These five programs pay anywhere from 20% to 55% per sale, and the right one for you depends on whether you want recurring yearly income or a larger one-time payout. Every number below comes from each program’s own page. The comparison covers SuperbThemes, WP Astra, ThemeIsle, Kadence (through Liquid Web’s program), and OceanWP, in that order. The commission spread runs from 20% for Kadence WP to 55% for ThemeIsle. SuperbThemes pays yearly recurring commissions and Kadence WP pays up to 20% recurring, while Astra, ThemeIsle, and OceanWP pay only on the initial sale. Tracking cookies last anywhere from 30 days (SuperbThemes, OceanWP) to 90 days (ThemeIsle, Liquid Web).
What to Check Before Joining a WordPress Affiliate Program
Before you join any WordPress affiliate program, four things determine what you actually earn. Ignore them and you could pick a program that looks generous on paper but pays less in real money.
- Commission rate matters, but so does whether it’s one-time or recurring. A 30% one-time payout on OceanWP can earn you less over time than a 50% yearly recurring payout on SuperbThemes.
- Minimum payout thresholds vary widely. ThemeIsle pays monthly once you reach $100, while WP Astra requires $210 and at least 2 referrals before payout.
- Cookie duration controls how long after a click you still get credit. SuperbThemes starts at 30 days, WP Astra 60 days, ThemeIsle 90 days, Liquid Web up to 90 days, and OceanWP 30 days.
- Payment methods differ too. WP Astra pays monthly via PayPal in the third week, ThemeIsle offers check, direct deposit, wire transfer, and Payoneer, and Liquid Web offers direct deposit, ACH, PayPal, or hosting credits.
SuperbThemes Affiliate Program
SuperbThemes pays up to 50% commission on every referral sale, and it keeps paying on renewals with yearly recurring commissions. That recurring income sets it apart from the one-time payouts offered by several other programs on this list. If someone you refer stays subscribed year after year, you keep earning from that same customer instead of collecting once and moving on.
You need to reach a minimum payout threshold of $200 before you get paid, and payouts go out monthly. The tracking cookie starts at 30 days, which is on the shorter end, so promoting to audiences who tend to buy soon after they click works best.
You can promote SuperbThemes WordPress themes, plugins, and Superb Addons. The approved channels include blog posts, tutorials, reviews, list articles, social media, demo videos, comparisons, white papers, infographics, case studies, emails, logos, and banners.
The rules matter as much as the payout. You can’t use coupon codes as ads, and you can’t place affiliate links on coupon, promo, or deal sites. Using ‘SuperbThemes’ in your domain or personal branding isn’t allowed, and neither is altering logos or creatives without consent or misrepresenting the brand. An affiliate manager is available Monday through Friday if you have questions.
WP Astra Affiliate Program
WP Astra pays 30% commission on any sale generated through your affiliate link. There are no recurring or tiered commissions, so once a referred customer buys, you collect your 30% and that’s the end of it. Compared to programs that pay you again on renewals, this is a one-time model.
Astra uses a 60-day cookie, which means you get credit for sales made within 60 days of the first click. Someone who reads your review, bookmarks it, and buys two months later still counts as your referral.
Payouts come monthly via PayPal, processed in the third week of each month for referral sales that are at least 45 days old. You need to clear a minimum of $210 and 2 referrals before money moves, so a single sale won’t trigger a payment on its own.
Astra cites a potential of $270 per sale and reports that leading affiliates earn more than $5,000 per month. The program has paid out over $1 million to affiliates so far. Keep in mind you can’t buy through your own affiliate link.
ThemeIsle Affiliate Program
The ThemeIsle affiliate program pays 55% commission on all sales, the highest one-time rate among the five programs compared here. There’s no recurring income and no 2-tier structure, so you collect once per sale and that’s the end of it. If you want long-term passive earnings, this flat model won’t get you there.
ThemeIsle’s cookie lasts 90 days from the initial click, one of the longest on this list and three times the 30 days you get with SuperbThemes or OceanWP. A reader who finds your tutorial in March, waits, and finally buys in May still counts as your referral. That extra time helps most if your audience tends to research before they commit.
Signing up happens through ShareASale, and that’s also where you’ll find detailed reporting on clicks and sales. Payment terms are friendlier than most: payouts go out monthly once your balance hits $100, and you can choose from check, direct deposit, wire transfer, or Payoneer. Compare that to WP Astra’s $210 and 2-referral minimum, and ThemeIsle clears the bar much sooner. You’ll promote 10+ WordPress themes and plugins with standard creatives like banners, email templates, and text links. Coupon sites are not accepted, so build your campaigns on content that earns the click rather than discount hunting.
Kadence Affiliate Program via Liquid Web
The Kadence affiliate program works as two programs in one. On the theme side, Kadence WP offers up to 20% recurring commission on theme sales with a 60-day cookie. Recurring income means as long as the customers you refer keep renewing, you keep earning from them, which puts Kadence in the same long-game category as SuperbThemes rather than the one-time payouts you’d get from most other programs here.
