In this article, we describe the 7 best WooCommerce affiliate plugins, along with a few quick tips to make your affiliate marketing program a smashing success.
Table of Contents
- Key Affiliate Program Stats You Should Know
- 4 Keys to Affiliate Marketing Success
- The 7 Best WooCommerce Affiliate Plugins
Key Affiliate Program Stats You Should Know
Affiliate marketing has experienced incredible growth in recent years and is now responsible for a large portion of ecommerce revenue.
Don't miss out on this huge component of modern marketing!
4 Keys to Affiliate Program Success
Create the Right Affiliate Program
Before you jump in, it’s wise to do a bit of research on the other affiliate programs that you’re up against. Once you know how your competitors are positioning their affiliate programs and what offers they are making to other marketers, you’ll have a much better idea about what you can do to set your affiliate program apart from the rest.
Read more about how to research your competitor’s affiliate programs.
Acquire Affiliates
Start by making your existing customers affiliates, giving them incentives and education about the benefits of joining your program. Try offering high commission rates, even up to 50%, to recruit your first set of affiliates.
Don't just stick to one type of affiliate. Reach out to a diverse group of affiliate marketers, including bloggers, influencers, and developers. Pay special attention to influencers on platforms like YouTube and Twitter, who often appreciate affiliate programs, and to affiliates already working with your competitors.
Learn how to acquire affiliate partners.
Avoid the Affiliate Marketing Pitfalls
Affiliate marketing comes with risks. The most common is fraud involving false clicks or transactions. Some networks might also ask for a membership fee or use tactics like cookie stuffing to create misleading affiliate sales data.
For more information, see Risks and Vulnerabilities for Affiliate Marketers.
Choose the Right Affiliate Plugin
The best affiliate plugins are easy to set up, integrate fully with WooCommerce, provide great support for your affiliates, and keep you protected from fraud.
Read on for our list of the best WooCommerce affiliate plugins.
The 7 Best WooCommerce Affiliate Plugins
#1 Solid Affiliate for WooCommerce
Solid Affiliate is our top choice as the best WooCommerce affiliate plugin. Its Setup Wizard lets you launch your program in minutes. It has great support for affiliates, including one of the best affiliate portals we've seen. And its admin dashboard and reports help you stay on top of everything with maximum efficiency.
Price
Plans start at $49 per month. These include unlimited affiliates, creatives, and conversions.
Pros
- Extremely easy and simple plugin to set up, with powerful options for experts
- Simple pricing with no additional add-ons or hidden costs
- Create custom affiliate rates with commission rate overrides for affiliates and products
- Great affiliate portal with links, coupons, landing pages, and an excellent dashboard
- Streamlined affiliate payouts
- Self-hosted, so you own the data
Cons
- Affiliate payouts only available through PayPal
- There’s a free trial, but no free version of the plugin
Reviews
Trustpilot: 4.5 with 23 reviews
WordPress.org: N/A
Recommended For
Vendors who want a fully functional WooCommerce affiliate plugin out of the box and won't settle for less than the best.
To read our complete review, see Solid Affiliate.
#2 SliceWP
SliceWP may not be our top WooCommerce affiliate plugin, but it’s a good option, and you won’t be disappointed if you choose it to build and manage your affiliate networks. It has everything you’d expect to find in an affiliate plugin and doesn’t have any major drawbacks.
Price
A free version and paid plans starting at $169 per year. This includes all features and add-ons, with unlimited affiliate conversions.
Pros
- A WooCommerce affiliate plugin that's easy to set up and use
- Simple pricing, with all add-ons included in all plans
- Dashboard with real-time stats for affiliates
- Customizable cookie durations for maximum control
- Free version with a solid set of features, plus 30-day refund on purchases
- Self-hosted, so you own the data
Cons
- Affiliate payouts only available through PayPal
- Plans only allow a maximum of 10 sites
- Premium support not available for a single-site license
Reviews
Trustpilot: None
WordPress.org: 5.0 with 63 reviews
Recommended For
People who have tried Solid Affiliate and are seeking an alternative WooCommerce affiliate plugin.
For our complete review, see SliceWP WordPress Affiliate Plugin.
#3 ReferralCandy
ReferralCandy is not just a WordPress plugin. It's a hosted affiliate platform, with the WordPress plugin acting as a connector to that platform in the cloud.
There are some striking advantages and disadvantages to this model, depending on your situation. If you are a large company with multiple sales channels (or intend to become one), ReferralCandy has the kind of security, online support, and diverse features that may appeal to you. But if you're a startup operating just one WooCommerce store, it's probably overkill. Also, the fact that it stores your data on its own server and charges a commission on every sale may not be optimal for a small startup.
Price
Starts at $564 per year plus 3.5% commission.
Pros
- Support for platforms other than WooCommerce, such as Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce
- Dedicated affiliate account manager, plus uptime guarantees and SLAs
- Live chat support
- Advanced affiliate fraud management
- Dashboard with real-time affiliate stats
- Many mature features for advanced affiliate programs
Cons
- Charges a commission based on affiliate sales
- Not a WooCommerce-specific service
- Large, complicated affiliate platform
- Many features you probably don’t need
- Affiliate data is not self-hosted, unlike your WooCommerce products
Reviews
Trustpilot: None
WordPress.org: 4.9 with 193 reviews
Recommended For
Large stores that can take advantage of all the features offered by ReferralCandy and don’t mind paying a higher price for them.
