High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing: 15 Successful Programs

Neil Patel
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Author: Neil Patel | Co Founder of NP Digital & Owner of Ubersuggest
Published May 20, 2025

Affiliate marketing can be a great way for content creators, influencers, and other people with an online presence to generate an income. Businesses are essentially able to make regular people their sales team, offering a commission to those who sign up to become affiliate partners.

However, affiliate marketing can take a long time to actually become profitable for these creators, so many look for high-ticket affiliate marketing programs.

Illustration of a person with a megaphone and text that reads "High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing: 15 Successful Programs."

High-ticket affiliate marketing programs promote products that cost more but end up providing a much higher return. Throughout this article, we’re going to dig deeper into what high-ticket affiliate marketing looks like, some pros and cons to this money-making strategy, plus highlight 15 successful programs you might consider joining.

Let’s get started.

What is High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing?

High-ticket affiliate marketing is a specialized form of affiliate marketing in which content creators choose to promote more expensive products, eliciting a more profitable return. The commissions for high-ticket affiliate programs tend to yield $100 or more per sale, meaning the creator can make more from fewer purchases.

That being said, it can take a lot more nurturing to convince someone to make that high-dollar purchase. It’s important for affiliate marketers looking to make a profit from high-ticket products to meet those potential buyers where they are, strategically promoting those products in a way that can naturally lead to a sale.

Let’s look at some examples.

A regular affiliate marketing program like planner brand The Day Designer offers a set commission rate. In The Day Designer’s case, the commission rate is 15% on any product. 

The Day Designer affiliate program highlights.

The company’s flagship product is a $68 daily planner, so anytime an affiliate sells one, they make around $10 of the purchase. That’s not much to write home about, but it can add up as they sell more and more planners.

Now, let’s look at a high-ticket affiliate marketing program like accounting software Freshbooks has. (Note: We talk more about this program in our roundup below of 15 great programs to try.)

Content creators can promote Freshbooks’ software and receive up to $10 for anyone who signs up for a free trial (that’s a commission on nothing, which is a great deal for affiliates) and up to $200 for anyone who signs up for a paid subscription.

Freshbooks affiliate advantage information.

As the affiliate scales their sales, they’ll start making much more money from this high-ticket program than they would from a lower-ticket option like The Day Designer. This is why many affiliate marketers look for some of these more profitable options.

Pros & Cons of High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing

Now let’s look at some pros and cons of high-ticket affiliate marketing. It’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into, so we’re going to look at both sides of the coin to give you the full picture of this type of affiliate program.

Pros:

  • You can make more money. Even if the products may be a little harder to sell, higher commissions pretty much always equal more money, meaning high-ticket affiliate marketers can make more than low-ticket affiliate marketers.
  • You can generate passive income. Some high-ticket affiliate marketing programs have recurring payments on subscriptions, meaning that a single sale can keep making you money for months (and even years) to come.
  • You can upsell your audience more easily. Because high-ticket affiliate marketing products tend to be more specialized, you can often cross-promote complementary products to the same audience and make even more money.
  • There’s less competition. Anyone can promote an ecommerce product that a large percentage of the world would have a use for. But with more specialized products and services, you’re going to be one of a much lower portion of experts promoting them.

Cons: 

  • You have to do more nurturing. It can be tougher to get people to buy more expensive products, meaning you have to spend more time nurturing relationships, promoting these products, and showcasing your audience why they need them.
  • Your audience has high expectations. If you’re promoting an expensive product, your audience will have high expectations surrounding the quality and capabilities of said product. You need to make sure you back each product you promote 100%.
  • There are often more barriers to entry. While most ecommerce brands let anyone sign up for their affiliate programs, companies with more specialized and expensive products and commissions often set more requirements and restrictions that their affiliates have to meet.
  • The market is a lot smaller. Sure, high-ticket affiliate marketers can start making more money faster, but the market is smaller meaning there’s a much smaller pool of potential buyers to sell to.

How Much Do High-Ticket Affiliate Marketers Make?

ZipRecruiter reports an average salary of $47,500 for high-ticket affiliate marketers. However, an Authority Hacker survey that spoke directly to affiliate marketers found that the average affiliate marketer made around $8,000 per month and that affiliate marketers promoting high-value products tended to earn more.

Naturally, the longer affiliate marketers have been working in affiliate marketing, the more money they make. Those who have been promoting products for less than a year have an average monthly income of just $636 from their efforts, while those who have been working in this industry for 10+ years have an average monthly income of over $44,000.

Graph showing the monthly affiliate income by experience level.

The survey also discovered that nearly a third of affiliate marketers who bring in six figures had considered giving up at some point. This goes to show that while affiliate marketing (especially high-ticket affiliate marketing) can be incredibly profitable, it takes a lot of time to build up.

