Best SaaS & Software Affiliate Programs 2026: Data-Driven Rankings
Every saas & software brand we track — 97 brands across 139 listings on 6 networks
This is the entire field, straight from our database: 139 program listings from 97 brands across 6 networks. 55 are ghosts — live programs publishing no performance data — shown greyed so you can see the whole market, or hidden with one click. Type to filter; click any column to sort.
| Program | Network | Market | EPC | Commission | Cookie | Conv. | Reversal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doodle | impact | — | $9.51 | 40% | — | — | — |
| Excire | impact | — | $7.17 | 20% | — | — | — |
| PDF Expert | impact | — | $4.55 | 35% | — | — | — |
| Eventide Inc. | impact | — | $2.35 | 10% | — | — | — |
| Zen Capital LLC | awin | US | $1.55 | — | 365d | 17.11% | — |
| Otter.ai | skimlinks | Global | $1.11 | 24.7% | 18d | 9.63% | — |
| PDF Expert for Mac | impact | — | $1.01 | 25% | — | — | — |
| Otter.ai | impact | — | $0.98 | 25% | — | — | — |
| Stardock | impact | — | $0.95 | 25% | — | — | — |
| Superspace | awin | US | $0.9 | — | 30d | 6.93% | — |
| TourBox | cj | — | $0.6 | 8% | — | — | — |
| Popl | impact | — | $0.53 | 20% | — | — | — |
| skimlinks | Global | $0.44 | 6% | 9d | 6.75% | 1.2% | |
| Fieldy | impact | — | $0.4 | 25% | — | — | — |
| PDF Expert for Mac | skimlinks | Global | $0.33 | 37.7% | — | 1.54% | 6.5% |
| ADX Frameworks | skimlinks | US | $0.23 | 29.8% | — | 2.4% | — |
| gitmind.com | skimlinks | Global | $0.2 | 30.2% | — | 5.6% | 34.5% |
| Arc Studio Labs, Inc. | awin | US | $0.19 | — | 365d | 0.96% | — |
| Otter RO | cj | — | $0.18 | 6% | — | — | — |
| Aries App Inc | awin | US | $0.18 | — | 90d | 0.36% | — |
| EndNote | Reference Management Software | skimlinks | Global | $0.17 | 8.3% | 3d | 1.83% | 50.5% |
| Katana Manufacturing ERP | flexoffers | US | $0.16 | 16% | — | — | — |
| InstaHeadshots | flexoffers | US | $0.13 | 4% | — | — | — |
| Craft Docs Ltd | impact | — | $0.11 | 50% | — | — | — |
| Corel Corporation | cj | — | $0.08 | 10% | — | — | — |
| YouCam Online Editor | skimlinks | Global | $0.06 | 25% | — | 1.25% | — |
| gitmind.com | impact | — | $0.05 | 30% | — | — | — |
| Laplink Software | flexoffers | US | $0.04 | 20% | — | — | — |
| EDRAW LIMITED | skimlinks | DE | $0.03 | 35% | — | 0.22% | — |
| SoftMall.co.uk | skimlinks | GB/US | $0.03 | 15% | — | 2.63% | — |
| Jobber | cj | — | $0.03 | — | — | — | — |
| Notion | flexoffers | US | $0.02 | 16% | — | — | — |
| Flexibits | skimlinks | US | $0.02 | 32.1% | — | 0.34% | — |
| Stardock | skimlinks | Global | $0.02 | 25% | — | 0.03% | — |
| https://typora.io | skimlinks | — | $0.01 | 30% | — | 0.42% | — |
| Laplink Software | cj | — | $0.01 | 25% | — | — | — |
| Flexibits | cj | — | $0.01 | 25% | — | — | — |
| NCH Software | cj | — | $0 | 30% | — | — | — |
| StockCreator (US) | awin | US | — | — | 30d | — | — |
| Xodo.com | cj | — | — | 42.5% | — | — | — |
| AceThinker | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Adobe | mavely | — | — | 59.5% | — | — | — |
| Antamedia mdoo | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Arc Studio Labs, Inc. | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aries App Inc | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| AveApps | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Axel Rietschin Software Developments | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CD-keys.be | skimlinks | BE | — | — | — | — | — |
| Calendar.com | impact | — | — | 35% | — | — | — |
| Comu | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Connecteam | flexoffers | US | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| Corel Corporation | mavely | — | — | 7% | — | — | — |
| Corel, Roxio & Pinnacle | Multimedia Software | flexoffers | US | — | 8% | — | — | — |
| Crawl5 | impact | — | — | 60% | — | — | — |
| DGTSoft | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DRPU Software | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DaySmart Software | impact | — | — | $25 | — | — | — |
| Doodle | mavely | — | — | 35% | — | — | — |
| Doodle | flexoffers | CH | — | 4% | — | — | — |
| Drawboard | cj | — | — | 40% | — | — | — |
| EDRAW LIMITED | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Electrotile - CPS | skimlinks | PL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eltima LLC | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ergonis Affiliate Program | skimlinks | AT | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ergonis Affiliate Program | impact | — | — | 30% | — | — | — |
| EssentialPIM | impact | — | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| Finson IT | skimlinks | IT | — | — | — | — | — |
