Top 12 Best Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs To Earn Money in 2026

Rather than convincing them to purchase, you can earn commissions by bringing businesses qualified leads. You get paid when users fill out a simple form, make a free call, or request a quote.

High-paying pay-per-lead affiliate programs are rare, but we’ve found the top 12 for you. You can read our article to discover the best products for your audience.

Quick Comparison

Program Name	Commission (%) / Fixed	Cookie Duration (Days)	Niche Suitable
Buildium	$10 lead + 25% sale	60	Property management, real estate
Brevo	$5 per free account (need 1 paid first)	90	Email marketing, SaaS, business
SEMRush	$10 lead + up to $350 sale	120	SEO, marketing, blogging
QuickBooks	$5–$50 per lead	45	Accounting, SMBs, finance
Freshbooks	$10 lead + up to $200 sale	120	Accounting, freelancers, SMBs
Swagbucks	$2.2 per lead	30	MMO, rewards, surveys
Hiscox	$25 per quote	30	Insurance, personal finance
Liberty Mutual	$3–$10 per quote	30	Insurance, auto/home renters niche
Grammarly	$0.2 trial + up to $20 per upgrade	90	Writing, education, blogging
Pluralsight	$5 trial + up to 50% sale	60	Tech, programming, cybersecurity
National Debt Relief	$27.5 per qualified lead	–	Debt, credit repair, finance

Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs: 12 Highest PPL Offers

1. Buildium

Buildium is an all-in-one property management software for property managers and real estate professionals. Their core services include rental listings, tenant screening, lease management, and detailed reports.

The Buildium affiliate program offers affiliates commissions on both leads and purchases. You can earn up to $10 for every free trial or demo request via your affiliate link.

The brand pays affiliates a 25% commission on each successful purchase after the free trial period. You can only earn an approved commission for any lead or purchase within a 60-day cookie duration.

Buildium encourages affiliates to promote their products on various marketing channels without any spamming action. Plus, you can freely utilize their banners and provided links in your content to boost engagement.

2. Brevo

Brevo creates innovative tools for businesses to streamline communication with customers. They customize email and message-sending lists for businesses based on customers’ purchase history and interactions.

Once you join their pay per lead affiliate program, you can earn $5 for every free account registration via your link. However, you must refer at least one paying account to Brevo before earning commissions on free accounts.

The cookie lasts for up to 90 days, starting from customers’ initial click on your unique link. Brevo pays affiliates via PayPal and Stripe at the end of each month.

The brand prohibits promoting their products via pay-per-click campaigns. If you want to ask anything about their programs, you need to create a ticket to contact their support team.

3. SEMRush

SEMRush assists global enterprises in running SEO campaigns, creating content marketing and researching competitors within one platform. They simplify complex data into actionable reports to help users build optimized SEO strategies.

You can join the SEMRush pay per lead affiliate program and earn $10 for each free trial you generate. Their program also offers up to $350 commission for each qualified sale if you’re a high-performance affiliate.

The cookie remains active for 120 days from the first click of customers on your link. You can withdraw your payouts via Electronic Funds Transfer and PayPal according to their third-party network, Impact.

You can put any suitable banners in your content to boost users’ engagement. You should also integrate widgets into your websites to improve visitors’ experience and boost conversions.

4. QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a financial accounting software management system designed exclusively for small and medium businesses. Additionally, their collaboration tools improve teamwork and reduce errors with role-based access controls.

After joining their pay per lead affiliate program via CJ Affiliate, you can earn up to $50 for a qualified lead via your unique link.

• 30-day free trial: $5
• Valid concluded lead: $50

The cookie remains active for 45 days from the moment customers click on your unique affiliate link.

You should note that QuickBooks only accepts affiliates with US traffic to join their program. Plus, you can regularly ask their affiliate team for content ideas and sales tips to boost your promotional performance.

5. Freshbooks

Freshbooks assists small businesses and freelancers in simplifying all accounting tasks. They sync with all bank accounts to match transactions and reduce data errors for large enterprises.

The Freshbooks pay per lead affiliate program allows you to earn $10 for any free trial sign-up. If the customers upgrade to a paid subscription after the free trial, you can earn up to $200 per account.

