Compiled by the llmnet.nl editorial team with AI assistance ยท Last updated: July 29, 2026
Which programs actually pay out in cash, which only in credits, and which no longer exist at all? A source-referenced overview for indie developers and homelab builders.
Why this registry exists. Anyone searching for "AI affiliate program" ends up in an information market that is largely polluted. Aggregator sites publish commission percentages that cannot be found anywhere on the provider's own site: 50% recurring at DigitalOcean (which itself publishes 10%), 20% at OpenRouter (which has no program at all), and enthusiastic recommendations for programs that were discontinued months ago. This registry does not copy anything from other websites. What we could not verify at the source is listed below as unconfirmed.
For each program, we look up and review the official program or terms page of the provider itself. We only include what is stated there โ with the source URL included. Percentages, cookie duration, and thresholds that only circulate on third-party sites are not published as facts, but as open questions. Furthermore, programs change quickly, so each entry carries a verification date.
We pay special attention to three things that are missing from most overviews: the distinction between payout in cash and in credits, the presence of NL/EU-specific restrictions, and whether content sites are allowed at all.
Transparency: this registry currently does not contain any affiliate links. All links below point directly to the provider's official page. As soon as that changes, it will be stated per link โ see our affiliate policy.
| Program | Type | What the source says | Please note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kimi (Moonshot AI) | credits | Referral in subscription time, not in cash. The official rules pages load via JavaScript and could not be read | Rewards circulating elsewhere (lottery structure, expiration date end of 2026) come from an unaffiliated site. Treat the in-app rules as leading |
| Perplexity | discontinued | The Comet Referral Program ended November 6, 2025; "Give a Month, Get a Month" ended October 6, 2025 | There is no longer an open affiliate program. The publisher program is selection-based and not intended for small sites |
| Anthropic / Claude | no affiliate | The Claude Partner Network is a services and consultancy program for agencies, with no commission on subscriptions | Anyone offering a "Claude affiliate program" is usually selling a competing product |
| OpenAI, Mistral, DeepSeek, xAI | not found | No official affiliate or referral page found | All hits were blogs from competitors promoting their own program |
What stands out: this is the weakest category of all. The major model builders structurally do not pay content creators. Perplexity was the only one that took it seriously and has discontinued it. Do not build a revenue model on this โ treat content about models as a traffic driver, not a monetization model.
| Program | Type | What the source says | Please note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lovable | cash | "Up to $100" per first subscriber, monthly payout, materials available. Runs via Impact.com | Cookie duration is not mentioned. Approval required |
| Vercel / v0 | cash or credits | The terms do not mention amounts; "typically one-time", last-click. Vercel may set an earnings cap per participant | Prohibited: brand name in domain, SEA on brand name, purchases via own link. Application can be rejected without explanation |
| Windsurf | credits | Flex Credits, explicitly "cannot be redeemed for cash". Caps and chargebacks upon cancellation | Requires a paid account; no open affiliate program |
| Replit | credits | $10 in credits for both parties once the invitee pays | Personal link, no affiliate tracking. Terms can change at any time |
| Warp | swag / gift cards | Tiered rewards from 1 to 100 referrals; digital gift cards up to $100 | For participants outside the US โ including the Netherlands โ import duties for physical swag are at your own expense. Choose the gift card |
| Cursor | status unclear | Sources contradict each other: one specialized site reports that the program has been discontinued due to fraud, while a Cursor employee writes on their own forum in June 2026 that it is available given sufficient account age | The official help page blocks crawlers, which prevented us from verifying this |
What stands out: only Lovable and Vercel pay in cash; the rest work with credits or merchandise. This category is also volatile โ several programs were closed in 2025 and 2026 due to abuse. Do not build a fixed page structure around a single tool.
| Program | Type | What the source says |
|---|---|---|
| OpenRouter | no program | The official documentation and FAQ contain no mention whatsoever of a referral, affiliate, or revenue-share program. We could not find the widely cited "20% commission" anywhere on OpenRouter itself |
| LLM Gateway | referral | Advertises "Earn 1% of Referred LLM Spend". Other terms not verified |
| Together AI, Groq, Fireworks, Replicate, Hugging Face | not found | Only startup, research, and credit programs; no affiliate program found |
What stands out: for affiliate revenue, this is a dead category. Virtually the entire "AI API affiliate" corner of the internet appears to trace back to aggregators without a source.
