buying something or signing up — you may earn a commission.

For example, you might write a guide about a product you use, include an affiliate link to the retailer and earn a percentage of the sale if a reader goes on to buy it.

The customer normally pays the same price whether they use your affiliate link or go directly to the retailer.

Affiliate marketing can be used on websites, social media, YouTube, newsletters, podcasts and other types of content.

When should you start affiliate marketing?

You don’t need a massive audience before you start affiliate marketing.

But you do need something worth monetising.

That could be useful content on a website, an engaged social following, YouTube viewers, newsletter subscribers or another audience that pays attention to what you publish.

Awin, for example, supports creators using websites, blogs, social media, video and newsletters.

Individual affiliate programmes can have their own requirements.

Amazon, for example, gives new Associates 180 days to generate a sale and reviews the full application after three qualifying sales. It also expects websites to contain original, established content.

So I wouldn’t wait until you reach an arbitrary number such as 10,000 followers or 50,000 monthly website visits.

But I also wouldn’t launch an empty website today and spend tomorrow applying to every affiliate programme I could find.

Where you are	What I’d do
No content or audience yet	Build something useful first
Early traffic or engagement	Start researching suitable programmes
Small but engaged niche audience	Start testing relevant affiliate offers
Established audience	Expand and optimise what is already working

For me, the point to start is when you know who you’re helping, people are consuming your content and there’s a product or service you’d genuinely recommend to them.

A few hundred people reading a very specific buying guide could be more commercially useful than thousands of people seeing a random social post.

Where can you use affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing isn’t just for bloggers.

Websites and blogs

This is the model we’ve used extensively with Skint Dad.

Someone reads useful content and, where it genuinely helps them, you link to a relevant product or service.

Reviews, comparisons, buying guides, tutorials and problem-solving content can all work well.

Social media and video

You can also use affiliate marketing through channels such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

The size of the audience isn’t the only thing that matters.

I’d rather have a smaller audience that trusts my recommendations about a specific subject than a huge audience that isn’t interested in the products I’m talking about.

Email newsletters

Newsletters can be a very good fit for affiliate marketing.

People have actively chosen to hear from you, which is different from hoping an algorithm shows them your post.

You still need to check the rules for the individual advertiser. One network allowing newsletters doesn’t automatically mean every programme on that network allows every type of email promotion.

Podcasts

Podcasts can work too.

You might include a trackable link in the episode notes or direct listeners to a memorable URL, storefront or discount code.

Affiliate marketing is no longer limited to someone clicking a traditional text link on a blog.

Tracking can now happen through links, codes, creator storefronts and products tagged directly inside content.

What’s the difference between an affiliate network and an affiliate programme?

The terms are often used as though they mean the same thing.

They don’t.

An affiliate programme is the deal offered by the actual company you’re promoting.

An affiliate network or platform connects publishers with lots of those companies and can handle things such as tracking, links, reporting and payments.

For example:

How it works
Join Awin → find an advertiser → apply → get accepted → create your link → earn commission

Being accepted onto Awin doesn’t automatically give you permission to promote every advertiser on Awin.

After your Awin account is approved, you apply separately to the individual programmes you want. The advertiser then decides whether to accept you.

Amazon Associates and eBay Partner Network are individual programmes.

Skimlinks works differently again by giving publishers access to thousands of merchants through its own monetisation platform.

Understanding this distinction makes the whole thing much easier to get your head around.

How to find companies with affiliate programmes

Don’t rely entirely on somebody else’s list of the “100 best affiliate programmes”.

Start with companies you already know and genuinely think fit your audience.

Search for:

[company name] + affiliate programme

You can also check the company’s website or search advertiser directories inside networks such as Awin and Impact.

Awin currently says publishers can access more than 30,000 brands globally, across areas including retail, travel, finance and telecoms.

Impact also lets publishers and creators discover brand partnerships through its marketplace.

That doesn’t mean every programme will be available to you or that you’ll be accepted.

The point is to work backwards:

What would genuinely help my audience? → Which company offers it? → Does it have an affiliate programme? → Where is that programme hosted?

What we actually use at Skint Dad

We’ve tried plenty of affiliate networks and programmes over the years.

