Affiliate Programs That Closed or Changed Their Terms (October 2026 Check)

Affiliate program terms change quietly. A commission rate drops, a cookie window shrinks, a program stops accepting new affiliates, and the old figures keep circulating on review sites, comparison lists and older guides. In October 2026 we re-read the official pages of the 100 affiliate programs whose AffiliatesAZ pages Google shows most often, then checked a few more by hand. Below is what we found, with a link to the merchant's own page for every claim and the date we read it.

Programs that closed, were replaced or stopped accepting affiliates

According to the merchants' own pages, none of these is an open, link-based affiliate program today. We no longer list them as open programs, but each keeps a short notice page so that people searching for the old program can find out what happened.

• BigCommerce – closed on 17 May 2025. BigCommerce's own notice says the affiliate program was discontinued because of a shift in business strategy, that all tracking links stopped working that day, and that there are no plans for a replacement. Read the notice on BigCommerce's site (checked 30 October 2026) or see our notice page.
• Porkbun – discontinued. Porkbun's own affiliate page says so (checked 25 October 2026). Our notice page has the details.
• Canva – the open affiliate program has been replaced by the Canvassador Program, a community ambassador program for creators, which Canva's help page describes as currently closed for applications (checked 25 October 2026). See our notice page.
• Notion – Notion's program page says the program is not currently accepting new affiliates (checked 25 October 2026). See our notice page.
• Asana – no open affiliate program. Asana's partner pages describe a Referral Partner program for paying customers who introduce Asana to other businesses, and no commission rates are published (checked 25 October 2026). See our notice page.
• Typeform – no affiliate program page. The only referral offer on its website is a refer-a-friend scheme for Typeform customers (checked 25 October 2026). See our notice page.

Open programs whose own pages state different or more specific terms

These programs are still open, but the terms on their own pages differ from — or are more specific than — the headline figures that circulate elsewhere. Each line shows the source and the day we read it.

"100%" with a cap or a condition

• AppSumo pays up to 100% of a new customer's purchase, capped at $50 per sale. Returning customers pay 0–15% depending on contract terms. The tracking cookie lasts 7 days and the Affiliate Terms of Service set a $100 payment threshold. Sources: affiliate page and terms (checked 30 October 2026).
• WordPress.com pays 100% of a new customer's first-year plan purchase, up to $300, or 100% of the initial monthly purchase. There is no recurring commission and the tracking window is 30 days. Payouts run through Impact, whose minimum payout threshold is $10. Sources: affiliate page and payouts guide (checked 30 October 2026).

Changed models and lower starting rates

• Fiverr pays 25% of a new customer's first Marketplace order plus 10% of that customer's orders for the next 12 months. For Logo Maker it pays $30 for the first order plus 10% for 12 months. Its Affiliate Agreement also forbids sending traffic directly from search engines and bidding on the Fiverr keyword in paid ads. Sources: program page and agreement (read 26 October 2026).
• IPVanish states 50% commissions on all sales, with no minimum earning requirement and monthly payouts on Net 30 terms through its TUNE platform. Source: IPVanish partner page (checked 30 October 2026).
• SiteGround pays $50 per sale for 1–5 sales a month, $75 for 6–10 and up to $100 for 11–20, with a custom deal from 21. Payouts are weekly with no minimum. Source: SiteGround affiliates page (read 26 October 2026).
• HostGator starts every affiliate at a $65 base commission that can rise with performance, up to a $100 cap. There is no minimum for the first payout, and commissions are paid 2 months and 10 days after the month of the sale. Source: HostGator affiliates page (read 26 October 2026).
• Bluehost pays $65 or more per sale with a 30-day cookie, and processes commissions 45–70 days after a sale. Source: Bluehost affiliates page (read 26 October 2026).

Shorter cookies and different payout rules

• Nike pays up to 15% on valid U.S. sales, with a 7-day cookie. Source: Nike affiliate help page (read 25 October 2026).
• Elementor uses a 45-day attribution window, a $200 minimum payout threshold and payment on an end-of-month plus 60 days basis. Source: affiliate program terms (read 25 October 2026).
• Surfshark sets a $100 minimum payout threshold. Source: Surfshark affiliate page (read 25 October 2026).
• Grammarly pays amounts of $25 or more in the next billing cycle. Source: affiliate terms (read 25 October 2026).
• Teachable offers recurring commissions with a 30-day cookie window. Source: Teachable partners page (read 25 October 2026).
• DreamHost pays flat per-product amounts, up to $1,000 per referral on DreamPress, with no minimum payout and a direct bank transfer once a month. Source: DreamHost affiliates page (read 25 October 2026).

How to check a program before you join

1. Read the terms page, not the landing page. Rates, cookie length and payout rules usually sit in the program agreement or the help centre.
2. Look for caps. "Up to 100%" can mean 100% of the first sale, limited to a fixed amount.
3. Check who the rate applies to. Many programs pay more for new customers than for returning ones, and some pay only on the first order.
4. Note the cookie window. A 7-day cookie and a 90-day cookie make for very different businesses.
5. Find the payout threshold and the delay. Some programs pay with no minimum; others hold earnings until a threshold such as $100 or $200 is reached and settle weeks after the month of the sale.
6. Read the advertising rules. Bidding on the brand keyword and sending traffic straight from search engines are often restricted.
7. Write down the date you checked. Terms change, and a dated note tells you when to look again.

How we checked

We used only the merchant's own pages (program page, terms, help centre) or, where a merchant publishes nothing readable, the affiliate network's official program page. We did not use review sites, comparison lists or search-engine snippets as evidence, we did not sign up for any program, and we never opened tracking links. Where two official pages disagreed we flagged it instead of picking one, and where a page did not state a value we left it as not stated. Some official pages block automated readers; those were opened in an ordinary browser instead. Every date above is the day the page was read.