This post is my ongoing effort to maintain a complete list of all the WordPress theme affiliate programs with a small review on each; easily find the best affiliates with big one time payouts, recurring commissions or even both.
Please, leave a comment if an affiliate program is missing!
Some of these sites also offer themes for other Content Management Systems. But considering that more than 25% of world’s websites are running WordPress and new ones are created at an amazing pace; the WordPress themes niche is a lucrative one with endless, not worth missing possibilities to penetrate the market.
So enjoy and good luck with your venture.
The Good
These affiliate programs are some of the best I’ve found — their good monetizing opportunity comes through a combination of high commissions, an attractive brand and publisher friendliness; all important for success.
MyThemeShop
US based company MyThemeShop has gained firm ground on the themes market since 2011; with perfected quality themes, easy to use attractive website and superior customer service. It’s a company that’s great to do business with. Also they have many popular WordPress plugins under their belt which are valid for commissions.
There is no minimum payment threshold; anything you make is paid out monthly. Also if you make over $1000/month you can create your own custom coupons!
- Single product commission: 70% first purchase
- Membership commission: $244.30
- 108 WordPress themes (Categories: Blog, Business, eCommerce, Free, Magazine)
- 27 WordPress Plugins
- Custom links to all inner pages
- 2 month cookie life
- Instant approval & coupon sites allowed
CyberChimps
One of the most lucrative, recurring commissions on the market is offered by CyberChimps. You will need a ShareASale account which is their affiliate network; but approval is instant. Founded in 2010; this is another US company based in San Francisco, California. They run an awesome WordPress community with a customer oriented and professional attitude.
100% commission for first two sales and 40% after that- extra 25% commission for bigger sales
- 45 WordPress Themes (Categories: Blog, Business, Multi Purpose)
- Hosted on ShareASale — instant approval!
- 3 month cookie life
- Exclusive coupons for affiliates!
- Custom links to all inner pages
- Custom landing pages
- Friendly and helpful affiliate manager support team
Updated commission structure!
They have removed the 100 % commission on first 2 sales. Now for each sale you get 40% commission & for over 20 sales in a month, you get additional 35% commission besides your 40% regular commission.
TeslaThemes
These guys stand out with their impressive, unique looking themes, founded in 2013. You get a steady 50% recurring commission of all the purchases made by the user. Also these guys are more category friendly, so there is a lot to offer for specific sub niches.
- 50% lifetime commission
- 68 WordPress Themes (Categories: Blog, Business, Church, Coming Soon, Construction, Creative, Ecommerce, Event, Fitness, Food, Gaming, Hotel, Landing Page, Lawyer, Magazine, Medical, Music, Photography, Popular, Portfolio, Real Estate, Responsive, Restaurant, Resume, Travel, Video, Visual Composer, Wedding & WooCommerce)
- Custom links to all inner pages
- Coupon sites are not allowed
- Instant activation
The Rest
Here are more affiliate programs worth considering.
StudioPress
Founded 2007; & US based. Founders of Genesis Framework.
- 35% commissions for all theme sales
- Categories: Business, Enterprise, Real Estate, Photography, Magazine Style, eCommerce
- ShareASale network — Site needs approval (usually within a day)
- Coupon sites not allowed
- Can link to inner pages
- Cookie life 2 months
Elegant Themes
Based in Spain, Madrid & founded in 2008. They enforce rules that all reviews and claims related to their products and themes must be based on real and truthful experience.
- 50% per membership (recurring for renewals)
- 87 WordPress themes & few plugins
- 6 months cookie life
- IP tracking
- Application is manually reviewed, usually within one day.
- Inner page linking
SoloStreams
Originally founded in 2006-2007, changed ownership 2008.
- 35% commission on new sales
- 15% commission on recurring payments
- 70 WordPress themes (Categories: Multipurpose, Business, News/Media, Blog, eCommerce, Portfolio)
- Instant approval — initially had some problems with registration
Northeme
Founded in 2013. Great minimal themes.
- 30% commission per sale
- Categories: Premiums, Hand-Crafted, Free Themes
- 4 month cookie life
- Promo codes available
- Inner page linking (for pre-selected pages)
- Promo codes can be used to track referrals
- Approval takes time, usually within a day or two
TemplateMonster
Big, old company; founded in 2002. They have a whole range of templates for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and much more.
- From 30% to 50% for every template sold
- 1388 WordPress Themes (Categories: Arts & Culture, Animals & Pets, Design & Photography, Education & Books, Business & Services, Cars & Motorcycles, Computers &Internet, Electronics Templates, Entertainment, Games & Nightlife, Home & Family, Fashion & Beauty, Food & Restaurant, Holidays, Gifts & Flowers, Medical Templates, Real Estate Templates, Society & People, Sports, Outdoors & Travel)
- Website languages: Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, and Polish.
- Cookie life one year
- Instant activation
WP-Prosperity
Single universal theme for multiple options for design & layout, easily customizable. Owned by original founder of SoloStreams.
