31 Best Affiliate Marketing Tools of 2024 (Free & Paid Options)

You can be the best marketer in the world. Without the right tools, you won't make it too far as an affiliate. So after years of experience in the trenches of affiliate marketing, we decided to share our toolset with you. Here's what we recommend:

Best Hosting
cloudways logo icon
Cloudways

If you want reliable hosting that won't buckle under the pressure of increased traffic, Cloudways is the best pick.

Best Page Builder
Generateblocks Logo
GenerateBlocks

GenerateBlocks is not the easiest page builder to use. But if you care about site performance, it's the best builder out there.

Best Content Tool
surfer seo logo
Surfer SEO

If you're serious about conquering the SERP, Surfer SEO is a must-have. It's not free, but it's worth every penny.

Best Site Speed
nitropack logo
Nitropack

Not everybody loves Nitropack. But we do. And if you see first-hand how easily it fixes your site performance, you will too.

Best SEO App
ahrefs log
Ahrefs

Even if people aren't happy with its recent pricing update, Ahrefs remains the best tool to research SEO.

Building anything properly requires the right tools.

And that’s as true of your affiliate marketing business as anything else.

Part of the reason we’ve been so successful in building and selling sites is that we use the best affiliate marketing tools.

We use them to scale up our business and improve our efficiency.

So yes, you can manage without many, if not all, of the affiliate marketing tools or WordPress plugins featured here.

But to be successful, you’ll have to invest at least a little in your affiliate marketing business.

Hosting Tools

Before you can get an affiliate marketing campaign up and running, you need to build a website first.

The first stage in building a website is finding the best web hosting company you can afford.

Speed is a ranking factor for Google, so you can’t use shitty, low-cost web hosting.


1 Cloudways

Best Hosting For Affiliate Marketers
cloudways hosting
Pros:

High-quality hosting

A large variety of servers

Easy to use

Cons:

Not the cheapest hosting out there

Renewal rates can be pretty high

Cloudways is the hosting platform we use for Authority Hacker. It’s also our go-to recommendation for anyone who wants high-speed hosting for established sites. It’s customizable, reliable, and even comes with its own (pretty decent) CDN.

Let’s dig deeper into what it can do.

Features

Cloudway's features

Cloudways has offers for affiliate sites of different shapes and sizes, so we won’t be able to cover everything that Cloudways can do.

But these are its main features:

Choose your server Cloudways offers hosting from 5 high-quality cloud providers.

Supported applications Cloudways lets you add unlimited applications, including all PHP apps.

World-Class SupportNobody wants their site to be down for too long. That’s why it’s great to see Cloudways has 24/7 support, automated backups, and real-time monitoring.

Cloudflare CDN If you want to pass the Core Web Vitals, Cloudway’s tool stack will come in handy.

Interface And Ease Of Use

Cloudway's main dashboard

Like any hosting service, Cloudways can get pretty complicated to use. You’re managing a site, so it’s normal to be overwhelmed if you’ve never done this before. But despite the complexity natural to web hosting services, Cloudways manages to stay easy to use.

Its interface is well-designed, and intuitive, and you’ll catch what goes where in no time.

So if you want a hosting service with a great UX, look no further.

Performance

CWV Test for Authority Hacker

We host this site on Cloudways. As you can see above, the Core Web Vitals results speak for themselves.

If you’re curious, here are the test results from GTMetrix:

GTMetrix Test for Authority Hacker

Granted, we do use Nitropack as well (more about it down below). But even with Nitropack, you wouldn’t have a lightning-fast server without good hosting. Cloudways is a reliable choice for that.

Pricing

Cloudways' pricing plans

Cloudways gives you access to five cloud providers – AWS, Google Cloud, linode, Vultr, and Digital Ocean. Each has different price points, but in general, you can expect to pay anything between $12-$225/month. It all depends on how much bandwidth you need and what features you want.

This is not as cheap as SiteGround or Bluehost, but if you want the best affiliate marketing tools, you’ll need to pay.

Conclusion

Cloudways is the best hosting provider for affiliate marketers. If budget isn’t an issue, we recommend you sign-up for a free account today:

However, there are cheaper options out there. And if you’re bootstrapping, you might want to try a different hosting service.


2 Siteground

Best Affordable Hosting
siteground hosting
Pros:

Affordable shared hosting

Easy integration with WordPress

Site performance optimization

Cons:

Performance isn’t always top-notch

Harder to use than other hosting providers

Siteground is not the fastest nor the most user-friendly hosting service on the market. And we’ve had a lot of AH group members complain about its support. So not a perfect service by any means.

But it’s still one of the best affiliate marketing tools. Why is that?

The OK all-around service helps. Siteground is good enough to get you started. For the low price you’d have to pay, it’s a competitive hosting solution for new affiliate marketers looking to bootstrap a site.

Features

Siteground-Features

These are Siteground’s key features:

Easy To Migrate You can transfer your site to SiteGround in no time.

Free SSL Certificate Even for the lowest tiers, SiteGround offers a free SSL certificate to keep your site secure.

Site Performance OptimizationSiteGround offers out-of-the-box caching, and a free CDN.

Managed WordPress SiteGround integrates really well with WordPress.

24/7 Support If anything goes sideways with your site, you can get in touch with SiteGround at any time.

Interface And Ease Of Use

A screenshot of siteground's interface

Sitegroung’s dashboard might be a bit more confusing than that of Cloudways or other affiliate marketing tools. When you first start using the tool, you might struggle to find where everything goes.

But I don’t think it’s a huge problem. You can easily learn how Siteground works, and the interface is not half-bad once you understand it.

Performance

Siteground Performance

SiteGround has different tiers. For a heftier sum, it can even offer dedicated cloud servers, so your performance can be much better with an expensive SiteGround subscription.

With the basic subscription, though, that is what you get—at least before you make any effort to improve performance.

We still recommend Siteground for beginners, though. It’s a good hosting provider. And that score can be improved, especially with Siteground’s new features.

Pricing

Siteground's pricing plans

SiteGround is a very cheap option for website hosting. You can get its StartUp plan for as little as $3.99/month + VAT. If you want more bandwidth, more space, and extra features, you can pay $6.99 for its GrowBig plan or even $10.79/month for its GoGeek subscription tier.

There may be cheaper options out there. And there definitely are better hosting providers on the market.

But as far as affordable options are concerned, SiteGround is our go-to.

Conclusion

SiteGround is not the best hosting provider for established sites. In that case, you’re better off with Cloudways. But if you’re a beginner affiliate marketer and you need hosting, give SiteGround a try:


3 Bluehost

Best Budget Hosting For Beginners
Bluehost's website
Pros:

Free domain for the first year

Easy to use

Affordable shared hosting

Cons:

Shared hosting – performance won’t be as good

Renewals can be pretty expensive

Bluehost does have a good affiliate program, which is part of the reason you’ll see it on most lists for top affiliate marketing tools. But it’s still a fantastic hosting option for beginners who want a simple, affordable service. If your site doesn’t need the bandwidth for 100,000 visitors each month, you might want to give Bluehost a closer look.

