Welcome back.
If you are new here, I am Julie James and I am building an affiliate marketing business completely in public. Every week I share exactly what I am doing, what I am finding, and what is actually working so you do not have to figure it out alone.
This week we are talking about recurring commissions. Not a one-time payout. Not a flat fee. A commission that lands in your account every single month as long as your referral stays a customer. That is a very different business model and once you understand it, it changes how you think about which programs are worth your time.
Let's get into it.
This Week's Theme: The Programs That Pay You Forever
1. Kinsta | Commission: $50-$500 upfront + 10% recurring monthly | Cookie: 60 days | Network: Direct | Get your Kinsta affiliate link here
Ten percent of a customer's monthly bill. Every month. For life.
Kinsta is a premium managed WordPress hosting platform. Their plans start at $35 per month and scale significantly for agencies and enterprise clients. That means your 10% recurring commission compounds the longer your referral stays. Refer someone on a $100 per month plan and you are collecting $10 every single month without doing anything else.
The upfront bounty alone ranges from $50 to $500 depending on the plan. But the recurring piece is what makes this one worth building around.
Best for: Anyone talking about WordPress, web hosting, agencies, or online business setup.
2. Teachable | Commission: 30% recurring | Cookie: 90 days | Network: PartnerStack | Approved: April 20, 2026 | Get your Teachable affiliate link here
Thirty percent of every payment a referred customer makes. Every month.
Teachable is one of the most recognized course creation platforms in the space. Their plans run from $39 to $299 per month. Refer a creator on their Pro plan and you are earning roughly $60 every single month from that one referral.
The 90-day cookie gives you a long window to convert. Someone clicks your link today and signs up three months from now, you still get paid.
Best for: Creator economy content, course builders, coaches, anyone in the education space.
3. ClickFunnels | Commission: 40% recurring | Cookie: TBD | Network: Direct | Get your ClickFunnels affiliate link here
Forty percent. Recurring. On a platform whose plans start at $97 per month.
ClickFunnels is the funnel builder that built an entire industry around it. Their affiliate program is one of the most talked about in the space for a reason. A single referral on their base plan earns you close to $39 every month. On their higher tier plans that number climbs fast.
This one takes a warmer audience to convert. People who click a ClickFunnels link need to be ready to build. But when they are, the commission is hard to beat.
Best for: Entrepreneurs, marketers, anyone selling online courses or digital products.
This Week's Creator Pick
Logitech Litra Glow Streaming Light | $49.99 | 4.7 stars | Grab it on Amazon here
If you are creating content and your lighting is an afterthought, this is the upgrade.
The Litra Glow is a compact square LED light that clips directly to your monitor and eliminates the harsh shadows that make even good cameras look amateur. Logitech built it specifically for creators using TrueSoft technology, which delivers full-spectrum light that works across all skin tones. Adjustable brightness and color temperature from warm candlelight to cool white. USB powered. No setup required.
I highlight tools like this because how you show up on camera matters when you are building in public. Good lighting is not vanity. It is professionalism. And at $49.99 it is one of the lowest cost, highest visible impact upgrades you can make to your content setup.
The Commission Pulse
Meta just launched affiliate tools for creators and it is worth watching.
At Shoptalk in Las Vegas last month, Meta announced creator affiliate features for both Facebook and Instagram. The short version: creators can now tag products in Reels and photo posts, earn commissions on sales, and get surfaced to brand partners through an ads hub. Test partners include Amazon, eBay, and Temu on Facebook and Amazon on Instagram.
This is Meta playing catch-up to TikTok Shop, which has had native affiliate commerce built directly into the feed for creators since 2023. The rollout is early and some brands are moving slowly on adoption. But the direction is clear. Every major platform is building affiliate infrastructure directly into the creator experience.
What this means for you: the window to build your affiliate presence before these tools are crowded is right now. Creators who already have programs, content systems, and an audience in place will have the advantage when platform-native affiliate tools go mainstream. You are early. That is the point.
Building in Public Update
Week 3 of building AffiliateFinderPro.com and I have an update on the site.
I made a decision this week. The directory is free. No paywall, no limits. I built AffiliateFinderPro to help creators find programs that actually pay, and putting a gate in front of that felt like the wrong move. So I removed it. Use it as much as you want.
Phase 3 is still in progress. The full Airtable-powered directory, deeper search, and complete email integration are coming. When it goes live, subscribers of this newsletter get first access. No waitlist. No announcement post. The link will just show up in your inbox.
The foundation is solid. The momentum is real. And the best part of this story has not happened yet.
Until next week, Julie James The Commission Report
This newsletter contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase or sign up, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend programs and products I believe in. Thank you for supporting The Commission Report.