CPA Affiliate Networks

We provide an in-depth look at cost-per-action earnings to help you gauge how to best put it to use in your affiliate business. You can choose platforms that will give you the best shot at making it big as a publisher, blogger, or influencer by reading Revpanda’s extensive affiliate network reviews.Scroll down to understand CPA network terminology, find answers to common FAQs, and read our affiliate site reviews.

What is CPA Affiliate Marketing?

A CPA pricing model is one of many earning plans that can be used to determine an affiliate’s payment for advertising services rendered. CPA stands for “cost per action,” and this refers to an individual having to perform a certain task, an “action,” after clicking on an affiliate link in an affiliate’s digital marketing content.

Although making a payment is sometimes one of the actions an affiliate will get paid for, it’s not the only accepted action. Some merchants offer to pay CPA affiliates each time an individual fills out a form, watches, or downloads a video.

The benefit of the CPA marketing model is that affiliates don’t necessarily have to wait until a client commits to a sale before getting paid for marketing services. Even sending a query or viewing a document can be seen as enough engagement for the merchant to reward an affiliate.

Not all merchants and affiliate marketing programs offer CPA earning plans, and affiliates must have clarity on what exactly encompasses an “action.” Before committing, compare advertisers and double-check the contract.

What Are CPA Affiliate Networks and How Do They Work?

Merchants, also called advertisers, want good CPA affiliates who will market their brands to the right people. Affiliates are usually on the lookout for new opportunities to earn through affiliate marketing, with CPA earning being a welcome option. A CPA affiliate marketing network is a third party to these groups, acting as a platform where affiliates and advertisers can search for each other, connect, and commit to a contract.

Affiliate networks can focus on a specific niche or earning plan, or they can offer a diverse range of popular online advertising verticals by catering to CPA, RevShare, and other earning options. Affiliates may find only a few affiliate programs on a network or browse hundreds of brands’ offers in one place.

Apart from serving as a marketplace for role players, an affiliate network also assists with services such as marketing, managing commission payments, and giving advice through account managers.

13 Best CPA Affiliate Networks

In the affiliate industry, even the best CPA networks differ, such as by having different earning plans and verticals they focus on. For example, not all of them are exclusively focused on CPA, as they may also offer RevShare, CPC, and other revenue options.

It’s still worth using these diverse platforms, as you can discover which earning plans you prefer—they all have benefits. But with a CPA affiliate network usually making it so easy to earn, it will always be a favourite for affiliate marketers.

Below, we discuss various CPA affiliate networks that’s worth checking out. If CPA is your focus as an affiliate marketer, these will be valuable for future campaigns.

MaxBounty

MaxBounty is specifically designed for CPA earning plans, so you know you’re working with experts in this field. The brand has been around since 2004, and the leaders behind the company have relevant skills and experience that help keep the company at the top of the industry. From performance marketing to understanding information systems and financial management administration, the leadership team has all bases covered.It’s a global affiliate network with over 30,000 affiliates, helping advertisers get the results they want. With 200+ advertisers and partners like Norton, Microsoft, and American Express offering over 3,000 campaigns, there’s a lot to choose from. All these role players create a healthy international network that works for everybody’s success.

Our Verdict About MaxBounty

We were really impressed with MaxBounty’s user-friendly approach for newbies. Instead of battling to find information, a step-by-step guide helps you understand all the necessary details. Also, perks such as getting a 20% bonus on your first payment help newcomers earn more, providing cash flow to invest in more ventures.

Pros

• Bonus payments
• User-friendly, informative platform
• Caters for affiliates from many countries globally
• Real time tracking

Cons

• Advertisers can refuse to pay for certain traffic types
• Daily cap on some products

Perform [cb] – Previously Clickbooth

The company was started in 2002 under the name Clickbooth, but it has since been bought out by other companies and changed its name in 2020.

For multiple years, Perform [cb] has earned awards such as “#1 CPA Affiliate Network” worldwide, so they have the industry recognition to give affiliate marketers confidence to trust them. The brand uses AI in their tracking platform, which was developed in 2015, enabling them to offer various features that improve affiliates’ experiences.

While known for quality CPA deals, they also offer CPS, CPE, CPL, PPC, and CPI earning plans. They can report over 1 million conversions monthly that benefit their advertisers, and this reputation draws well-known affiliate marketing partners like Walmart, HBO, and McAfee. They’ve been active for over 20 years, and their positive track record speaks to their value in the CPA marketing scene.

