Udacity Affiliate Program Review
Although somewhat new in the education space compared to platforms such as Coursera or Udemy, Udacity is a fairly fast-growing alternative. The brand also has an affiliate program that speaks to pretty much anyone in the right niche, so it can make a good way of diversifying your income streams.
In today’s article, we’re looking at everything you should know about the Udacity affiliate program, from the commission rates you can expect to the cookie duration, how easy it is to join, and more.
Udacity Affiliate Program Review
What is Udacity?
As you might have been able to tell from the intro, Udacity is somewhat of an education/course material platform that can assist individuals in taking their skill sets to a whole new level.
However, what we have found to be rather different is that they offer solutions not just to regular folks out there, but also to actual businesses that want to train their employees and even to governments.
Most of the programs that you will stumble upon on the website take several months to complete. At the end of every one, you get a certification or, depending on the length and complexity of the program, a degree.
The so-called nanodegree programs sold by Udacity start at just $399 per month. So, suppose it takes an individual around four to five months to complete a program (as per the syllabus), they’re likely to spend anything between $1,500 and $2,000 for a degree.
Every program is different in that it speaks to a specific stage. You can be a beginner and start studying programming even if you have no previous coding experience, or you can pick a more advanced course/program if you feel that you’ve already covered the basics.
The reason we thought we’d mention the cost of these programs is that their price largely influences how generous the company can be with its affiliates. While in most other websites, you can find courses that altogether cost a few hundred bucks, because Udacity ones are more expensive, they can offer higher commission rates.
Joining the affiliate program for Udacity
You can find some of the information that you may need in this sense on the company’s own website, but what we have to note is that the brand doesn’t in fact manage its own affiliate program.
On the one hand, this can be a drawback since if you run into a problem, you may not be able to directly communicate with someone from the company itself. However, there is a significant advantage, especially for seasoned affiliate marketers and it’s that this program can be found on several different networks.
To date, we found out that joining the Udacity affiliate program can be done through FlexOffers, Impact, as well as VigLink.
So, there are two main ways of joining the program — you can do so on the company website, but you’ll automatically be redirected to the Impact Radius page or you can seek it out on VigLink or FlexOffers, depending on whichever platform you prefer or now use for your other niche websites.
Having everything in the same place is definitely a benefit, especially if you feel the need to check your stats for all of the programs you’ve joined every single day — and doing so on various company websites can be a tedious task.
How much can you earn as a Udacity affiliate?
There’s a short answer to this question and it’s probably the reason you ended up here in the first place. As a Udacity affiliate, you can make $100 per every referral you send out their way.
The downside is that this is only an initial payment, meaning that each time someone renews their plan or buys a different course or rolls into a different program, you are not going to see a single cent out of that.
On the other hand, the $100 commission definitely makes Udacity one of the highest earning affiliate programs out there right now, whether in the education space or just generally.
The cookie lasts for a month, which is pretty much the industry standard at this point. Therefore, it’s not worth writing home about but it’s not something to complain about, either. If you feel that your blog or website audience would resonate with this type of content and would actually be interested in purchasing courses or joining programs made for improving their skills, Udacity can be a fairly good choice.
Pros and cons of Udacity affiliate marketing
When it comes to reasons you might want to consider before joining the program, well, there are quite a few. The first and most notable one is the commission rate, which we couldn’t find even with some of the best platforms out there. That doesn’t mean that you are going to get rich by being a Udacity affiliate, but it will still contribute to your side income.
Another aspect that we’d like to add is that all of the networks that this brand works for make it super easy for you to have access to a large number of marketing tools, whether that be banners or text links or exclusive offers.
Udacity also has an affiliate marketing team, so there is supposed to be someone checking the networks individually to see whether the affiliates are encountering any issue, whether that be with payments or something else.
On top of everything, since they don’t manage the program themselves, the payment threshold and the payment methods largely depend on the network you will be joining the program through.
So all in all, in terms of benefits, the fact that they give you $100 out of the first payment of each Nanodegree course, which sets people back $400 during the first month of their membership is the most significant one.
As for drawbacks, the cookie duration can be a hit or miss with this one. If you already are an affiliate for a different educational program that offers you a better tracking cookie length, perhaps this could be a disadvantage.
There are no recurring commissions, either, which can be another con for folks who want to know for sure that they earn something each time someone renews their plan or pays for the next month of a program.
