Pay per free trial affiliate programs offer a refreshing twist on traditional affiliate marketing.

Instead of convincing your audience to spend their hard-earned cash for a product or service, you’re encouraging them to take that product for a spin — without paying a cent.

Sounds like money for nothing, right?

Of course, the advertisers running these programs are no fools. As FirstPageSage points out, conversion rates from free trials to paid subscriptions range from 17.4% – 51%, depending on traffic source and trial type:

In other words, one-sixth to one-half of free trialists will become paying customers.

In essence, the pay per free trial model is a clever spin on the pay per lead affiliate approach. No wonder big names like Grammarly and LinkedIn pay good money to affiliate marketers who generate free trials.

Want to be one of those affiliates? Consider promoting these high-quality pay per free trial affiliate programs…

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1 Semrush

Do you have an audience that’s interested in digital marketing-related topics and advice on how to optimize a website? Semrush is a perfect fit.

The platform combines various SEO, content marketing, social media, PPC, and competitor research tools. It’s the platform of choice for 10 million marketers, including 30% of Fortune 500 companies — among them Amazon, Tesla, and Walmart.

Semrush’s cookie window puts most affiliate programs to shame, regardless of niche. You’ll earn a $10 commission provided your referrals sign up for a free trial within 370 days of clicking your affiliate link, giving you a superb chance of turning clicks into cash.

Plus, if a customer you refer goes on to buy from Semrush within 400 days, you earn a cool $200.

There’s just one tiny catch: your referrals need to register for a (free) Semrush account within 120 days for you to be eligible for free trial or first-purchase commissions. But honestly, that’s still pretty generous.

URL: Semrush affiliate program
Managed by: Impact
Commission rate: $10 per free trial sign-up
Cookie duration: 370 days
Products/Services sold: Digital marketing tools
Payment methods: PayPal, check, wire transfer, direct deposit, ACH transfer
Market(s): Various
Additional resources: Dedicated account managers, unique promo codes, deep product linking, detailed product catalog

2 QuickBooks

QuickBooks is America’s favorite accounting software, with a market share of almost 28%. The Intuit-owned platform also offers QuickBooks Payroll, an affordable and user-friendly payroll service trusted by over one million businesses.

With small business owners spending a mind-numbing 21 days a year calculating, filing, and paying payroll taxes, it’s easy to see why QuickBooks’ tools are in high demand.

The pay per-free trial element of QuickBooks’ affiliate program focuses solely on the company’s payroll software.

While the $5 commission rate is pretty uninspiring, the company enjoys strong conversion rates of 4% – 7% (with the peak coming in Q1, in the run-up to tax season). That translates to a superb three-month EPC of $204, placing QuickBooks in the top five of all productivity tools on CJ Affiliate in terms of earning potential.

URL: QuickBooks affiliate program
Managed by: CJ Affiliate
Commission rate: $5 per Intuit QuickBooks Payroll free trial signup
Cookie duration: 45 days
Products/Services sold: Accounting and payroll software
Payment methods: Check, direct deposit, Payoneer
Market(s): US only
Additional resources: Affiliate-exclusive discount codes

3 Pluralsight

A growing number of jobs demand at least some understanding of new technologies. Yet one in three Americans lacks crucial digital skills. To make matters worse, less than 20% of managers feel like they’re advancing their digital know-how in the workplace.

Enter Pluralsight, a technology learning platform that empowers individuals to level up their technical prowess and bridge skill gaps in business-critical fields like data, web development, and cloud computing.

Founded in 2004, Pluralsight is trusted by 70% of Fortune 500s to upskill their workforces.

Pluralsight’s affiliate program pays $5 for every referred user who signs up for a free trial.

Again, that might not sound spectacular, but the program has a 30-day EPC of $8.26, which compares extremely favorably to other learning-related affiliate programs on the Impact network.

For instance, it’s over 10 times more than Coursera and a staggering 413 times higher than LinkedIn Learning.

URL: Pluralsight affiliate program
Managed by: Impact
Commission rate: $5 per free trial signup
Cookie duration: 60 days
Products/Services sold: Online tech training
Payment methods: PayPal, check, wire transfer, direct deposit, ACH transfer
Market(s): US only
Additional resources: Optimized banner ads, monthly affiliate marketing newsletter, free trial to relevant Pluralsight courses

4 LinkedIn Learning

Speaking of LinkedIn Learning…

You likely already know that LinkedIn reigns as the world’s largest professional social network, with over 900 million members in 200+ countries and territories.

