What is ClickBank? A guide to the popular affiliate marketing network

ClickBank is an affiliate marketing network that connects product creators with affiliates who earn commissions promoting their offers. Here’s how it works, who it’s best for, and how to use it effectively.

ClickBank is one of the biggest affiliate marketing networks in the world, where creators list digital products and affiliates earn commissions for promoting them. 

It’s known for high commission rates and long cookie durations (meaning you can still earn commission weeks after someone clicks your link), but also for its fair share of low-quality offers.

If you know how to pick the right products, ClickBank can be a solid income stream. If not, you’ll waste time marketing junk. 

In this guide, we’ll break down how ClickBank works, what to watch out for, and how you can use Whop to grow your affiliate earnings beyond it.

What is ClickBank?

ClickBank is an ecommerce platform and affiliate marketing network offering around 4,000 products to over 200 million customers worldwide. 

You can think of it as a middleman between brands, affiliate marketers, and customers.  

Unlike many affiliate marketing networks, it primarily sells digital products (such as ebooks, online courses, videos, and digital files). It’s also stacked with physical products such as health supplements. 

Offering high-ticket prices, ClickBank can be very rewarding. But its low-quality products mean it may not be suitable for certain niches.

As of 2025, ClickBank is estimated to sell around $864.2M products per year.

What is Clickbank used for?

ClickBank has two uses: it’s both a platform for affiliate marketers to earn commissions and for product owners to sell digital products.

For affiliate marketers:

• Start instantly: Sign up for free and browse thousands of digital products across every niche imaginable.
• Create unique links: Generate affiliate links to share on your website, blog, YouTube channel, or social media.
• Earn commissions: Get paid when someone buys through your link — with real-time tracking in ClickBank’s earnings dashboard.
• Get flexibility: Some products offer recurring commissions or long cookie durations, helping you earn passively over time.

For product owners (vendors):

• List products for sale: Use ClickBank’s built-in ecommerce and checkout systems to handle payments, taxes, and delivery.
• Launch an affiliate program: Let affiliates promote your product in exchange for a commission, expanding your reach without upfront ad spend.
• One-time setup fee: A $49.95 activation fee helps reduce spam listings and keeps product quality relatively high.

ClickBank’s commission rates

ClickBank rewards affiliate marketers via Commission rates per sale and Cost Per Action (CPA). 

Commission rates are set by vendors, offering a share of the revenue when a sale is made. So, if the seller offers 50% commission per sale, you’ll take home 50%. 

Note that you won’t earn a commission if a product is refunded or returned.

CPA sales reward affiliate marketers with a flat fee for each conversion. You’ll find this rate indicated on the vendor page. CPA sales are unaffected by returned or refunded products. 

Unlike many affiliate marketing networks, you don’t need vendor approval to promote their products. 

Is ClickBank completely free for affiliates?

As an affiliate marketer, ClickBank is free to sign up with and use.

However, you’ll have to pay a $5 fee per payment. You can minimize your payment fee by increasing your payout threshold. For example, instead of paying $5 for every $100 in earnings, you could pay it every $500. 

ClickBank makes most of its money via vendors, rather than affiliate marketers. Vendors have to pay a $49.95 activation fee and payment. 

What is ClickBank Platinum?

ClickBank’s Platinum Program is an exclusive community for the top 1% of ClickBank affiliate marketers and sellers.

There are around 400 Platinum users, so it’s a very exclusive tier. While it’s something to aim for, it’s not something you need to worry about when getting started.

It offers a ‘Platinum Summit’, where you can meet and network with other super affiliates, owners, and ClickBank partners. You’ll also gain access to the exclusive Platinum Facebook Group and receive invites to the ClickBank live roadshow. 

Best of all, Platinum users get a dedicated account manager to advise on their ClickBank strategy and offer priority support. To qualify for the Platinum program, you must have generated $250k in gross sales in the past year. 

ClickBank pros and cons

The pros of ClickBank

What is a ‘Gravity Score’ on ClickBank?

