You want to learn affiliate marketing but don't want to spend money on courses? I get it.
Most paid courses just rehash stuff you can learn for free anyway. The real value is in finding the right free resources from people who actually make money doing this.
I've been testing affiliate marketing strategies for years, and honestly, some of the best training comes from free sources. You just need to know where to look.
Let me show you the best free affiliate marketing courses that'll actually teach you something useful...
1. Adsterra Affiliate Marketing Crash Course
Duration: 24 video lessons + 4 quizzes
Best for: Complete beginners who want to start affiliate marketing without a website
What you'll learn: Traffic selection, campaign targeting, scaling strategies, tracking fundamentals
This is one of the most comprehensive free courses out there. Adsterra runs one of the biggest affiliate networks, so they know what they're talking about. The course covers everything from finding hot traffic sources to optimizing your campaigns for better conversions.
What I like about this course is that it's designed for people who don't have their own website yet. You'll learn how to promote affiliate links through paid traffic, which can get you results faster than building a blog from scratch.
The best part? It's regularly updated, so you're not learning outdated tactics that stopped working years ago.
2. Udemy - Free Affiliate Marketing Course for Beginners
Duration: 2 hours 18 minutes
Best for: People who want a quick overview of affiliate marketing basics
What you'll learn: Niche selection, website setup, audience attraction, commission strategies
This Udemy course is perfect if you want to understand affiliate marketing works in under 3 hours. It covers all the essential topics without overwhelming you with too much detail.
Students love how beginner friendly it is, though some mention it doesn't go deep into keyword research or common mistakes to avoid. Think of this as your foundation course before diving into more advanced training.
The instructor does a good job explaining how to find profitable affiliate programs and what to look for when choosing which products to promote.
3. Miles Beckler - Affiliate Marketing Step-by-Step Guide
Duration: 1 hour 13 minutes
Best for: Beginners wanting honest, realistic advice
What you'll learn: Email marketing fundamentals, relationship building, sustainable business strategies
If you've ever wanted to learn affiliate marketing from someone who's actually built a real online business, this course is made for you. Featuring topics like proper niche selection, email marketing fundamentals, and building relationships with potential customers, you get straightforward advice without the hype.
Miles is a successful affiliate marketer who focuses on sustainable strategies rather than quick tricks. He covers the mindset and persistence needed to succeed, which other affiliate marketing courses completely skip.
You'll understand how to create content that connects with people, how to build an email list, and how to think like a real business owner rather than just someone dropping affiliate links everywhere.
4. Voluum - Affiliate Academy
Duration: Multiple courses at your own pace
Best for: People who want to focus on paid traffic and landing pages
What you'll learn: Traffic sources, landing page creation, campaign launches, market research
A lot of people dive into affiliate marketing thinking they won't need to spend money on advertising. But successful affiliate marketers advertise all the time and that's how they scale to big profits.
Voluum's affiliate course teaches you how to launch your first affiliate campaign properly. Since Voluum runs one of the biggest affiliate marketing networks, they know what works when you're spending real money on ads.
Some of the nuggets you'll pick up include how to get accepted into top affiliate programs, which ad formats actually work for affiliate marketing, and how to do niche research for paid campaigns without wasting your budget.
5. WsCube Tech - Free Affiliate Marketing Course
Duration: 6 hours
Best for: People who want comprehensive training covering multiple affiliate programs
What you'll learn: ClickBank strategies, JvZoo promotions, Instamojo earnings, WordPress optimization, advanced sales techniques
WsCube Tech's affiliate course is a great program that covers multiple affiliate programs most other free courses don't touch.
You'll learn how to make money with ClickBank, JvZoo, and Instamojo, plus get training on WordPress optimization for affiliate websites.
The course also teaches advanced techniques like upselling and cross-selling that successful affiliate marketers use to maximize earnings.
6. Alison - Master Affiliate Marketing With this Step-by-Step Guide
Duration: 1.5 to 3 hours
Best for: Aspiring entrepreneurs who want a structured approach to affiliate marketing
What you'll learn: Niche selection strategies, conversion platform building, viral marketing concepts, affiliate offer identification
This Alison course takes a different approach by focusing heavily on the business side of affiliate marketing.
The course creator teaches you how to build landing pages and identify profitable affiliate offers that actually convert.
You also learn viral marketing concepts and strategies for building a successful affiliate site that generates consistent income.
7. Impact - Affiliate and Partnership Industry Fundamentals
Duration: 60 minutes
Best for: People who want official certification and industry fundamentals
What you'll learn: Digital marketing channels, partnership payment types, affiliate KPIs, industry players, goal setting
Impact's program is one of the best affiliate marketing courses for learning how partnerships and affiliate programs actually function behind the scenes.
It covers topics like partnership payment types, affiliate KPIs, and how different industries set commission rates that make financial sense.
These are important for understanding why some affiliate programs pay well while others don't, and how to build a successful affiliate marketing website from scratch.
8. Buildapreneur - Free Affiliate Marketing Course
Duration: Full length comprehensive training
Best for: People who want complete system setup from someone making $5 million in affiliate commissions
What you'll learn: Landing page creation, email automation, YouTube marketing, funnel building, traffic generation
Spencer from Buildapreneur basically gives away his entire paid course for free, which is pretty insane when you think about it.
He actually shows you his screen and walks through building the whole system step by step, from landing pages to email automation that runs on autopilot.
You get to see exactly how he makes $500 to $1000 per month from individual YouTube videos using affiliate links and email funnels that keep working long after he published them.
9. Udemy - Amazon Affiliate Marketing Blueprint for Beginners
Duration: 34 minutes
Best for: People who want to focus specifically on Amazon's affiliate program
What you'll learn: Amazon niche site building, product research, conversion optimization, SEO ranking strategies
Everyone shops on Amazon, so why not get paid when they do? This Udemy affiliate marketing program focuses entirely on Amazon's system since it converts way better than most other platforms.
The course walks you through building those "best product" websites that show up when people search for reviews and comparisons on Google.
You learn how to research products that people actually buy and optimize your site so more visitors click through and purchase from your Amazon links.
Don't Sleep on Free Courses
These are some of the best free affiliate marketing courses out there if you don't want to spend any money.
Every course offers something different, from Amazon-specific strategies to email automation systems that work while you sleep.
You should be able to pick up at least one thing from these that helps you start making some money instead of just learning theory all day.
If you want something more in-depth or you're curious how these stack up against the expensive courses, I wrote a breakdown of the best affiliate marketing courses that covers both free and paid options.
Happy learning!