Features

Bluehost's features

Bluehost has an all-in-one package to get new affiliate marketers started with a site. Free domain, SSL certificate, and great integration with WordPress. It’s all here.

These are Bluehots’s main features:

Free Domain When you sign-up for Bluehost, you get a free domain for your first year.

Free SSL Certificate To keep your site safe and secure.

One-Click WordPress Install Get started building your site in no time.

24/7 Support A Bluehost support agent will be there whenever you need help.

Interface And Ease Of Use

Bluehost's interface

IMO, Bluehost has one of the best interfaces out of all website hosting services.

It’s smooth, easy to use, and well-designed.

Much prettier than Siteground, and I might say even Cloudways.

So if you want a beautiful UX, Bluehost might be the best pick for you.

Performance

Bluehost Pagespeed test

You can’t expect stellar performance out of Bluehost.

Ultimately, it’s a shared hosting provider.

So if you’re serious about affiliate marketing, it won’t offer the performance you need to dominate your niche.

However, if you’re just getting started, it’s a smart and viable choice.

Especially thanks to its pricing.

Pricing

Bluehost Pricing

Bluehost’s shared web hosting plans are extremely affordable.

For as little as $2.95/month, you can get hosting for an entire year, a domain, and an SSL certificate included.

That’s a steal in my book.

Even the heftier prices are cheaper than you normally pay on competitors like Cloudways.

But keep in mind that this is the price for shared hosting. If you want dedicated hosting from Bluehost, it’s going to cost a bit more.

Conclusion

Bluehost is a really good alternative to SiteGround. It’s affordable, fast (as fast as shared hosting can be), and beginner-friendly.

If you’re a new affiliate marketer, you can give Bluehost a try:


Page Builders & LP Builders

Being asked to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing website is enough to frighten most affiliates.

But building a website has never been easier than it is today, even for complete technophobes.

 And that’s coming from somebody who coded his first website in Notepad.

Yes, the text editor.

These days even a newbie can go from zero to a completed website in a single day.

But the key to that is choosing a great page builder for WordPress.

Here are our favorites.


4 GenerateBlocks

Best Website Builder For WordPress
GenerateBlock's website
Pros:

Lightweight Gutenberg elements

Deep customization options

Great performance

Cons:

Hard to use if you come from traditional page builders

GenerateBlocks is the best choice to build your affiliate marketing site. It’s easy to use, pretty powerful, and most importantly: it doesn’t slow down your site. Compared to all other page builders, GenerateBlocks won’t ruin your Core Web Vitals score or your site speed.

Features

GB's features

GenerateBlocks isn’t your average page builder. It doesn’t have dozens of templates, it’s not drag-and-drop, and you can’t use it in the same workflow as you would Elementor, Thrive Architect, or Divi. Rather, GenerateBlocks adds four unique blocks to the Gutenberg editor. With these four blocks, you can do pretty much anything.

Here are all of GenerateBlock’s main features:

Four Key Gutenberg BlocksGenerateBlocks lets you add a Container, Headline, Button, or Grid. They may not sound like much, but they’re the improvements Gutenberg needs.

Advanced customizations You can edit the typography, spacing, colors, and plenty of other details about each GenerateBlocks element.

World-Class PerformanceThe biggest perk of GenerateBlocks is how fast it moves. If you want a speedy site and green ticks all around the Core Web Vitals, it’s the best pick.

Responsiveness If you want your pages to look just as pretty on all screens, GenerateBlocks makes your job 10 times easier.

Interface And Ease Of Use

GB elements in Gutenberg

GenerateBlocks integrates seamlessly into WordPress’ Gutenberg Editor. The 4 blocks you can add with GB are highlighted in blue, so you can spot them as soon as you install the app on your site.

You can even edit old pages with GenerateBlocks. You just change existing elements with the GB-blue ones.

Editing an individual element is also extremely easy.

And you get A TON of options to make your pages look however you want.

Element editing options in GB

From our experience, there’s no better page builder that integrates directly into WordPress.

Performance

CWV Test for Authority Hacker

This site is built with GenerateBlocks. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. GB makes it really easy to create our pages, update old content, and do it all while we pass the CWV, and our site is loading fast.

We also use the GeneratePress theme, and they work really well in tandem.

But both of them work well on their own as well.

If you want to find out more about how we use GenerateBlocks, and what we think of it, don’t forget to:

Read Our GenerateBlocks Review ->

Pricing

GB Pricing

Like most page builders, you can only pay for GenerateBlocks on a yearly basis. The cheapest plan they offer is $39/year, and for it, you’ll get 150+ templates, global styles, an asset library, advanced backgrounds, and plenty more for one site.

The only reason you’d pay more is if you need GenerateBlocks on more sites. For 10 sites, it’ll cost $69, and for 250, it’s $99.

All in all, a really good price.

Conclusion

If you want to build your affiliate marketing site, there’s no smarter investment than GenerateBlocks. It’s user-friendly enough so that you don’t need to hire an expensive developer, but it’s also lightweight enough to keep Google happy.

And you can get your license of GenerateBlocks today:

If you want something even more user-friendly, check out our other affiliate marketing tools.


5 Elementor

Best Traditional Page Builder
Elementor's website
Pros:

Easy to use

Dozens of templates

Pretty affordable

Cons:

Bad performance in Pagespeed tests

Updates can cause problems

Elementor is not as light and responsive as GenerateBlocks. But it’s still a very good choice for beginner affiliate marketers. If you don’t want to learn how to use GenerateBlocks and Gutenberg, Elementor is still a (somewhat) viable choice.

Features

Elementor features

I don’t recommend you use Elementor if you care about SEO. Chances are, your site won’t load fast enough for Google to be happy.

But people still choose Elementor.

And here’s why:

Convenient drag-and-drop editor Creating pages in Elementor is fast and easy.

TONS of templates Further speeding up your website creation.

Responsive Editing Make sure your pages display well on mobile devices.

Global Editing With Elementor, you can create global styles and elements in no time.

Interface And Ease Of Use

Elementor User InterfaceElementor User Interface

Elementor has one of the best interfaces of all page builders and affiliate marketing tools. You drag elements from the left side of the screen and drop them on the site page on the right.

Even more complex options, like creating global templates or editing elements for mobile – you can figure out how to use them in a matter of days, if not hours.

So Elementor is pretty.

And it’s very easy to use, even for people without experience using page builders.

Performance

Siteground Performance

Since Google started being very serious about speed and web performance, we stopped using Elementor.

And the main reason is performance. Elementor doesn’t ALWAYS slow down your site. But it’s usually a risk.

Elementor’s code (just like all regular page builders) is messy so that it won’t load fast enough. If you’re serious about SEO, you might want to check out GenerateBlocks instead of Elementor.

Pricing

Elementor's pricing plans

Elementor’s website builder is pretty affordable. When compared to other page builders, it’s more or less average.

For one website, you get all the Elementor Pro features for just $49/year.

If you want expert website kits, as well as premium support, you can pay as much as $199-$999/year.

You can also try it for free. If you want to see how Elementor works, they have a free version on the WordPress plugin repository.

Conclusion

Elementor is not the best website builder for SEO. But it’s still VERY easy to use, and pretty affordable.

