Our Recommended Tools For Affiliate Marketing & Blogging...

My Pick

Thrive Suite - Theme & Page Builder

Thrive Suite is the all access pass to the full collection of Thrive Themes products that gives you complete control over your website.  Every single product in the suite is designed to increase conversions and gives you the ability to quickly and easily split test everything on your website or in your funnels.

It's absolutely perfect for affiliate marketers! 

Thrive Architect for building website and landing pages, Thrive Apprentice for online courses, Thrive Quiz Builder for your quiz funnels, Thrive Leads to capture emails, Thrive Ultimatum for urgency timers... the list goes on!

Thrive Suite powers every single website and landing page that I build. I just wish I had found this product sooner, it would have saved me a lot of money.

It is possible to purchase each product individually but it's much cheaper and easier to just get the full suite, trust me you will want most of what they have to offer if you are into affiliate marketing or blogging...

Pricing is $228/year which covers 25 websites!

Runner Up

Elementor Pro - Theme & Page Builder

Elementor Pro is a fully fledged page builder and theme builder for WordPress websites.  It provides everything you need to create beautiful websites and landing pages.

If you're after fancy animations and appearance for your website then Elementor is a great choice! It's very easy to use and gives you complete control over the look of your site.

I was using Elementor for a full year before discovering Thrive Themes and loved it, the only reason I switched was for the more conversion focused features that Thrive provides. 

I definitely recommend choosing Elementor if you don't need the advanced features found inside of the Thrive Suite package.

Pricing is $49/year for each website, or you can get the $199/year licence that covers 25 websites.

My Pick

Cloudways - Vultr High Frequency Servers

Cloudways is hands down the best hosting solution out there, in my opinion.  Having  everything in one place and complete control over the server that your websites sit on is a fantastic. All of my sites are on the Cloudways VULTR High Frequency servers!

You just need 1 server for all your websites and the servers are blazing fast, easy to set up, it's fast to install a new website instance, you can easily clone existing sites, you can scale up the server as needed, easy SSL implementation, easy staging areas, easy migration, etc...

The one downside is that their support isn't as quick and hands-on as the other services listed below, but their setup guides are so easy to follow that I think anyone can get a server up and running.  Give Cloudways a try for yourself, you won't be disappointed!

Starting at $13/month which can be used for 5 or more average websites before you'll need to scale up the server, which is just one button push away.

The $26/month plan can easily cover 2-3 very large, complex websites complete with eCommerce stores, membership areas, online courses, and high daily traffic...

Runner Up

WPX - Fast & Easy Hosting

WPX was a pleasure to work with, I was using them for a few years on my main site while comparing them to some of the other major hosting providers on my mini sites. I can tell you that from my experience no one comes even close to WPX for standard website hosting.

WPX has very fast servers, a simplified interface, fantastic support with near instant customer response times with their 24/7 live chat, and they offer free migrations.

If you want a super simple shared hosting solution for up to 5 websites (base package) with none of the hassles that typically comes with it, WPX hosting is for you.

Starts at $25/month for the entry level plan that covers 5 websites, it's a great deal for the speed and service that you get. MUCH better than the typically recommended hosting services such as Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator, etc...

BigScoots - Fully Managed Hosting

I've got to mention BigScoots. Quick disclaimer, I haven't used them myself but have heard great things about them...

BigScoots is the first FULLY MANAGED WordPress hosting provider I've come across that actually keep their promises. By all reports they are the perfect solution for anyone that needs a completely hands off approach to website management.

They will handle everything for you, keeping your website safe, up to date, and automatically handle any issues that crop up from time to time. Plus their servers are blazing fast, reliable, and scalable.

They are not the cheapest, but if you want things done for you then you have to pay for it. So if you need someone to manage your sites for you and give you peace of mind, get BigScoots. Keep in mind that they don't build/design your site, they just manage the back end technical stuff.

The price starts at $35/month for the entry level plan that covers 1 website. Or you can choose the $99/month plan that covers 10 fully managed websites.

My Pick

GetResponse - Email Marketing

GetResponse is currently the main email automation software that I use. They are fantastic and I highly recommend them if you need more complex automations with logic branches, or if you want the ability to send emails at the same local time for each of your subscribers. Their features, price, and performance are hard to beat!

The deliverability is great but I have found they are not as lenient towards affiliate marketers. You need to be a little bit careful with the emails that you send out, simply make sure you're not making outrageous claims etc... So if you treat it more like Google and Facebook marketing and you'll be fine.

If you want to get really fancy with your email marketing then try out GetResponse for yourself today, you won't be disappointed! (Otherwise I'd recommend trying AWeber below).

GetResponse now has a free plan for up to 500 subscribers...

Then it starts at $15/month for the basic plan that covers 1000 subscribers and it goes up from there.

Note: I am currently testing out Convertkit because I am always on the lookout for the best tools out there, so I'll keep this updated... but so far GetResponse has it beat hands down. I see no reason to switch!

Runner Up

AWeber - Email Marketing

AWeber is a reliable email automation solution that I was using when I first got started doing affiliate marketing. It's a great option for beginners because it is easy to use and lacks some of the overly complex features that most marketers don't need starting out anyway.

From my experience they have good deliverability and seem more lenient towards affiliate marketers which is just what we need (I tried some other automation solutions later on that weren't too keen on some of the emails I was sending out).