| HubSpark Inc | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| HubSpark Inc | impact | — | — | $1 | — | — | — |
| HyNote AI | impact | — | — | 30% | — | — | — |
| HyNote AI | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hyperion Entertainment CVBA | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| IJOYSOFT LIMITED | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Intelicom | skimlinks | 1 regions | — | — | — | — | — |
| Katana Cloud Inventory | skimlinks | 1 regions | — | — | — | — | — |
| Large Software | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Liberty Street Software | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lioniccard DE | flexoffers | DE | — | 22.4% | — | — | — |
| Livetecs | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Logicsept.com | skimlinks | NL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lutify.me | impact | — | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| MACROSOFT STORE S.R.L. | skimlinks | Global | — | — | — | — | — |
| MACROSOFT STORE S.R.L. | impact | — | — | 18% | — | — | — |
| Mac Software | impact | — | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| MeetGeek | skimlinks | 1 regions | — | — | — | — | — |
| MeetGeek | flexoffers | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Methodiq | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ministry of Bits | impact | — | — | 10% | — | — | — |
| Motion | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Munch Studio | impact | — | — | 40% | — | — | — |
| OnlineChampion | impact | — | — | 5% | — | — | — |
| Otaku Software | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| PDF Expert | flexoffers | GB | — | 28% | — | — | — |
| PartnerStack | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| PartnerStack | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pathraya | skimlinks | Global | — | — | — | — | — |
| PlusMetrica | impact | — | — | 10% | — | — | — |
| PlusMetrica | skimlinks | Global | — | — | — | — | — |
| impact | — | — | 10.5% | — | — | — | |
| Popl | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Popl | flexoffers | US | — | 4% | — | — | — |
| ProbitSoftware | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Qbserve | impact | — | — | 30% | — | — | — |
| RDS-Tools | impact | — | — | 25% | — | — | — |
| Revolutionsoft MX | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ronsoft | skimlinks | GB | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ronsoft.hu | skimlinks | 1 regions | — | — | — | — | — |
| Seatti | flexoffers | US | — | 8% | — | — | — |
| SimpleMaps Affiliate | impact | — | — | 25% | — | — | — |
| SoftMall | impact | — | — | 15% | — | — | — |
| SoftwareDeals | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| SoftwareDeals | impact | — | — | 15% | — | — | — |
| Speare | impact | — | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| StockCreator (US) | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| StockCreator (US) | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Summitsoft Campaign | skimlinks | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Summitsoft Campaign | impact | — | — | 30% | — | — | — |
| Summitsoft Campaign | flexoffers | US | — | 24% | — | — | — |
| TeraByte, Inc. | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| TextExpander | impact | — | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| Todoist | flexoffers | US | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| Trusted Tech Team | cj | — | — | 2% | — | — | — |
| Twizzlo | skimlinks | Global | — | — | — | — | — |
| Video editing program | impact | — | — | 10% | — | — | — |
| Wondershare Software Co., Ltd. | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Xmind LTD | impact | — | — | 15% | — | — | — |
| Xmind LTD | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| YouCam Online Editor | impact | — | — | 25% | — | — | — |
| YouCam Online Editor | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| Zno Cloud | impact | — | — | 15% | — | — | — |
| Zno Inc. | impact | — | — | $2 | — | — | — |
| cd-keys.nl | skimlinks | NL | — | — | — | — | — |
| foryoursoft.com | skimlinks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| fylm.ai | impact | — | — | 20% | — | — | — |
| gitmind.com | flexoffers | US | — | — | — | — | — |
| imeetify.com | impact | — | — | 25% | — | — | — |
| licensedeal.nl | skimlinks | NL | — | — | — | — | — |
| softwarestars - INT | skimlinks | Global | — | — | — | — | — |
| softwarestars - INT | cj | Global | — | 20% | — | — | — |
† Sense check: value is far outside the vertical's norm — usually a small-sample or data-entry artifact on the network side. Verify in the network dashboard before relying on it.