Its aptly named online learning platform capitalizes on all that brand recognition, which should make it a comparatively easy “sell”. LinkedIn Learning specializes in honing business, tech, and creative skills, with over 14,000 courses taught by subject-matter experts.

LinkedIn Learning pays a solid $10 commission, but the 30-day cookie window is a little stingy compared to other pay per free trial affiliate programs. And, as we’ve already noted, it has a far lower average EPC than another big player in the online learning niche, Pluralsight.

URL: LinkedIn Learning affiliate program
Managed by: Impact
Commission rate: $10 per free sign-up
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products/Services sold: Online learning
Payment methods: PayPal, check, wire transfer, direct deposit, ACH transfer
Market(s): Various
Additional resources: Dedicated affiliate program team, deep linking, product catalog

5 Audiobooks.com

About half of all Americans have listened to at least one audiobook, while revenue from audiobook sales hit $1.6 billion in 2021.

That makes audiobooks a pretty attractive affiliate marketing niche — and Audiobooks.com is one of the biggest players, with a catalog of over 375,000 premium audiobooks.

As well as browsing classics and new releases in their favorite genres, members can access curated book lists such as Perfect First Listens and New York Times Best Sellers.

According to CJ Affiliate, the Audiobooks.com affiliate program pays a flat $4.50 per free sign-up.

However, the Audiobooks.com affiliate landing page also references a tiered commission structure based on sales volumes, with the ability to earn up to $25 per free trial. That’s a far higher commission rate than most pay per free trial affiliate programs, but you’ll have to refer a ton of free trialists (500+ per month) to unlock it.

URL: Audiobooks.com affiliate program
Managed by: CJ Affiliate
Commission rate: $4.50 per free trial sign-up
Cookie duration: 45 days
Products/Services sold: XX
Payment methods: Bank transfer, PayPal, cash, check
Market(s): US, UK, CA, AU
Additional resources: Promotional images, banners, links, special offers, dedicated affiliate manager

6 Constant Contact

Email marketing is hard to beat when it comes to generating ROI, delivering an average return of $36 for every $1 invested.

So it’s easy to see why marketers are drawn to tools like Constant Contact, a digital marketing platform that helps brands engage their audiences and drive sales. It’s predominantly an email tool, but offers some social media and SMS marketing functionality.

With a massive library of hundreds of email templates, the platform makes it easy for marketers to create professional-quality emails without requiring any coding or graphic design skills.

Constant Contact’s affiliate program has a 45-day cookie window and pays $5 per email lead. And if your leads go on to convert within 75 days, you earn a tasty $105 per sale.

URL: Constant Contact affiliate program
Managed by: Impact
Commission rate: $5 per email lead
Cookie duration: 45 days
Products/Services sold: Digital marketing tools
Payment methods: PayPal, check, wire transfer, direct deposit, ACH transfer
Market(s): US, CA, UK
Additional resources: Deep product linking, product catalog, creative assets, support from experienced program managers

7 Brevo (Sendinblue)

Sticking with the digital marketing theme, next up is Brevo, another platform that helps brands connect with potential customers through email, social media, and SMS.

Brevo’s major draw is its free product tier: without paying a single cent, users can send up to 300 emails a day to unlimited contacts. In comparison, Mailchimp — the world’s most popular email marketing platform — only offers 1,000 monthly sends to 500 contacts on its free tier, while Constant Contact doesn’t even have a free plan.

That should make it comparatively easy for affiliate marketers to generate free trial signups for Brevo. You’ll earn €5 for each free account signup you refer. And, similar to Constant Contact, if your referrals upgrade to a paid plan, you’ll bag an extra €100.

There’s just one catch: you won’t get paid for any free trial signups until you refer at least one paid subscription.

URL: Brevo affiliate program
Managed by: Tapfiliate
Commission rate: €5 per account signup
Cookie duration: 90 days
Products/Services sold: Email marketing tools, digital marketing automation
Payment methods: Check, direct deposit, international direct deposit, wire transfer, Payoneer
Market(s): Global
Additional resources: Affiliate marketing advice

8 Grammarly

Did you know 59% of recruiters reject candidates because of poor grammar or spelling errors? Or that three-fifths of consumers ditch companies with glaring typos in their marketing materials?

Fortunately, for those of us who don’t write words real good, there’s Grammarly. The platform helps users write confidently on 500,000+ websites and apps, including email clients and word processors.

Every day, Grammarly’s tools are used by over 30 million people and 50,000 teams, including us. So we can confirm it’s a great tool (and we’re not even getting paid for this).