Today, the two we use most are Awin and Impact.

They tend to give us a good selection of relevant advertisers, and we’ve generally found their platforms relatively straightforward to work with.

We also use Skimlinks.

For us, that’s particularly handy when there’s a retailer we want to link to but we don’t have access to its programme directly.

A real Skint Dad affiliate example

In 2025, one affiliate programme we ran through Impact paid Skint Dad £7,469.16 in commission.

That’s an average of £622.43 a month from that one programme.

That’s our result from an established programme on an established website.

It isn’t a promise that someone starting affiliate marketing will earn £622 a month.

But it’s a real example of what affiliate marketing has generated for us.

Best affiliate networks in the UK

Awin

Awin is one of the two networks we use most at Skint Dad.

It currently connects publishers with more than 30,000 brands globally.

Once you’re accepted onto Awin, you can search its advertiser directory and apply to individual programmes.

That’s the important bit.

Getting an Awin account doesn’t mean you’ve automatically been accepted by every brand on the platform.

Some advertisers approve publishers automatically. Others review applications themselves and can accept or reject you.

A properly completed publisher profile also helps brands understand your audience and how you intend to promote them.

Awin’s current minimum payment threshold for GB publishers receiving BACS payments is £20. Payment times can still vary depending on the advertiser.

Best for: a broad choice of UK-relevant brands.

Our take: one of the first places I’d check once you know which programmes you want.

Impact

Impact — which you might still hear called Impact Radius — is the other platform we use most.

Its marketplace connects affiliates and publishers with brands across areas including retail, travel, beauty, financial services and technology.

We’ve found its interface relatively easy to work with, and as our own earnings example shows, we’ve had worthwhile results through the platform.

It also illustrates why “network” and “programme” aren’t the same thing.

Shopify, for example, runs its affiliate programme using Impact’s tracking and payment platform.

Best for: publishers and creators looking for partnerships with established brands.

Our take: along with Awin, it’s one of the platforms we use most.

Skimlinks

Skimlinks is slightly different.

It lets approved publishers monetise links across tens of thousands of merchants and can automatically turn normal retailer links into trackable affiliate links.

That’s why we find it useful.

Sometimes you want to mention a retailer but don’t have a direct affiliate relationship with it. Skimlinks can provide another route.

There is a cost to that convenience.

Skimlinks currently operates on a typical 75/25 revenue split.

The publisher gets 75% of the commission and Skimlinks keeps 25%.

Its current UK payment threshold is £50, and its payment guidance says commissions take at least 75 days from the transaction date to be approved and cleared for payment.

Best for: content publishers linking to lots of different retailers.

Our take: very useful alongside direct affiliate relationships.

CJ Affiliate

CJ Affiliate is another network we’ve personally used.

You may also know it by its old name, Commission Junction.

CJ works with publishers and brands globally and gives creators another place to find established advertisers.

I wouldn’t join CJ simply because it’s a big network.

I’d check whether it has companies you actually want to promote.

Best for: publishers looking for specific established international brands.

Webgains

Webgains is another one worth checking for UK and European programmes.

It currently says its network includes more than 1,800 advertisers and 250,000 publishers across more than 150 countries.

As with CJ, I wouldn’t create an account just to add another dashboard to your life.

Look for the advertiser first.

Best for: UK and European programmes that aren’t available through your existing networks.

PartnerStack

PartnerStack fills a different gap.

It’s focused heavily on business software and SaaS.

So if your content is about software, online business, productivity or tools for companies, PartnerStack may be more relevant than another retail-heavy affiliate network.

Best for: B2B, tech and software audiences.

Affiliate programmes worth considering

Amazon Associates

Amazon Associates is probably the programme most beginners recognise.

The biggest advantage is the sheer range of products.

If you’re publishing product reviews, buying guides, tutorials or gift ideas, there is usually something relevant on Amazon.

Commission varies by product and category, and Amazon can change its rates, so I’d always check the current UK commission table rather than choosing products based on an old percentage you’ve seen in a blog post.

The main limitation is its short attribution window.

Generally, an item needs to be added to the customer’s basket within 24 hours of arriving at Amazon through your Associates link.