At the time we are writing this, we couldn’t find any negative reviews written by affiliates according to which they’ve had any issues contacting Udacity affiliate support.
How does the Udacity affiliate program compare to others?
There are plenty of other educational affiliate programs out there, and while most deal with different things in the sense that they may not offer corporate solutions or might have the ability to create plans for governments, they all function based on the same affiliate marketing model.
Before we move on to giving you some other examples, we’d like to note that Udacity affiliate marketing is probably one of the best you could try. The Udacity affiliate commission rate is almost unparalleled and while there are other highest earning programs out there, they may not be offering the exact same thing.
Coursera
There are several thousands of courses on this platform that you can easily promote to your readers, and the reason for that is that Coursera is very well-known. They’ve been recommended by big brands such as Google and IBM in the past, so that should give you a clue as to whether it’s a trustworthy educational service.
Your earnings will of course vary depending on whatever your audience purchases. Actual courses with degrees added to them will get you a 45% commission while basic paid courses might make you a 10% rate.
In any case, the cookie duration is the same as that of the Udacity affiliate program, meaning 30 days. It goes without saying that Coursera can make a good way of diversifying your side income if you are in the right niche.
You might also like: Coursera Affiliate Program Review
Udemy
When it comes to popularity, Udemy is clearly the winner between the two. Anyone even remotely interested in programming languages, marketing, data science, and product management will have heard of Udemy at least once in their life.
But the truth is that the Udemy affiliate program isn’t really comparable to that offered by Udacity. To give you an example, you get 15% out of the value of all courses and have the benefit of a really short 7-day cookie duration.
So while it might be a good option just for variety’s sake, Udemy might not be able to help you make the same money, especially if the courses are priced at virtually the same, $400 a pop.
Read more: Udemy Affiliate Program Review
The Princeton Review
This one isn’t as well-known, but the university’s name is definitely making it more popular. While the affiliate program doesn’t really seem to be worth writing home about, we would like to note that the value of the courses that you will find here is actually higher than most anything you’ll find on Udacity.
And the reason for that is that there are lots of products and courses designed for various levels, and students also have the ability to actually pay teachers through the platform to help them prepare for their tests.
As an affiliate, you will be making 8% out of the value of every purchase made through your affiliate links. You’ll also benefit from a 45-day tracking cookie, which is basically 50% longer compared to what Udacity offers.
MasterClass
This one is slightly different in that many of the courses you’ll come across on the platform are actually designed and even produced in collaboration with experts that are truly well-known, whether that be designers or actors, singers, or other creatives.
As a MasterClass affiliate, you can earn 25% out of every sale referred by you and the cookie will expire in a 30-day period. The average payout is about $40 depending on the value of the course or if people get the monthly subscription, instead. All in all, Udacity seems like the winner when putting the two side by side.
LinkedIn Learning
We mentioned this alternative in some of our other reviews of affiliate programs and it may make a good option for people who are big on LinkedIn and think that their readers may be interested in improving their skills using this professional social media network.
Individual course sales will make you a 35% commission rate while for monthly subscriptions, you’ll earn a flat $40 rate. You’ll still be paid a small commission for anyone who gets the free trial, meaning $10, which is still pretty good given everything. The tracking cookie duration is the industry standard for other affiliate programs — 30 days.
Skillshare
This online education website has been getting more and more popular through the years, and that’s no surprise. The subscriptions are very budget-friendly, with people paying just $10 per month when they opt for the whole year plan — which gives them access to all of the materials available on Skillshare.
The downside is that as a Skillshare affiliate, you will only make $7 per every free trial signup, which might not seem like a lot of money. The program is available through the Impact Radius network, so that’s one less thing to worry about. Also, the cookie lasts the same 30 days as it does with Udacity.
You might also like: What affiliate management software should you try?
LearnDash
Although not as well-known as Coursera, Skillshare, or some of the other educational platforms that we might have mentioned in this article, LearnDash is definitely worth looking into.
The company has an affiliate program that pays 35% on all sales made through your affiliate links. Given that the value of the courses ranges from $150 to $300 and higher, you can get a picture of how much you can make as a LearnDash affiliate.
This one is also run by Impact Radius and gives you the chance to score a commission within 30 days after someone clicks on your affiliate link.
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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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