SaaS and software affiliate programs look attractive on paper: commission rates average 22.5% across the programs in our database that report one, reflecting the high-margin nature of digital products. The reality is more complicated. Of the 139 program listings we track across 6 networks, 55 — fully 40% — publish no performance data at all. For the programs that do report an EPC, the distribution is sharply top-heavy: Doodle sits at $9.51 on Impact, Excire at $7.17, PDF Expert at $4.55, and then it drops quickly toward a low median. The average of $0.37 is shaped by those few outliers.
What this vertical does offer, relative to travel or retail, is transparent commission rates. Software vendors routinely publish 20–30% on standard sales, and a handful push toward 40–60% on subscriptions. The problem is that commission rate alone is close to meaningless without conversion data: a 30.2% rate on a low-priced product (GitMind, Skimlinks) generates only a few dollars per sale, while a comparable rate on a higher-priced product produces several times more. The gap between those two outcomes is not visible from the commission headline. This report works through the numbers so you can see it clearly.
Detailed Analysis
Top SaaS & Software Affiliate Programs Reviewed
Excire
ImpactSoftwareExcire's $7.17 EPC on Impact is among the highest verifiable figures in this vertical, but no conversion rate or basket data accompanies it. The number almost certainly reflects a small and specific transaction sample rather than sustained broad traffic. Excire makes AI-powered photo management software for Mac and Windows, including a Lightroom plugin, and targets professional and amateur photographers — an audience with genuine purchase intent for specialised tools. The 20% commission is straightforward and consistent with the broader software market, but the missing cookie duration means you cannot assess the length of window you have to convert a click.
The niche is tight enough that performance is plausible at this level, but treat the $7.17 as a ceiling to test against, not a baseline to plan around. With no conversion data to triangulate, the practical strategy is to run a controlled test with photo-specific content and measure your own EPC directly from the Impact dashboard before scaling.
PDF Expert
ImpactSoftwarePDF Expert is one of the better-documented programs in this vertical, with data spread across three networks. On Impact, the commission is 35% per sale and the EPC reaches $4.55 on the PDF Expert listing and $1.01 on the "PDF Expert for Mac" sub-listing. Skimlinks shows a more moderate $0.33 EPC against a 1.54% conversion rate, a 37.7% commission, and a 6.5% reversal rate. FlexOffers lists the GB territory at 28% commission with no EPC data. The Skimlinks conversion rate is the most useful anchor: at 37.7% commission and just 1.54% conversion, the per-click economics are far below Impact's headline.
The gap between the $4.55 Impact EPC and the Skimlinks figure suggests Impact's data covers a narrower traffic cohort, possibly high-intent search traffic rather than editorial referrals. If your audience consists of Mac-using professionals or students with document-heavy workflows, this program warrants testing on Impact first. The 6.5% reversal rate on Skimlinks is modest and should not materially affect your projections.
Eventide Inc.
ImpactSoftwareEventide's $2.35 EPC sits below the flag threshold and so carries less small-sample risk than the two programs above it. The 10% commission is the lowest rate among the top programs here — what sustains the EPC is an implied high average basket. Eventide manufactures and sells award-winning effects processors, effects pedals, and VST plug-ins used in professional music production worldwide. Their products are not impulse purchases: hardware processors routinely retail for several hundred dollars, and premium VST bundles are similarly priced. At 10% on a $200+ product, a single conversion exceeds $20.
The practical drawback is audience specificity. This is not a general productivity tool; it requires an audience of working musicians, audio engineers, or home studio owners. Content that explains specific products — reverb algorithms, pitch-shifting, particular pedal models — will outperform generic software review content. No reversal data is available, but the professional hardware category typically has returns well below the software norm.
Otter.ai
SkimlinksGlobalOtter.ai is the best-documented SaaS program in this dataset. Skimlinks reports a 9.63% conversion rate, a 24.7% commission, and an 18-day cookie window — one of the few listings in this vertical to surface a conversion rate and a cookie duration together. At a 24.7% commission and a 9.63% conversion rate, the $1.11 EPC on Skimlinks is the strongest verifiable per-click figure among the well-documented programs here. The program also appears on Impact at $0.98 EPC with a consistent 25% rate, and on CJ as "Otter RO" at just 6% commission, which likely relates to a different regional contract rather than the core product.