There are additional rules if the item is added during that window but bought later.

Don’t assume Amazon is automatically the best programme because the product is sold there.

Another retailer may offer a better commercial fit or different tracking terms.

Best for: product reviews, buying guides and other product-heavy content.

eBay Partner Network

eBay Partner Network can be particularly useful for second-hand, collectible, discontinued or hard-to-find products.

The commission depends on the category.

For a normal Buy It Now item, a qualifying purchase generally needs to happen within 24 hours of the affiliate click.

Auction transactions work slightly differently: the buyer needs to bid within the 24-hour window and then win within the relevant period.

That’s potentially useful for niches where a conventional retailer doesn’t have the stock your audience wants.

Best for: second-hand goods, collectables and niche products.

Shopify Affiliate Programme

Shopify’s Affiliate Programme is much more specialised.

It’s aimed at publishers, creators and educators whose audiences are interested in ecommerce and starting online businesses.

For an eligible full-price Basic, Grow or Advanced plan referral from the UK, Shopify’s current standard affiliate payout is $150 USD.

Shopify runs the programme through Impact, which handles its affiliate tracking and commission payments.

So:

Shopify is the affiliate programme. Impact is the platform running it.

That’s a useful real-world example of the distinction.

Best for: ecommerce and business audiences.

Affiliate marketing through social and creator platforms

Traditional affiliate networks aren’t the only option anymore.

TikTok Shop Affiliate

TikTok Shop Affiliate lets creators earn commission from products they promote through content on TikTok.

There’s also a particularly interesting UK development from 2026.

Creators can now generate trackable TikTok Shop affiliate links and share them outside TikTok.

That can include places such as other social media platforms, newsletters, websites and DMs.

TikTok has more information in its Affiliate Linkshare Guide.

YouTube Shopping Affiliate Programme

This is very new in the UK.

YouTube launched its UK Shopping Affiliate Programme in August 2026.

Eligible creators can tag participating retailers’ products directly in videos, Shorts and livestreams and earn commission from resulting purchases.

Launch retailers included Boots, Currys, Debenhams, Etsy, M&S and Wayfair.

If you’re building around YouTube, that’s now another affiliate route alongside ordinary links in video descriptions.

LTK

LTK is aimed particularly at creators producing shoppable lifestyle content.

Its current UK creator criteria say it’s looking for creators with an engaged social following of at least 5,000, regular shoppable content and a focus on areas such as fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle.

So it isn’t necessarily a first stop for somebody opening a brand-new Instagram account.

But for an established lifestyle creator, it’s worth knowing about.

Amazon Influencer Programme

Amazon also has an Influencer Programme for qualifying social creators.

It extends the normal Associates model by giving influencers their own Amazon storefront and vanity URL where they can curate recommended products.

That can be particularly handy on platforms where linking to lots of individual products is awkward.

Affiliate network changes worth knowing in 2026

What happened to ShareASale?

You’ll still find plenty of affiliate guides recommending ShareASale.

You can’t sign up to it as a separate network anymore.

Awin migrated ShareASale’s active customers to Awin and the standalone ShareASale platform officially closed on 6 October 2025.

You can read Awin’s ShareASale update for more information.

If a “2026” guide is still telling you to join ShareASale separately, that section is out of date.

What’s happening with Rakuten Advertising?

Rakuten Advertising is also changing.

In 2026, Rakuten announced a strategic partnership with Impact and said Impact would become its exclusive technology platform.

The migration is happening in planned stages, so if a programme you want has historically used Rakuten, check its current setup rather than relying on an old affiliate-network list.

You can read Rakuten Advertising’s announcement.

How to choose the right affiliate programme

I wouldn’t choose based purely on the biggest commission percentage.

Audience fit comes first.

A 20% commission is useless if nobody in your audience wants the product.

A lower commission from something people already need and trust could earn far more.

I’d look at:

1. Relevance: does this genuinely fit your audience?
2. Commission: what are you actually paid for?
3. Attribution: how long after the click can you still earn?
4. Conversion: is this a company people are likely to buy from?
5. Payment: how long does approval and payment normally take?
6. Restrictions: are there rules around email, paid search, social media or other promotional methods?
7. Reputation: are you comfortable recommending the company to your audience?