We’ve got good news and bad with the Grammarly affiliate program. On the downside, it pays a measly $0.20 per free account signup, which is barely worth your effort.

Indeed, we wouldn’t have included them on this list without the $20 commission for each premium plan purchase. Coupled with high conversion rates of 20% – 30%, there’s decent earning potential here — just not from free trials alone.

Grammarly also offers cash bonuses, exclusive discounts, and increased payouts for top-performing affiliate marketers.

URL: Grammarly affiliate program
Managed by: HasOffers
Commission rate: $0.20 per free account signup
Cookie duration: 90 days
Products/Services sold: Writing tools
Payment methods: Check, direct deposit, wire transfer
Market(s): Global
Additional resources: Affiliate links, banner ads

9 FreshBooks

We’ve already looked at one of the biggest names in the accounting software market, QuickBooks.

Next up is one of the market’s feistiest disruptors, FreshBooks. What it lacks in market share, it makes up for in functionality, with the tool enabling users to save up to $7,000 in billable hours every year.

(We should also note that while FreshBooks is a lot smaller than QuickBooks, it’s hardly an unknown, with over 30 million people using the platform.)

FreshBooks pays up to $10 per free trial signup, although the commission depends on your referral’s location. If they’re based in the US or Canada, you’ll get the full amount, but lower sums are paid for referrals in other markets like the UK, Australia, and South Africa. FreshBooks also rewards affiliates with commissions of up to $200 for paid plan sales.

Most attractive of all, this affiliate program has a 30-day EPC of $250.93, which is even higher than QuickBooks (albeit they’re on different affiliate networks, so it’s not a true side-by-side comparison).

URL: FreshBooks affiliate program
Managed by: ShareASale
Commission rate: Up to $10 for free sign-ups
Cookie duration: 120 days
Products/Services sold: Accounting software
Payment methods: Check, direct deposit, international direct deposit, wire transfer, Payoneer
Market(s): Various
Additional resources: Creative assets, affiliate marketing newsletters

10 Noom

The weight loss and weight management market hit $224 billion in 2021 — and is set to reach $405+ billion by 2030.

Which brings us nicely to Noom. More than just a stupid name, it helps users lose weight (and keep it off) through daily, psychology-based lessons, one-on-one coaching, and tracking tools for food and exercise.

Noom tailors its content to each user by having them take a quiz to evaluate their weight loss goals and health-related vital statistics.

Unlike many of the affiliate programs in our roundup, Noom only pays for free trial signups. The $10 commission is pretty decent, but with no possibility of upsells down the line, there’s limited earning potential here.

URL: Noom affiliate program
Managed by: Impact
Commission rate: $10 per free trial sign-up
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products/Services sold: Weight loss tools
Payment methods: PayPal, check, wire transfer, direct deposit, ACH transfer
Market(s): US, CA, UK, AU, NZ, IE
Additional resources: Unique promo codes, deep product linking, product catalog

10 Buildium

Property management software is big business, with the market expected to be worth almost $5 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

Buildium is one of the industry’s best-known names. And it claims to be the only solution of its kind that helps real estate pros win new business from community associations and property owners.

But it’s not all sell, sell, sell. The platform also assists with more mundane tasks like handling payments, updating financial information, and approving lease applications.

As well as paying $10 per free trial signup, Buildium’s affiliate program offers a $10 reward for demo requests and a 25% commission for each paying customer who buys a premium plan. All actions carry a generous 60-day cookie window.

The program is open to anyone with a relevant website, but Buildium is especially interested in partnering with affiliate marketers who promote its software through PPC campaigns or ads on real estate-related sites and blogs.

URL: Buildium affiliate program
Managed by: Impact
Commission rate: $10 per free trial
Cookie duration: 60 days
Products/Services sold: Property management software
Payment methods: PayPal, check, wire transfer, direct deposit, ACH transfer
Market(s): US only
Additional resources: Product catalog

Conclusion

From audiobooks to weight-loss programs to digital marketing and accounting tools, there are pay per free trial affiliate programs to suit a vast range of audiences.

But, finding relevant programs is only one piece of the affiliate marketing puzzle.

Creating a consistent source of traffic and clicks is a whole other issue. As far as we’re concerned, the most reliable option is to build your own affiliate site.

Not sure where to start? We can help.

Sign up for our free training and we’ll teach you seven tips for building high-performing affiliate sites, including our tried-and-trusted method for finding profitable hidden niches.

See you there!