The strong 9.63% conversion rate is the standout data point. In a vertical where GitMind reports 34.5% reversals, a well-converting listing with a documented cookie window stands out. Otter.ai serves AI-powered meeting transcription to business teams — the B2B angle means buyers are often converting on organisational need rather than impulse, which may explain the strong conversion rate. The global footprint broadens the addressable audience considerably.
Finson IT
AwinITFinson IT is an Italian company serving the SMB and professional market with software for businesses and families since 1984. In the current dataset it appears only as a Skimlinks listing with no published performance data, so EPC, commission, and conversion rate cannot be established or triangulated across networks.
The key constraint here is geographic: this program serves the Italian market. Content reaching Italian SMB owners or accounting professionals in Italy would be required to realise any earnings from it. For affiliates with existing Italian-language content or regional SEO in that market, Finson is worth testing directly, but with no published performance data you would need to generate your own click data before judging it.
buyZOXS
SkimlinksDEbuyZOXS is an outlier in this vertical by product type: the company buys and sells used electronics and software in Germany, with a large average basket driven by its physical-product element. It carries a low commission rate typical of high-basket retail, but the current dataset does not surface published EPC, conversion, or reversal figures for the program, so its per-click economics cannot be established without your own click data — and any reversal rate on second-hand transactions warrants a direct check in the network dashboard.
The mechanics are different from standard SaaS affiliate programs: buyZOXS pays on transactions where users trade in or purchase second-hand electronics, not on software subscription sign-ups. The high basket reflects the physical product element. Geographic restriction to Germany applies. For affiliates running German-language content in consumer electronics, refurbished tech, or sustainability-adjacent spaces, the combination of a high basket and reasonable conversion rate makes this worth testing, with the reversal rate factored into projections from the outset.
Doodle
ImpactSaaSDoodle is a well-known scheduling SaaS targeting individual professionals and teams, and it appears across three networks with diverging commission structures. Impact lists 40% with a $9.51 EPC. Mavely lists 35% with no EPC. FlexOffers covers the Swiss market at 4% with no EPC. The commission range across networks — 4% to 40% — is wide, but the Impact EPC is the only actionable figure. Doodle operates on a freemium model, which means conversion to a paid tier depends on whether the affiliate's traffic is reaching decision-makers willing to pay for business features rather than individual free-tier users.
The 40% commission on Impact is among the highest rates in the top ten, and the $9.51 EPC is the highest single figure in the dataset. Without basket or conversion data it is not possible to calculate implied revenue per conversion, and an EPC this far above the vertical median EPC of $0.19 almost certainly reflects a small or specific transaction sample rather than sustained broad traffic — treat it as a ceiling to test against rather than a baseline to plan around. Use it where scheduling content already exists rather than building dedicated content around it.
GitMind
SkimlinksGlobalGitMind is an AI-powered mind-mapping and brainstorming tool with a global presence. It offers the most complete performance dataset outside Otter.ai in this vertical: a 5.60% conversion rate, a $11.73 average basket, and a 30.2% commission rate. Working through the maths: 30.2% of $11.73 is $3.54 per gross conversion. But the 34.5% reversal rate means only 65.5% of attributed conversions are eventually paid — reducing the effective per-conversion revenue to approximately $2.32. At 5.60% conversion and 65.5% retention, 100 clicks produce approximately 3.67 net paid conversions, yielding roughly $8.51 in commissions. That equates to an EPC of $0.085, which is below the $0.20 reported figure — suggesting the Skimlinks EPC may be measured differently or covers a more recent period with improved retention.
The headline risk here is the 34.5% reversal rate, which is among the highest in the vertical. GitMind also appears on Impact at 30% commission with a $0.05 EPC, which is consistent with the low net revenue per click calculation above. The product is freemium, serving project planners and educators globally. Where it is worth promoting, it should be framed carefully around paid-tier features to attract converting traffic rather than free-account sign-ups, which are likely the source of a significant proportion of reversals.
What About Adobe, Microsoft, Salesforce, and HubSpot?
