If you're running a programme in the UK or DACH market, Awin is still the default — and for good reason. With over 225,000 active publishers across retail, fashion, finance, travel, and lifestyle, no other network in Europe comes close to the breadth of its partner ecosystem. Awin generated over $1.4 billion for publishers in its last financial year.

One development worth noting: Awin completed the full integration of ShareASale in 2026, bringing all ShareASale advertisers under the Awin umbrella. For brands running transatlantic programmes, it simplifies infrastructure considerably.

Best fit: Retail, fashion, health & beauty, and subscription brands targeting UK and/or DACH. Ideal if publisher breadth and regional coverage matter more than platform sophistication.

CJ has quietly cemented its position as the go-to network for enterprise brands that want a serious operational foundation. The network works with over 3,800 global brands and powers a publisher ecosystem of more than 167,000 partners across essentially every consumer category.

What sets CJ apart is its data infrastructure. Cross-device tracking, assisted conversion reporting, and publisher quality scoring give you a level of operational clarity that's hard to find elsewhere at scale. The trade-off: CJ skews enterprise. If you're an early-stage brand without internal resource to manage publisher relationships actively, you risk getting lost in the noise.

Best fit: Enterprise and scale-up brands in retail, finance, and tech. Especially strong if your programme already has traction and you need cleaner attribution and premium publisher relationships.

Impact.com is the platform I recommend most often to brands who want modern infrastructure rather than a legacy network. It's consistently the fastest-growing player in the market — 42% year-over-year growth, driven by the shift towards SaaS-based partner management. In 2025, the platform processed close to $120 billion in partner-referred GMV. Its marketplace now spans approximately 350,000 active partnerships.

The platform architecture is genuinely different. Instead of the classic network-fee model, impact.com operates as a SaaS partner management platform — cleaner contracting, better customisation, and tracking that wasn't built in 2009. Server-side tracking, mobile attribution, influencer partnerships, B2B referrals — all in one place.

Best fit: DTC brands and scale-ups that need to manage traditional affiliates and influencers within one platform. Also the strongest choice for brands prioritising attribution accuracy and server-side tracking.

Rakuten Advertising has historically been the network of choice for brands that need genuinely global scale — particularly in North America and Asia-Pacific — combined with premium publisher relationships and managed services. With approximately 150,000 active publishers and deep expertise in cashback and loyalty partnerships via Rakuten Rewards, it's held a distinctive position in the market for over two decades.

In 2026, Rakuten's position changed significantly — and this is the most important industry development to understand if you're building or managing an affiliate programme right now.