So if you’re a beginner and you don’t know too much about developing a website, you can give it a try:


6 Thrive Architect

Best Page Builder For Conversion Rate Optimization
Thrive Architect's website
Pros:

Default to conversion rate optimization

Exhaustive online marketing toolset

Easy to use

Cons:

Not the best performance

Rigid pricing

Thrive Architect is another popular page builder and a good alternative to Elementor. Thrive is focused on conversion optimization and has amazing tools for marketers who want to DIY a website or sales page.

If that’s music to your ears, keep reading.

Features

Thrive's Features

You can use Thrive to build affiliate sites, but you just might find it a tiny bit “top-heavy” for that.

But if you’re a serious digital marketer, Thrive Architect is pretty much made for you. Its templates and features are ready-made to help marketers build a site.

These are its main features:

Drag-and-drop editor Thrive Architect has an easy-to-use and fast drag-and-drop editor. Building pages doesn’t get easier than this.

Conversion-optimization templates Thrive Architect has a lot of page and block elements, all focused on helping you convert more.

Easy To Edit CSS and HTML Thrive lets you customize your pages in-depth with the help of CSS and HTML.

24/7 Support Thrive has live support available at any time, on top of the Thrive University, and plenty of other resources to help you hit the ground running with the tool.

Interface And Ease Of Use

Thrive Architect Interface

Thrive Architect has a very similar interface to Elementor. You can edit the elements on a page and drag new blocks/templates into the page to build something.

However, Thrive Architect is complex. It can be used to build advanced pages and run A/B tests.

It can take a while to master all of those functionalities.

Still, for the marketing powerhouses you can create, Thrive is one of the easiest affiliate marketing tools to use.

Performance

Thrive Architect performance

Like Elementor and any other page builder, Thrive Architect can mess up your site’s code, especially if you try to build something that needs more than two images and a button.

So, your site’s performance will depend on what elements you use and how you build it.

Generally, affiliate marketers who use Thrive are not getting the best performance.

Pricing

Thrive Suite Pricing

Unfortunately, you can’t pay for just Thrive Architect. You’ll need to buy the entire Thrive suite, which includes this page builder, a quiz builder, a lead generation tool, and other really useful WordPress plugins.

You can buy all of them for $299/year, or $99/quarter.

This makes the initial investment steeper than what you’d pay on your average page builder. Elementor is just $50/year.

However, you also get many advanced tools, all of which are suitable for marketing and conversion rate optimization.

Conclusion

Thrive Architect is not our first recommendation for affiliate marketers. It’s a page builder first, so not ideal for SEO. And even if you were to go with a page builder, Elementor is usually the better pick.

However, no other competitor offers as much functionality and as many tools for conversion rate optimization.

So if you want to create killer sales pages, give it a try:


Content Creation Tools

If I was to say to you that “….content is king” I’d understand your urge to punch me in the kidneys until I pass out.

But it’s the truth.

You need to ensure that the words on your page aren’t just engaging your human visitors but are also feeding Google’s bots exactly what they expect to find.

Here’s what we use.


7 Grammarly

Best Grammar Checker
Grammarly's website
Pros:

Tons of content optimization features

VERY easy to use

Amazing free version

Cons:

Recommends dumb changes sometimes

Grammarly is the best grammar checker you can get. It works wonders to keep your text error-free. If you get the Pro version, it can even improve your text’s readability and style.

Let’s find out how.

Features

Grammarly Features

Grammarly’s features all improve your content quality. From catching big grammar mistakes to suggesting alternative syntax or synonyms, Grammarly helps you write better articles.

These are its main features:

Core Grammar Checker Grammarly makes sure your content’s grammar is correct.

Conciseness and Clarity To keep your content on-point and easy to read.

Engagement Suggestions Make sure your audience is hooked on your articles.

Style And Tone Grammarly helps you maintain a consistent tone, and improve the style of your articles.

Extensions And Apps Grammarly is available as a browser extension, desktop app, and even a mobile keyboard.

Plagiarism Checker If you want to check text originality, you can do that in Grammarly as well.

Interface And Ease Of Use

Grammarly Document History

Grammarly has tons of apps, so naturally, tons of interfaces.

But they’re all well-designed, in my opinion. All apps are easy to install and use.

And implementing Grammarly’s suggestions is usually just a click away.

Grammarly Engagement Suggestion

So, all in all, we’re happy with its interface and ease of use.

Our Experience With Grammarly

We use Grammarly daily here at Authority Hacker. It can sometimes miss the mark by recommending something dumb, but its suggestions are helpful nine times out of ten.

It’s not just one of the best affiliate marketing tools; we would recommend it to anyone writing in English.

If you want to find out more,

Pricing

Grammarly Pricing

Grammarly has two plans: Free and Pro.

Both versions include a Chrome extension, so you can check your grammar without leaving Google Docs.

The Pro version also comes with an advanced plagiarism checker, so you effectively get the features of the Hemingway app and DupliChecker in one very affordable package.

Grammarly Pro packages start at $29.98

Conclusion

Grammarly is a top-tier content tool and the best grammar checker on the market.

If you want help improving your content’s grammar and flow, don’t miss out:


8 Surfer SEO

Best SEO Content Optimization
Surfer SEO's website
Pros:

The best keyword suggestions for articles

Advanced research

Extremely useful for understanding search intent

Cons:

Pretty expensive (although we think it’s worth the money)

If you’re a regular visitor to the site, you’ll know how much love we have for Surfer SEO.

Surfer SEO analyses your competitor’s pages to the tiniest detail and then gives you a blueprint for improving your rankings.

We’ve tested this, and it works really, really well.

Features

Surfer SEO's features

Surfer SEO has a rich toolset, even if it’s mostly popular for its Content Editor.

Here are its key features:

Content Editor Surfer SEO will suggest keywords to use in any article, to rank better on the SERP.

Content Planner Helps you create a content strategy for your site.

Brief Creation To speed up article creation, with freelancers or AI writers.

SEO Audit Perfect to gauge your site’s performance, or analyze your competitors.

Browser Extension Surfer integrates seamlessly into your online work.

Interface And Ease Of Use

Surfer SEO's interface

Surfer SEO’s main dashboard can be slightly confusing the first time you log in. But you’ll catch onto how it works in no time!

And its browser extension is extremely useful and easy to use:

Surfer SEO's browser extension active in google Docs

Our Experience With Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO does an amazing job of analyzing the SERP and suggesting content improvements for any keyword.

That’s why we use it in ALL of our articles.

And not just as an afterthought. If you integrate Surfer SEO into your editorial process, you can use it to understand a topic, and even search intent.

For more, read our Surfer SEO review ->

Pricing

Surfer SEO's pricing

The cheapest Surfer SEO plan costs $49/month, but it’s very limiting. You only get 10 articles for it.

If you want more, you’ll have to pay $99/month for 30 articles, or $199/month for 70 articles.

Conclusion

Surfer SEO might be a bit expensive. But it’s a must-have in today’s SEO climate.

