Affiliate marketing for podcasts, from hosting referrals to recording tools

Affiliate marketing for podcasts works best on the tools a podcaster already uses and talks about: hosting, remote recording and editing software. The three programs that publish their terms differ a lot. Transistor pays 25% of what a referral pays, for as long as they stay a customer. Buzzsprout pays a flat $20 per paid account. Riverside pays up to 20% on each subscription. A recurring share beats a one time bounty if your listeners actually switch and stay.

Most pages on this topic are lists of hosts written by a hosting company, or generic advice about adding links to show notes. This one reads each program's own page and works through what a handful of referrals is worth. It is written for podcasters who already recommend their tools out loud and want that recommendation to pay.

What does affiliate marketing for podcasts actually pay?

It pays on three kinds of products: where you host the show, how you record it and what you edit it with. A fourth kind, sponsor reads with a code or link, pays through the advertiser. All of them are paid when a listener signs up through your link, so the question for each program is how long the credit lasts, whether the payment repeats and how long you wait for it.

Figures are as each company publishes them on the date shown. Programs change terms without notice, so check the page before you build a recommendation around a number.

Is a recurring commission or a flat bounty better for a podcast?

A recurring commission is better when your referrals stay for a year or more, and a flat bounty is better when they leave quickly. Podcast hosting is sticky, because moving a show means changing the RSS feed and telling directories, so people tend to stay once they have launched. That favors the percentage.

Here is the arithmetic, with a hypothetical $20 a month plan to keep the numbers simple. This is a worked example, not a published price for any host.

At these assumptions the recurring share matches the flat payment in month four and keeps growing after it. If most of your referrals cancel in the first two months, the flat bounty looks better, and Buzzsprout's two charged months rule means you collect nothing on a referral who leaves before then. If you refer hosting customers who are launching a show for the first time, they are more likely to stay. Neither figure is a forecast. Your own referral count and the plans your listeners choose decide the real number.

Where do podcasters put affiliate links?

The reliable places are the show notes of each episode, the show's website and the pinned link in your social bios. Listeners do not click while driving or at the gym, so the link has to be somewhere they can find after the episode. Naming a short address on air, such as "the link is in the show notes", works better than reading out a long tracking URL.

• Show notes. Most podcast apps render links in the episode description, though some strip formatting, so use short plain URLs.
• One page for every tool. A single recommendations page means you say one address on air and keep it current when a program changes. A shoppable storefront does this and keeps each tool in a collection, such as hosting, recording and editing.
• Video clips. If you publish video podcast clips, the description links work the same way. See whether affiliate links are allowed in YouTube descriptions before you rely on them.

Disclose that you earn from the link, in the show notes and aloud where you name the tool. In the US, the FTC expects a clear disclosure near the recommendation. Our FTC affiliate disclosure guide covers the wording, and the regulator's own Disclosures 101 for social media influencers is the primary source.

Which podcast tools are worth recommending?

Recommend what you use and could defend if a listener emailed you. That is partly ethics and partly arithmetic: a recommendation you do not believe in converts poorly and costs trust you cannot buy back. Hosting is the strongest category because every new show needs one, and it is a paid product from the first month. Recording tools come second, because a guest based show needs a reliable remote recorder. Editing and transcription tools follow.

The three programs above each pay in a different way. If you host on Transistor and say so, 25% recurring is a good fit. If you use Buzzsprout, the $20 credit for the person you refer gives your listener a reason to use your link rather than go straight to the site. If you record remotely on Riverside, its "up to 20%" depends on plan and account, so ask what rate you would get before you commit to featuring it. The same applies to any tool: a rate that says "up to" is a ceiling, not a promise.

How do you know which podcast link earned?

You know by matching the commission report to the link, not by counting clicks. Each program reports referrals in its own dashboard, and a tool that appears in three episodes and a bio link will show one total. If you want to know whether the hosting link on your trailer page or the one in last week's show notes earned the signup, you need a tracking tag per placement. Our guide to tracking affiliate link clicks goes through the setup, and when affiliate programs pay explains why a payout can lag a signup by weeks.

This is where a storefront that imports commission reports earns its price. Favly matches each payout row to the link that sent the buyer, so you can see that the hosting recommendation paid and the microphone link did not. Favly Pro is $288 a year, and it only makes sense if you have several recommendations and the commission is large enough to justify the report. A podcaster with one affiliate link does not need it.

If you are also weighing recurring programs outside podcasting, recurring affiliate programs and SaaS affiliate programs list what else pays a share of a subscription. A short, memorable show domain also helps people find your recommendations page, and Seodomain is one place podcasters look for expired domains with existing authority.

Frequently asked questions about affiliate marketing for podcasts

Can you do affiliate marketing with a podcast?

Yes. Podcasters earn by recommending products they use, usually hosting, recording and editing tools, and by placing a tracked link in the show notes. A listener signs up through the link and the program pays a commission. It works best when the product matches what the episode is about.

Which podcast hosting companies have affiliate programs?

Transistor pays 25% recurring commission with a 30 day cookie, per its affiliate page. Buzzsprout pays $20 for every paid account referred, with a cookie that does not expire. Libsyn also runs a program, but we did not read its terms on a page of its own, so confirm them with Libsyn before you apply.

How much does Buzzsprout pay per referral?

Buzzsprout pays $20 for every paid account you refer, and the person you refer also gets a $20 credit. You are paid only after the referral has been charged for two months. You must also log in to your Buzzsprout account at least once every six months to keep your affiliate account active.

Does Riverside have an affiliate program?

Yes. Riverside's page says you can earn up to 20% on each subscription you refer, up to $85 or more per sale, with monthly payouts. It is open to creators, educators and agencies. The exact rate for your account is not published, so ask before you plan around the top figure.

Do I have to disclose affiliate links in podcast show notes?

Yes, in the US. The FTC expects a clear disclosure whenever you earn from a recommendation, placed where the listener will notice it. In an audio show that means saying it aloud near the mention as well as writing it in the show notes. The FTC publishes plain guidance for creators on its site.

Is a flat or recurring affiliate commission better?

Recurring wins when referrals stay for months, because the payments stack on top of each other. In the worked example above, 10 referrals on a $20 plan pay $200 once on a flat $20 bounty and $600 over a year at 25% recurring. Flat only wins if most referrals leave quickly.