These 5 Affiliate Platforms Are The Best To Start With

Most affiliate marketing content tells you these platforms exist. Almost none of it shows you what’s actually inside them.

So that’s what this post (and the video it’s paired with) is for. A tour of 5 affiliate platforms I use, what the dashboard actually looks like, how you create links or lists, and who each one is genuinely built for. If you’ve only ever seen these names on a list, this is the “walk in the door and look around” version.

This post contains affiliate and referral links, which means I may earn a commission if you sign up or purchase through them, at no cost to you.

Mavely

Mavely is built around a simple idea: browse brands, grab a link, share it. Once you’re in, you get access to 1,400+ brands like Nike, Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Lululemon, all sitting in one dashboard instead of scattered across separate affiliate programs.

Creating a link is genuinely a few taps. Search or browse for a brand, open the product or the brand’s general page, and Mavely generates your link. There’s also a browser extension that lets you grab a Mavely link for a product while you’re already shopping on a retailer’s site, which is the workflow most Mavely creators actually use day to day.

Commission rates vary by brand, anywhere from around 4% up to 40% or more. You can see the rate right on the brand page before you decide to link it.

The dashboard itself tracks your clicks, conversions, and earnings, and payouts come biweekly, with commissions processing about 45 days after a sale. That’s noticeably faster than most affiliate programs, which is part of why Mavely feels less like a slow-burn and more like something you can see working within your first month or two.

Getting in: sign up, verify your account, and you’re in. No application, no follower minimum.

Benable

Benable looks and feels almost nothing like a traditional affiliate dashboard. It’s built around lists, similar to a Pinterest board, but shoppable and commission-earning.

Inside Benable, you create a list (say, “My Amazon Kitchen Favorites” or “What’s in My Hospital Bag”), add items to it with a link for each one, and share the list itself as one link. Someone can browse your whole list the way they’d browse a board, click into any item, and you earn a commission if they buy.

You’re not limited to products either. Restaurants, travel spots, and local recommendations all work inside a list, and even the non-commissionable recommendations help your account’s visibility and reach.

The dashboard shows you views on each list, clicks, and earnings, and there’s a discovery feed where other users can find your lists organically, not just through your own shared links.

Getting in: Benable is invite-only. Without an invite from an existing creator, you land on a waitlist with no guaranteed timeline. With an invite link, you’re in within minutes, and new members get a temporary commission bonus on early earnings.

Amazon Associates & Amazon Influencer

Amazon actually runs two separate programs, and they are just a little different.

Associates is the classic affiliate program. You search or browse any product on Amazon, and SiteStripe (a toolbar that appears across the top of Amazon pages once you’re logged in as an Associate) lets you grab a link right from the product page.

You can also build custom idea lists by using a storefront, which allows you to link an entire list, or your whole storefront, with one affiliate link. While the storefront feature is newer to associates, it has always been a well-known feature of the Influencer Program.

Once approved, you get your own Amazon storefront, a custom URL where you can organize products into curated pages the way you’d organize a website’s shop section, plus the ability to record and post shoppable videos directly to your storefront and product pages.

Influencer accounts also get access to Creator Connections, Amazon’s internal marketplace where brands post campaigns with flat fees, separate from regular commission. Browsing Creator Connections inside the dashboard feels similar to browsing a job board, you see open campaigns, apply, and complete the campaign for an additional percentage commission bonus.

Both programs pay the same commission schedule. The real difference in what you get is the storefront, the shoppable video feature, and Creator Connections access.

Getting in: Associates needs a blog, website, or relevant social pages, no follower count required, but you must make 3 qualifying sales within your first 180 days or your account closes. Influencer has no official follower minimum, but approvals in practice rarely happen below 1,000 followers on a public account, and Amazon reviews engagement and content quality alongside follower count.

CJ (Commission Junction)

CJ looks and feels like a business tool rather than a creator app, which makes sense since it’s one of the oldest affiliate networks.

Once you’re inside, you don’t get instant access to every brand. You browse the advertiser directory, apply to individual brands one at a time, and each shows its own status: approved, pending, or declined. Approved brands then give you access to their specific link generator, which is usually a simple tool where you pick a link type (text, banner, product feed) and CJ builds the tracked URL.

The reporting dashboard is more detailed than Mavely or Benable, built for people managing links across many advertisers at once, with breakdowns by advertiser, click date, and commission status.

Getting in: you need to be over 18 and have a live website to join the network itself. Getting approved by individual brands is separate and not guaranteed, and CJ can deactivate accounts that show no activity within the first six months.

Impact

Impact’s dashboard is built around its brand marketplace, where you can find a lot of programs beginners actually recognize like Shopify, Walmart, Airbnb, and thousands more.

Inside, you browse or search the marketplace the way you’d browse an app store, see each brand’s commission structure up front, and apply directly from the listing. Some brands approve automatically, others require manual review. Once approved for a brand, Impact generates your tracked links from inside that brand’s page, and some brands also offer creator-specific tools like product image libraries or pre-written copy.

There’s also a separate creator campaign marketplace inside Impact where brands post paid campaigns similar to Amazon’s Creator Connections, though access to that section requires a connected social account with over 1,000 followers.

Getting in: joining the Impact platform itself is free. You apply with your website, YouTube channel, or social profiles plus audience and engagement info, and once approved for the platform, you apply to individual brand programs from inside the marketplace.

A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Explore Any of These

Disclose your links. 
Every platform above requires you to disclose affiliate relationships, and the FTC requires it too, using clear labels like #ad or #affiliate.

Expect tax paperwork. 
All five require a W-9 or tax interview before paying you, and you’ll receive 1099s for earnings.

Payout timing varies a lot. 
Mavely pays biweekly with a roughly 45 day commission window. Amazon pays about 60 days after month end. CJ and Impact have locking periods, typically 30 to 90 days, plus minimum balance thresholds before payout.

Same brand, different platforms, different rates. 
Some brands run programs on multiple networks (Impact and Mavely, for example) at different commission rates, so it’s worth checking before you settle on where to link something.

Want to See It in Motion?

Reading about a dashboard only gets you so far. I recorded a full walkthrough of all 5 platforms so you can actually see what each one looks like inside before you decide where to spend your time.

You can find it right here in the beginning of this post or head to my YouTube channel to watch here.