ClickBank vs ShareASale

What each network actually is

ClickBank launched in 1998 as a digital marketplace. Affiliates browse vendor listings, grab a HopLink, and promote — often with little or no per-merchant approval for open offers. The catalog skews toward info products, supplements sold as digital funnels, online courses and software. Many offers pay a high percentage of the sale; subscription products can pay recurring commissions on rebills. Tracking, payments and dispute handling all run through ClickBank's own platform.

ShareASale is a classic affiliate network in the CJ / Awin / Impact mold. You join once, then apply to each merchant. Advertisers set their own commission (often a percentage of sale), cookie window, creative set and traffic rules. ShareASale's catalog is large — Affground's listing puts it in the tens of thousands of merchants — spanning retail, fashion, software, home and niche DTC brands. Tracking and consolidated payouts sit on ShareASale; the merchant still decides whether you get approved.

The useful mental model: ClickBank sells you a menu of high-payout digital offers; ShareASale sells you a catalog of brand programs. For the broader network-versus-offer distinction, see CPA networks vs affiliate networks.

How the economics compare

Headline rates look dramatic until you map them to real cart sizes and conversion rates. A 75% ClickBank commission on a $47 ebook is still ~$35. A 8% ShareASale commission on a $180 fashion order is ~$14 — but that order may convert more cleanly from a style guide, and the brand may approve you for lookbooks and seasonal codes that lift AOV.

EPC (earnings per click) bridges the two models. What matters is your EPC on your traffic: a ClickBank offer at 1% conversion with a $40 average commission is $0.40 EPC; ShareASale fashion at 2% with a $12 average commission is $0.24 EPC. Run that math on your analytics before declaring a winner.

Treat the commission and cookie figures as industry-typical ranges, not guarantees. Vendors and merchants change terms; always read the live offer or program page before you build a content plan around a number. Cookie mechanics in general are covered in what an affiliate cookie is.

Tracking, creatives and day-to-day workflow

Day-to-day work feels different on each platform even when the affiliate link itself looks simple.

On ClickBank, you generate a HopLink per offer and often send traffic to the vendor's sales page. That speeds paid-traffic tests, but your brand sits behind someone else's funnel. Promo quality varies by vendor; checkout is usually theirs.

On ShareASale, you apply per merchant, then pull banners, text links and deep links into product or category URLs. Content publishers write their own reviews and gift guides — slower to start, stronger for SEO and email because the page is yours. Merchant dashboards also expose seasonal creatives, coupon feeds and datafeeds.

Reporting mirrors the model: ClickBank centers offer-level EPC; ShareASale centers merchant-level performance in one login. Plan for net commission after info-product clawbacks on ClickBank, and expect per-merchant trademark, coupon and content rules on ShareASale.

Where each one wins

ClickBank tends to win when:

• Your content is problem → solution (weight loss, productivity, niche how-tos) and readers buy digital downloads or courses.
• You want high per-sale payouts and are willing to handle refund/chargeback friction that comes with info products.
• You need fast cash flow — weekly payouts and a low threshold matter if you're testing paid traffic.
• You prefer self-serve joining over waiting on merchant approvals.

ShareASale tends to win when:

• Your audience shops physical or brand products — apparel, home, beauty, gadgets, niche retail.
• You want deep linking into specific SKUs, lookbooks and seasonal landing pages.
• Brand trust matters: readers recognize the merchant, which can lift conversion even at a lower percentage.
• You already work across Awin-family tools or want a path into larger brand programs (for a sibling comparison, see ShareASale vs Awin).

Amazon Associates is another retail path with its own rules; if that fork matters to you, Amazon Associates vs ShareASale covers the trade-offs.

A practical decision rule

Ignore the bigger percentage for a minute and ask four questions:

1. 01What does my reader actually buy? If the answer is ebooks, courses or digital tools, start on ClickBank. If it's branded physical goods or multi-merchant retail, start on ShareASale.
2. 02What is my average order value? High % × low AOV can lose to modest % × high AOV. Estimate earnings per click, not just commission rate.
3. 03How fast do I need to get paid? Weekly ClickBank deposits help paid-traffic testers. Content sites with slower sales cycles usually tolerate ShareASale's Net schedule.
4. 04Can I get approved? ClickBank's open offers remove a gate. Premium ShareASale merchants may reject thin sites — build enough topical content before you apply.

A workable split for many publishers: ClickBank for digital-niche reviews and funnel tests; ShareASale for brand and seasonal retail content. Keep disclosures, landing pages and traffic sources clean on both.

Head-to-head on live data

The comparison below pulls current listing data from the Affground directory, including ratings and payout details as they're updated.

Common mistakes

• Chasing the highest percentage. A 75% rate on a low-converting info offer can earn less than 10% on a trusted retail brand that fits your audience.
• Treating cookie length as destiny. A 60-day cookie does not help if the reader never returns; a 30-day cookie is fine when intent is high and the purchase is same-session.
• Ignoring refunds and chargebacks. Digital products often see higher refund rates; model net payout, not gross commissions.
• Applying to ShareASale merchants with an empty site. Brand managers approve publishers who already cover their category.
• Running the same landing page for both. ClickBank funnels and ShareASale brand pages need different proof, CTAs and disclosure tone.
• Skipping the directory. Browse networks on Affground before you lock a stack — adjacent networks may fit a niche better than either of these two.

How to choose in one afternoon

1. 01List your top 10 URLs by traffic and note what each page sells (digital vs brand retail).
2. 02Estimate AOV and a conservative conversion rate for each cluster.
3. 03Multiply: visits × conversion × AOV × commission rate (use mid-range estimates).
4. 04Join the network that wins on projected earnings for your current content — not the niche you hope to have next year.
5. 05Add the second network only after one cluster is converting; don't dilute creative testing across both from day one.

Affground's verdict

Pick by product type first, commission second. ClickBank is the stronger home for digital info and high-percentage funnels with weekly cash flow. ShareASale is the stronger home for retail and brand catalogs where trust and deep links matter more than a headline rate. Most serious publishers eventually use both — just not on the same article.