Their program also offers up to a 120-day cookie duration, so you’ll have a high chance to earn a commission for customers’ purchases. You’ll receive payouts on the 20th of each month once your account balance has at least $10.

Freshbooks updates their marketing materials in the ShareASale dashboard for all affiliates. You can choose to use banners, text links, or videos to make attractive content for your target audience.

6. Swagbucks

Swagbucks rewards users for completing simple online tasks such as taking surveys, playing games, or watching videos. They allow users to spend Swag points when shopping in-store at over 10,000 partnered retailers.

You can apply for their pay per lead affiliate program and enjoy a $2.2 commission on each qualified lead. You’ll get your commission if customers create a free account through your affiliate link and verify their email address.

The cookie duration remains active for 30 days from customers’ initial click. Therefore, you can earn an approved commission for purchases within this time frame.

Swagbucks limits their affiliate program to only a few countries with larger potential customers. They only accept affiliates from the US, UK, Australia, Ireland, and Canada to join their program.

7. Hiscox

Hiscox provides international insurance coverage for high-net-worth individuals and small businesses. Their coverages include specialized policies like cyber insurance, professional indemnity, and employers’ liability.

You can earn up to $25 per free quote when joining the Hiscox pay per lead affiliate program via CJ Affiliate. If customers request a quote within a 30-day cookie duration, you’ll earn a commission.

As their affiliate, you have a wide selection of high-converting banners and text links to embed on your marketing sites. If you have any problems with their program, contact their dedicated team for immediate solutions and support.

8. Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual is a leading American mutual insurance company with over 100 years of experience. They also provide special coverages like better car replacement and unlimited car and accommodations rentals.

Liberty Mutual runs their pay per lead insurance affiliate program via CJ Affiliate, offering $3 to $10 for each valid free quote submission.

• Auto insurance: $3
• Home insurance: $10
• Renters insurance: $10

The brand will track your monthly sales and increase your commission rate based on your performance. You can only earn a credit for submission within 30 days from customers’ first click on your link.

You can make use of their available text and logos in your content to drive more attention from the target audience. You can only embed ads on your site after receiving written approval from Liberty Mutual.

9. Grammarly

Grammarly is an innovative AI-powered writing assistant with real-time feedback and corrections. Additionally, they feature suggestion tools and a plagiarism checker to help users improve their writing skills.

Once you get approved for their pay per lead affiliate program, you can enjoy a $0.2 commission for each free trial sign-up. Moreover, you’ll earn up to $20 per upgrade to a paid subscription via your affiliate link.

The cookie duration lasts for 90 days, beginning at the moment customers click on your unique link. Grammarly pays affiliates via check, bank wire, and wire transfer. However, you should note that check is only available for US affiliates and all payments are made in US dollars.

You can use exclusive discounts to drive more conversions from your audience. The brand also gives banners and links to help you create better promotional content.

10. Pluralsight

Pluralsight helps technology teams build skills through courses, assessments, learning paths, and more. Their expert-led lessons cover software development, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and more.

This pay per lead affiliate program is run through Impact, offering a $5 commission for every free trial subscription. You can also earn up to a 50% commission for each successful paid subscription. You’ll benefit from purchases within 60 days of customers’ initial click on your link.

You can place eye-catching ads on your website or social media posts to drive more traffic and generate conversions. You should also create attractive and relevant content to encourage audiences to click on your links.

11. National Debt Relief

National Debt Relief helps users manage and reduce unsecured debt through negotiated settlements. The company mainly solves debt in credit cards, personal loans, and medical bills.

You must sign up for ShareASale to join the National Debt Relief pay per lead affiliate program. They pay affiliates a $27.5 commission on every free debt relief quote request. You should note that a lead needs to have $10,000 in unsecured debt and lives in qualified states in the US.

You can utilize their engaging banners in your blogs to encourage more clicks and conversions. You should also put text links in your reviewed posts or videos to direct users to the mentioned products.

12. 1st Class Medical

• Commission rate: $20
• Cookie duration: Not mentioned

1st Class Medical is among the largest providers of portable oxygen concentrators. They offer both sales and rentals with a wide selection of top names like Inogen, Philips, Respironics, and more.

What Are the Key Benefits of Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs?