- 25% commission on the sale
- No inner linking, just one affiliate link
- Uses an outdated and confusing e-junkie platform
- Instant activation
ThemeFuse
Based in Bucharest, Romania.
- Up to 70% commission (whatever that means)
- More than 45 WordPress themes (Categories: Automotive, Blogging, Business, Children, E-Commerce, Events, Food, Free, Health & Beauty, Magazine, Non-Profit, Photography, Portfolio, Real Estate, Religion, Sport, Core Themes, Travel, Unyson Framework)
- You need to communicate with them by email to get an account — it will usually take a day or two.
- Affiliate links to main page & all theme pages
ThemeIsle
Founded in 2013; based in Bucharest, Romania. Additional 10+ plugins.
- 55% commission on all sales
- Categories: Free, Responsive, Blog, Business, Ecommerce, Magazine, Photography, Portfolio, All
- Need to wait for site approval, can take a few days
- One year cookie life
- No coupon sites accepted
- Inner page linking available
Themify
Founded in 2010; based in Toronto, Canada. Theme club or individual sales.
- 30% commission on all purchase
- Categories: Blog, Corporate, Ecommerce, Featured, Free, Magazine, Multimedia, Portfolio, Post Formats, Responsive, Restaurant
- 2 month cookie life
- Links to inner pages available
- Coupon, discount, or deal promotions require special permission
Orange Themes
Founded in 2010; based in Riga, Lavia.
- 45% commission per sale
- More than 50 WordPress Themes (Categories: Blog, Business, eCommerce, Magazine, Multimedia, Personal, Portfolio)
- Program Hosted on the ShareASale network — site is reviewed for approval, usually takes a day
- 2 months cookie life
- Linking to inner pages available
- Coupon sites not allowed
Angie Makes
Pretty & cute themes company founded in 2010.
- 25% commission of the sale price
- 15 WordPress Themes — all pretty feminine
- Inner page linking available
- Instant approval
The Avoid
These affiliate programs are perhaps better avoided for having an approval process ranging from difficult to impossible — or just affiliate terms that are not fair and profitable to publishers. Judge for yourself though!
Pretty Darn Cute Design
Pretty darn cute design company which is pretty darn difficult to get approved to (can be great for those who fit their requirements). According to the owner: “We’re narrowing our program down to specific types of bloggers and want to really focus on building community”. I suggest contacting them first.
- Took more than 10 days to wait for approval which was denied
- Hosted on the ShareASale network
- 25% commissions
- 2 months cookie life
ThemeForest
I’ve dedicated a whole article on ThemeForest’s affiliate unfriendly practices — in short you only receive commission for customers who have never visited their website before (or don’t have cookies in their browser). As it is the biggest theme site, chances are pretty slim to get properly awarded for your efforts.
Carries templates for pretty much any CMS and platform imaginable. Also the Envato Marketplace has a wide range of products for web designers and creatives a like.
- Very poor percentage of sales convert to commission
- 30% of first purchase or deposit (for new accounts, new visitors only)
- Categories: Blog / Magazine, BuddyPress, Corporate, Creative, Directory & Listings, eCommerce, Education, Entertainment, Layers WP, Mobile, Nonprofit, Real Estate, Retail, Technology, Wedding, Miscellaneous, WordPress Plugins
- Biggest theme seller portal with good quality standards, more than 33,000 various templates available.
- Custom links to inner pages
MH Themes
Founded in 2010; dedicated to premium magazine style themes. You will need to get in touch with them through the contact form to discuss about possible affiliate partnership first.
- Approval is complicated but could be worth it if you must
- No commission structure or other details enclosed
Obox Themes
Founded in 2009; headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Site needs approval — but have never heard back from them (wasted my time on this)
- From 25% to 35% on each sale depending on amount of sales (tiered commission structure)
- Renewal Commission for memberships
AccessPress themes
Nepal based team; founded 2014.
- Site needs approval but never heard back from them
- 30% on each sale
- Categories: University Theme, Construction company, Sports Magazine, Custom Design, Fashion, Store, Education Theme, College Theme, School Theme, Minimal Theme, Horizontal Scrolling, Coming Soon Theme, Editorial Store theme, Landing Page Theme, Unique Design, News, WooCommerce, Modern Design, Parallax, Magazine, Photography, Agency, Multipurpose, Portfolio, One Page, E-commerce, Blog, Business.
- 30 day cookie life
Thrive Themes
Founded in 2013; focused on conversions.
- Just too strict and not publisher friendly
- 50% commission per purchase & 25% recurring commission
- A curious range of WordPress products
- You need to make 10 sales on first month or you are out
- See this link for a questionnaire that you have to pass to get approved
Organic Themes
Hawaii based company.
- Difficult application process and then never even answers back — what a waste of time
- 30% commission on any sale
- Coupon code advertising not allowed
- Must submit W-8BEN or W-9 tax for upon registration, and wait for approval, forever?
So there you have it for now — if you know of any other affiliate programs or want to share your experience with us please do so in the comments section below so we can all benefit! Thank you.