Sometimes the same retailer may be available through different routes.

You might be able to work with it directly, through a network, through Skimlinks or through a social-commerce platform.

Compare the whole deal rather than only the headline commission rate.

And don’t allow one advertiser to become your entire business.

Affiliate programmes can reduce commissions, tighten terms, move network or close.

Why getting accepted isn’t automatic

This catches a lot of beginners out.

You might get accepted onto Awin or another network and then discover you still can’t promote the company you wanted.

That’s because network approval and programme approval are usually separate things.

We’ve had programmes approve us quickly.

We’ve had others take time.

And we’ve been rejected too.

A rejection doesn’t automatically mean your site or account is bad.

The advertiser might be looking for a particular type of publisher, audience, country or promotional method.

Before applying:

• make sure your website or channel looks active
• explain who your audience is
• show that you create genuine original content
• tell the advertiser how you intend to promote them
• only apply where there’s a sensible fit

If a brand says no, move on.

How affiliate tracking, commission and payments work

One of my biggest frustrations with affiliate marketing is how long it can take to actually get paid.

A commission appearing in your dashboard doesn’t necessarily mean that money belongs in your monthly budget yet.

A typical transaction might look like this:

Click, code or product tag → sale tracks → commission becomes pending → advertiser validates the sale → commission is approved or rejected → network clears the money → you get paid.

There are good reasons for some of those delays.

The customer might return the product.

They might cancel their order.

The transaction might not meet the programme rules.

Or the advertiser may have its own validation period.

Skimlinks gives a good example of how drawn out the process can be.

Its current payment guidance says commissions take at least 75 days from the original transaction to clear because the money has to pass through the merchant and network before Skimlinks can pay the publisher.

That’s why I don’t treat pending affiliate commission the same as money already sitting in the bank.

How much can you make from affiliate marketing?

There isn’t a standard amount.

Some people make nothing.

Some make a few pounds.

For others, affiliate commission becomes a major part of their business.

It depends on things such as your audience, traffic, buying intent, conversion rate, programme, commission and how much people trust what you publish.

Our own real example is £7,469.16 from one programme during 2025.

But again, that was an established programme on an established website.

It would be misleading for me to tell somebody starting from zero that they should expect the same.

Instead of asking:

What’s the highest-paying affiliate programme?

I’d ask:

Which programme best matches what my audience is already trying to do or buy?

That question is far more useful.

Do you need to disclose affiliate links in the UK?

Yes.

Affiliate marketing can fall under the CAP Code and needs to be obviously identifiable as advertising where the commercial nature isn’t already clear.

The ASA’s current social media guidance says affiliate content involving commission-generating links or codes can count as advertising.

For social media, the ASA says a prominent “Ad” label upfront is generally the clearest approach.

It also warns that labels such as “aff” or simply “affiliate” might not be clear enough to consumers.

Disclosure isn’t just about social media, either.

Think about websites, newsletters, video descriptions and other places where someone could encounter your affiliate recommendation.

The basic principle is simple:

People should understand when you’re commercially benefiting from a recommendation.

How to start affiliate marketing in the UK

If I had to start again today, I’d keep it simple.

1. Work out who you’re helping. Know your audience and what they’re interested in.
2. Create genuinely useful content. Give people a reason to read, watch or subscribe even if there isn’t an affiliate link.
3. Notice which products and services naturally come up. Those are your best potential affiliate relationships.
4. Find their affiliate programmes. Look on the company’s website and search relevant networks.
5. Join the network if you need to. Complete your profile properly.
6. Apply to the individual programme. Explain who your audience is and why the brand fits.
7. Add affiliate links where they’re genuinely useful. Don’t stuff unrelated links into content.
8. Track real results. Look at clicks, conversions, approved commissions and actual payments.
9. Concentrate on what works. You don’t need dozens of networks if a handful of relevant programmes are producing results.

We ended up with lots of affiliate accounts after years of doing this.

You don’t need to copy that on day one.

Affiliate marketing FAQs

What is the best affiliate programme in the UK?