Traditional affiliate marketing often feels like an uphill battle. You send the traffic and warm up the audience. But if the merchant’s checkout page is broken or their price is too high, you earn zero.

Pay Per Lead (PPL) changes that dynamic entirely.

You shift the goal from “getting a sale” to “starting a conversation.” In this section, we’ll reveal some main reasons why beginner affiliates should consider pay per lead affiliate programs.

Dramatically Lower Conversion Barriers (3-10x Higher Conversion Rates)

Let’s be honest: asking someone for an email address is much easier than asking for a credit card number.

In a traditional Pay-Per-Sale (PPS) model, you ask a visitor to spend money. Industry data shows that a typical conversion rate for products or software sits between 0.5% and 1.5%.

Meanwhile, in a PPL model, you simply ask for contact info or a quote request. As the “ask” is free, conversion rates typically jump to 5%–15%. They can go even higher for simple offers, like entering a zip code.

You might think, “But isn’t a sale worth more than a lead?” Often, yes. But the volume of leads usually beats the higher commission of a sale.

For instance, consider this scenario with 1,000 visitors:

Scenario A (Pay-Per-Sale):

You convert 1% of visitors (10 sales) at a $50 commission => Total earnings: $500.

Scenario B (Pay-Per-Lead)

You convert 10% of visitors (100 leads) at a $10 commission => Total earnings: $1,000.

In this realistic example, you earn double the revenue from the exact same traffic. This makes PPL powerful for newer sites or broader audiences that aren’t quite ready to buy yet.

Commission Without Purchase Completion

The most frustrating feeling in affiliate marketing? Sending a qualified visitor to a merchant, but losing the commission because the merchant’s checkout process is clumsy.

With PPL, that frustration disappears.

Think of PPL like a relay race. Your only job is to run the first leg. You find the person and hand off the baton (their contact info). Once they submit that form, your race is done and you get paid.

It does not matter if:

• The customer gets “buyer’s remorse” five minutes later.
• The merchant’s sales team takes three days to call them back.
• The product is out of stock.

In standard affiliate marketing, the entire sales process has to work perfectly for you to get paid. In PPL, you control the only part that matters: generating the lead.

This separation allows you to be much more aggressive with your marketing. You don’t need to “sell” the product. You just need to sell the next step, like a free quote or a PDF download.

Predictable and Consistent Earnings Per Lead

When you stop worrying about sales, you gain something rare: financial stability.

In normal “Pay-Per-Sale” programs, your income is a wild card.

One customer might buy a $50 accessory, and you earn $5. The next might buy a $500 product, and you earn $50.

These constant ups and downs make it very hard to know how much money you will actually make.

Pay-Per-Lead (PPL) is different. It uses a fixed-fee model.

You know exactly what your payout is before you even start. Whether the user picks the cheapest plan or the most expensive one, your pay stays the same.

Here are a few common examples:

• Auto insurance: $25 per quote request
• Personal loans: $15 per application
• Online education: $40 per inquiry

Fixed pricing allows you to build a reliable business model. You don’t have to hope for a “lucky month.”

Look at a simple projection for a campaign getting 100 conversions per month:

With PPL ($20 fixed lead fee): You know 100 leads will generate $2,000. If you spend $1,500 on ads, you have a guaranteed $500 profit to reinvest.

With PPS (Variable 10% commission): Those same 100 conversions could have basket sizes ranging from $50 to $500. Your revenue could swing wildly between $500 and $5,000.

What Services Should You Promote to Earn from Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs?

Not all services are created equal in the PPL world. You cannot simply slap a “Sign Up” button on a blog post and expect results.

The most profitable campaigns match the offer to the user’s intent. If someone is just browsing, a high-commitment offer will fail. If they are in crisis, they will ignore generic advice.

Below, we suggest four service categories to help you boost your income.

Quote-Based Services

Quote-based services are the “bread and butter” of lead generation. They work well for one simple reason: people expect to fill out a form.

If you want a price for car insurance or a new roof, you know you have to provide your details first. As the form feels like a normal part of the process, people don’t mind doing it.

Since users already expect to share their details, you just need to put the right offer in front of them. Below are the top niches where this strategy pays off best:

🚗 Auto Insurance ($15 – $50 per lead)

Everyone with a car needs insurance. Most drivers want to save money, so they are happy to see if they can get a better price. This means you have a huge audience to talk to.

