Affiliate Marketing Statistics for 2026: Industry Data and SaaS Benchmarks
Ollie Efez
April 21, 2026•9 min read•Updated Oct 07, 2026
US affiliate marketing spend reached $13.62 billion in 2024, up 49.8% from $9.1 billion in 2021, and that spend drove $113 billion in e-commerce sales, according to the Performance Marketing Association's 2025 industry study. For SaaS programs specifically, the median affiliate commission is 20% of the sale and the average is 22.9%, based on 98 percentage-based campaigns in LinkJolt's SaaS affiliate benchmarks (September 2026 snapshot).
This page collects the affiliate marketing statistics a merchant can actually use when planning a program: how big the channel is, whether affiliate traffic converts, what SaaS programs pay, and how to check a statistic before you quote it. Every figure links to the page that publishes it, with the date the data describes.
Affiliate marketing statistics at a glance
The first eight rows describe the whole US affiliate market or retail shoppers. The last six describe SaaS programs. Keep the two apart when you plan: a market-wide figure tells you the channel is real, while a SaaS figure tells you what your offer competes against.How big is the affiliate marketing industry?
The PMA reports that US affiliate marketing spend grew from $9.1 billion in 2021 to $13.62 billion in 2024, a 49.8% increase and a compound annual growth rate of 14.42%. The PMA describes that pace as twice the growth of the broader e-commerce market. The figures come from the PMA's 2025 US Affiliate Marketing Industry Study, which the association says is based on data from eight leading affiliate networks and more than 50 publishers.
The same study puts the sales side at $113 billion of e-commerce sales generated by that spend, which is 9.4% of all US e-commerce sales, and an estimated 15-20% of sales for companies that use affiliate marketing.
What it means for a merchant: the channel is large and growing, but these are e-commerce totals measured through networks. The study is built from network and publisher data, so a SaaS program run outside those networks is not what it measures. Treat the market figures as evidence that affiliate is a mainstream acquisition channel, and plan your own targets from your trial-to-paid rate and customer value, not from a market share.
Does affiliate traffic convert better than other traffic?
In a study CJ describes as the largest affiliate incrementality study ever conducted, shoppers who clicked an affiliate link converted at a 46% higher rate than similar shoppers who did not, and affiliate converted new customers at a 140% higher rate. CJ compared 1.1 million affiliate shoppers with 19.1 million non-affiliate shoppers who visited the same advertisers' sites during September 2018, using a test and control method. Its whitepaper also reports 88% higher revenue per shopper for the affiliate group.
Two caveats matter before you quote it. The data is from September 2018, and the shoppers are retail consumers, not SaaS buyers. CJ also found that new customers who came through affiliate spent 12% less per order, so higher conversion did not mean higher order value for that group.
What it means for a merchant: the useful part is the method, not the headline. Incrementality asks whether a sale would have happened without the affiliate. For a SaaS program, the practical version is to compare trial-to-paid conversion and early retention for affiliate-referred customers against your other channels, inside your own data. The guide to tracking affiliate conversions covers how sales get attributed in the first place.
What do SaaS affiliate programs pay?
The median SaaS affiliate commission is 20% of the sale, the average is 22.9%, and the 20-25% band is the most common choice among the 98 percentage-based campaigns in LinkJolt's September 2026 snapshot. These numbers come from real campaigns running on LinkJolt rather than a survey, with test accounts, demo data and unverified conversions excluded. The full methodology is on the benchmarks page.
Percentage or bounty. 81% of campaigns pay a percentage of the sale. The benchmarks page explains why: percentage commissions scale with upgrades and annual plans, while fixed bounties suit single-price products. If you sell several plans, a percentage keeps the affiliate's reward in line with what the customer actually pays.Recurring commissions. 26% of campaigns pay affiliates on renewals as well as the first sale. Inside those recurring programs, 28% of the verified commission events in the September snapshot are renewal payments rather than new sales. The benchmarks page flags this as a small sample, so treat it as a direction, not a forecast.
Approval. Only 17% of campaigns auto-approve affiliate applications, and 83% review every partner manually. On most campaigns, the merchant decides who promotes the product rather than accepting everyone who applies.
For the reasoning behind each choice, read the guides to affiliate commission rates and affiliate commission structure.
