Affiliate programs can provide a great opportunity if you are looking for the best way to make money online. Affiliate programs allow you to earn commissions by promoting products or services from other businesses. With the growing popularity of online courses, new and exciting affiliate programs have emerged specifically designed for course creators and marketers.Â

These course-based affiliate programs offer easy ways to monetize your blog or website with minimal effort. They can also be used in more extensive campaigns to increase visibility and sales. This article will explore some of the top online course affiliate programs available today. We’ll look at what they offer, how they work, and how you can start using them in your marketing efforts.Â
Top 12 Online Course Affiliate Programs
Thinkific:
Thinkific is designed for individuals who want to develop and sell online courses and membership sites. Thinkific provides all the tools necessary to construct an online training program, from creating landing pages with high conversion rates to validating student efforts through in-depth reporting. More than 50,000 producers utilizing the platform have generated more than $650 million in sales, demonstrating its efficacy.
The core of Thinkific’s education affiliate program is revenue sharing. When you recommend a paying client, you will get a 30% recurring commission on their monthly or yearly paid plans for as long as they remain paying customers. In perspective, this implies that you may potentially earn up to $1,700 per referral every year. Not bad, eh?
Commission rate: Up to $1,700 per referral per year
The Princeton Review:
Princeton is one of the most renowned educational institutions in the world. The Princeton Review, it also assists prospective college students to get admission to their selected institutions, including medical and law schools. Students can pursue online education or enroll in individualized instruction from an experienced teacher. While other websites and teachers provide exam preparation, Princeton is among the most respected.
And it is definitely one of the best at preparing pupils, with 96% of members improving their grades and 45% gaining admission to the school of their choice. The 8% commission rate offered by Princeton Review may not seem very amazing, but their affiliate program gives an EPC of over $900 and an average payment of $108 per transaction, so affiliates are certainly earning money. Therefore, if you’re seeking pure profit potential, this may be the affiliate program for you.
Commission: 8% per sale
Skillshare:
Skillshare is an online education platform that facilitates the acquisition of useful skills in creative industries such as drawing, design, and photography. If your audience is interested in anything creative-related, they are certain to discover a suitable alternative among the platform’s more than 42,000 online courses and video lessons.
Skillshare is unusual in that it does not compensate affiliates for generating fully-fledged client accounts. Its affiliate program is instead focused on creating free trials. For each registration that you recommend, you will get $7. However, your referrals do not have to purchase anything for you to get a commission. Affiliate payments are provided on the 16th of each month for referrals credited via the Impact Radius network for the previous month.
Commission rate: $7 per free trial signup
Udacity:
Udacity began as an experiment in online learning when Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig, both Stanford professors, made their Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course available to anybody, anywhere, for free. It is safe to say that their offer was well-received, as over 160,000 students from over 190 nations signed up. In line with Thrun and Norvig’s areas of expertise, Udacity is heavily focused on assisting students in acquiring skills that are in high demand by several prominent tech businesses, such as cloud computing, data science, artificial intelligence, and more.
The cost of Udacity’s so-called nano degree programs begins at $399 per month, so this is not the most economical choice available. However, several government organizations and commercial customers, such as Accenture, Shell, and the United States Air Force, find it appealing. Regarding affiliate commissions, you will get $25 for each person you introduce to Udacity via your affiliate website.
Commission: $25 per signup
Rosetta Stone:
Almost certainly, you are aware that the Rosetta Stone is a stone tablet unearthed by French forces during Napoleon’s 18th-century conquest of Egypt, which provided researchers with the linguistic key to translate the country’s ancient hieroglyphics. In addition, you may be aware that Rosetta Stone is one of the most recognizable brands in foreign language study, providing language training courses in twenty-four different languages.
While many language classes rely on hours of tedious repetition, Rosetta Stone’s technique is centered on presenting students with a visual, followed by the related phrase. This very successful method for teaching a new language is easy enough for primary school kids yet complex enough for college students (or above).
As an incredibly well-known company, Rosetta Stone should not take a great deal of “selling” on your behalf; nevertheless, if you need a little more power, you might offer your visitors a free trial to save money. That is always an effective method for closing the transaction.
Commission: 7% per sale
Rocket Languages:
As you may have guessed, Rocket Languages provides language instruction courses. In the mid-2000s, co-founder Jason Oxenham and his buddy Mark Ling founded the firm after trying to learn a foreign language using “conventional” teaching techniques. Rocket French and Rocket Spanish were its initial two offerings, but it currently provides courses in more than a dozen languages.
As seen by its 1,400 five-star ratings, the vast majority of the more than 1,2 million users who have used the website to learn a new language seem to have been quite satisfied. Now let’s discuss the advantages of the Rocket Languages affiliate program. Initially, you will get a substantial 40% base commission. With an average order value of $145, this is not to be taken lightly.
In addition, the firm provides an enormous 120-day cookie window, which is far longer than any of the other affiliate programs on our list. There is plenty to enjoy about Rocket Languages, what with its automatic bonus tier levels, a broad assortment of unique banners and links, special bargains, and frequent promotional coupons.
Commission rate: 40% per sale
LinkedIn Learning:
This affiliate program is extremely enticing due to LinkedIn’s phenomenal brand recognition and enormous professional readership. Inexperienced with LinkedIn Learning? It is a learning platform with over 16,000 online business, design, and technology courses in seven languages, using data and insights from the social media company’s more than 770 million users.
An attractive feature of LinkedIn Learning is its tailored course suggestions, which are based on an analysis of the abilities that users want to acquire in order to help them locate the proper course. When they do, they are able to learn at their own speed.
