NordVPN Affiliate Program
ActiveConsumer VPN whose in-house affiliate program pays 100% of a 1-month sign-up or 40% of a yearly plan, then 30% of each renewal, on a 30-day cookie.
Quick answer
Yes. NordVPN pays 100% of a new 1-month sign-up, 40% of a new 1-year or 2-year plan and a 30% share of every renewal, with a 30-day cookie. Payouts are monthly on request by PayPal or wire transfer once your balance passes $100.
At a glance
SaaS Affiliate Score
An editorial, data-based rating — not an objective measure, and never influenced by sponsorship. See the method.
- Commission
- 40–100% + 30% renewals
- Recurring
- Lifetime
- Cookie window
- 30 days
- Minimum payout
- $100
- Network
- In-house
- Approval
- Generally within 2 business days
About NordVPN
NordVPN is the VPN service from Nord Security. Its affiliate program is run in-house: applications go through a sign-up form on nordvpn.com, and affiliates work from the affiliates.nordvpn.com portal. What a referral earns depends on the plan bought. A new 1-month plan pays 100% of the first sale, a new 1-year or 2-year plan pays 40%, and every renewal pays a 30% revenue share that NordVPN calls lifetime. A purchase only becomes payable once the customer has kept it for 30 days without a refund, chargeback or cancellation. Payment is monthly and on request, by PayPal or wire transfer, after your balance tops $100 and no sooner than 40 days after each commission is generated. One affiliate account also opens offers for NordPass, Coveron, NordStellar, NordLayer and Saily, and NordVPN keeps separate influencer, reseller, TikTok and student ambassador schemes. In August 2021 CJ featured the program on its blog, quoting a 40% starting CPA and a 30-day cookie and linking to a CJ application.
Listed in: Best recurring affiliate programs for SaaS · Lifetime recurring affiliate programs · Highest paying SaaS affiliate programs · New SaaS affiliate programs
Commission details
By plan, on new sign-ups: 100% of a 1-month plan, 40% of a 1-year or 2-year plan; plus a 30% revenue share on all renewals
- Commission type
- Tiered
- Recurring
- Yes — for the lifetime of the referred account
- Commission currency
- USD
Payouts and tracking
- Payout frequency
- Monthly, on request; no earlier than 40 days after each commission is generated
- Payment methods
- PayPal, Wire transfer
- Payout currency
- USD
Attribution window. NordVPN's affiliate page says it uses dropped cookies and pays on a sale made within 30 days of the customer's visit. The affiliate terms frame it as the visitor creating a Nord account, free or paid, within 30 days of following your link; an account opened on another device, or after the cookie is deleted, is not credited.
Promotional rules
What NordVPN allows and forbids before you promote it.
- Bidding on Nord trade marks or look-alikes (Nord, NordVPN, NordPass, NordLocker, NordSec, Nord Security) is banned, as are domain names built on them; the terms' search clause is broad enough that any paid search plan should be cleared with Nord first.
- Coupons and discounts must come from the affiliate program's banners and links, and publishing refunds, credits or discounts needs Nord's written permission each time.
- Each email campaign needs Nord's written approval in advance.
- Pop-ups and pop-unders are forbidden, and links in chat rooms or bulletin boards need Nord's written agreement.
- Cash back and other user incentives are banned unless offered through features on Nord's own websites.
- A refund, chargeback or cancellation within 30 days of purchase cancels the commission.
- Accounts with no commissions or no logins for 6 months may be closed, with unpaid commissions withheld.
Requirements
The partner sign-up on nordvpn.com runs over three steps and asks for your account type, how you will drive traffic, which Nord products you plan to promote and a preferred payout method. Nord's terms say a decision generally arrives within 2 business days and that any application can be refused. No website is needed: a YouTube channel or social media accounts are accepted.
- Application review
- Generally within 2 business days
- A website, YouTube channel or social media accounts to send traffic from
- Application details covering your traffic sources, the Nord products you will promote and a payout method
Who this is best for
Good fit
- VPN review sites and tech publishers whose readers buy 1-year or 2-year plans, which pay 40% upfront plus 30% on each renewal
- YouTubers and social creators without a blog, whom NordVPN accepts
- Affiliates who also want NordPass, Coveron or NordLayer offers under one Nord account
Poor fit
- Search affiliates who planned to bid on Nord brand terms, which the terms ban
- Email-first publishers who do not want to submit each campaign for approval
- Affiliates who need quick cash flow, since a commission can only be requested after 40 days and once the balance is over $100
Pros and limitations
Pros
- 100% of the first payment on new 1-month sign-ups
- 30% of every plan renewal, which NordVPN describes as a lifetime revenue share
- Links may point to any page on NordVPN's websites
- Application decisions generally within 2 business days
Limitations
- 1-year and 2-year sign-ups pay 40%, well below the 100% shown for monthly plans
- Each commission waits 40 days before it can be requested, and the balance must exceed $100
- Credit is lost if the visitor opens the account on another device or deletes the cookie first
- Brand bidding is banned and every email campaign needs written approval
How to join
- 1Complete the three-step partner sign-up at nordvpn.com/affiliate-signup as a personal or company account
- 2List your traffic sources and the Nord products you will promote, and pick PayPal or wire transfer for payouts
- 3Wait for a decision, generally within 2 business days, then collect links and promo materials from affiliates.nordvpn.com
Estimate earnings from this program
NordVPN vs the Security median
| Term | NordVPN | Category median | Programs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission rate | 40% | 32.5% | 4 |
| Recurring term | Lifetime | One-time | 3 |
Medians across published Security programs that disclose each term. Undisclosed terms are left out, not counted as zero.
Sources and verification
- Official
- Official
- Official
- Official
- Official
- Network
Frequently asked questions
Does NordVPN pay recurring affiliate commission?
Yes. Beyond the first-sale rate, NordVPN pays a 30% revenue share on all plan renewals, and its affiliate page calls this a lifetime revenue share.
How long is the NordVPN affiliate cookie?
30 days. The affiliate page credits a sale made within 30 days of the visit, while the terms tie the credit to the visitor creating a Nord account, including a free one, inside those 30 days.
When does NordVPN pay affiliates?
Once a month, when you ask for it, by PayPal or direct wire transfer. Your balance has to be over $100, and because of NordVPN's refund policy a commission cannot be requested until 40 days after it was generated.
Is the NordVPN affiliate program on CJ?
NordVPN's own pages now send applicants to its sign-up form and the affiliates.nordvpn.com portal. CJ's blog featured the program in August 2021 with a CJ application link; no NordVPN page we read says whether a CJ listing still runs.
Alternatives to NordVPN
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