The fastest first affiliates for a SaaS product are usually its own customers and the content sites already ranking for its category. Open marketplaces come later. A marketplace listing brings applications; a customer who already recommends you, or a reviewer who already ranks for "best [your category] tools", brings sales.
That's the order this page follows. Recruiting affiliates is mostly outreach, and outreach works when you're asking people who already have a reason to say yes.
Before you recruit: write down who you want
Spend an hour on an ideal affiliate profile before sending anything. Three questions:
- Whose audience buys your product? Be specific. "Marketers" is too wide. "Shopify store owners doing $20k to $200k a month" is useful.
- What do they publish? Comparison posts, tutorials, YouTube walkthroughs, a newsletter, templates, a community.
- What's the minimum you'll accept? Semrush, for example, asks for at least 1,000 unique monthly visitors or 1,000 organic followers. Webflow requires accepted affiliates to publish content within 30 days. You don't need rules that strict at launch, but you need some.
Write the profile into your application form as questions. It saves you reading two hundred applications from coupon sites.
The 9 channels, roughly in order of what to try first
1. Your own customers
They already use the product, they know who else needs it, and they're credible. Kinsta auto-approves existing customers into its affiliate program, which is a sensible default.
How to ask: an in-app prompt after a success moment (first report sent, first invoice paid), a line in your onboarding emails, and a link in the account menu. Customers rarely bring huge volume each, but they convert well because they're recommending something they use.
If your product has a free plan, a double-sided offer helps here. Give the referred customer something too, such as a discount or extra trial days. In our directory, BugHerd gives referred customers 20% off their first three months, SaneBox gives each one a $25 credit, and beehiiv offers an extended trial and a discount.
2. Content sites already ranking for your category
Search the queries your buyers use: "best [category] software", "[competitor] alternatives", "[competitor] vs [competitor]", "[category] for [niche]". Note every site on the first two pages that isn't a vendor. Those sites already get the traffic you want, and most already earn affiliate commission from your competitors on the same page.
Your pitch is simple: you'd like to be included, here's what's different about you, here's the rate. Bring a free account and a short list of facts they can check. Reviewers who can test the product write better copy than reviewers sent a press release.
3. Your competitors' affiliates
If a site promotes three of your competitors, it's an affiliate site in your category, and it's already set up to add one more. Look at the "alternatives" and comparison pages people publish. Our directory has alternatives pages and category pages for software programs, which show you which programs sit next to yours and what they pay.
Be careful about one thing. Don't bad-mouth the competitor in your outreach, and don't ask affiliates to remove them. Ask to be added, and compete on terms.
4. YouTube creators and newsletter writers
Tutorial creators in your niche have audiences that trust their tool picks. Look for channels that already do "my tool stack" or "how I run my business" videos, and newsletters that include sponsored or recommended tools. Many will want a flat fee for a dedicated video on top of commission; decide in advance whether you'll pay one.
5. Agencies and consultants
Agencies recommend software to every client they sign. They're often a better fit for a referral or agency track than a pure affiliate one, because they want a client discount or a margin, not just a link. See agency partner programs for how other SaaS companies structure that.
6. Complementary tools and integration partners
If your product integrates with another tool, that tool's users are your audience, and that tool's partner team may cross-promote. Start with integrations you already have. A joint tutorial or a listing in their app marketplace often outperforms a link swap.
7. Communities
Slack and Discord groups, subreddits, Facebook groups and forums in your niche. Don't spam them with your affiliate program. Instead, find the members who answer questions helpfully and recommend tools, and invite them directly. Many community moderators have rules about affiliate links, so tell recruits to follow them.
8. Directories and marketplaces
Listing your program where affiliates look for programs brings inbound applications at no cost per application. In our directory, 126 of 412 programs take applications through PartnerStack and 22 through Impact, while 215 use their own site or form. If you're on a network with a marketplace, use it. If you aren't, list the program anyway.
You can list your program on the PartnersWatch Network; that's our directory, and the same one this page draws its data from. If your program is already in it, you can claim the listing. Expect quality to vary. Directory applicants are the group most worth screening.
9. Your own site
A "Partners" or "Affiliates" link in the footer, a public terms page and a short FAQ. It sounds obvious, but the people searching "[your brand] affiliate program" are high-intent, and a missing page sends them to a competitor's.