Because Kadence is part of Liquid Web, you can also earn through Liquid Web’s hosting affiliate program, which pays up to $1,500 per sale with no cap on referral revenue. A single hosting referral can outearn dozens of theme sales, and high-volume promoters aren’t penalized for doing well. You don’t need a hosting account to become an affiliate.
Liquid Web runs its tracking through Impact Radius, with cookies that last up to 90 days after the first click. That’s the longest window on this list, tied with ThemeIsle, and gives a reader who clicks in January plenty of room to commit by April. Payouts land 15 days after a sale locks, paid via direct deposit, ACH, PayPal, or hosting credits. You also get a dedicated affiliate manager to work with.
OceanWP Affiliate Program
OceanWP’s affiliate program pays 30% commission per sale, and that’s the whole structure. There are no recurring or 2-tier commissions, so once a customer you referred makes a purchase, you collect your 30% and that’s it. If you want income that keeps coming back on renewals, this program won’t provide it.
The tracking window is the main thing to weigh. OceanWP’s affiliate cookie lasts 30 days, the shortest on this list and well behind ThemeIsle’s 90 days and Astra’s 60 days. A reader who clicks your link today but doesn’t buy for six weeks won’t count as your referral. OceanWP fits better for audiences who decide quickly, like people comparing themes right before they launch a site, than for readers who take their time.
You need to hit a minimum balance of $100 USD before money moves, which is lower than Astra’s $210 and 2-referral requirement. The payout period isn’t publicly listed, so confirm the schedule with the program before building a campaign around it.
OceanWP products range from $35 to $127 per year, so a 30% commission works out to $10.50 on a $35 plan and up to $38.10 on a $127 plan. That’s the realistic per-sale range, and it’s why volume matters more here than with higher-rate programs.
How These WordPress Theme Affiliate Programs Compare
When you pick a theme to build your site on, fit matters more than the raw commission rate. Two people can join the same program and earn very different amounts because one chose a theme that matches how their audience shops and the other didn’t. The same logic applies to WordPress theme affiliate programs: the tools you promote and the themes you build with should line up with the kind of content you actually publish.
- SuperbThemes offers Simple Nova with affiliate features and schema markup built in, while Idea Flow supports ads and WooCommerce.
- Astra works for almost any affiliate site type and gives you 300+ starter templates, though the free version has limits compared to Pro.
- Kadence is easy to customize, loads quickly, and includes a header builder, but it offers fewer niche affiliate templates and requires premium add-ons for advanced features.
- OceanWP gives new affiliate sites a feature-packed free starting point, with product prices starting at $35 per year.
- REHub is a $59 one-time theme built for price comparison and affiliate sites in any niche.
- Divi runs $89 per year and suits visual review sites, with built-in split testing for your pages.
REHub and Divi sit alongside the five programs above as complements, not replacements.
WordPress Hosting Affiliate Programs Worth Knowing
Hosting affiliate programs often pay more per sale than theme programs, so if your audience buys hosting, these are worth knowing. The commissions below run from a few hundred dollars per referral to well over a thousand, a different scale from the theme payouts covered above.
| Affiliate program | Commission | Cookie duration |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger | up to 60% per sale | 30 days |
| Cloudways | up to $125 per sale or recurring | 90 days |
| Liquid Web | up to $1,500 per sale | 90 days |
| Rocket.net | $150 per sale | not stated |
| NameHero | $50 – $125 per sale | not stated |
| A2 Hosting | $55 – $125 per sale | not stated |
| WP Engine | $200 per sale | 180 days |
Hostinger is named the best overall WordPress affiliate program for beginners in 2026, thanks to its affordable pricing, brand recognition, and conversion rates. One reviewer calls Rocket.net the company with the biggest affiliate potential, paying $150 per commission on hosting that averaged under 100ms global TTFB in a KeyCDN performance test.
When you compare these hosting programs to the theme options, the per-sale gap is obvious. WP Engine alone pays $200 per sale with a 180-day cookie, the longest window in this group, while NameHero and A2 Hosting sit in the $50 – $125 range. Cloudways stands out if you want repeat income, since it pays recurring on top of its per-sale rate.
Which WordPress Affiliate Program Should You Choose?
Two programs stand out, and the right one for you depends on what you want your referrals to do. If you’d rather build income that compounds, pick the recurring model. If you’d rather get the biggest possible check from a single sale, pick the flat-rate one.
- SuperbThemes stands out for its up to 50% yearly recurring commission on renewals, so each referred customer can keep paying you year after year.
- ThemeIsle pays 55% on all sales with a 90-day cookie, the highest one-time rate among the five programs compared.
- Choosing between Astra and OceanWP comes down to cookie length and payout threshold: Astra’s 60-day cookie and $210 minimum versus OceanWP’s 30-day cookie and $100 minimum.
Finding the right WordPress affiliate program for your situation means matching the payout structure to how your audience actually buys. Quick deciders suit the shorter cookies and lower thresholds. Slow researchers suit the longer windows. Renewal-minded audiences suit the recurring plans.
When you’re ready to start, apply to the SuperbThemes affiliate program at superbthemes.com/affiliate-program. Monthly payouts, a $200 threshold, and manager support Monday through Friday make it easy to promote WordPress themes, plugins, and Superb Addons.