15 Successful High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing Programs

There are dozens of amazing high-ticket affiliate marketing programs for interested affiliate marketers to join and start building an income. But we’re going to highlight 15 well-known and successful options to help with your search.

1. Automattic

Automattic's affiliate landing page.

Automattic is a tech umbrella that houses tools like WordPress domains and hosting, plugins like WooCommerce and Jetpack, and more. When you apply for the affiliate program, you can pick and choose between the different options or aim to promote all of them.

Link to join: Automattic affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Website hosting and development

Commission: This depends on which Automattic brands you promote. Commissions range from 5-40% payouts depending on the product.

Cookie duration: 30 days

(Note: Cookies refer to how long your tracking link will track a purchase. So in this example, any purchase that someone who has clicked your affiliate link makes within 30 days is still attributed to you, and you receive the commission for it.)

2. Bluehost

Bluehost affiliate landing page.

Bluehost is a website hosting platform that offers a flat rate for its affiliates. While on the lower end of our list of high-ticket affiliate programs, a reliable $65 per sale is still a pretty good deal. Simply sign up for the program, and anytime someone uses your link to sign up for hosting, you get a $65 payout.

Link to join: Bluehost affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Website hosting

Commission: $65 per qualified sale

Cookie duration: 30 days

3. Kinsta

Kinsta affiliate landing page.

Kinsta is a WordPress hosting service with a great affiliate program for bloggers and creators in the tech industry. Affiliates receive an upfront flat rate bonus when the purchase happens, plus a monthly 10% commission for as long as the referral remains a customer, meaning Kinsta’s program offers a great chance at generating passive income.

Link to join: Kinsta affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Website hosting

Commission: A one-time bonus of up to $500, along with lifetime monthly commissions of 10%

Cookie duration: 60 days

4. WP Engine

WP Engine affiliate landing page.

WP Engine is another website hosting platform with a generous affiliate payout. Not only does WP Engine track purchases made through your link for up to six months from their initial click, but their one-time commission structure is a great way to generate an income.

Link to join: WP Engine affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Website hosting

Commission: $100-200+ per sale

Cookie duration: 180 days

5. Shopify

Shopify affiliate landing page.

Ecommerce business platform Shopify also has a great high-ticket affiliate marketing program to consider, especially for creators who promote business-related content and products. Only Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans as well as the POS Pro are eligible for commission, but they pay a flat rate of $150 per signup (depending on location).

Link to join: Shopify affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business

Commission: $150 per sale (though this may be lower depending on your location)

Cookie duration: 30 days

6. Spocket

Spocket affiliate landing page.

Spocket is a dropshipping software company that helps ecommerce businesses to easily sell and ship products to their customers. Its affiliate program works on a tiered commission structure, giving 20-30% commissions each month depending on the level of plan each referral signed up for. Because it’s 20-30% of the monthly subscription, this is a great option for affiliates looking to generate passive income.

Link to join: Spocket affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business

Commission: 20-30% per plan

Cookie duration: 90 days

7. FreshBooks

FreshBooks affiliate landing page.

We used accounting software Freshbooks’ affiliate program as an example earlier, but let’s dive deeper into it. This is a great option because affiliates can get paid even if a referral signs up for a free trial, rather than a paid subscription. Paying up to $10 for free trial, the program will then track if that free trial turns into a paying customer, and then pay commission on that.

Link to join: Freshbooks affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business/accounting

Commission: Up to $10 per free trial or up to $200 per paid subscription

Cookie duration: 120 days

8. Coursera

Coursera affiliate landing page.

Online course platform Coursera has an affiliate program that pays out a baseline of 15% to 45% of any eligible course, specialization, professional certificates, or Coursera Plus subscription. Since there are so many different things to promote, Coursera affiliates have a number of ways to generate an income.

Link to join: Coursera affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Education

Commission: 15-45%

Cookie duration: 30 days

9. Thinkific

Thinkific affiliate landing page.

Online course platform Thinkific is another affiliate program with a recurring commission, rather than a flat rate. Affiliates can earn 30% of the monthly recurring revenue (or a flat monthly payout of $150 for Plus plans) for as long as their referrals remain paying customers, earning them up to $1,800 per referral per year.

Link to join: Thinkific affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Education

Commission: 30% of the monthly recurring revenue

Cookie duration: 90 days

10. ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels affiliate landing page.

ClickFunnels is a marketing platform with both tools and educational resources for small businesses looking to build out sales funnels. Affiliates can promote the 14-day free trial, then start receiving commissions from any referrals who turn into paying customers.

Link to join: ClickFunnels affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business/marketing

Commission: 30% of the recurring monthly subscription

Cookie duration: 45 days

11. MemberMouse

MemberMouse affiliate landing page.