The most recognised names in software publishing no usable performance data through the networks we track. Adobe appears in our database via Mavely at a 59.5% commission — an unusual figure that likely covers a specific product category or promotional period — but with no EPC, conversion rate, or basket data attached. Microsoft is not represented in the current dataset at all. Salesforce and HubSpot do not appear in our database under the match filters for this vertical.
Corel Corporation is the closest to a household name with an EPC figure: the CJ listing reports $0.08 against a 10% commission. That EPC places Corel near the bottom quartile of the programs with data. Corel runs across four networks — CJ ($0.08 EPC), Impact (10%, no EPC), FlexOffers (8%, no EPC), and Mavely (7%, no EPC) — making it the most network-diverse brand in this vertical. The commission compression from CJ to Mavely (10% to 7%) is moderate; the lack of conversion data on any network other than CJ makes an empirical network comparison impossible.
Notion appears on FlexOffers with a $0.02 EPC and a 16% commission. The freemium model creates an inherent conversion problem for affiliates: a large share of visitors will adopt the free tier and never trigger a commissionable event. Wondershare is present in the database via Skimlinks but is a ghost with no data. For these major brands, the absence of performance transparency is itself informative — it signals that the program is not actively managed for affiliate performance, and earnings should be treated as unpredictable until you generate sufficient first-party data from your own links.
Cross-Network Data
Same Brand, Different Networks: Where the Terms Diverge
A number of the 97 brands in this vertical appear on two or more networks. The differences are often material. In several cases, the best EPC network and the highest commission network are not the same — a pattern that rewards affiliates who join multiple networks and compare dashboards rather than defaulting to wherever they first encountered the program.
Otter.ai
PDF Expert
Doodle
Corel Corporation
GitMind
Laplink Software
Data Insights
SaaS & Software Affiliate Programs: What the Data Shows
The central paradox of this vertical is the gap between advertised commission rates and actual EPC. Average commission across programs that publish a rate is 22.5% — generous by most standards — yet the median EPC among programs with positive data is only $0.19. The explanation lies in basket size and conversion rate: many software programs pay 20–30% on products priced at $10–$15 per month or sold at a one-time price of $25–$50, and convert poorly because freemium users rarely upgrade. High commission rates on low-value products, combined with conversion rates below 1%, produce the floor-level EPCs that dominate the right-hand side of the distribution.
Several of the programs with the strongest documented EPCs in this vertical — Excire, PDF Expert, Eventide — share a common characteristic: they sell clearly defined, higher-priced products to audiences with specific purchase intent. None of them are freemium. This is the key segmentation to apply when choosing between programs: if the product has a free tier that satisfies most users, expect conversion to paid to be structurally constrained regardless of the commission rate.
Data Insight: The Reversal Problem
GitMind reports a reversal rate of 34.5% in the Skimlinks data — among the highest in the vertical. That figure deserves particular scrutiny: more than a third of attributed conversions are subsequently reversed against a 30.2% commission. At a $0.20 EPC on Skimlinks, working the maths through the reversal rate shows how much of the headline commission never actually pays out. The gap between gross and net is large enough that any program reporting a reversal rate this high requires extreme caution and direct verification of current reversal rates in the network dashboard before promoting.
Data Insight: The Cookie Transparency Gap
Only a handful of program listings report a cookie duration, and where they do the windows vary widely — from just a few days to a full year. Impact and Skimlinks do not surface cookie windows in their standard data feeds for most of this vertical. This means the comparison you would naturally want to make — which program gives the longest window to convert a reader who clicked but did not immediately purchase — is effectively impossible from public network data. The practical consequence is that you cannot reliably set attribution expectations before joining a program; treat any published window as program-specific rather than a category norm.
The ghost rate of 40% — 55 of 139 listings with no EPC, commission, or cookie data — is higher than many other verticals we track. A significant portion of these ghosts are older or smaller software vendors that joined Skimlinks' merchant catalogue without running active promotional campaigns. They appear because Skimlinks has them catalogued, not because the program is live and managed. When filtering to programs with at least one data point, the functional dataset shrinks from 139 to 84 listings. This is a useful reality check on the apparent breadth of the vertical: 97 brands sounds comprehensive, but a large share of those brands cannot be evaluated without first generating your own click data.
Browse all 97 SaaS & software affiliate programs with EPC data, commission rates, and cross-network comparisons.
