Zero-cost start: referral & affiliate programs you can apply to without buying first
6 platforms · 1 column posts
Overview
Referral and affiliate programs in our directory whose entries describe signing up and passing review, with no stated requirement to buy anything first. Zero-cost means no upfront spend — not guaranteed income; most programs expect you to have your own content or traffic.
Who it suits
- Creators who already run a blog, short videos or a community
- People willing to spend time learning program rules
- Beginners who don't want to put money in up front
Pitfalls
- Most affiliate programs require review and may have probation periods or disclosure rules.
- Commission rules and payout cycles change; the official dashboard prevails.
- Anyone demanding an "entry fee" or "upgrade fee" before you can withdraw is a scam signal.
- Disclose your relationship when promoting; no fake claims or traffic manipulation.
Platforms
Hostinger
Affiliate program: earn commission by referring hosting plans (official terms at the time prevail)
Amazon Associates
Creators earn commission on qualifying purchases (each marketplace's program rules prevail)
Shopify
Affiliate program: earn commission for referring merchants who open stores (official terms at the time prevail)
JD Union (京东联盟)
Earn commission on JD product sales you refer (onboarding review required; official terms at the time prevail)
Alimama / Taobao Union (阿里妈妈)
Earn commission promoting Taobao/Tmall products (onboarding required; official terms at the time prevail)
Rentuibang (任推邦)
Per-project commission for new users/file saves/membership share; unit price, settlement cycle and withdrawal threshold follow the in-app project pages (third-party promo sites claim withdrawals from 10 yuan with T+1, not verified on an official page)
Column posts
- Overseas website side-hustle retrospective lead: an experience post from first-day to first-week revenue
Curated from a long post by @JiangK82705 (also recommended by @FanShifu): a beginner's experience building an overseas website as a side hustle, describing first-day and five-day revenue milestones. This site rates it L1 because it involves an income narrative and execution details; individual results are not reproducible. It is a method lead only and not an income promise. Read the full post and cross-check payments, taxes and platform rules. Approach: suits beginners with decent execution who want to test an overseas website side hustle at low cost. The core mechanism is building a site quickly, connecting payments and getting first traffic to validate demand with real data. Common sticking points are customer acquisition, payments and tax compliance, and being swayed by income numbers while ignoring costs and survivorship bias.
FAQ
- Can you really make money at zero cost?
- Zero-cost only means no upfront spend. Any income depends on your channels, content and the program's rules. We promise no income. Rewards, commissions and withdrawal rules follow each platform's official terms at the time.
- Do these programs charge to join?
- Per the entries we list, joining is mainly sign-up plus review, with no stated joining fee. Official terms at the time prevail; we don't guess where our data is silent.
- Can I do this without followers?
- Most programs review your promotion channels, and some entries explicitly require one. Without a channel, build content first.
We provide no invite codes and promise no income; official terms at the time prevail.