How we score affiliate programs

The PickerScore formula

Each program gets five subscores from 1–10. The weighted sum, scaled to 100, is the PickerScore:

PickerScore = 10 × ( Earnings×0.35 + Attribution×0.2 + Trust×0.2 + Payout×0.15 + Entry×0.1 )

The five factors

1. Earnings power — 35%

What a referral is worth, combining rate, commission model and product price. Recurring beats one-time at equal headline value because retained cohorts compound; a 30% lifetime commission on a $100/mo product scores near the top, while a 3% one-time rate on low-ticket retail scores near the bottom. Where a program caps recurring at 12 months, we score the capped value, not the headline.

2. Attribution window — 20%

The only fully deterministic subscore, derived from verified cookie duration: 180+ days = 10, 120+ = 9, 90+ = 8, 60+ = 7, 45+ = 6, 30+ = 5, 14+ = 4, 7+ = 3, 3+ = 2, under 3 days (including session cookies) = 1. Long windows matter most for considered purchases, which is exactly where they're rarest.

3. Trust & conversion strength — 20%

How reliably the brand converts the traffic you send, and whether promoting it builds or burns audience trust. Inputs: brand recognition, checkout friction, refund rates typical of the vertical, and the program's history of honoring attributions. Marketplaces with unvetted offers (e.g. parts of ClickBank) score low here even when commissions are enormous — because your audience's trust is the asset you can't rebuy.

4. Payout reliability & friction — 15%

The operational reality of getting paid: payout threshold, NET terms, validation windows, payment methods, and whether an established network intermediates payment. A $5-minimum PartnerStack program with monthly payouts scores 9–10; an in-house program with a $150 threshold and NET 60 validation scores 5–6.

5. Ease of entry — 10%

Can a newer affiliate realistically get in? Instant-approval programs score 9–10; programs requiring established traffic, existing customer status or invite-only access score 4–5. Weighted lowest because difficulty of entry often correlates with program quality — we flag it rather than punish it heavily.

Score bands

Score	Band	Meaning
85–100	Exceptional	Rare combination of economics, attribution and reliability. Promote with confidence if the niche fits.
75–84	Strong	Better than nearly everything in its vertical. Minor trade-offs, clearly flagged.
65–74	Good	Solid choice with at least one meaningful weakness — check the "what to watch" list.
55–64	Fair	Works for specific audiences or as a secondary monetization layer. Not a foundation.
<55	Weak	Structural problems (short cookies, low rates, payout friction). Listed for completeness and comparison.

How we verify data

1. Official source first. Commission rate, cookie duration, payout threshold, methods and terms are taken from the program's official affiliate page or network listing — never from other review sites. That source page is linked from every profile.
2. Dated verification. Every record carries the month it was last checked, shown in the "verification trail" panel on its profile alongside the date its next re-check is due.
3. Archived snapshots. Each profile links a Wayback Machine snapshot of the official terms page near the verification date, so you can see what the source said when we checked it — not just what it says today.
4. Modeled values are labeled. "Est. $/sale" figures are our modeled averages with stated assumptions — they are estimates, and they're always marked as such.
5. Public corrections route. Anyone can report an error or request a re-check. Corrections update the record and refresh its verification date; the thread is kept as part of the record's history.

Re-check cadence

Re-verification intervals are tiered by how fast a vertical's terms actually change, and due dates are staggered within each tier so checks spread across the calendar rather than bunching into batches:

Interval	Categories	Why
Every 2 months	AI tools	Youngest programs; rates and cookies have shifted within quarters
Every 3 months	SaaS, email marketing, SEO tools, VPN	Active program management; promo-driven changes
Every 4 months	Hosting, e-commerce platforms, education, design, finance	Established programs with occasional restructures
Every 6 months	Retail, travel	Slow-moving rate tables (with spot-checks after publicized changes)

The database launched with a full verification pass in August 2026, which is why early records share that date; as the cadence above takes over, verification dates will naturally diverge per record.

Conflict-of-interest policy

• No pay-to-rank. Ever. No program can pay for a higher score, a better position, or inclusion. There are no "sponsored" slots in the database.
• Affiliate links don't touch scores. Some outbound links may become affiliate links over time. Scores are computed from the rubric above before any commercial relationship exists, and the rubric is version-controlled — a score change requires a data change.
• Corrections are welcome. If you're a program operator and a fact is wrong, point us to the official source and we'll fix it and update the verification date. Facts, not scores, are negotiable.

Known limitations

We don't yet publish EPC or reversal-rate data — the two numbers affiliates want most — because no source we could verify meets our standard. Network-reported EPC is inconsistent and self-selected. As the platform grows we plan to collect anonymized, opt-in performance data from real affiliates and publish it with sample sizes. Until then, we'd rather show you a verified cookie window than an unverifiable earnings claim.