Our Verdict About perform [cb]

It’s refreshing to navigate an online platform that makes it so easy for users to maximise their affiliate performance. Tools and questionnaires built into the web pages help you make the right decisions and easily find the relevant information you’re looking for. They also have a vast knowledge base to answer common questions.

Pros

• Variety of earning plans
• AI speeds up and improves processes like tracking
• Accepts various traffic types
• Many verticals supported
• User friendly online platform

Cons

• Limited methods of contacting for assistance
• Not all campaigns are CPA

Adsterra

The Adsterra company was founded in 2013, and only a decade later, they have over 33,000 partners and over 20,000 active campaigns to choose from. The list of brands includes Basebone, Mobinner, and Moar Offers. There are more than 18,000 publishers who help advertisers get good traffic and leads, which lets the company report as many as 1 billion impressions per day.The company has agents to assist affiliates but has also upgraded its self-service option for those who prefer doing it on their own. The user-friendly workflows help you find information and options quickly. They also offer tools like ad formats that help boost conversion rates. Adsterra offers CPA but also CPC, CPM, CPI, and CPL earning plans.

Our Verdict About adsterra

Both advertisers and publishers benefit when using Adsterra, and they appreciate the friendly customer service along with the helpful tools. For example, affiliates can use the provided ad formats to enhance marketing campaigns. We found the platform very informative, although details on commission and payments should be made clearer.

Pros

• Excellent security
• Many campaigns to pick from
• Anti-adblock solutions provided
• Marketing tools provided
• Acceptable payment frequency

Cons

• Certain information difficult to find
• Brand promotes CPM for new advertisers, rather than CPA
• Not active in all countries

CPAlead

This CPA affiliate network services a very specific niche, namely the installation of apps. It started in 2006, so it’s clear they’re one of the established CPA networks—and here to stay.Advertisers such as app developers can find an experienced affiliate marketer willing to market their software products, and publishers get paid for each relevant action that benefits the merchant. Thanks to the network’s global reach in over 180 countries, new apps can be marketed and downloaded quite quickly across the world.

Although the name mentions only CPA, CPI and CPE earning are also options, in which case you get paid for each install of an app and not just any action like viewing the app in the app store.

Our Verdict About CPAlead

We think CPAlead as a CPA network is great at supporting this niche community, especially with features like a chat room where affiliates can discuss their work, earnings, or other topics. The brand provides helpful tools that are customizable, so you can optimise the look and impact of your campaigns.

Pros

• Regular and daily payments
• Referral program available
• Continual updates to tools like API and SDK
• Users enjoy features like the OfferWall

Cons

• Only for small niche, with no other verticals
• Sometimes a delay in responses from customer service

ClickDealer

ClickDealer has a high number of publishers—over 10,000, and over 1,000 clients seeking affiliates to market their CPA offers. Partners include Joom, Huawei, and AliExpress. They aren’t as established as some of the other best CPA networks, but since being founded in 2012, they’ve created a good reputation. For one thing, all parties are vetted, and software protects against issues like fraud.Although they started out as an affiliate-focused company, they now also offer clients other advertising services—even networking parties and worldwide meetups for affiliates.

For affiliates, there are benefits ranging from bonus programs and exclusive CPA offers to flexibility regarding payment. Apart from CPA, you’ll find more than one official affiliate program offering CPS, CPI, RevShare, and CPL. Campaigns can benefit from Smartlinks that direct users to the most appropriate offer or destination by analysing data such as device type, location, and more.

ClickDealer offers support around the clock, and affiliates benefit from the fact that many quality traffic types are allowed, even email.

Our Verdict About Clickdealer

The brand makes affiliate marketing exciting with features like private parties and loyalty programs that allow you to earn points and claim rewards in different categories. You can even donate that money to a charity, so ClickDealer makes it really easy to do more than usual with your affiliate income.

Pros

• CPA is the brand’s specialty
• Other marketing services also available
• Unique features, including parties and rewards systems
• Great security

Cons

• High minimum payment
• Sometimes labels good traffic as fraudulent
• Low payment frequency at first

CrakRevenue

CrakRevenue has been operating since 2010, and it’s another brand that has obtained industry recognition in the form of award nominations for being the best CPA network around. For affiliates, there are over 700 offers at any time to consider. They don’t have the longest track record, but it’s been enough time for the company to solidify its influence and improve its services.Despite being offered big money to sell the business, the original founder, Nick, kept going, and now there are over 35,000 affiliates using this network. It’s run by a team of professionals that already numbers over 100.