MemberMouse is a membership website plugin for WordPress that helps businesses to create a membership portal on their website. This lets companies create an additional revenue stream or simply put together an online community for their audience. MemberMouse provides a 25% commission on the first purchase of any plan, so profits can range from around $75 to $175 per sale.

Link to join: MemberMouse affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Website development

Commission: 25% on the first purchase of any plan

Cookie duration: 90 days

12. HubSpot

HubSpot affiliate landing page.

HubSpot is a marketing software with a number of tools available to help businesses grow, from a CRM to automation tools to customer service software and more. This means there are a number of products you can promote as an affiliate—and you stand to make a lot of money, especially with HubSpot’s 180-day cookie duration.

Link to join: HubSpot affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business/marketing

Commission: 30% recurring commission per sale

Cookie duration: 180 days

13. GetResponse

GetResponse affiliate landing page.

GetResponse is an email marketing software with a pretty lucrative high-ticket affiliate program. Offering an incredible recurring commission rate, GetResponse is a great option for affiliate marketers looking to grow their income. All affiliates start at 40% commission, but can continue to grow to 50% then 60% based on how many sales they generate.

Link to join: GetResponse affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business/marketing

Commission: 40-60% recurring commission rate

Cookie duration: 90 days

14. Semrush

Semrush affiliate landing page.

Semrush is an SEO tool that helps businesses monitor their website’s performance in search engine rankings, find keywords to target, and more. Its affiliate program offers a commission on each referral’s first purchase, as well as for free trials. While not a recurring commission, the program does offer 120-day tracking and a great commission rate for each sale.

Link to join: Semrush affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business/marketing

Commission: $10 for each free trial, $100-200 for each sale

Cookie duration: 120 days

15. Fiverr

Fiverr affiliate landing page.

Fiverr is a gig marketplace that helps businesses find freelancers to help with any kind of service, ranging from video editing and blog writing to LLC setup and bookkeeping. Its affiliate program lets affiliates promote gig services, the Fiverr Pro plan, and the Fiverr logo maker. There’s a larger, upfront commission rate as well as a recurring commission rate.

Link to join: Fiverr affiliate program

Affiliate niche: Business

Commission: 25-100% of the first order, with a 10% recurring commission on return orders over the next 12 months

Cookie duration: 30 days

How to Get Started With High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing

There’s one thing that creators who want to get started with high-ticket affiliate marketing need to keep in mind: it’s a lot different than standard affiliate marketing. Your business tends to be focused around your product promotion, rather than promoting products as a small part of your online presence.

Follow along with these tips to see success with high-ticket affiliate marketing.

Choose Your Niche

If you’re going to be successful in promoting high-dollar products, you need to hone in on a single niche and expert focus so that your audience trusts you and your recommendations. 

For example, if you’re typically posting content about board games, no one is going to take your recommendation for an accounting software seriously. Your high-ticket product promotion must be hyper-relevant to your typical content.

Build an Audience

Most high-ticket affiliate programs want to see that you already have an audience before they approve your application and let you start promoting their products. So creating your online accounts or website and building an audience should be one of your first steps.

You can start a website or blog, social media account, or YouTube channel depending on the type of content you want to create. Then put out some content, engage with other users, and start building a following.

Apply to High-Ticket Affiliate Programs

Once you’ve selected a niche and started growing your audience, it’s time to apply to relevant affiliate marketing programs. You can start with the list we’ve provided of 15 great options and apply to the ones related to your niche.

Keep in mind that it will take some time for these businesses to review your application. Expect to hear back within a few weeks, then you can get started with your promotions.

Create Valuable Content

You don’t want your posts to be constantly promotional in nature. Instead, focus on creating helpful, valuable content that includes product promotions as a natural segue to showing your audience how to find a solution that works for them.

Let’s look at an example of what this type of content might look like. The Social Media CEO is a small brand that talks about social media marketing, providing tips, tools, resources, and more for businesses looking to learn more about social media.

On the brand’s blog, they published an article sharing email marketing tips specifically pertaining to Flodesk, an email marketing software.

The Social Media CEO website with an article about email marketing for the holidays.

The blog post shares an affiliate link to Flodesk, making this the perfect type of high-ticket affiliate marketing content. It feels natural, but by showcasing exactly how businesses can use a tool to do different things, people are going to be more likely to click the link and sign up for said tool.

Start Earning Money With High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing

Build up your own online presence so you can generate passive income with these 15 high-ticket affiliate marketing programs. Learn more about finding a profitable niche so you can set yourself up for success and start engaging with your audience.

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Neil Patel

About the author:

Co Founder of NP Digital & Owner of Ubersuggest

He is the co-founder of NP Digital. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. Neil is a New York Times bestselling author and was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations.

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Neil Patel

source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/high-ticket-affiliate-marketing/