impact.com affiliate program review: what I like and what to watch for

Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn commission on products you genuinely use and love – and I’ve worked with quite a few platforms over the years. One of the biggest is Impact.com, and in most ways, it’s been great. I’m still actively using it, but I wanted to share an honest review of my experience: the good bits, the not-so-good bits, and what you might want to watch out for.

I’m an affiliate (aka. content creator) who writes about products by brands I love. I write reviews and link to products that customers can purchase. When they do, I earn a small commission that’s all done through impact.com.

What I like about impact.com

There are a lot of things I really like about using Impact:

• Payments are reliable. I’ve never had a single issue with getting paid by impact.com (although I’ve had issues with brands that I’ll discuss below). As soon as the money is released, it goes straight into my PayPal account – no delays, no chasing.
• Applying to brands is simple. Some brands even have automatic approval, so all I need to do is click “Accept” and I’m in. No waiting around or writing an application.
• The dashboard is user-friendly. I can track performance, clicks, sales, and commission at a glance.
  • It’s easy to grab affiliate links and banners when I need them. I prefer this dashboard over any other affiliate program I’ve used (especially AWIN that I find the most awkward and difficult to use)
  • The dashboards are editable and I can save the ones I find most useful.
  • Brands are split out in performance tables and the filters are great to use
• It hosts some great brands. Many big-name companies use Impact.com for their affiliate programmes, and it’s helpful to have them all in one place.
• Their customer service is quick to reply. I’ve had a few questions and issues over the years that have been responded to very fast.
• It’s free for affiliates to sign up and use! I’ve never paid Impact.com (fees, commission, signup etc) but brands pay but I’m not sure on how that works.

I also use a mix of other platforms depending on where the brands I work with are based – including AWIN, Social Snowball, Tapfiliate, and others. Each has its quirks, but overall, I’ve found Impact.com the easiest to navigate.

A recent issue I’ve had with a brand

Unfortunately I’ve recently had an issue where a brand I’ve worked with for years (and made £1,000’s from) through Impact.com haven’t been keeping up to date with payments. After reaching out to the brand multiple times with no reply, I got in touch with Impact.com for help.

Basically, Impact.com couldn’t help

When I reached out to Impact for help, I expected some support -maybe a check-in with the brand or at least a review of the situation. But their response was essentially: we don’t get involved — contact the brand yourself.

That was disappointing. As an affiliate, you rely on the platform to be a neutral middle ground. And when things go wrong, especially if you’re a smaller creator, it feels like you’re on your own. I’ve put hours and hours into writing articles for this brand and to have them simply stop paying is not only hugely frustrating, but you have absolutely no control.

What do I do? I’m still toying with the idea of if I should continue promoting this brand or just wait and see each month to see if I get paid.

It’s made me get my arse into gear to reach out and find more affiliates to partner with, instead of having all my eggs in one basket.

What’s disappointing is I’ve worked with the brand for over 4 years. I’ve built rapport with the affiliate manager, whos sent me new products to try and replaced out of date products for me (for free). He’s just gone radio silence. It’s sheer luck I’ve managed to find other email addresses to reach out to.

I guess this is the risk you take in being an affiliate. I don’t know what other affiliate partners would do in this situation as thankfully this is the first time I’ve had this problem.

Why it matters

I think this is important to highlight because platforms like Impact profit from every transaction. So when an affiliate puts in the work and drives real sales, there should be some protection if a brand acts unfairly. Even just a bit of support or mediation would go a long way.

That said, this is just one experience. I’m sure there are plenty of affiliates who’ve never run into this kind of issue (and it’s the first for me in over 5 years). It’s still worth knowing what can happen, especially if you’re just getting started.

Final thoughts

Will I keep using Impact? Yes – but I’m a lot more cautious now, although there’s nothing I can do differently except for working with more brands and not relying on just one large affiliate. Even after years and years of working on articles, a brand can just simply cancel the relationship.

I would build a better rapport with the affiliate manager. Even though (after listening to affiliate podcasts) it’s the manager’s job to manage their affiliates, there’s no harm in keeping up regular comms.

Another brand I work with started their program at a huge 20% commission, so I worked a lot to build articles and SEO. Then they reduced to 10% then 5% within months. It was frustrating and I felt very annoyed that they felt they could treat affiliates this way.

If you’re thinking about joining Impact.com, I’d still recommend it. I’ve had years of a great time! It does have a lot going for it. And if you want to read about other people’s experiences – good and bad – this Reddit thread gives a useful mix of views: impact.com review – reddit.

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