Clickbank's Gravity Score is a performance metric that rates a product's ‘sales momentum’ over a 12-week rolling period.

It's based on the number of unique affiliates making commissions on a product. 

As an affiliate marketer, you can use a Gravity Score to identify offers and products that are currently performing well. It can prevent you from wasting time promoting products that aren’t a success in the current market. 

There isn’t a standard ‘good’ Gravity Score, as it's all relative.

But, it's recommended that you look for a score between 50 and 200. This range suggests a product is good enough to make sales, but without competing with ultra-popular affiliates. Anything over 500 is selling like crazy. 

How to get started with ClickBank: Walkthrough

Here's a step-by-step walkthrough on how to get started with ClickBank.

We’ll show you how to create and manage your accounts, understand the ClickBank marketplace, and start making money!

1. Create your account

Head over to ClickBank.com and click ‘Login’ – do this even if you don’t have an account yet.

If you click ‘Get Started,’ you're bombarded with tricks and promotions. It’s a nightmare. Sign-up is 100% free, so don’t start paying for things now.

There’s also a risk that your account will get locked immediately if you’re in an unsupported country or if ClickBank thinks you're a bot. So, we strongly suggest against spending any money at first. 

When you’re at the login page, click ‘Create an account here’ on the little blue hyperlink underneath the Login button. 

Then enter your details and agree to the ClickBank client contract.

You’ll then need to complete your profile with an address.

You can also start browsing the store without filling in these details to determine if ClickBank is right for you. 

Create an account nickname – this can’t be changed later, so keep it simple and professional.

Back at the dashboard, you can add your Tax ID under ‘Accounts’, found on the left-hand-side menu. 

After being prompted to verify your email account, you can set up how you’d like to be paid. Click ‘Account Settings’ at the top of the page, scroll down, and find ‘Edit’. 

Here you can set your ‘Payment Threshold’, which determines at what earnings level you should get paid by ClickBank. So, if you put it at $500, you won’t get paid for anything under that. 

Voila. You’re a ClickBank user. 

2. Using ClickBank’s marketplace

To explore the marketplace, click on ‘Affiliate Marketplace’ on your ClickBank dashboard. 

You can use the search bar at the top to search for products by keyword, specific product, or brand name. 

Alternatively, you can search by the top-ranking products by selecting ‘Top Offers’ or ‘New Offers’.

There’s also a ‘Saved Offers’ section, for any shortlisted products that you won't have to review later. 

ClickBank supports some categories more than others. If you’ve already started your site, social media, or YouTube channel, then you might realize at this point if ClickBank is a good fit or not. 

How to know if products make a good fit?

You can figure out which products are a good fit for you by analyzing a product listing. 

For example, let’s take a look at this DIY niche product called ‘TedsWoodworking’. 

You’ll see the name and description (which is aimed at you, not the end-user). So, here you’ll find some reasons why you should consider promoting it. 

You can also see the average conversion rate on the right. This defines how much affiliates make, on average, per sale. So, that’s the dollar amount you can expect to roughly receive per successful promotion.  

Below that is the ‘Affiliate Page’ resource. Clicking that will take you to the vendor's external site, where you’ll find commission details, email templates, and other resources to help you get started promoting. 

There’s also a ‘Seller contact’ below that button, which you can use to get in contact with the vendor if you’re stuck. 

Most importantly, steer your eyes toward the ‘Gravity score’. As previously mentioned, that score indicates how well a product is converting and how many affiliates are promoting it. 

When starting out, don’t be too ambitious by taking on something with a really low or really high Gravity score. 

3. Creating a unique affiliate link 

Creating an affiliate link is a little bit of a tedious process, but it’s easy to complete after the following steps. 

Get started by clicking that big blue promote button under the dollar value.  

Once you hit the promote button, you’ll need to enter your nickname and click ‘Create’. The link will be encrypted and will look ugly. Fear not, this is normal with ClickBank and prevents your promotions from getting tracked. 

Next, paste that URL into a browser and hit enter. On this page, find the product you want to promote and click the ‘Buy Now’ button. 

