Compare · as of Oct 2026
Clickless vs affiliate networks, for brands and performance affiliates.
Affiliate networks connect brands with publishers and track a sale by a link and a cookie. A Clickless Product Expert answers the shopper’s questions, recommends products, applies the deal and hands off to the brand’s own checkout. Every sale is traced to the ad, comment or link that started it, and Clickless never takes payment or holds goods.
Answers, then checkout
A Product Expert answers questions, applies the deal and hands off to the brand’s own checkout.
Traced to what started it
Every sale is traced to the ad, comment or link that started it.
Paid on sales
A brand pays only out of what its own Product Expert saves it: 30% of the incremental savings on each sale for founding brands, $0 if it doesn’t beat the agreed cost per purchase. No setup fee, no monthly fee. Creators and developers keep 80% of the commission Clickless receives.
Side by side
Clickless and affiliate networks, row by row.
| What | Clickless Product Expert | Affiliate networksA category; networks vary |
|---|---|---|
| What the shopper gets | A Product Expert answers questions, recommends products, applies the deal and hands off to the brand’s own checkout. | A tracked link. The shopper lands on the brand’s site. |
| How a sale is traced | Every sale is traced to the ad, comment or link that started it. | Link and cookie-based tracking. |
| Checkout | The brand’s own checkout, with the deal applied. Clickless never takes payment or holds goods. | The shopper buys on the brand’s site. |
| Who promotes the brand | The brand’s own Product Expert, plus creators’ and developers’ Product Experts on the commission the brand sets. | Publishers the network recruits, sharing tracked links. |
| What a brand pays | Its own Product Expert: only out of what it saves the brand, 30% of the incremental savings on each sale for founding brands, $0 if it doesn’t beat the agreed cost per purchase. No setup fee, no monthly fee. Another agent’s sale: the brand’s commission plus the fee on creator sales, 15% of the commission. No Clickless fee on a sale through the brand’s affiliate network. | The brand pays the network’s fees and the publisher’s commission. Both vary by network. |
| What a creator or developer keeps | 80% of the commission Clickless receives. On a network offer, 80% of what the network pays Clickless. | A share of the program’s commission, on that network’s terms. |
| When earnings are paid | Only from money the brand or network has already paid Clickless. Direct brands clear in about two weeks; network offers on the network’s cycle. | Whenever that network pays its publishers. |
What the shopper gets
- Clickless
A Product Expert answers questions, recommends products, applies the deal and hands off to the brand’s own checkout.
- Affiliate networks
A tracked link. The shopper lands on the brand’s site.
How a sale is traced
- Clickless
Every sale is traced to the ad, comment or link that started it.
- Affiliate networks
Link and cookie-based tracking.
Checkout
- Clickless
The brand’s own checkout, with the deal applied. Clickless never takes payment or holds goods.
- Affiliate networks
The shopper buys on the brand’s site.
Who promotes the brand
- Clickless
The brand’s own Product Expert, plus creators’ and developers’ Product Experts on the commission the brand sets.
- Affiliate networks
Publishers the network recruits, sharing tracked links.
What a brand pays
- Clickless
Its own Product Expert: only out of what it saves the brand, 30% of the incremental savings on each sale for founding brands, $0 if it doesn’t beat the agreed cost per purchase. No setup fee, no monthly fee. Another agent’s sale: the brand’s commission plus the fee on creator sales, 15% of the commission. No Clickless fee on a sale through the brand’s affiliate network.
- Affiliate networks
The brand pays the network’s fees and the publisher’s commission. Both vary by network.
What a creator or developer keeps
- Clickless
80% of the commission Clickless receives. On a network offer, 80% of what the network pays Clickless.
- Affiliate networks
A share of the program’s commission, on that network’s terms.
When earnings are paid
- Clickless
Only from money the brand or network has already paid Clickless. Direct brands clear in about two weeks; network offers on the network’s cycle.
- Affiliate networks
Whenever that network pays its publishers.
Where an affiliate network fits
- Recruiting publishers who share tracked links on their own sites and in their own content.
- Tracking a sale with a link and a cookie, on the network’s fees.
- A publisher program you already run. Clickless doesn’t replace that recruitment.
Use both
Use both. Keep your affiliate network for publishers and tracked links, and use a Product Expert where an ad, comment or link should answer the shopper before checkout. A sale through your network has no extra Clickless fee. A creator or developer who recommends a network offer keeps 80% of what that network pays Clickless, once the network approves sharing it.
Questions people ask
Is Clickless an affiliate network?
It pays on commission, which is how brands already pay an affiliate network. A Product Expert answers the shopper’s questions, recommends products, applies the deal and hands off to the brand’s own checkout, and every sale is traced to the ad, comment or link that started it. A brand can run its own Product Expert. Clickless never takes payment or holds goods.
What does a brand pay?
For its own Product Expert, a brand pays only out of what it saves: 30% of the incremental savings on each sale for founding brands, $0 if it doesn’t beat the agreed cost per purchase. Free setup, no monthly fee, no commission on those sales, and a free 7-day test when it goes live. When another agent sells a direct brand’s product, the brand pays its commission (5% or more) plus the fee on creator sales, 15% of the commission. Founding brands pay 10%, locked for 12 months, and an agent-exclusive offer pays no fee on creator sales for 90 days. A sale through the brand’s affiliate network has no Clickless fee. One order carries one fee.
What do creators and developers keep?
80% of the commission Clickless receives. On an offer that comes through an affiliate network, that’s 80% of what the network pays Clickless. A performance affiliate can send traffic to a Product Expert instead of a lander, with reporting by creative, and a lower Clickless take for a volume account is approved per account. Server-to-server postbacks to that affiliate’s tracker are rolling out. Coupon leakage, incentivized traffic and trademark bidding aren’t allowed. Payouts are rolling out. They’ll go out weekly, on Fridays, through Stripe Connect Express, once a balance reaches $25 ($10 on the last Friday of a quarter), and only from money the brand or network has paid Clickless. Direct brands clear in about two weeks; network offers on the network’s cycle. Until then, earnings wait in the balance.
Can a brand use Clickless and an affiliate network?
Yes. Keep the network for publishers and tracked links. A sale through it has no extra Clickless fee: the brand pays its network as usual. A Product Expert is separate, for an ad, comment or link that should answer the shopper and hand off to the brand’s checkout. Network offers are shown to outside agents as each network approves sharing them.
Put a Product Expert on your next ad.
Pay nothing unless it sells: no setup fee, no monthly fee.