🏠 Home Insurance ($20 – $60 per lead)

This is strictly for homeowners. It works best during “moving season” when people are buying new houses and looking for coverage.

👨‍👩‍👧 Life Insurance ($25 – $150 per lead)

This works best for people aged 30 to 65. These are usually parents or seniors who want to make sure their families are financially safe.

☀️ Solar Installation ($30 – $75 per lead)

Solar is very specific. It only works in sunny states where the government offers tax breaks. You have to target the right locations to see results.

💰 Mortgages ($30 – $125 per lead)

These leads offer the highest payouts. However, the rules are strict. To get paid, the person usually needs a good credit score and a steady income.

Consultation-Based Services

Quote services target people looking for a price. Consultation services target people looking for a solution.

The commitment here is higher. A user isn’t just getting a number; they are agreeing to talk to a professional.

As a result, conversion rates are lower (typically 1%–4%), but the payouts are much higher to compensate.

Since these leads are worth more to businesses, you can earn a lot for every person you refer.

Personal Injury Attorneys: $75–$300 per lead

Trigger: Highly urgent. Only targets people who have recently been in an accident.

Tax Relief: $50–$200 per lead

Target: Individuals with big IRS debt ($10k+) who are feeling pressure.

Financial Advisors: $30–$125 per lead

Target: High-net-worth individuals ($100k+ assets).

Bankruptcy Attorneys: $40–$150 per lead

Filter: Must meet minimum debt levels to qualify.

Trial and Demo Services

Software trials are different from insurance offers. While insurance covers urgent needs, software helps businesses run more smoothly.

Users love these trials because the process is fast and simple. No one has to talk to a salesperson or share private bank details.

Since there is almost zero risk, sign-up rates stay very high. For every 100 visitors, 8 to 20 people usually try the tool. 📈

The payouts are smaller than financial leads, but the high volume of sign-ups makes up for it.

CRM Software (10–50 per lead): 📈

CRM tools help businesses track their customers. Most programs only pay for professional business emails, so avoid using @gmail.com addresses.

Marketing Tools (15–40 per lead): 📣

Automation apps help growing companies handle their ads and emails more efficiently.

Accounting Software (15–45 per lead): 🧮

Small business owners and freelancers use these programs to manage their money and taxes.

E-commerce Platforms (20–50 per lead): 🛒

These platforms attract sellers who want to leave sites like Etsy and start their own private websites.

Quality control is the only catch with software leads. Companies track “activation rates” to see if your leads actually log in and use the tool.

Sending 100 leads who never open the app could get you banned from the program.

Therefore, you should write for professionals who are looking for real solutions to their business problems.

Application-Based Financial Services

This final category offers some of the highest payouts in the industry. But it comes with a major caveat: Rejection.

Unlike a software trial where anyone can sign up, financial offers have strict rules. A lead is only billable if the applicant meets specific criteria, like credit score or income level.

If you can find the right applicants, the rewards are huge. Here are the most profitable categories: 🏦

Personal Loans ($25 – $100 per lead)

Most lenders look for a “fair” credit score, usually 600 or higher. If the applicant’s score is too low, the lead is worth nothing.

Debt Consolidation ($40 – $150 per lead)

This is for people who owe a lot of money. To qualify, the person usually needs to have at least $10,000 in debt that isn’t tied to a house or car.

Business Loans ($50 – $200 per lead)

These have the strictest rules. Most lenders only work with companies that have been open for at least two years and make over $50,000 a year. Brand-new startups rarely qualify.

Student Loan Refinancing ($30 – $100 per lead)

This targets college graduates who have a steady job and good credit. They are looking to trade their old loans for a new one with a lower interest rate.

The biggest mistake you can make is showing a “premium” offer to the wrong audience.

For example, if you promote a high-end credit card to people who need emergency cash, 90% of them will be rejected. You will send lots of traffic but earn zero commission.

How do you fix?

You should state them clearly in your content. For example, write: “This card is best for people with Excellent credit (750+).”

By telling people the requirements before they click, you filter out those who won’t qualify. That can boost your approval rates from 40% to over 70%.

How Much Can You Earn with Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs?