You’ll get taken to a checkout or order form. Don’t worry, you’re not about to pay for anything. You want to scroll down and look for the affiliate code at the bottom of the checkout or form. 

It’ll usually look something like “affiliate=NDUWN23AJSFKI2”. Take that code (without ‘affiliate=’) and head over to the ‘Hoplink Tools’ on the menu. 

Almost done!

Head over to ‘Hoplink Tools’ on the left of your ClickBank dashboard. Select the ‘Decode’ tab, paste your code into the field, and hit ‘Decode’. 

Your affiliate nickname and the vendor nickname should appear, confirming everything worked correctly. 

All done! Remember to test out your links to ensure everything works smoothly, or you’ll waste time sharing links that don’t reward you for your efforts. 

4. Start making sales

Alright, it’s time to start getting traffic to your links. And then convert that traffic into sales. 

We want money, right?

You have two options: paid traffic or free traffic. Ultimately, your choice will be determined by whether you have money or time. 

Paid traffic comes via paid ads, such as Google Ads, YouTube Ads, or Facebook Ads. That brings quick results but will come with upfront expenses. 

While we don’t rule that option out, everyone should consider free traffic too.

Free traffic takes a lot of time but is highly rewarding, as a loyal audience will come back for more and more. Plus, the content that you create can stay active for months or even years.

To generate free traffic, you’ll need to create content associated with your affiliate product niche. For example, you could create a blog on beauty, or a YouTube channel on pet products. 

Reviews are one of the best options for free traffic and fit every content creation format. Audiences that seek out reviews are already motivated by the subject or product, so are usually the easiest demographic to convince. Just remember to keep your reviews honest and provide insightful information. 

As ClickBank is a primarily digital product platform, it makes sense to think wisely about what products they have on offer if you haven’t already started producing content. 

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5. Monitor your ad metrics

As with any online business, you need to collect data and start analyzing it to see what’s working. Study all your metrics, wherever you’re promoting a product.

For email, keep an eye on performance indicators such as open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates. This will let you know what approaches work, and which feel like spam. Adjust quickly, so you don’t alienate your audience with irritating tactics. 

Meta Ads and Google Ads’ dashboard will show you the ‘Cost per Click’ and conversion rate. You want to make sure you’re getting decent traffic numbers, with a low cost per click. Keep an eye on things, and stick with what works, and twist with what doesn’t. 

Clickbank metrics

You can also use the Clickbank dashboard to track metrics that tell you how much you’re making per click. 

Earnings per click (EPC) should be your priority, as it displays how much money you make per click on your sales page. To calculate your EPC, divide the total sales number by the total number of clicks. 

You should also keep an eye on refund rates. If they’re above 5% then it’s getting a bit too high to be worth sticking with the product. Disappointing products will also put your audience off from trusting your recommendations. 

Finally, track those total net earnings! This will let you know how much money you’re making and keep your money-making hunger going strong. 

6. Assess your campaigns

Be prepared to make bold calls over your campaigns and ClickBank offer selections. 

Go all-in with those most profitable offers and don’t be afraid to cut out ones that fail. 

Don’t panic if you’re not rolling in profit in your first month. You’re just starting, so you need to fine-tune and optimize. So long as you’re following your metrics and making wise decisions, you’ll move forward. 

The playing field will change as you grow too. What works for a beginner affiliate marketer will be very different to those who have a large following, an advanced offer, and a paid-traffic budget. 

What products are on ClickBank?

ClickBank claims to host over 1 million products, which it says is about ten times more than Walmart’s total.

Realistically, you’ll likely see a few thousand active listings at most.

ClickBank does offer a wide range of categories, though, including:

• Arts & Entertainment
• Betting Systems
• Business / Investing
• Computers / Internet
• Cooking, Food & Wine
• E-Business & E-Marketing
• Education
• Employment & Jobs
• Fiction
• Games
• Green Products
• Health & Fitness
• Home & Garden
• Languages
• Mobile
• Parenting & Families
• Politics / Current Events
• Reference
• Self-Help
• Software & Services
• Spirituality, New Age & Alternative Beliefs
• Sports
• Travel

The most active and profitable categories are:

• Health & Fitness
• E-Business & E-Marketing
• Spirituality, New Age & Alternative Beliefs

These niches dominate because they suit digital products like courses, ebooks, and membership programs.