However, generating sales is where the real money is made: affiliate marketers earn 35% on individual course purchases and up to $40 per month membership. LinkedIn provides you with all the banners, text links, and free trial offers you need to convert your affiliate website, visitors, into paying LinkedIn Learning clients.
Commission rate: Up to $40 per subscription
Pluralsight:
Pluralsight identifies itself as “the technology learning platform,” enabling users to assess their technical abilities and locate courses that fit with their learning goals. However, it is not just intended for people. Web development, data, security, and cloud computing are just a few examples of the subjects covered by these courses.
Individual courses cost $29 per month or $299 per year, while team memberships begin at $399 per year. Intriguingly, the Pluralsight affiliate network pays $5 for free trial referrals, so you do not need to actually sell anything to receive a profit.
Unsurprisingly, the incentives for boosting real sales are far larger. Specifically, you’ll earn 50% on one-time (i.e., monthly) sales and 15% on yearly subscriptions, so you should focus your affiliate marketing efforts on promoting these long-term plans. As if that weren’t enough, you also have access to Pluralsight’s weekly newsletter, which is filled with helpful sales-driving advice and insights.
Commission rate: Up to 15% on annual subscriptions
MasterClass:
MasterClass, for the uninitiated, is a streaming service that enables you and I to acquire new skills from true experts in their respective fields. Even if it is not one-on-one instruction, it is still rather amazing. Memberships begin at $180 per year and include unrestricted access to all of its online educational resources. MasterClass is accessible on mobile, Roku devices, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV, allowing subscribers to enjoy it whether they are lounging at home or commuting to work.
MasterClass offers generous affiliate commissions of 25% each sale, which is a positive development. Given that all plans are invoiced yearly, the income potential is substantial. MasterClass sends out twice-monthly emails that include course updates, banners, and content. Affiliate marketers may obtain all the help they want from the dedicated account management staff.
Commission rate: 25% per sale
Coursera:
Coursera has over 5,000 courses, degrees, and professional certifications from some of the world’s largest corporations and educational institutions, such as Amazon, Google, IBM, and Carnegie Mellon University. However, it does not quite match Udemy’s breadth of course offerings. If you find it appealing, you are not alone. More than 100 Fortune 500 firms and 82 million students have joined Coursera. That is very credible.
Additionally, Coursera has one of the most prominent education affiliate programs. And by “high-paying,” we mean “popular.” Its affiliate program offers 10% to 45% commission on all qualified purchases made within 30 days of clicking a referral link, and there are incentives available for exceptional success. Coursera, unlike many other affiliate networks, allows you to earn money on purchases to current members.
This is a significant chance to earn many sales from a single buyer. If we were to be really critical, we may state that it would be preferable if the commissions were regular, as opposed to a one-time reward payout. However, lifelong commissions are rare in the realm of education affiliate networks, so this is a minor setback.
Commission rate: 10% – 45% per sale
Udemy:
Udemy is one of the most prominent brands in online education, providing instructional videos from over 64,000 teachers spanning more than 185,000 courses available in 75 languages. Need some more imposing-sounding figures? Sure you do. The online learning platform has registered over 49 million students and produced over 680 million enrollments in courses.
Oh, and it also has over 10,000 enterprise-level clients, which, in case you didn’t know, approximately translates to “huge income potential.” Every Udemy teacher is a bona fide subject matter expert with a wealth of practical expertise and a passion for sharing their knowledge with others, which is likely a contributing factor to the site’s 4.5-star rating on G2 (from close to 500 reviews).
The compensation rates offered by the Udemy education affiliate program are “competitive” and rise the more you promote. The platform provides you with access to all the marketing tools you could possibly need, such as tracking links and an abundance of creative materials. Like the way Udemy sounds? Your application will be assessed within three to four business days after registration.
Commission rate: Undisclosed
Conclusion
Setting up an affiliate program for online courses can be a great way to increase sales and engagement. With the right tools, affiliates can help promote your course, bringing in more customers and increasing revenue. Affiliate programs are easy to set up and come with many benefits that make them worth pursuing. For those looking to maximize their online business opportunities, affiliate programs are an essential consideration.
Whether you’re just starting out or already have an established presence in the market, incorporating affiliate marketing into your strategy can help bring in more profits than ever before. With the right approach and proper research, you could soon be reaping the rewards from enrolling new students through these valuable partnerships!
FAQs
Q: What is an online course affiliate program?
A: An online course affiliate program allows you to earn commissions by referring customers to a particular business’s products or services. As an affiliate, you get paid for every sale generated from your referrals. In the case of online courses, affiliates can promote and direct students to enroll in a specific course and will receive a commission whenever someone purchases their recommended product.
Q: How do I make money through an Online Course Affiliate Program?
A: You can make money with an Online Course Affiliate Program by promoting the courses available on the platform that you are affiliated with. You will be provided with unique links or banners that you can share on social media, on your website, or through email. Every time someone clicks on the link and purchases a course, you will be rewarded with a commission.
Q: What is the best affiliate program for online courses?
A: The best affiliate program for online courses depends on your individual needs and preferences. Many sites offer great incentives to affiliates, such as high commissions, easy sign-up processes, and helpful support teams. Popular platforms include Udemy, Skillshare, Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi. When researching different programs it is important to look into their terms and conditions carefully to ensure that the agreement meets your requirements before signing up.
Q: How do I get started with an Online Course Affiliate Program?
A: To get started with an Online Course Affiliate Program, you will first need to sign up on the platform. You will be required to provide your personal information, such as name and email address, before being accepted into the program. After registration is complete, you can begin promoting courses by sharing links or banners with potential customers. Make sure to read all of the terms and conditions carefully before starting to ensure that you are aware of any rules or restrictions that may apply. Once everything is set up, start promoting courses and earning commissions!