There isn’t one programme that’s best for everybody.

It depends on the audience.

A product-review site might use Amazon. A business or software website might find PartnerStack or Shopify more useful. A broad consumer site might find relevant advertisers through Awin or Impact.

For Skint Dad, Awin and Impact are the networks we currently use most.

What is the best affiliate network in the UK?

Awin is one of the strongest general starting points because of the number and range of brands on the platform.

Impact is another platform we use extensively ourselves.

But I wouldn’t join either purely because somebody called it “the best”.

Find your programmes first.

Can you join more than one affiliate network?

Yes.

We use several.

But having 15 affiliate-network accounts doesn’t automatically make you more money.

I’d rather have three relevant programmes that actually convert than 50 accounts I never log into.

Can you do affiliate marketing without a website?

Yes.

Affiliate marketing can be done through social media, YouTube, newsletters and creator-commerce platforms as well as websites.

Individual advertisers can still impose their own rules.

How many followers do you need for affiliate marketing?

There isn’t one universal number.

Some programmes don’t set a fixed threshold, while creator platforms can have specific requirements.

For example, LTK currently asks for at least 5,000 engaged social followers.

Check the programme you’re actually applying to rather than waiting for an imaginary industry-wide number.

What about ClickBank?

ClickBank is still an affiliate marketplace, particularly for digital products.

I haven’t included it among my main recommendations because for a mainstream UK audience I’d start by finding recognised products and services that genuinely match the content rather than choosing a marketplace first.

It may still make sense in some niches.

What are some ClickBank alternatives in the UK?

For mainstream consumer brands, look at platforms such as Awin, Impact, CJ Affiliate and Webgains.

For software and business products, PartnerStack can be more relevant.

Again, choose based on the product and audience rather than the network name.

What happened to ShareASale?

ShareASale has been absorbed into Awin.

Active customers were migrated and the separate ShareASale platform closed on 6 October 2025.

How long does affiliate marketing take to pay?

It varies.

Some programmes can pay relatively quickly once a transaction is approved, while others can take months.

Validation periods, refunds, returns and the time it takes money to move between advertisers and networks can all delay payment.

Can affiliate commission be cancelled?

Yes.

A tracked sale isn’t necessarily a final approved commission.

If an order is cancelled, refunded, returned or doesn’t meet the programme’s conditions, the commission can be reversed.

Do affiliate links hurt SEO?

Not simply because they’re affiliate links.

Google recommends marking paid and affiliate links with rel=”sponsored”.

nofollow is still accepted, although Google says sponsored is preferred.

Google’s bigger concern is thin affiliate content — pages that add little original value and simply repeat material supplied by merchants.

Its spam policies distinguish thin affiliate pages from useful affiliate content that adds things such as original reviews, comparisons, testing or other useful information.

Do you pay tax on affiliate income in the UK?

Affiliate income can be taxable.

The UK trading allowance is currently up to £1,000 of qualifying gross trading income per tax year.

If your gross trading income is more than £1,000, you may need to register for Self Assessment depending on your circumstances and the detailed rules.

The £1,000 figure relates to gross income before expenses.

Check the latest HMRC trading allowance guidance if you’re unsure.

Is affiliate marketing passive income?

I wouldn’t call it effortless passive income.

An old article can continue generating affiliate sales when you aren’t actively working on it.

But somebody still had to create the content, attract an audience, find the programme, maintain the links, update the information and earn people’s trust.

Programmes also change.

Affiliate marketing is better thought of as a way to monetise useful content and an audience.

Is affiliate marketing worth it?

For us, yes.

We’ve used affiliate marketing on Skint Dad for around a decade and it is still part of how the business makes money.

But it’s not as simple as joining a network, dropping links everywhere and waiting for payments.

You need useful content or an audience.

You need programmes that actually fit.

You need to get accepted.

People need to click and convert.

Transactions need to be approved.

And even after that, you may wait weeks or months for the money.

The upside is that you don’t have to create the product, hold stock, package orders or deal with fulfilment yourself.

If you’re already helping people make decisions about products and services, affiliate marketing can be a natural way to earn from some of that work.

Start with your audience. Find the right programmes. Choose the network afterwards.