How to check an affiliate statistic before you quote it
Before you put an affiliate marketing statistic in a board deck or a budget request, open the original study and check two things: the year the data describes and who was measured.
- Conversion lift figures. Quote the CJ results with their date: they describe retail shoppers in September 2018.
- Market totals. Check what each source measures. The PMA figures above are US only and, according to the PMA, built from data supplied by eight affiliate networks and more than 50 publishers.
- Roundup figures. If a statistic links only to another roundup, follow the links until you reach the organization that ran the study. If you cannot reach it, do not quote the number.
The rule that keeps a stats page honest is simple: a statistic without a date and a population is a claim, not a benchmark.
How to use these statistics when you plan a program
Use market figures to justify the channel and SaaS figures to design the offer. Here is how the numbers translate into decisions.
- Set a competitive rate. The benchmarks page recommends 20 to 25% if you want to be competitive and 30% or more if you want your program to stand out to affiliates comparing offers. Model a rate against your MRR and customer lifetime value with the SaaS commission calculator.
- Decide on recurring commissions on purpose. If your product is a subscription, a recurring commission pays partners for customers who stay. Cap it by a number of months or a number of payments if you want a fixed cost per customer. On LinkJolt, recurring commissions are available on the Professional plan and above.
- Budget the whole program, not just commissions. The affiliate program budget planner projects costs, commissions, revenue and ROI over 12 months before you launch.
- Choose who joins. The benchmarks page reads its approval data this way: the programs that perform pair a small, well-matched roster with recurring commissions. The guide to finding and recruiting affiliate partners covers where SaaS affiliates come from.
- Measure in your own data. Compare affiliate-referred customers with your other channels on trial-to-paid conversion and retention before you raise a rate.
If you are starting from scratch, the step-by-step guide to creating an affiliate program walks through launch, and LinkJolt's affiliate program software tracks referrals through tracking links, through discount codes on Stripe, Paddle, Polar and Creem, and through Subscription Offer Codes for Apple In-App Purchases, with 0% platform fees. Plans and limits are on the pricing page.
Citing the statistics on this page
The market figures belong to the PMA and CJ; link their pages above when you cite them. LinkJolt's SaaS benchmarks are free to reference with attribution: link to the SaaS Affiliate Program Benchmarks 2026 page as the source so readers can check the methodology and find the latest refresh. The benchmarks are refreshed roughly quarterly; the figures here are the September 2, 2026 snapshot.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the affiliate marketing industry in 2026?
The Performance Marketing Association's 2025 industry study puts US affiliate marketing spend at $13.62 billion in 2024, up 49.8% from $9.1 billion in 2021. The PMA says that spend generated $113 billion in e-commerce sales, 9.4% of all US e-commerce sales.
What is the average affiliate commission rate for SaaS?
The median SaaS affiliate commission is 20% of the sale and the average is 22.9%, based on 98 percentage-based campaigns in LinkJolt's SaaS affiliate benchmarks (September 2026 snapshot). The 20-25% band is the most common choice, and campaigns that pay a fixed bounty offer a median of $30 per sale.
What percentage of SaaS affiliate programs pay recurring commissions?
26% of the campaigns in LinkJolt's September 2026 benchmarks snapshot pay recurring commissions on renewals as well as the first sale. Inside those programs, 28% of the verified commission events are renewal payments, which the benchmarks page flags as a small sample.
Does affiliate traffic convert better than other traffic?
In CJ's incrementality study of retail shoppers in September 2018, shoppers who clicked an affiliate link converted at a 46% higher rate than similar shoppers who did not, and new customers converted at a 140% higher rate. The data is retail and from 2018, so a SaaS merchant should compare trial-to-paid conversion for affiliate-referred customers in their own data.
Where can I find affiliate marketing benchmarks for SaaS specifically?
LinkJolt publishes SaaS affiliate program benchmarks from real campaigns, covering commission rates, percentage versus fixed bounties, recurring commissions and approval settings. The figures are refreshed roughly quarterly and are free to cite with a link to the benchmarks page.
Can I cite these affiliate marketing statistics in my own content?
Yes. Cite market figures to the PMA and CJ by linking their original pages, and cite the SaaS figures to LinkJolt's SaaS Affiliate Program Benchmarks 2026 page, which asks for attribution with a link so readers can check the methodology.