We use it for all of our articles. And so should you:


9 Jasper AI

Best AI Writing Software
A screenshot of Jasper's website
Pros:

Useful templates and features

Easy to use

Long-form assistant is amazing

Cons:

Expensive for higher word counts

Content is not good all the time

Jasper AI (formerly Jarvis AI) is an AI writing assistant. It takes input from a user, works its magic (based on the GPT-3 model), and outputs AI-generated content for you.

That’s right, it can write content for you.

But is it any good?

Features

A list of Jasper's Templates

Jasper is not an affiliate marketing tool. It’s suitable for anyone who needs content for an online audience. It has many flashy features, the king among them being the long-form assistant.

So let’s do a roundup of what Jasper brings to the table:

Long-form assistant Easily create long-form articles, or train the AI to write anything for you.

Based on GPT-3 The latest OpenAI language model.

Over 50 content templates To output content in record time.

Multi-language support Jasper supports over 25 languages.

Other add-onsJasper also has a grammar checker, plagiarism tool, an SEO mode, and other great add-ons.

Interface and Ease Of Use

A document opened in Jasper

Jasper AI has very helpful guides and an intuitive interface. You should have a really easy time getting started with it.

Learning how to master the AI and teach it how to write something specific… that’s harder.

And it will take some time to do.

But until then, Jasper AI’s templates, recipes, and long-form assistant will help you output A LOT of content really fast.

Pricing

Jasper AI's pricing

Jasper’s pricing doesn’t look too bad at first. The Starter plan costs $29/month, and its Boss Mode costs as little as $59/month.

But if you want to make the most out of Jasper AI, you’ll need the Boss Mode. So really, the cheapest you can get all the features we explored today is $59/month. And it will cost more if you need a higher word cap.

Our Experience With Jasper

We used Jasper AI for a while at Authority Hacker. In our experience, Jasper AI can output A LOT of content in very little time. And it’s especially useful for listicles.

If you want to see it in action, check out this YouTube video we made:

If you want more, don’t forget to check out our Jasper AI review.

Our Honest Take

Although GPT-3 still misses the mark sometimes, Jasper AI is the best AI writing software.

It can help you output double the content in half the time. And with our affiliate marketing statistics page showing that 79.3% of affiliate marketers are embracing AI content creation, it’s a great way to hop on the bandwagon

With our affiliate program link, you can also get a special offer from Jasper:


10 Frase IO

Best Combo For Research And AI Writing
A screenshot of Frase IO's website
Pros:

Useful research tools

Comprehensive document editing

Decent keyword optimization

Cons:

Quite pricey

Complicated platform

Frase IO is an interesting combo. It has some classic AI generation capabilities – it can write articles for you. But it complements that with advanced topic research and even article optimization. Perfect for research and writing in affiliate marketing.

Let’s dig deeper.

Features

If you want something that takes you from article research to keyword optimization, all in the same dashboard, Frase IO is the tool you need.

These are Frase IO’s main features:

Topic research Frase IO asks for a keyword, then researches the topic, SERP, and online dialogue.

Keyword Optimization Frase IO suggests LSI keywords to use in your articles.

Over 10 Content Templates – Although they’re not Frase’s main focus, it’s nice that they’re here.

AI content generation It’s not based on GPT-3, which is a double-edged sword. It’s not the best language model on the net, but it also doesn’t rely on OpenAI for updates.

Comprehensive document editingFrase IO offers an SEO checker, grammar corrections, and even some task management features.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Frase IO's main dashboard

Frase IO has a starting guide, which is helpful to get started.

But IMO, it’s not enough to teach you everything Frase IO can do and how to use the tool in its entirety.

For that, you’ll need to make some mistakes and slowly learn how to use Frase IO while messing up.

Pricing

Frase IO Pricing

Frase IO is not a free affiliate marketing software. With the cheapest subscription costing you $44.99/month, it’s not the cheapest tool on this list, but it’s definitely in most people’s budget.

However, that money won’t get you the entire Frase IO tool stack.

If you want to use everything we outlined today, you’ll also need the SEO add-on, which costs $75-$80 per month.

Still cheaper than some tools. But not affordable if you’re just getting started with affiliate marketing.

Our Experience With Frase IO

We really like Frase IO. Its research capabilities are extremely helpful and probably the most advanced of all content tools. Only Surfer SEO comes close, but it can’t do AS MUCH as Frase IO.

So, if you want a fast way to research articles and much more on top, Frase IO might be a smart pick for you.

If you want to find out more, read our Frase IO review ->

Our Honest Take

Google is not a huge fan of AI content generation, so you would risk it if you used all of Frase’s tools. But if you’re up for it, or if you just like its research capabilities for updating content, you should give Frase IO a shot:


Site Speed

The time for debate is over – speed is now a ranking factor.

So if you want to be able to compete with your big gun competitors, your sites need to load in under 3 seconds.

The good news is that you don’t need to be some kind of web-coding genius to make that happen. You just need the right WordPress optimization plugins.


11 Nitropack

Best Site Speed Tool
Pros:

Best website optimization

Set it and forget it

CDN included

Cons:

Expensive

NitroPack is an all-inclusive site optimization and caching service.

The beauty of using NitroPack is you won’t need to remember which features you want to use – everything is taken care of in the background.

You do have to install a plugin, but you won’t have to go through page after page of settings – you just set it and forget it.

Features

Nitropack features

Nitropack gets a bad rep in some online circles. People even claim it’s black hat SEO (it’s not, read our Nitropack review to see how we dispel that myth).

So for the sake of clarity, these are Nitropack’s main features:

Advanced Caching – Nitropack helps you manage your site’s caching effectively.

Effective Code Optimization Nitropack can optimize your HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Easy, no fuss set-up – Just install Nitropack on your site, and enjoy faster loading times, better CWV scores, and more.

Content Delivery NetworkNitropack operates its own, pretty good CDN.

Complete image optimizationMake sure your image load fast and adapt to users’ screens.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Nitropack Caching

Nitropack is the easiest site optimization tool to use. While most other entries, like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache, will have you playing around with minification settings, you just need to install Nitropack. The rest is taken care of automatically.

If you want, you can customize a lot of what Nitropack does.

But you don’t have to. 9 cases out of 10, you’ll just install it and instantly pass the Core Web Vitals test.

Pricing

Nitropack Pricing

Nitropack has a free plan, but it’s pretty lackluster. And it’s limited to 5,000 views per month.

The cheaper plans seem pretty affordable—$17.50 per month is not too bad. But if your site is big, you can end up spending thousands of dollars each year on Nitropack. We still think it’s worth it, but the high cost is something to keep in mind.

Our Experience With Nitropack

We use Nitropack on all of our sites. No matter what site speed test tool you use, Nitropack will be the fastest way to speed up your site and pass the Core Web Vitals. So we’re not only recommending Nitropack for its affiliate marketing program—it’s actually one of our favorite affiliate marketing tools.

👉 If you’re not convinced yet, read our Nitropack review.

Conclusion

Nitropack is not black hat SEO, and it won’t “trick” Google into thinking your site is fast. It’s a very good solution to improve your website performance and CWV scores.

