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Why Amazon's Commission Cuts Make Diversification Essential
Amazon slashed its affiliate commission rates in April 2020, cutting rates in categories like furniture from 8% to 3% overnight. Publishers who had diversified across multiple networks absorbed the cut without existential damage. Those who depended exclusively on Amazon were forced to rebuild from scratch. As of 2026, Amazon pays 1% on groceries, 1–3% on electronics, and 3–4% on most categories — rates that leave significant revenue on the table compared to direct brand programmes and SaaS affiliates.
A site earning $1,000 per month from Amazon at 3% average commission could earn the same revenue at 40% fewer conversions on a network paying 8% average commissions. Diversification is not a hedge against Amazon — it is a revenue multiplier available to any affiliate site willing to invest one day in joining two additional networks.
ShareASale and CJ Affiliate: The Two Largest General Networks
ShareASale hosts over 25,000 merchant programmes spanning physical products, software, and services. Commission rates average 5–15% with 30-day cookie windows. Its merchant catalogue is particularly strong in home goods, fashion, and B2B tools. The approval process for individual programmes ranges from instant to manual review over 1–3 days. ShareASale's reporting dashboard provides click, conversion, and EPC data per merchant — essential for identifying your highest-performing partnerships.
CJ Affiliate focuses on larger enterprise brands — major retailers, travel companies, and financial services. Commission rates vary but average 5–12%. CJ's content certification programme allows publishers to access premium brand programmes restricted to vetted editorial sites. Combine insights from both networks using the free SEO tools stack to identify which merchant categories have the least competitive keyword landscape.
Impact and Awin: Premium Networks for Mid-to-Large Publishers
Impact hosts direct affiliate programmes for brands including Canva, Semrush, and Airbnb. Commission rates on SaaS programmes average 20–40% with 90-day cookie windows. Impact's contract management tools, real-time reporting, and fraud detection make it the preferred network for brands with large affiliate budgets. Publishers need a live site with some content history to apply — thin sites with no editorial quality are rejected.
Awin operates primarily in Europe and is the dominant network for UK, German, and Nordic affiliate markets. If your site targets European audiences, Awin's merchant catalogue offers reach that US-focused networks cannot match. Commission rates and cookie windows compare favourably to Amazon across all categories. Awin's Publisher Dashboard provides automated deep-link generation and product feed access for comparison table builds.
PartnerStack: The Standard for SaaS Affiliate Programmes
PartnerStack powers the affiliate programmes for over 300 SaaS companies including monday.com, Freshbooks, and Unbounce. Commission structures typically offer 20–30% recurring commissions on monthly subscriptions — meaning you earn every month the customer renews, not just on the initial sale. A single SaaS customer retained for 12 months at 25% recurring commission on a $50 per month product earns $150 in lifetime affiliate revenue versus $1.50 on an Amazon product at 3%.
SaaS affiliate programmes on PartnerStack require content that targets software buyers at the decision stage — comparison posts, review articles, and "best tool for X" roundups. The buyer intent keyword research process for SaaS differs from physical products: focus on "alternative to", "vs", "review 2026", and "pricing" modifiers. See our detailed approach in buyer intent keyword research.
Building a Diversified Network Stack
The optimal affiliate network stack for most publishers combines Amazon for its conversion rate advantage on physical products, one general network (ShareASale or CJ) for brand variety, one SaaS network (PartnerStack or Impact) for recurring revenue, and one or two direct brand deals in your highest-revenue product category. This structure ensures no single commission cut eliminates more than 30% of your total affiliate income.
Track revenue and EPC by network and by individual post — not by network alone. Knowing that your standing desk review earns $4.20 EPC from Amazon and $11.50 EPC from a direct brand programme tells you exactly where to direct readers and which internal links to prioritise. Combine network diversification with a strong organic ranking strategy to build a resilient, high-earning affiliate operation.
Direct Brand Programmes: The Highest Commission Rates of All
Direct brand programmes — applying to a company's in-house affiliate programme rather than joining a network — often pay the highest commissions available. Brands avoid network fees on direct programmes and pass some of those savings to publishers in higher rates. A direct 10% programme on a $300 product earns $30 per sale versus $9 on Amazon's 3% rate for the same product.
Identify your top-performing product categories, find the brands dominating those categories, and check their footer or Partner pages for direct affiliate programme applications. Brands that run direct programmes typically offer dedicated account management, custom creatives, and flexible commission structures unavailable through networks. Building two to three direct brand relationships in your primary niche creates a revenue layer that no network commission cut can touch.