| Program | Type | What the source says | Please note |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | cash | 10% per referred user, recurring, for one year. "Anyone can join". Runs via Awin | Cookie duration and payout threshold are not listed on the program page. New users receive starting credit, which helps conversion |
| RunPod | credits โ cash | Referral: 5% serverless and 3% pod usage in credits, first six months. Affiliate: 10% in cash, first six months | Their own documentation states that the sign-up bonus for European users is fixed at $5, while non-Europeans can receive $5 to $500. Cash requires 25 paying referrals, and that switch is irreversible |
| Hetzner | being terminated | Hetzner has announced it is stopping the program in this form in favor of central promo code campaigns. Links were valid until mid-June 2026; credits remain redeemable until the end of 2027 | Was already credits-only. The legal page still reads as active โ the announcement is leading |
| Vultr | unconfirmed | There is a partner program, but the official terms do not contain commission, cookie duration, threshold, or geographical restrictions | Amounts circulating elsewhere come exclusively from third parties |
| Cloudflare | no affiliate | A Cloudflare employee confirms in their own forum: there is no affiliate program, only channel partnerships for businesses | โ |
What stands out: the two services that homelab builders use most often โ Hetzner and Cloudflare โ yield zero affiliate revenue. We nevertheless recommend them where they are the best choice; that is exactly what rule 4 of our policy entails.
| Program | Type | What the source says | Please note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make | cash | 35% commission for twelve months from registration date. Payout via Wise | Minimum per payout is $100 and three unique paying users โ and these requirements reset after each payout instead of stacking. Only subscriptions count, no extra operations |
| n8n | cash | 30% on net revenue for twelve months. Blog posts, video, and templates are explicitly encouraged. Runs via PartnerStack | Only n8n Cloud counts; self-hosted Community and Enterprise yield nothing. Paid advertisements are completely prohibited. Minimum โฌ100, only via PayPal |
| Zapier | no public program | Zapier confirms in its own forum that it does not have an affiliate program. A referral program does exist, but exclusively for participants in the Experts program | โ |
| Airtable | unconfirmed | There is a program with an application form, but the terms page shows different content when requested, leaving commission, cookie, and threshold unknown | โ |
What stands out: this is where the strongest cash flow in this entire registry is. But there is a catch that is rarely mentioned: n8n only pays out on Cloud, whereas the target audience reading n8n content usually self-hosts it. Anyone wanting to earn something here should write comparison and cost analyses, not installation tutorials.
| Program | Type | What the source says | Please note |
|---|---|---|---|
| bol Partner Program | cash | Commission per product group on the sales value including VAT, only on non-returned items. First-party cookie "generally five days". Minimum payout โฌ50 | Site must have its own content. Prohibited: cookie dropping, SEA on brand keywords, brand name in domain |
| Amazon.nl Partnernet | cash | 6% for electronics, computers, smartphones, and cameras; 10% for books and kitchen, among others; 14% for clothing; 1% for game consoles | Cookie duration and payout threshold were not listed on the page consulted |
| Coolblue | cash | 56-day cookie, 28-day attribution window, standard 2% per category, payout from โฌ30. Runs via Awin | Since 2020, not last-click but Shapley attribution across the entire customer journey: you share the commission with other touchpoints. Cashback and coupon sites are rejected |
| Synology | no affiliate | Exclusively a reseller and system integrator program for businesses | For NAS content, the route is therefore through the retailer, not the manufacturer |
What stands out: for a Dutch site with hardware content, this is the most reliable revenue, simply because "which NAS do I need" and "how much RAM for a 70B model" are questions with direct buying intent. Coolblue's 56-day cookie is exceptionally long and fits well with expensive purchases with a long consideration period; bol has the shortest cookie but the widest assortment and the lowest threshold.
Many of the programs above do not run directly but through an affiliate network. Three accounts unlock the majority: Awin (including Coolblue and DigitalOcean), PartnerStack (including n8n and RunPod), and Impact (including Lovable). In addition, Daisycon, TradeTracker, and Adtraction are classic Dutch networks. We could not verify the publisher thresholds and payout terms at the source for any of these networks; they are usually found in documents behind the login.
One detail worth remembering: according to its own partner terms, PartnerStack charges 8.33% per month in administrative fees on commission that has not been claimed for two years or longer. So make sure to withdraw your earnings in time.
Kimi, Replit, Windsurf, Hetzner, and the standard tier of RunPod pay in credits, not in cash. Windsurf even says so in so many words: not redeemable for cash. For anyone wishing to finance a publication with it, that is effectively zero.
Perplexity stopped in November 2025, Hetzner is phasing out in 2026, and Cursor has reportedly discontinued due to fraud according to multiple sources. Three of the best-known names in this niche, all three within twelve months. Anyone building their articles around a single partner can expect to rewrite them a year later.
RunPod itself documents that the sign-up bonus for European users is fixed at $5, while non-Europeans can receive up to $500. This directly lowers conversion on a Dutch site. Pay attention to geographical exceptions in every program โ they are rarely in the marketing copy and often in the documentation.
We publish the points below as open questions, not as facts. If you come across a reliable primary source, we would love to hear from you via the contact page.