If you have the budget for it, you can get it here:


12 WP Rocket

Best Affordable Site Speed Tool
Pros:

Pretty good at optimizing web performance

Advanced customization

Relatively affordable

Cons:

Harder to use than Nitropack

Not always as effective

Like Nitropack, WP Rocket can do way more than just caching. That includes code optimization and even some improvements to your site media.

But it’s not as set it and forget it as Nitropack. And it’s cheaper.

Features

Wp Rocket Cache Options

WP Rocket isn’t as effective as Nitropack. But that’s why it has a much lower price tag. And if you’re curious about what’s included in a subscription, these are WP Rocket’s main features:

Code optimization WP Rocket helps you optimize HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Improved caching Helps your site cache content better.

Quick set-up for WP – Not as fast as Nitropack, but still good enough.

Advanced caching settings – WPRocket lets you customize how it works.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Wp Rocket Advanced Rules

WP Rocket is not as easy to use as Nitropack. You might need to fiddle with its settings before you make it work for your site. But it’s still really easy to use, and you should get to optimize your site in no time.

If you want to find out more about using WP Rocket, don’t forget to check our WP Rocket review.

Pricing

Wp Rocket Pricing

The cheapest WP Rocket plan costs $49/year, but for that money, you get ALL of its features. You only need to pay more if you want to install the plugin on more sites.

Conclusion

WP Rocket is a great choice if you want a cheaper alternative to Nitropack. It’s affordable, efficient, and easy to use. Get yours here:


Lead Collection

If email marketing tools have one intrinsic flaw it’s that they try to be all things to all marketers.

And that’s typically where the problems start because either the analytics aren’t as good as you’d like, or their pop-ups are a bit meh.

That’s why we use a separate lead collection tool, and you probably should too.


13 OptinMonster

Best Lead Generation Software
OptinMonster's website
Pros:

Best lead gen software

Amazing pop-up maker

Advanced triggers for pop-ups

Cons:

Not the easiest to use

Lacks some useful integrations

OptinMonster is a great choice for taking your lead gen efforts to the next level with excellent A/B testing and analytics features.

Features

OptinMonster Feautres

OptinMonster provides a very granular approach to capturing email addresses with their behavior automation “triggers”.

You can set your form to trigger on everything from exit-intent, on-click, time-on-site, or even based on geolocation targeting.

For an overview, here’s everything you can do with OptinMonster:

Advanced display customization Set up complex rules for when your visitors see pop-ups.

Hundreds of templates You’ll never have to create a pop-up from scratch.

Drag-and-drop builder To create pop-ups fast and easy.

Seamless integrations OptinMonster fits right into any marketing toolset.

Interface and Ease Of Use

OptinMonster-interface

OptinMonster has a lot of power under the hood, so it might take beginners a while to master everything it offers.

But once you do, it’s worth it. OptinMonster gives you unmatched control over lead generation.

Pricing

OptinMonster Pricing

OptinMonster can be as cheap as $9/month. And for up-and-coming affiliate marketing sites, that plan is good enough to get you started.

If you need more features, templates, and support for more sites, OptinMonster plans will cost you $19-$49/month.

Conclusion

If you need a tool to help you generate leads with pop-ups, there’s no better choice on the market. And if you use our affiliate link below, you can also get a discount:


14 Thrive Leads

Best Drag-and-Drop Leag Magnet Editor
Thrive leads' website page
Pros:

Best drag-and-drop pop-up maker

Easy to use

Part of the Thrive Suite

Cons:

Can’t purchase independently

No advanced customizations like in OptinMonster

Thrive Leads is another lead generation tool worth looking at.

But what sets it apart from the competition, I hear you ask?

Well, that’s down to its drag-and-drop editor, which is the best of its type.

Features

The features Thrive Leads offers

Besides the drag-and-drop editor, you also get tons of templates and a stack of very powerful targeting options.

Put simply, Thrive Leads gives you complete control over opt-in forms on your site.

Here are its main features:

Great drag-and-drop editor So you can create lead magnets in no time.

Tons of templates Further improving the creative process.

A/B Testing To see which lead magnet works better for your audience.

Great Integration with Thrive tools Although you can use it on its own.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Thrive Leads Interface

Thrive Leads has the best drag-and-drop builder of all lead generation tools. And since it’s not as complex as OptinMonster’s application, it’s also really easy to start.

It’s the perfect software if you want a simple lead magnet tool and you already use Thrive products.

Pricing

Thrive Suite Pricing

Unfortunately, Thrive Leads is not available as an individual product. You’ll need to purchase the entire Thrive Suite instead, which will cost $299/year or $99/quarter.

It’s a lot, but that subscription includes Thrive Leads, a page builder, and many other conversion-focused plugins.

Conclusion

If you like Thrive’s Suite, Thrive Leads is a great addition and definitely a good alternative to OptinMonster. But if you’re not heavily focused on conversion optimization, there are better options on the market.

Still, the Thrive Suite has a lot of useful tools for your affiliate marketing strategy. And you can get it here:


Email Marketing Tools

If you have a responsive email list, you can send them any offer, at any time, and as many times as you want to.

You control the relationship with your email subscribers, not Google or Facebook.

Now, all you need are the right tools to help you create your email list.


15 GetResponse

Best Email Marketing Tool For Affiliates
Pros:

Affiliate-friendly

Comprehensive email marketing suite

Useful automation

Cons:

Not the cheapest tool

Could do with more integrations

There are literally dozens of email marketing tools and platforms to choose from, but GetResponse gets our vote because of its affiliate-friendliness.

Unlike some of its competitors, GetResponse won’t penalize you for sending affiliate offers.

You’ll also enjoy a higher delivery rate for emails with affiliate offers in them – unless it’s outright spam.

Features

GetResponse Features

GetResponse is not as popular as MailChimp, but it’s a very good choice for beginner affiliates who want to maximize their mailing list.

Here are its main features:

Complete email marketing stack Templates, lists, you name it, GetResponse has it.

Affiliate-friendly Chances that your offers will land in spam are lower.

Conversion funnel Perfect if you have a default to data, and you want to understand how your audience interacts with your emails.

Marketing automation To make your work more efficient.

Interface and Ease Of Use

GetResponse's interface

GetResponse can do a lot, so its interface might overwhelm you at first. But after a few days, you should be able to make the most of the tool.

Pricing

GetResponse Pricing

The price you pay will depend on the size of your list, but their cheapest package starts at $15/month for 1,000 subscribers. Depending on your list size, you can end up paying over $100/month for their eCommerce plan.

All plans are adaptable to your number of contacts, so you can customize what you pay for GetResponse.

Conclusion

MailChimp is what people usually recommend for managing an email list. But if you’re an affiliate, you can’t go wrong with GetResponse:


16 MailerLite

Best Budget Email Marketing Tool For Affiliates
Pros:

Nice drag-and-drop editor

Extra tools like page builder or form maker

Affordable

Cons:

Some sections are not that easy to use

Could do with more integrations

If you either don’t need a full-blown email marketing solution, or you just don’t have the budget for one, then you should seriously consider MailerLite.

The beauty of MailerLite is that it has many of the same features as its competitors but at a fraction of the price.

Features

MailerLite's features

MailerLite may not be as qualitative as GetResponse, but it still features a stacked toolset.

