Best Coupon Affiliate Programs
Coupon affiliate marketing might not seem as attractive as other types, and when you think of the myriad of websites that have coupons available and just the idea of joining individual affiliate programs, it all seems like a big hassle.
But the truth is that coupon code affiliate programs are out there and can help you make some money, and they can at least assist you in diversifying your income streams.
In today’s post, we’re looking at some of the top coupon programs that you might want to consider if you are looking for alternative ways of monetizing your blog.
What is the best coupon affiliate program?
While a clear answer to this question doesn’t exist as each program has both pros and cons, we’re listing most of the important information for each and every one (including cookie duration and the commission rate you can expect).
CouponSurfer
You’re not going to become rich if you start being a coupon site affiliate and there’s no doubt about that. Unfortunately, the commissions that some of these programs have are quite low, and this one is no exception.
You get paid for every new member and the commission can vary from $.20 to $.40. Based on some of the info we’ve found about it, the conversion rate of this program is about 16%.
What is interesting about it is that the cookie lasts for thirty days and you can also join it through ShareASale — therefore, if you are an affiliate of other programs and you prefer handling everything with coupon affiliate networks, this one should be right up your alley.
Advanced Coupons
This one is slightly different from what you might be used to in that it is, in fact, an extension plugin specifically designed for WooCommerce.
Some of its features range from showing potential customers anything from auto-apply coupons to helping them sort the coupons or loyalty points they might already have.
Even though the cookie duration remains a mystery, which can be frustrating for all affiliates, the commission rate is 20%. Moreover, you can get paid through Paypal and there are no minimum required sums that you have to collect before asking for the money.
Also, the plugin seems to be quite user-friendly and most affiliates use it without any help from support.
Affiliate Coupons
This is a WP affiliate plugin that makes it a breeze for anyone to recommend coupons to their blog readership.
While the commission rate is 20%, which definitely isn’t bad, the plugin does call for an initial investment that might not seem cheap, especially to bloggers who are only starting out.
An annual license for one site costs 29 dollars, and if you want to use the plugin across several different websites, the license will set you back $199.
InkyDeals
InkyDeals is quite different in that your ideal buyer persona in this case is not going to be a regular consumer who’s looking for coupons to save money on their grocery bill but rather coupon websites themselves.
For this reason, it might be a little tricky to recommend their products, at least if you are not in the coupon programs space. InkyDeals specializes in a variety of digital design products from graphics and templates to fonts and everything else in this sense.
The program itself really isn’t bad since the cookie lasts for thirty days and the commission is a fixed 25% on all orders. In fact, the commissions can get as high as 50% on specific deals that they have on occasion.
Plus, there’s the advantage that you can manage everything through ShareASale, so you’ll have to tell whether joining this program actually makes sense for you or not.
Coupons.com
This one might be good or bad depending on how much traffic you get and how many people you actually manage to convince to print a coupon from the site.
The reason we’re a little wary is that it pays just 10 cents per lead, so unless you drive thousands of people to Coupons.com, you’re not going to be too happy with your earnings.
To make things even worse, the cookie lasts for just 24 hours, which we’d say is just as bad as recommending Amazon products (if you’ve been an Amazon affiliate for a while, you know what we mean by this).
Groupon
Groupon is a massive brand that pretty much every other Internet user out there has heard of before. They have lots of deals and coupons for a variety of products and services from food and drinks to personal services, automotive, retail, beauty and spa, and even activities that people can complete in their spare time.
The Groupon affiliate program is pretty neat in that you can make up to 10% of the value of every purchased experience or deal, in any case, but the cookie duration varies from one type of service to another.
Local Flavor
Given what’s happened in the past several years across the world, you might feel a little wary about recommending your blog audience actual physical experiences where they have to go in store to benefit from a deal.
But as you might have noticed, things are starting to look up, and Local Flavor is a site where folks can get discounts as high as 50% on anything from food and beverages to gym memberships and auto repairs.
But the real reason you should consider becoming a Local Flavor affiliate is not how great it is and how awesome its deals are, but that the cookie lasts for 30 days and the commissions are 10%, which is excellent.
WikiBuy
This browser extension gives people the opportunity to compare the prices of products across several different websites, which makes it possible for shoppers to always pick the best deal.
It might seem a little difficult to recommend to your audience, but you really have to try your best. We say this because it is one of the few programs that pay you $10 for each person you get to install the extension on their computer. Besides, the cookie lasts for 30 days, which is another reason to use WikiBuy.
Ibotta
This site works with both a browser extension and a mobile application, so in some ways, it resembles WikiBuy, which we’re also showcasing in this article.
But the commission rate is quite different because in Ibotta’s case, you get paid $2 for each new customer you refer, whether they get the browser extension or the mobile app.