Outreach that gets replies
Keep the first email short: who you are, why their audience fits, the commission in one line, and one specific thing you noticed about their content. Offer a free account. Don't attach a media kit.
Follow up once, a week later. Then stop.
Plan for low reply rates. Say you email 100 sites from your category research and 15 reply. If 8 join and 3 publish something in the first two months, you have three active affiliates from 100 emails. That's a normal result for cold outreach, which is why channels 1 and 2 matter more than volume. The outreach email generator drafts first emails and follow-ups you can edit.
Approve fast, then get them to a first post
Speed matters more than people expect. An affiliate who applies to three programs and hears back from one first will write about that one first. HubSpot says it reviews applications in 2 to 3 business days, Kinsta within 3 and Sender within 1 to 2. Aim for one business day.
After approval, send three things in the welcome email:
- their link and any coupon code, with a test link to confirm it tracks;
- a short brief: who the product is for, the two or three claims that are safe to make, and what's banned (brand bidding, coupon sites);
- a suggested first piece of content that fits their format.
Your terms should be public before you recruit anyone. Our affiliate terms template covers the clauses affiliates check first.
Measure active affiliates, not sign-ups
A program with 400 sign-ups and 12 active affiliates has 12 affiliates. Track:
| Metric | Why |
|---|---|
| Active affiliates (at least one referral in 90 days) | The real size of the program |
| Time from approval to first referral | Shows whether onboarding works |
| Share of revenue from the top 10 affiliates | Usually most of it; tells you who to look after |
| Applications by source channel | Tells you where to spend recruiting time |
| Approval rate by channel | Low rates from one channel mean that channel brings the wrong people |
If a few affiliates end up sending most of your referrals, as is common, time spent helping them grow can beat time spent recruiting more. Tiers are the usual tool for that.
Where PartnersWatch fits
PartnersWatch (our product) covers recruitment on the Recruit side: a public listing on the Network with your own application questions, a single review queue, and an AI fit score for each applicant against your ideal partner profile. Our changelog also lists an AI affiliate finder that ranks candidate sites from a description of your ideal partner, and double-sided rewards for customer referrals. None of it replaces the outreach above; it makes the screening part faster.
Programs in our directory that accept affiliates in software, to see how others present their offer:
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analyze | Affiliate | 20% recurring | Recurring |
| GoMarble AI | Affiliate, Referral partner, Agency | 50% of first month, then 20-40% recurring for eligible months | Recurring |
| IGSendMail | Affiliate, Referral partner | 20% lifetime recurring | Recurring |
| PPCmate | Affiliate, Referral partner | 10% of referred advertiser deposits, lifetime | Recurring |
| Food Ordering Plugin | Affiliate | On request | — |
| Book Leopard | Affiliate | 50% commission | One-time |
| HeadshotHQ | Affiliate | 30% on all sales | One-time |
| Concord Privacy | Affiliate, Referral partner | Recurring commission (rate not published) | Recurring |
FAQ
How do I find affiliates for my SaaS product?
Start with your own customers and with the content sites already ranking for your category's "best tools" and "alternatives" searches. Then approach YouTube creators, newsletters, agencies and integration partners in your niche, and list the program in affiliate directories for inbound applications.
How many affiliates do I need to start?
Fewer than you think. A handful of active affiliates who publish and send customers teaches you more than hundreds of inactive sign-ups. Aim for your first five to ten producing affiliates, then use what they tell you to fix the offer before recruiting widely.
Should I recruit affiliates from my competitors' programs?
Yes, ethically. Sites that already promote competitors are in your category and know how to sell tools like yours. Ask to be added on your merits and terms. Don't ask them to drop a competitor, and don't disparage the competitor in your pitch.
Do affiliate marketplaces and directories work?
They work for volume, less for quality. They bring inbound applications without outreach, but applicants vary widely, so screen them against a written ideal affiliate profile. Treat directories as one channel among several, not the whole plan.
How quickly should I approve affiliate applications?
Within one or two business days. HubSpot publishes 2 to 3 business days and Sender 1 to 2. Faster approval means you're the program an affiliate starts writing about first.
What commission should I offer to attract affiliates?
Enough to compete with the programs on the same comparison pages. Among the 155 software programs in our directory that publish a percentage, the median top rate is 30%. How long the commission lasts often matters as much as the rate.