These are its main features:

Drag-and-drop editorPerfect to build stunning emails quickly.

Email automation builder To make your email marketing more efficient.

Page Builder – MailerLite also offers a page builder to whip up landing pages fast.

Form creation You can even make simple forms and pop-ups.

Interface and Ease Of Use

MailerLite's interface

MailerLite offers a lot of functionality for a very good price. So it’s impressive that it manages to remain lightweight and easy to use.

Combine that with its competitive price, and MailerLite is by far the best option for beginner affiliates.

Pricing

MailerLite Pricing

Their free plan covers you for up to 1,000 subscribers, who you can email up to 12 times every 30 days.

And when you outgrow their ‘Free’ plan, or you want more features, MailerLite’s paid plans are also affordable.

Conclusion

MailerLite is a great email marketing tool if you can’t afford GetResponse.

And the best part? You can get started for free:


Social Media Tools

Yes, yes, social media is addictive and a total time-suck for far too many people.

But it’s also a critical part of modern digital marketing, including affiliate marketing.

The downside is that managing social media can turn into what feels like a full-time job.

It doesn’t have to be though – not if you’re using the right publishing/scheduling tools.


17 Buffer

Best Social Media Scheduling Tool
Pros:

Everything in one place

Great scheduling tools

Landing page builder

Cons:

Expensive pricing scheme

Social media can be a lot of fun…unless you’re doing it for a living.

You wind up trying to juggle multiple accounts, with different post formats and scheduling systems.

Buffer makes social media marketing much easier by linking all your social accounts to one unified interface. From there, you (or your team) can create posts tailored to each social platform.

Features

Buffer's features

Buffer can and will save you a ton of time if you actively use social media as part of your marketing plan. And that’s mostly thanks to its scheduling tools.

But this app has plenty of other features:

Unified SMM – Manage all of your accounts from one place.

Advanced scheduling Plan your entire SMM strategy months in advance.

Landing Page Builder – To complement a good social media presence.

Other publishing tools – Wich help you format your posts however you want.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Buffer's interface

Buffer has plenty of tools for social media managers to leverage, and make their job easier. The best part? It does all without sacrificing the user experience. Its scheduling tools are easy to use, as is integration with your SMM platforms.

Pricing

Buffer's pricing

Buffer offers some of its publishing tools for free, including a landing page builder. Paid plans range between $5-$10/month for each social channel you manage, which can get pretty expensive if you run multiple pages.

You can try all of their plans for free (including the higher-tier Agency plan) for 14 days, so there’s no harm in giving it a shot. Just expect to pay up a lot if you manage plenty of social media platforms.

Conclusion

Buffer is the industry standard for managing social media. And if your affiliate platform relies on social media to make a profit, you should definitely consider Buffer:


18 TailWind

Best Social Media Tool For Pinterest and Instagram
Pros:

Easy to use

Content generator

Great scheduling tools

Cons:

Not compatible with all platforms

Strict caps for cheaper plans

Pinterest and Instagram are one of the best platforms for affiliates. They have great support for monetization, they’re highly visual platforms, and they have proved successful in the past.

Pinterest, for example, was crucial for Kevin Espiritu’s 6-figure success story.

If you want a social media tool to help you manage Pinterest and Instagram, TailWind is a smart pick.

Features

TailWind's features

TailWind takes it a bit further than Buffer in that it can take you from a blank canvas to a beautiful post. It can do all of it.

Here are its main features:

Content creation TailWind can help you generate images and posts for Instagram, Pinterest, and even Facebook.

Content scheduling Plan your SMM strategy for the same three platforms months in advance.

Strategy optimization – Find hashtags or communities, and get in-depth analytics.

Email marketing – A new tool, but a welcome addition.

Interface and Ease Of Use

TailWind's interface

TailWind is pretty easy to get started with. And once you understand how it works, using the app will be second nature. If you want a great user experience, don’t shy away from this platform, especially if you’re focused on Instagram and Pinterest.

Pricing

TailWind's pricing

TailWind is more affordable than Buffer. Its cheapest plan (which includes 3 platforms) is only $9.99. But it does come with some caps on the content you can create.

If you want more content, you can pay $19.99 or $39.99 for more expensive plans.

And if you just want to check TailWind out, it also has a free plan.

Conclusion

TailWind is the best social media marketing tool if you’re focused on Instagram and Pinterest. And you can get started for free:


SEO Tools

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the bread and butter of any affiliate who relies on organic traffic for clicks and revenue.

The funny thing about SEO is that it can either be as complicated or as simple as you need it to be.

All you really need is a good SEO plugin for your site, and keyword and backlink research tools.


19 RankMath

Best SEO Plugin for WordPress
rankmath logo
Pros:

Easy-to-understand suggestions

Amazing on-page SEO features

Schema generator

Cons:

Snippet editor is sometimes very laggy

YoastSEO used to be the market standard for SEO and on-page plugins in WordPress.

After some error-ridden updates, it went out of favor. And we don’t use it anymore.

Instead, we rely on RankMath, which does amazing SEO optimization.

Features

RanktMath's features

RankMath has dozens of interesting features, so here are the main things you can expect after installing it:

Advanced SEO Analytics Get an overview of your site’s SEO performance.

Great Google Integrations Get your Google Analytics and indexing options in the same place.

Content optimization – Get the best on-page SEO score and suggestions.

Great Tracking – Keep tabs on your rank and position history.

Schema Tools – Generate and validate Schema in no time.

Interface and Ease Of Use

RankMath interface

RankMath is one of the prettiest WordPress plugins I’ve ever used. Wherever it shows up on your WordPress dashboard, it’s well-designed, color-coded, and informative.

Its suggestions are also really easy to follow, so you’ll master on-page SEO in no time.

Pricing

RankMath pricing

RankMath has a limited free plan, but it lacks most of the great tools this plugin offers. So, if you want the best version of RankMath, you’ll need to pay between $59 and $499 per year. That’s not too bad, considering how much it helps with SEO.

And it’s pretty average when compared to other WordPress plugins.

Conclusion

We use RankMath on all of our articles. It works wonders in helping us optimize our content, generate Schema, and gauge our performance. You can’t go wrong with RankMath:


20 Ahrefs

Best SEO Research Tool
Pros:

Most data out of all SEO research tools

Super useful keyword explorer

Decent rank tracking

Cons:

Expensive, especially with recent changes

Very complex, hard to use effectively by beginners

If you plan to get a lot of traffic from search engines (as you should), you can’t go wrong with an Ahrefs subscription.

There are many reasons every affiliate marketer should use Ahrefs, but the two key ones are:

  • It has arguably (because God knows we have) the most comprehensive backlink index
  • Their keyword research tool is excellent – nothing else comes close

Features

Some of Ahrefs' features

This would be a much longer list if we included EVERY single feature Ahrefs has to offer.

But we’ll limit ourselves to the most important ones:

Best crawler & index Whether you need to identify backlink opportunities or research keywords, Ahrefs has the most data.

Advanced Keyword Research No other tool comes close to their Keyword Explorer.

Great auditing tools – Analyze your site or your competitors.