For our complete review, see ReferralCandy.
#4 Tapfiliate
Just like ReferralCandy, Tapfiliate is not WooCommerce-specific and offers integrations with a broad range of ecommerce platforms. Like ReferralCandy, it’s also very expensive and has a lot of features. The question is: do you need them?
Price
Starts at $890 per year, with a wide range of capabilities and limits for plans.
Pros
- White-labeled affiliate onboarding process for affiliates
- No commission fees
- Many powerful features for complex affiliate programs
- Integrations with many services and platforms
- Endless options for customization and configuration of affiliate programs
Cons
- Plans are very expensive
- Complicated set of capabilities and limits between plans
- Takes a lot of time to learn
- Not a WooCommerce-specific service
Reviews
WordPress.org: 4.2 with 5 reviews
Trustpilot: 3.2 with 10 reviews
Recommended For
People who want a large, powerful affiliate platform and don’t mind paying for it but also don’t want to pay commission fees.
For our complete review, see Tapfiliate.
#5 YITH WooCommerce Affiliates
YITH is a well-respected company that specializes in WooCommerce plugins. You can expect a solid affiliate plugin, a simple setup process, and excellent support. It doesn’t offer you everything that the previous entries in our best WooCommerce affiliate plugins list do, but it's ideal if you want something simpler.
Price
A free version and a paid version for $197 per year.
Pros
- Simple and easy-to-use affiliate plugin
- Easy-to-understand pricing
- Pay affiliate commissions with PayPal and Stripe
- Integrations with other YITH software
- From a company that specializes in WooCommerce
- 100% refund guarantee with no time limits
- Free version of their affiliate plugin available
Cons
- Lacks the power and flexibility of other affiliate plugin options
- This company has many other plugins
Reviews
Trustpilot: 4.8 with 1652 reviews (for YITH in total)
WordPress.org: 4.2 with 17 reviews
Recommended For
WooCommerce store owners on a budget who just need a simple affiliate plugin without lots of customization options.
#6 Affiliates Pro for WooCommerce
Affiliates Pro is a simple, entry-level option made by a company with a wide range of WooCommerce plugins. It made our list of best affiliate plugins, but we put it in 6th place for a reason. You can expect to find the bare minimum of features you’d expect to find in an affiliate plugin, but maybe not all the customization and polish you’d find for affiliate plugins higher on our list.
Price
Plans start at $49 per year. They all include an identical feature set, just with a higher number of site licenses.
Pros
- Simple pricing structure
- Very cheap
- Simple and straightforward capabilities
- Free version available
Cons
- Dated design
- The developer has a wide range of WooCommerce plugins in their portfolio
Reviews
Trustpilot: 3.7 with 1 review (for itthinx in total)
WordPress.org: 5.0 with 6 reviews
Recommended For
WooCommerce store owners on a budget who haven’t found a free affiliate plugin that meets their needs.
#7 Affiliate for WooCommerce
Just like YITH and iithinx, StoreApps exclusively creates WooCommerce software, including an affiliate plugin. Like the other candidates on our list of best affiliate plugins, it’s simple and easy to use, but it lacks a lot of the power and polish of the more advanced options.
Price
A free version, and a paid plan for $179 per year.
Pros
- Simple pricing
- Sold on WooCommerce.com
- Well-respected WooCommerce developer
- Easy to use, with a simple set of features
Cons
- Priced comparably to affiliate plugins with a much more polished and powerful set of capabilities
- The developer has a wide range of plugins in their portfolio
- Lacks a lot of the polish, customization, and power of other plugins
- No free version
Reviews
Trustpilot: 3.2 with 1 review (for StoreApps in total)
WordPress.org: N/A
Recommended For
WooCommerce store owners who have tried other affiliate plugins and haven’t quite found what they’re looking for.
Best WooCommerce Affiliate Plugins — Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use WooCommerce for affiliate marketing?
Yes, you can use WooCommerce for affiliate marketing. It has many affiliate plugins available at all price points that will let you set up the exact affiliate program that you need. WooCommerce is an excellent option for affiliate marketing and ecommerce in general.
How do I set up an affiliate program in WooCommerce?
- Pick a WooCommerce affiliate plugin and install it.
- Follow the plugin setup guide and set up a competitive affiliate program.
- Market your affiliate program to your existing customers and those already promoting your products.
- Research who your competitors are using as affiliates and try to onboard them.
- Reach out to influencers in your space and try to onboard them as affiliates.
What is the best platform to build an affiliate program?
WooCommerce is the best platform to build an affiliate program. You can build your store for free and use a free plugin to set up your affiliate program. If you have a larger budget, you can take advantage of many premium options that are more cost-effective and powerful than other platforms.
How can I promote my affiliate website for free?
- Install a free WooCommerce affiliate plugin.
- Market your affiliate program to existing customers.
- Invite those already promoting your products to become affiliates.
- Create a program with more competitive commissions than your competitors, and approach their affiliates.
Does WooCommerce offer an affiliate program?
While WooCommerce does not offer an affiliate program of its own, a great many affiliate programs offer integrations with it. When it comes to ecommerce, WooCommerce is widely recognized as the top choice and is indeed the most widely used ecommerce platform in the world.
Best WooCommerce Affiliate Plugins — Related Information
Best WooCommerce Shipping Plugins