Search All Software ProgramsHow to Choose a SaaS & Software Affiliate Program
Start with the freemium question. If the software has a meaningful free tier — one that lets most users accomplish their core task without paying — then conversion to a commissionable paid plan will be structurally low regardless of traffic volume. Otter.ai's freemium is time-limited and capacity-capped, which creates genuine motivation to upgrade. Notion's free tier is substantially functional for solo users, which is one reason its $0.02 EPC is near the floor of the dataset. Before joining any program in this vertical, establish whether the product's free tier is a conversion funnel or a conversion barrier.
Second, look at the basket size where it is available. A 25% commission sounds strong, but Stardock's Skimlinks data shows just a 0.03% conversion rate behind a $0.02 EPC. A high headline rate on a thin conversion rate produces floor-level returns per click. When basket and conversion data exist, use them to sanity-check the reported EPC before optimising toward it.
Third, treat reversal rate as a first-order filter, not an afterthought. GitMind's 34.5% reversal rate is not a minor adjustment to expected earnings — it reduces the effective commission on that program by roughly a third. Any program in this vertical with a reversal rate above 20% requires a direct check of the current rate in the live network dashboard before committing content or paid traffic. Network-reported historical averages can mask recent spikes driven by subscription changes, refund-policy updates, or changes in the traffic mix being counted.
Finally, consider network data quality as a product of the publisher relationship you want. Impact and Skimlinks both index programs in this vertical, but their data surfaces differently: Skimlinks provides basket size and conversion rate more consistently, while Impact shows higher absolute EPCs for several programs. Where a brand appears on both, joining both and running a 30-day split is the only reliable way to establish which performs better for your specific audience.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best SaaS and software affiliate programs?
Based on our database of 139 listings across 6 networks, the best-performing programs by EPC are Excire ($7.17 on Impact, 20% commission), PDF Expert ($4.55 on Impact, 35% commission), and Otter.ai ($1.11 on Skimlinks, 24.7% commission with a 9.63% conversion rate). These three provide the best combination of earnings per click and data transparency. The 40% ghost rate across the vertical means a large portion of programs publish no performance data at all.
How much commission do software affiliate programs pay?
Across the SaaS and software programs in our database that report a commission rate, the average is 22.5%. Rates run as high as 60% (Crawl5, no EPC data). The high averages reflect that software margins are inherently wider than physical goods — a perpetual or subscription licence costs the vendor almost nothing extra to fulfil. However, a high rate means little without knowing the average basket size and conversion rate that sit behind it.
Do software affiliate programs pay on renewals?
It depends on the program. Subscription-first SaaS products like Otter.ai and Motion generally pay only on the initial conversion, not on automatic renewals, unless the program explicitly offers a recurring commission structure. Our database does not show confirmed recurring commissions for any program in this vertical. Always read the network's commission table carefully before promoting.
Why is the ghost rate so high in software affiliate programs?
Of the 139 software program listings we track, 55 (40%) publish no EPC, commission rate, or cookie data at all. Many of these are smaller or older software vendors on Skimlinks that have joined the network's merchant list but have not run active affiliate campaigns. They appear in the database because the network has catalogued them, not because they are actively managed programs. Filtering to programs with at least one data point drops the working set to around 84 listings.
What cookie duration should I expect from software affiliate programs?
Cookie data is sparse in this vertical: only a handful of program listings report a cookie duration, and where they do the windows vary widely — from just a few days to a full year. Impact and Skimlinks do not surface cookie durations in their standard API feeds for most of these programs. The practical implication is that you cannot reliably compare cookie windows across most of this vertical, so treat any published window as program-specific rather than a category norm.
Is the Notion affiliate program worth promoting?
Notion appears in our database via FlexOffers, reporting a $0.02 EPC and a 16% commission rate. Given that Notion operates a freemium model where many users never pay, conversion rates for affiliate traffic are likely modest. It is worth testing for audiences already evaluating paid productivity tools, but without reliable performance data it is impossible to predict earnings at scale. Compare it against Otter.ai or Doodle, where EPC figures and in some cases conversion rates do exist.
Methodology
This analysis covers 97 SaaS & software brands across 139 program listings tracked across 6 networks including Impact, Skimlinks, Awin, CJ, FlexOffers, and Mavely. Performance data (EPC, conversion rate, reversal rate, average basket size) is pulled from network APIs and dashboards and updated regularly. Commission rates reflect default publisher tiers — negotiated rates may differ. Programs with no performance data ("ghost programs") are excluded from averages but included in total counts. Last updated: August 28, 2026.