Rank Tracking – Helps you analyze your performance over time.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Ahrefs' interface

Ahrefs is not easy to use. At least not if you want to use it to its full extent. But getting started finding some keywords and some backlink data shouldn’t be too hard.

And honestly, you can’t hold it against Ahrefs.

Considering HOW MUCH it can do, you can’t expect 100% ease of use.

If you want to find out more about using Ahrefs the right way, don’t forget to check our Ahrefs review and tutorial.

Pricing

Ahrefs pricing

Ahrefs recently changed its pricing, which upset many people in the affiliate world. While its cheapest plan is still $99, it’s barebones in terms of features.

If you want to use Ahrefs to its full extent, you’ll need the $199/month plan. We still think it’s worth the money. But some people don’t want to spend that much on it.

Conclusion

Ahrefs is our go-to SEO research tool. In our book, there’s still no other tool that comes close to its capabilities, even if SEMRush is close. So if you want to power up your SEO game, get an Ahrefs subscription:


21 Ubersuggest

Best Budget SEO Research Tool
Ubersuggest website
Pros:

Very easy to use

Free to try out

Decent data

Cons:

Innacurate numbers for low-traffic keywords

Not as many features as Ahrefs

Ubersuggest is Neil Patel’s research tool. While it’s not as advanced as Ahrefs or SEMRush, it’s still a very good option, especially if you’re a beginner.

Features

Ubersuggest features

Neil Patel’s SEO app has a lot of research tools, and keyword research is again king among them.

In short, here’s what Ubersuggest can do:

Advanced keyword researchFind the SEO gems you need to take your affiliate site to the next level.

Site Audit – To analyze your platform and your competitors.

Backlink data – So you can kickstart your outreach process.

Rank Tracking – To see how you’re performing over time.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Ubersuggest interface

Ubersuggest is a very well-made app. It’s got a lot of powerful features and complex options, but it manages to remain easy to navigate. It’s not as deep as Ahrefs, but it’s still a good option if you’re a beginner.

Also, it’s a good option if you want something cheaper.

If you want to find out more, read our Ubersuggest review.

Pricing

Ubersuggest pricing

Ubersuggest plans start at $12/month. For this price, you unlock all of its features, but with some caps on how much data you can get. If you need more, you can pay $20 or $40 per month.

Oh and, you can also give it a try for free.

Conclusion

Ubersuggest is not Ahrefs. It can’t do everything right. But for beginners and affiliates on a budget, it’s a decent alternative. And if you want to try it yourself, it’s free:


Paid Traffic

Some big affiliates (like Charles Ngo) bypass organic marketing and struggling with rankings completely and instead go straight to paid advertising.

Why?

Because you can send traffic to an offer whenever you want, and for as long as you can afford it.

The thing is that you need to meticulously track every single aspect of your campaigns unless you want to wind up remortgaging your home.

Here are some tools we’re happy to recommend.


22 WhatRunsWhere

Best Performance Marketing Data
Pros:

Advanced filters for campaign analysis

A lot of data

Best performance campaigns spy

Cons:

Very expensive

Performance marketing is a tough game, especially if you lack a competitive intelligence tool like WhatRunsWhere.

Without accurate data on what ads work best for your target audience and what your competitors are up to…, you’re really just shooting hoops in the dark.

But with WhatRunsWhere, you can avoid that.

Features

WhatRunsWhere's features

Hope isn’t a very robust business strategy.

Reverse engineering your competitors’ campaigns is a smart move in organic SEO.

And the same logic applies to paid/performance advertising.

Here’s how WhatRunsWhere can help you with that:

A lot of data You can use WhatRunsWhere to gauge a lot of performance campaigns.

Advanced filters – Analyze campaigns based on type, keyword, country, and more.

Trends over time – To understand seasonality and customer behavior.

Customizable exports – If you want customized views and data reports.

Interface and Ease Of Use

WhatRunsWhere interface

WhatRunsWhere offers advanced data reports. So naturally, making the most out of the platform can take some time. But it’s not cumbersome, and you’ll learn how to do it in no time.

Pricing

WhatRunsWhere's pricing

WhatRunsWhere used to cost $299/month for PC only, or $399/month for PC + Mobile. Now, they have no pricing displayed. Instead, you have to get in touch for an offer.

So it’s really only suited to marketers with a high 5-figure monthly ad budget.

Conclusion

WhatRunsWhere is probably the best performance marketing research tool. With it, you reverse engineer successful affiliate campaigns and apply the strategies that work best to your own campaigns:

If you’re discouraged by its pricing, though, you can try:


23 AdPlexity

Powerful Performance Marketing Data
AdPlexity's website
Pros:

Sleek interface

Real-time data

A lot of supported platforms

Cons:

Still pretty expensive

Now AdPlexity isn’t cheap! But it is more affordable than WhatRunsWhere.

And it’s a really good performance marketing data tool.

Features

AdPlexity's features

You can tell AdPlexity was designed by affiliates, for affiliates.

Part of its power comes from being able to choose exactly what type of ads you want to analyze, from mobile or desktop to push.

Here’s what it can do:

Tons of supported platforms – Mobile, desktop, native, and more.

Real-time insights – On lots of campaign types.

Download landing pages – To emulate a successful page, you can use AdPlexity to download the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript of any sales page.

Interface and Ease Of Use

AdPlexity's interface

So what’s the difference between AdPlexity and other tools like WhatRunsWhere?

It comes down to ease of use – AdPlexity is easier for a relative newcomer to use.

So if you’re a beginner affiliate and want some insights into how to run performance campaigns, it’s probably the best pick for you.

Pricing

AdPlexity's pricing

AdPlexity might not be as expensive as WhatRunsWhere. But with a $199/month barrier of entry, it’s still not affordable for beginner marketers.

If you’re serious about paid ads though, this is more or less the price tag you’ll have to pay for quality data.

Conclusion

AdPlexity and WhatRunsWhere are both complex tools that don’t come cheap. But if you want the slightly cheaper, slightly easier-to-use version, AdPlexity is the best affiliate marketing tool for you:


Tracking & Analytics

Tracking the performance of your campaigns in terms of traffic, clicks, and user behavior are all important ingredients in the affiliate marketing cookbook.

Without strong tracking, you can’t determine which channels are performing well, and which are not.

The end result always trends towards a poorly optimized campaign that leaks money.

Obsessing over metrics might seem “nerdy”, but if you ignore them you’re leaving money on the table.


24 Hotjar

Best Engagement Measurement Tool
Pros:

Innovative heatmpas

A lot of insights into your audience

Surveys and forms

Cons:

Recordings need more features

Analytics, traffic stats, and abandonment rates can only tell you so much about how your visitors actually interact with your site and/or your business.

After that, you’ll need a tool that allows you to really dig into user behavior – something like Hotjar.

Instead of trying to guess what visitors do when they land on your pages, you can use different types of heatmaps to better understand their behavior.

Features

Hotjar's features

With Hotjar, you can record a user’s interaction with a given page, including their mouse movements and what they highlight or click on.

That’s just one of its perks. Here are other useful Hotjar features:

Heatmaps – Hotjar’s flagship feature to understand user behavior on your pages.

