Earn Affiliate Revenue from Your App

What Is Affiliate Revenue?

You recommend a product. Someone buys it through your link. You get a percentage of the sale. That is affiliate revenue.

For app builders, this works naturally. Your users already need hosting, domains, email tools, and payment processors. If you recommend the ones you actually use and include affiliate links, you earn money without changing your product.

Where Affiliate Links Fit

Documentation and Guides

When you explain how to deploy to Vercel, link to Vercel with your affiliate code. When you show how to set up email with Resend, use your Resend referral link. This is helpful, not sleazy. You are recommending tools they need anyway.

Tool Recommendation Pages

Create a "tools we recommend" page listing the stack you use. Each link includes your affiliate code. This page also does well for SEO since people search for "best tools for [your niche]."

In-App Suggestions

When a user needs a feature your app does not provide (like email marketing or analytics), suggest a tool and include your referral link. Make it genuinely useful, not an ad.

Programs Worth Joining

Most SaaS tools have affiliate or referral programs:

• Vercel, Netlify (hosting)
• Supabase (database)
• Stripe (payments, through their partner program)
• Resend, Postmark (email)
• AWS, DigitalOcean (infrastructure)

Commissions typically range from 15% to 30% recurring for SaaS referrals. That means one referral to a $50/month service can pay you $10 to $15 every month for as long as they are a customer.

The Honest Approach

Only recommend things you have used. Disclose that links are affiliate links (it is legally required in most countries and builds trust anyway). Never compromise a recommendation for a higher commission. Your credibility with users is worth more than any referral payout.