The most common question new affiliates ask is, “Is this actually worth my time?”

The answer is yes. But it’s not a lottery ticket.

Earnings in PPL depend on three simple things: your traffic volume, your conversion rate, and your niche’s payout.

To help you set realistic goals, let’s break down the income path across three distinct stages.

Beginner Stage: $500–$2,000 Monthly (First 3–6 Months)

When you first start, your goal isn’t to get rich immediately. Instead, your goal is to prove that your system works. Most beginners start with “low-barrier” offers. These are easy for people to join, but they pay a smaller amount for each lead.

Here is what a typical beginner offer looks like:

• Software Trials: $5 – $15 per lead.
• Newsletter Signups: $0.50 – $5 per lead.
• Simple Service Requests: $5 – $20 per lead.

To earn your first $1,000, you generally need to generate about 50 to 100 leads per month at an average payout of $10–$20.

• Traffic required: ~1,000 to 5,000 monthly visitors.
• Conversion rate: 2%–5% (Beginner standard).
• Effort: Expect to invest 15–25 hours per week creating content or setting up basic ads.

Most hard-working beginners hit their first $500 month by their second or third month. By month six, many reach the $2,000 mark.

This is because your articles start showing up on Google, and your ads begin to run smoothly.

You can speed this up if you spend a little money on ads (200–500 a month). However, if you want to grow for free, you just have to be patient.

Intermediate Level: $2,000–$10,000 Monthly (6–18 Months Experience)

This is the “tipping point” where PPL becomes a full-time income. At this stage, you aren’t just getting more traffic. You are upgrading the quality of your offers.

Intermediate affiliates move away from low-paying trials and into high-value areas like Insurance, Home Services, and Finance.

• Auto/Home Insurance: $15–$50 per lead.
• Financial Services: $25–$100 per lead.
• Education: $30–$75 per lead.

By now, you should be generating 100–250 qualified leads per month. As you are targeting better niches, your average payout jumps to $20–$50.

• Traffic required: 5,000–25,000 monthly visitors.
• Conversion rate: Improvements in copywriting and landing page design usually boost this to 5%–10%.
• Traffic sources: You likely have 30–50 SEO articles ranking, an email list of 10k+ subscribers, or a paid ad spend of $1,000–$3,000 per month.

Affiliates who stick with it typically cross the $5,000/month barrier between Months 8 and 12. Breaking $10,000/month usually happens by Month 18 once you have diversified into multiple traffic sources.

Advanced Stage: $10,000–$50,000+ Monthly (18+ Months, Professional Operation)

If the intermediate stage is about “replacing your salary,” the advanced stage is about building an empire. This is the top 5–10% of the industry.

At this level, you stop thinking like a solo blogger. You start operating like a media company.

Advanced affiliates don’t just chase traffic. They chase the highest payouts available. They target the most expensive problems to solve: Legal, Medical, and High-Finance.

• Mass Tort/Legal: $75–$300+ per lead (e.g., lawsuits like Camp Lejeune).
• Medicare: $50–$125 per lead (with huge volume during enrollment periods).
• Premium B2B: $150–$500+ per lead (Enterprise software or business loans).

To reach these numbers, your operation scales up. You need to generate 500 to 2,000+ qualified leads every month with an average payout of $50–$150.

• Traffic Required: 25,000–100,000+ monthly visitors across all channels.
• Ad Spend: Most affiliates at this level spend $5,000–$20,000+ monthly on paid ads (Google, Facebook) to feed the machine.
• Assets: Large email lists (50,000+ subscribers) and high-authority websites dominate here.

Reaching $10,000+ monthly is typically an 18–24 month journey for a dedicated solo operator. Scaling to $25,000+ usually happens around months 30–36. But this often requires hiring help.

Most affiliates at this tier do not work alone. They hire writers, media buyers, or virtual assistants (teams of 2–5 people) to manage the workload.

They also stop using generic affiliate networks. Instead, they negotiate direct deals with advertisers to get higher custom payouts.

Conclusion

The above pay per lead affiliate programs are suitable for new affiliate marketers. Collecting a qualified lead is always higher than converting them into a successful sale. Therefore, let’s choose a suitable program to kickstart your affiliate marketing journey today.