Examples of ClickBank success stories

Let’s take a look at some ClickBank success stories, reported on by ClickBank itself. 

SEO Success - Shaban Ehshan

Shaban Ehsan is a ClickBank platinum affiliate marketer, having originally hailed from a middle-class family in Pakistan. 

Having gained knowledge of ecommerce and marketing as a freelance graphic designer and web designer, he took matters into his own hands and achieved huge success as a ClickBank affiliate. 

Ehsan’s initial success can primarily be via SEO (around 80% of his traffic), using review-based articles. As the SEO landscape changed, he started using Google Ads and TikTok to expand with his growing budget. 

Today, he’s generated over $250k in revenue on ClickBank for four consecutive years. 

$40k in one day - Joel Peterson

Joel Peterson made $40,000 in one day via affiliate marketing from his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Peterson launched his journey on ClickBank promoting $37 ebooks. The turning point came when his link landed on the front page of AOL via paid ads. 

But that was 21 years ago. The internet isn’t the same place. So Joel had to stick at it and adapt. So, he started creating his own digital programs that he could sell and get promoted via other affiliates. 

With a high-ticket price point, he was attracting top-tier affiliates to promote his books and continue his dream of staying away from a 9-5 job.

A changed life - Jenn LeCompte

Jenn LeCompte’s life changed in 2020 when an MRI scan revealed multiple sclerosis. Suddenly, she needed to figure out how to make a living from home, to support her four children. 

A chance-chance webinar viewing motivated her to go all-in with affiliate marketing on ClickBank, selling health supplements. 

Things turned for the better, considerably, when she found a winning formula within her niche. Within two months, she was a ClickBank Premium marketer. Today, she’s a Diamond member (thanks to her YouTube channel). That means she’s made $5 million.  Life changed.

How does ClickBank compare to other affiliate marketing networks?

ClickBank is considered a good option for high commission rates and fast payments. Few other affiliate marketing networks offer rates of up to 90%. It also has a very impressive 60-day cookie duration and no vendor application process. So you can get started very quickly.

But, compared to others, its product selection is disappointing. There aren’t any big brand names and the quality of digital products (such as courses and paid communities) are underwhelming. 

On the other hand, some people would argue that its more unique selection offers something that its rivals don’t. 

Is ClickBank worth it?

The general verdict from affiliate marketers is that ClickBank is worth trying out due to its high-ticket products. You can make big money. 

However, with underwhelming products and brand names, it is probably best suited to affiliate marketers who truly know what they’re doing and have an established audience. For example, if you have an email list that trusts your recommendations, then you can cash in on the high commission rates. 

Trying to build a following off the back of ClickBank’s mid-products, however, will be an uphill battle. This is especially true if you don’t have a paid ad budget. 

If you’re just starting, it might be worth considering another affiliate network or brand-specific program. 

Also, frankly, a vast number of the products on ClickBank cash in on people’s pain points (such as with health products and supplements). If that’s not for you, then you should try another marketing network or affiliate program. 

Make bank with Whop Affiliates

If ClickBank feels outdated, become a Whop affiliate.

Whop has already generated $750M+ for creators and $15M+ for affiliates, and it’s completely free to join. 

You can promote thousands of digital products, subscriptions, and communities – no approval, no limits. 

Just grab a link and start earning.

• Earn recurring income: Get paid monthly commissions (up to 30%) for every referral.
• Two ways to win: Earn from product referrals and from creators you onboard (for life).
• Easy setup, transparent tracking: Copy your link, share it anywhere, and watch your earnings grow.
• Learn and level up: Join affiliate communities and courses to sharpen your strategy.

Start for free and make your first affiliate sale today.