If you are new to affiliate marketing and don't need complex logic branches in your email automation they you should give AWeber a try for yourself, you can't go wrong with them!

However, if you want to get really fancy with your email marketing then I suggest trying out GetResponse instead.

AWeber now has a free plan for up to 500 subscribers... with limited features.

Pricing starts at $20/month for the Pro plan with all the features that covers 500 subscribers and it goes up from there.

My Pick

Clickmagick - Tracking Software

Clickmagick is a great tracking solution for most paid advertising campaigns and also for tracking link clicks across your entire website, it also displays your links as custom 'prety links'. They integrate with most affiliate networks and make it easy to see how well your campaigns are doing at a glance.

However, Clickmagick is not great at tracking Native Ads / Propeller Ads, but for everything else you can't go wrong with it.  I use it across all of my websites.

They also have great support... I was once really stuck on something and they went above and beyond with a custom screen share video guide just to help me solve it. They care about their customers and it's great to see.

Tracking is one of the most important aspects of affiliate marketing, you really can't optimize well without it. It's perfect for beginner-intermediate affiliate marketers, so give Clickmagick a try for yourself today.

Starts at $37/month for the entry level plan, I'm on the $77/month plan for all the extra features.

They also have a 14 day trial to get you started. 

Runner Up

Voluum - Tracking Software

Voluum is the premium tracking solution for advanced affiliate marketers. You can easily monitor your ad campaign metrics such as visits, clicks, costs & profits all in one place and track different types of conversions throughout your visitor's journey.

It supports the largest range of affiliate networks and also provides an easy and convenient way to get started with Native Ads using just the Voluum platform.

It is the most expensive tracker that I have seen but all the features make it worth while. When you start pushing high volume traffic and advertising across many networks then I highly suggest trying Voluum out for yourself. It can't be beat!

I don't use Voluum myself right now because I'm not doing Native Ads and prefer the simplicity of Clickmagick, it's much cheaper too. But as soon as I step things up Voluum will be my go-to tracking solution.

Starts at $89/month for the entry level plan, however you probably need the $149/month plan to get the most out of it.

My Pick

ClickFunnels - Funnel Software & Training

ClickFunnels is the best dedicated funnel building software out there in my opinion. It also includes excellent training on how to make the most of your funnels. You really can't go wrong with ClickFunnels.

This software is best used to create lead magnets, promote and sell products using their payment gateway (with easy one click  upsells/cross sells/order bumps...), membership areas for courses... basically it covers almost everything to do with affiliate marketing.

The only downside is that currently ClickFunnels can't be used for blogging, and that is the reason why I still use Wordpress for my business. However, blogging capability and so much more is coming early 2022 and I can't wait for it. Once that is out, ClickFunnels will be the best all in one platform for affiliate marketing out there!

Pricing starts at $97/month for the entry level plan, and $249/month for the Platinum plan that unlocks all the extra features such as email automations and the platinum training programs.

They also have a free 14 day trial to get you started...

Runner Up

Builderall - All In One Software

Note: I have a complete Done-For-You affiliate marketing system that you can import into your Builderall account with just 1 click and use it to promote Builderall and earn commissions for yourself. 

Alternative

Systeme.io - Funnel Software

Systeme.io is a great alternative to ClickFunnels if you want to save some money. Currently it is more feature rich but not as polished. It does blogging, webinars, funnels, email marketing, has an affiliate marketplace... but it doesn't have the funnel training and the funnel templates are not as premium in my opinion although it gets the job done.

I have been testing Systeme over the past few months and I find their interface to be intuitive, fast and user friendly. I personally prefer ClickFunnels but I can see Systeme as being an enticing alternative for most people which is why I am listing it here.

Systeme is a fraction of the price of ClickFunnels and has a free forever plan that you can try out until you are ready to scale up your business.

After the free plan, pricing starts at $27/month for the startup plan. Their highest plan caps out at a mere $97/month (which is the same cost as ClickFunnels cheapest plan).

SEMRUSH - Keyword Research

SEMRUSH is the best overall keyword research tool that I have found, it's pricy but well worth it.  I prefer it over it's closest competitor Ahrefs due to it's superior PPC research tools... I run a lot of paid ads on Google and Microsoft so this one feature is worth it's weight in gold as a spy tool!

It has an amazing amount of keyword analytics and data on most websites on the internet, a close second to Ahrefs, and is a must have if you want to get into blogging or run search PPC ads. Without it you are stabbing in the dark.

For keyword research you can get by with the cheaper/free tools out there like Ubersuggest, Keywords Everywhere etc... But they pale in comparison to the information and accuracy that SEMRUSH provides. Knowledge is power after all.

Pricing starts at $119/month for the Pro plan...

TubeBuddy - YouTube Statistics

TubeBuddy is hands down the best solution for tracking YouTube statistics and keywords on the market. 

Figure out what keywords you should target to get the maximum exposure for your videos before you even start filming. Find the best tags to use, the best time to post your new content, split test different thumbnails etc... The amount of analytics and extra functionality you get with TubeBuddy  for creating and posting YouTube videos is crazy good.

The analytics also helps you understand your audience better which is invaluable. So if you use YouTube videos for affiliate marketing then this software is an absolute must have in your software stack.

You are definitely at a disadvantage if you're not using this software.

Pricing starts at $9/month for the entry level plan, but most people would want to start with the $19/month plan for the bulk processing tools, opportunity finder and brand alerts.

They also have a free plan with limited features to get you started...