Affiliates can work themselves up to be eligible for Rising Star, VIP, or Elite perks, such as exclusive CPA offers and having a dedicated affiliate manager.

Our Verdict About CrakREvenue

This affiliate website is informative, making it another one that’s beneficial for newbies. CrakRevenue’s tools, such as Smartlinks and WordPress plugins, also simplify campaigns, so the brand has innovative ways of making tech work for its users.

Pros

• Very detailed but intuitive reporting
• User friendly on PC and mobile
• Regular payouts
• Many perks for high performance affiliates
• Exclusive campaigns

Cons

• Dedicated managers only for VIP and Elite affiliates
• Lack of response on occasion

Cpamatica

The benefit of using the Cpamatica CPA network is that it’s another platform that has CPA earnings as its main focus. At any time, affiliates can browse around 1,000+ offers from over 200 advertisers, and the company sources exclusive offers you won’t find on other CPA affiliate network platforms.They draw quality partners by drawing traffic from 100+ countries, so they’re relevant for many affiliate marketers. Apart from affiliate marketing, the brand also has its own comparison websites that support the entire system of promoting offers.

This is also a network that makes use of the helpful Smartlink technology, which simplifies and optimises outcomes for affiliate marketers.

Note that this CPA network is appropriate for very specific audiences, mostly catering to adults. Still, the CPA-based advertising platform can be useful for various influencers and bloggers. If you want, you can also consider CPS, CPL, and CPI marketing.

Our Verdict About Cpamatica

It’s clear Cpamatica wants to help its affiliate partners by empowering affiliates. It lets affiliates get traffic from most sources, including social media, and gives them tools like Smartlinks to help them do much more. It would be great if sources like email were also accepted with any campaign, but still, this is an impressive CPA network to try.

Pros

• Worldwide reach with various geographical areas currently growing
• Loyalty program offers more benefits for dedicated affiliates
• 24/7 customers service availability
• Pays often

Cons

• Verticals not relevant to all affiliates
• On occasion users find issues with payments

Advendor

This CPA network is based in Ukraine and Estonia, and it only supports English and Russian. Compared to some other CPA affiliate networks on this list, Advendor almost seems like a brand new CPA network since they’ve only been around since 2015. But they have worked with important players like affiliates and ad agencies before, so they do offer products and services that are worth using. Their affiliate program verticals cover a wide range of topics, some of which are geared toward adults, like dating and finances.The pages of this CPA marketing network website are user-friendly, with practical filters to help affiliates find offers that would suit them. A search can be based on verticals, countries, operating systems, devices, or offer types. They publish program details publicly and the detailed descriptions tell affiliates exactly what they’ll get paid for and what the restrictions are.

Our Verdict About Advendor

Advendor’s website wasn’t the fastest of the lot we tried out, so be prepared for a slight lag when navigating the pages. Still, it carries all the characteristics you look for in a quality affiliate network, such as good security and user friendly workflows. Also, affiliates can customise certain features to suit their preferences.

Pros

• Affiliate managers
• Good payment frequency
• Detailed offer descriptions
• Easy navigation and filters

Cons

• Website lags slightly
• Less experience than some other networks

Mobidea

It’s impressive to see industry leaders support Mobidea, including experts like Neil Patel and Charles Ngo. This proves the value Mobidea brings to the table for affiliates and advertisers. It was founded in 2011, so it has made quite an impression in just over a decade.Mobidea uses the latest in tech to benefit affiliates, such as spy tools that help you research what others are doing and identify website traffic sources. This makes it easier for affiliates to make money, so it’s no surprise that over 100,000 publishers use the platform.

Their verticals range from music to beauty and fitness, so they’re relevant for a large percentage of affiliates. The offers from over 800 advertisers are exclusively CPA, so publishers who prefer this earning plan will have lots to pick from among the 2,000+ CPA offers.

Our Verdict About Mobidea

We really appreciated Mobidea providing information in a clear and succinct way, so new users can quickly gauge if this platform will work for them. There’s loads of information to help onboard affiliates, and the brand does a lot to help publishers earn more and get more genuine traffic for advertisers. This is sure to secure the brand as a market leader going forward.

