Amazon Associates vs ClickBank vs ShareASale vs Impact: Which Affiliate Network Should You Join First?

If you followed my niche selection guide and landed on a niche, this is the next decision that trips people up: which network do you actually sign up for? There are dozens out there, but four come up again and again — and each one is built for a different kind of affiliate. Picking the wrong one wastes months.

Why the network matters as much as the niche

Your niche tells you what to promote. The network determines how you get paid, how long it takes, and how much friction is involved in getting approved and tracking sales. Some networks approve anyone instantly. Others review your site before letting you in. Some pay out weekly; others hold your money for 60+ days. This is the layer most beginners skip past — and then get frustrated when their first payout takes two months to arrive.

Amazon Associates

Best for: physical product reviews, "best of" listicles, gift guides

Amazon Associates is usually the first network beginners join because approval is fast and nearly every product imaginable has a listing. The tradeoff is commission rates — most categories pay between 1–4%, which is low compared to the other three networks here. It works best in volume: if you're reviewing physical products and driving real buyer traffic, the sheer size of Amazon's catalog and its trusted checkout page make conversions easy, even if each one pays less.

Watch out for: a 24-hour cookie window (shortest of the four), and strict rules about how you can use their name/logo in content.

ClickBank

Best for: digital products — courses, ebooks, software, "make money" and self-help niches

ClickBank is built around digital info-products, and commissions here run dramatically higher than Amazon — 30-75% is normal, sometimes higher. This is the network to look at if your niche overlaps with personal development, side income, health/wellness guides, or software. The catch is product quality varies wildly since anyone can list a product, so vet what you promote — a high commission on a product with a bad reputation will cost you audience trust fast, and trust is what your email list is built on.

Watch out for: refund rates can be high on some digital products, and ClickBank claws back commission on refunded sales.

ShareASale

Best for: a wide mix of physical + digital brands, especially fashion, home goods, and niche B2C brands

ShareASale acts as a marketplace connecting you to thousands of individual merchant programs in one dashboard. Instead of applying to each brand separately, you apply once to ShareASale and then request approval from individual merchants inside it. Commission rates vary merchant by merchant, but it's a good middle ground — better rates than Amazon, more legitimate/established brands than the average ClickBank listing.

Watch out for: approval for individual merchants inside ShareASale isn't automatic — some review your site traffic before accepting you.

Impact (formerly Impact Radius)

Best for: SaaS, software, and larger established brands — this is where a lot of the tools you already use run their affiliate programs

Impact is the network more established/bigger brands use to run their affiliate programs — think software companies, subscription services, and larger e-commerce brands. If your niche is SaaS or productivity tools (like the Systeme.io review I did), there's a good chance the program lives on Impact. Commission structures here tend to be more sophisticated — recurring commissions for subscriptions are common, which means one signup can pay you monthly instead of once.

Watch out for: individual merchant approval is common here too, and some programs are invite-only or require a minimum audience size.

Quick comparison

Network	Best For	Typical Commission	Cookie Window	Approval Difficulty
Amazon Associates	Physical products	1-4%	24 hours	Easy
ClickBank	Digital products/courses	30-75%	60 days	Easy
ShareASale	Mixed physical/digital brands	Varies by merchant	30-60 days	Medium
Impact	SaaS/subscriptions	Varies, often recurring	30-90 days	Medium-Hard

Which one should you join first?

If you're just getting started, the honest answer is: probably more than one. They're not mutually exclusive, and most experienced affiliates use two or three depending on what they're promoting in any given post. But if you have to pick a starting point based on your niche:

• Physical products / gift guides → start with Amazon Associates
• Courses, ebooks, "make money" content → start with ClickBank
• Fashion, home, general consumer brands → start with ShareASale
• Software, apps, subscriptions → start with Impact

Whichever you pick, apply before you finish writing your first review — approval can take a few days, and you don't want a finished post sitting around with no working link in it.