Session recordings – See exactly what individual users see on their visit to your site.

Feedback and Surveys – Get direct input from your audience.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Hotjar's interface

Hotjar is one of the most good-looking analytics apps on the market. It’s very well made, easy to navigate, and super insightful.

Pricing

Hotjar's pricing

Hotjar has a free version, with support for 35 analyzed sessions each month. That’s not a lot, so if you’re serious about understanding your audience, you’ll need to pay between $39-$79/month.

Conclusion

Hotjar’s heatmaps are a fantastic way of understanding your audience and adapting your site accordingly. And they’re 100% worth what you’d pay for them:


25 Google Analytics

Best Analytics Tool
Pros:

Best site analytics tool for free

Advanced data segmentation

Great integrations

Cons:

Hard to use, especially after the recent update

Google Analytics is the staple of all affiliate marketers who want to understand their web audience better, but without spending any money.

The simple truth is this: For a total cost of zero dollars and zero cents, no other basic analytics package comes close to what Google offers.

If you’re not using it, then you should be.

Features

Google Analytics features

Google Analytics went through a recent revamp, so its dashboard and segmentation tools are all different.

But its core functionality is still there:

Extremely complex data tracking – Get every single detail possible about your audience.

Advanced segmentation – Track very specific audience segments.

Goals tracking – Set up your own goals and conversions and track how you’re doing.

Funnel analysis – Set up your own funnels and track their effectiveness.

Integrations – Add Google Analytics to your toolset without too much fuss.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Google Analytics Interface

Google Analytics is not a simple platform. I’ve been using it for years, and I still learn new things that I can do in it every once in a while.

Not to mention, the recent update made it much harder to create reports.

But for a free tool, it’s amazing how much you can do without a degree in statistics.

Pricing

Completely free.

Conclusion

There’s nothing similar to Google Analytics on the market. Not for free at least. So if you understand the value of data, Google Analytics is the best addition to your affiliate toolset:


26 Voluum

Best Tracking For Paid Ads
Voluum's website
Pros:

Great data tracking

Advanced segmentation options

Useful automations

Cons:

Very expensive

Some users complain about customer support

Voluum is a cloud-based click-tracking solution designed for anyone involved in performance or direct response advertising.

Which is you, if you’re an affiliate who uses paid ads to drive traffic to affiliate offers instead of relying on organic search.

Features

Voluum's features

Voluum advertises itself as an all-in-one affiliate marketing solution for paid ads. And there is some merit to that claim.

Here are its main features:

Data tracking – Track all of your affiliate campaigns in one place.

Advanced segmentation – Track campaigns based on source, traffic, type, and plenty more criteria.

Optimization – Improve your campaigns with real-time data.

Automation- Make your workflow more efficient.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Voluum's interface

Voluum has dozens of special features, dashboards, and little details that can really overwhelm you when you get started. But while the learning curve is steep, you’ll get used to it after a few days with the tool.

The 1-week onboarding also helps a lot.

Pricing

Voluum's pricing

Voluum is probably the most expensive tool on our list today. With a $499/month minimum entry fee, it’s not for everyone. But if you have the budget, it can really power up your paid ads affiliate marketing.

Conclusion

If you don’t have $500 to spend each month, Voluum is not for you. However, if their pricing isn’t too steep for you, and you rely on paid ads, there’s no better tracking tool.


27 ThirstyAffiliates

Best Affiliate Link Tracking WordPress Plugin
Pros:

Great link tracking

Useful link cloaking

Reliable free version

Cons:

Poor integration with eCommerce tools, but that shouldn’t be an issue for affiliates

One of the most frustrating parts of running an affiliate site is managing your links across different affiliate networks or campaigns.

This is why you’ll need a link management tool.

Thirsty Affiliates makes building and managing affiliate links easy, whether you use Amazon or anything else.

Features

Thirsty Affiliates features

Thirsty Affiliates Pro does have really cool features, like automatic keyword linking, advanced reporting, and geolocation link redirects.

But at its core, here is what people use Thirsty Affiliates for:

Cloak affiliate links – Don’t use long, ugly links to recommend products.

Keep track of your links – All of your links are a search bar away.

Great reports – To get a quick overview of your campaigns.

Interface and Ease Of Use

Thirsty Affiliate's interface

Thirsty Affiliates is a WordPress plugin, so much of it looks like your average WP dashboard. The site app features aren’t too easy to navigate, but what’s really convenient is how easily you can find links with its search bar.

So overall, not a bad look, and not too hard to use.

Pricing

ThirstyAffiliates' pricing

Thirsty Affiliates has a free version, so if you’re just starting out, that should be enough. If you want more features, though, you can pay between $49 and $149/month for Thirsty Affiliates Pro.

Conclusion

If you do affiliate marketing, there’s no reason not to get ThirstyAffiliates. So grab yours today:


Other Useful Affiliate Marketing Tools

Not all useful tools fit in a clear category. But they’re really important for your affiliate success too.

So here are a few extra tools that you should look into.


28 The Authority Site System

Best Affiliate Marketing Training

As much as we do our very best to be impartial, this is an absolutely shameless plug for our TASS course.

And we have very good reasons for doing that- the course is crammed full of everything we know about affiliate marketing.

But what many of our students find even more valuable is the Authority Hacker community.

This is where they can get honest answers to questions and insights from some heavy-hitters in the affiliate marketing game.


29 ShareASale

Best Affiliate Network for Bloggers
ShareASale's website

ShareASale is one of the biggest affiliate networks, so it’s a mandatory entry on our list.

Whether you write about coffee makers, dog food, sports, or anything in between, chances are you’ll find an affiliate program on ShareASale.

There are over 21,000 merchants on the site.

And you get detailed metrics on most of them, like average order size, commissions, and the like. For more, read our ShareASale review.

So if you’re not sure what affiliate marketing program to join, check out ShareASale:


30 Flippa

Best Website Marketplace for Small Affiliate Marketers
Flippa's website

Flippa is not a tool per se, but rather an online marketplace to buy and sell sites.

And it can be a gold mine for affiliates.

If you don’t want to get started from scratch with a site, you can buy an already existing affiliate platform. Sure, most of them need some work. But they’re a great way to kickstart your efforts.

Conversely, if you got bored of a niche or just want to move on from a site, you can sell your affiliate site here.

Flippa is the best place to sell domains. And you can check it out here:


31 MobileMonkey

MobileMonkey's website

We haven’t personally used MobileMonkey. But a lot of people praise it as a great tool for affiliate marketers, so we decided to include it on this list.

MobileMonkey has three basic tools – one for funnel management, one for better social media engagement, and one for automated sales.

All of them help affiliates connect with their audience and sell more.

If that sounds like a good deal, check it out here:


Over to You

And that brings us to the end of this blog post on the best affiliate marketing tools.

You can do affiliate marketing free of charge, but you’re going to have to work 100x harder.

Affiliate marketing is only going to become more competitive in the near future.

You can increase the scale and speed of your success dramatically by taking advantage of professional affiliate marketing tools.

Using the above tools could take your affiliate marketing campaign from zero to a hundred in record time.