Pros

• Support in 5 different languages
• Flagging fraudulent traffic benefits advertisers
• Multiple tools to optimise traffic and income, including spy tools
• No vetting – start using Mobidea after signing up
• User friendly browsing of offers
• Good payment frequency

Cons

• Some contradicting information on the website
• Fees on payouts unless you’re a VIP
• VIP status only after earning €10,000

Toro Advertising

Toro Advertising was started in 2012 and is based in Argentina and Spain, but you can get support in 3 languages, namely French, Spanish, and English, which help to keep users happy in 90+ countries. Being active on social media makes it easy to keep up with changes and news about the brand.The company does offer all popular earning plans, so apart from CPA deals, you can also try out RevShare, CPI, CPS, and CPL. CPA is one area the company has received award nominations for.

Toro Advertising’s general payment guidelines are acceptable, but do inquire about special payment terms once you’re established, since they’re open to discussing adjustments if you have high traffic stats.

There is potential for success thanks to provided features such as Smartlinks and tools like custom scripts and ad formats. You’ll find thousands of offers to browse on their Offerwall.

Our Verdict About Toro Advertising

We appreciated the easy access to most information new users would require. You should note you’ll have to wait for the affiliate approval process, which can take up to 3 days, before you know if you can use the platform. Also, there’s a minimum requirement of already using another affiliate network successfully, which means CPA affiliate marketing through Toro isn’t for newbie CPA marketers.

Pros

• Good vetting process ensures quality affiliates
• Many offers
• Helpful tools to boost campaigns
• Active on social media

Cons

• Approval required to use network
• Application process can take 72 hours
• Need proof of previous success to be accepted

AdWork Media

AdWork Media is focused on CPA earning, and there are over 2,500 campaigns to pick from. Being active in 250 countries, it’s a network relevant to a large percentage of the globe’s affiliates. This is why they can report having 50,000+ affiliates in the network.Unlike most CPA networks, they have a standout feature, namely efficient Content Locking, which results in monetizing almost all web content and traffic types, from eBooks to apps and coupons.

They aim to streamline affiliate workflows with tools that automate labour-intensive tasks, such as campaign optimization for certain devices or areas, identifying the campaigns that perform the best, and choosing how to implement traffic strategies. There are also helpful tools like Split Testers that help publishers improve their campaigns.

Although data isn’t shown in real time, there are at least daily reports to help track your income and performance. It’s also a mobile affiliate network that allows you to track performance via an app.

Our Verdict About Adwork Media

With features such as stats apps, it’s clear this brand wants to help with marketing efforts and make it easier for affiliates to manage their campaigns, which means you can get more done in a day and boost your income. They also seem to lead the industry in terms of content locking, so when using Adwork Media, users are partnering with experts in the field. The platform seems intuitive and it’s information rich to help onboard new users.

Pros

• Multiple helpful tools
• Global affiliate marketing network
• Multiple payment options
• Low minimum payment
• Best CPA network for content locking

Cons

• Data not available in real time
• Joining requires an approval process

Madrivo

Madrivo has been in operation for over 2 decades, and it’s exclusively a CPA network. You’ll find over 10,000 role players in the Madrivo network, with advertisers including well-known brands like Bark Box, ADT, and American Standard. Compared to some other platforms, this may not be the highest number of publishers and advertisers combined, but it’s understandable when you realise their passion to prevent fraud, which motivates them to vet publishers and only work with top affiliates.There are many perks to joining, such as getting a $2,000 bonus simply by earning $1,000/week within your first 2 months. While it’s a high number to hit, it’s a great motivator, and the company does a lot to help affiliates optimise their campaigns from the start. For example, there are virtual sessions with managers to guide and advise affiliates. 

Pros

• Offers exclusive to platform
• Well known brands are affiliate marketing partners
• Incentive programs to earn more
• Quality network with very low fraud rate
• No minimum payment

Cons

• Not for newbies
• Approval process determines whether you can join

Best CPA Networks Conclusion

CPA earning methods are so helpful in the life of an affiliate. There’s a bigger chance of clients performing the actions required than there is of them committing to a sale. That boosts your chances of earning! For this reason, affiliate networks that offer CPA deals are welcome. Also, some of them exclusively focus on CPA, which could mean more exclusive CPA offers for this affiliate niche.

The affiliate networks showcased here are the best CPA network vendors to consider, but they still all have strengths and drawbacks. You need to compare CPA networks with your preferences and needs as an affiliate. For example, do you want a variety of earning plans, or do you only need CPA deals?

The affiliate market caters to everyone’s requirements, especially when you work with vendors like the ones above. The best CPA networks go the extra mile to benefit both advertisers and publishers. Pick your best CPA networks and let us know if you have any other suggestions that affiliates may benefit from.