The cookie lasts from 1 to 30 days depending on what type of service or products people are interested in, so you don’t have a lot of control over what will happen in this sense.
Rakuten
We wrote a whole different article on the Rakuten affiliate program and we suggest you give it a read if you want to learn more information on it. Previously known as eBates, this is a site that lets people get cash back on a variety of products and services.
Rakuten works with some of the best-known brands in the world, from NVIDIA and NordVPN to Microsoft, Lego, and everything else that might have crossed your mind.
The cookie lasts for 14 days while the commissions can go up to 5%, but we’d say that perhaps the most significant reason to join this program is how safe it is and how reputable the brands the company works with really are.
TopCashback
This website works with over 4,000 online retailers and can save people a lot of money but it’s mostly focused on people in North America – The United States and Canada.
There’s not too much to add with respect to this program other than the cookie duration is 30 days and the commission is a fixed $1 on each signup you refer to the website. That might not sound like a lot of money, but it’s a way of diversifying your income streams, so you should at least consider it.
JoinHoney.com
Like WikiBuy, which we have described earlier on, Honey is a deal-finding browser extension. Apparently, they performed some studies and came to the conclusion that they can save each customer a minimum of $120 per year.
The extension is completely free to install, so you’re not going to be recommending your blog readers anything they have to pay for. Their affiliate program is rather interesting in that you get paid different commissions depending on the device people choose to use Honey with.
For example, for mobile app installations, you will be paid just $.25 on each, but for desktop ones, you’ll be paid $1. Similarly to other programs, the cookie duration of this one is 30 days.
Capital One Shopping
This free browser extension allows people to compare prices and come across different vouchers and discount codes that can lower their grocery bill as best as possible.
The extension has a number of interesting features. For example, it keeps track of what you might have been interested in the past and lets you know when the price of that particular item has gone down.
The reason we’re noting this affiliate program here, though, is that it pays $10 for every new browser extension install, which is outstanding compared to many other coupon affiliate programs out there. Plus, the cookie lasts for 30 days, which is yet another reason to consider becoming a Capital One Shopping affiliate.
Swagbucks
You might have heard about this website if you’ve ever been interested in making a bit of money by completing online surveys. But Swagbucks is actually a lot more than that since it also offers customers cashback and a variety of deals and vouchers.
The program has a 30-day cookie window and pays a fixed $2.20 commission for each new individual that you refer and that completes the signup process. This is a pretty well-known coupon, survey, and offer site, so you might have to consider it at least for that reason.
BeFrugal
Although as is the case with some of the other programs we have described, the cookie duration of this one remains an enigma, at least they pay $10 for each new customer you refer to them.
This cashback and coupon website works with over 50,000 stores, especially based in the United States, so there are lots of offers that your blog readers can choose from.
While we couldn’t find any info on whether the BeFrugal affiliate program can be joined through a network like ShareASale, for example, we did find out that they pay their affiliates through direct deposit and Paypal, which is a net advantage.
Sunday Coupon Inserts
This one stands aside from the rest because of its 3% commission, which is fairly decent, especially when compared to other programs listed in our selection. Sunday Coupon Inserts is a site that assists people in saving money right at the grocery store.
The downside is that we couldn’t really find any information on the cookie duration, so you will have to do a little digging yourself if you want to become one of this program’s coupon affiliates.
Brandcaster
Although it’s arguably one of the most popular coupon programs out there, we decided to leave Brandcaster for the end, and that’s because we couldn’t find any specific info on the cookie duration.
However, this affiliate program is definitely worth looking into as the site works with a myriad of well-known brands — which range from Cheerios and Crest to Heinz, Ziploc, or Kleenex.
There are over 2,000 brands represented on the site and as you can expect, the number of deals and coupons is just as impressive. But on the downside, the commissions tend to vary and in order for you to be able to join this program, you must have a website as well as a US address — you’re not going to be able to join it if you’re based in any other country, even Canada.
Promoting coupon affiliate programs
It goes without saying that the two most important factors when picking one program over another are cookie duration and commission rate, but it doesn’t all come down to that.
You first have to tell whether your blog audience might be interested in saving some money by getting cashback or using coupons for their online or purchases in-store.
As you might have noticed, there isn’t a shortage of websites offering coupons and deals on pretty much anything, but you do have to do a bit of research and find the most reputable ones — the ones we’ve listed in our selection are by far the most trustworthy ones of all.
As for the places you can promote the deals, you can obviously use your own website, but there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from recommending them on social media and in your newsletters, too, for example.
Do consider that some of these programs require you to have a website in order to join.
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Craig Campbell
I am a Glasgow based SEO expert who has been doing SEO for 22 years.
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