One of the most popular searches in the affiliate marketing training industry is “Wealthy Affiliate Review” and “Is WA a scam or legit?” Well, the answer is here…
I get this question asked a lot by people who want to join WA. And my answer is always the same. No, Wealthy Affiliate is not a scam. It’s a legit affiliate marketing training platform.
To help you learn more about WA, I’ve spent 5 years as a fully active member of their program and community.
I completed their Online Entrepreneur Certification and Affiliate Bootcamp courses.
Moreover, I invested my time and money into their recommendations too.
And I got results!
So after 5 years of continuous membership (I’m still paying member, by the way), I decided to share this comprehensive Wealthy Affiliate review to help you see it through my eyes.
Is it a scam? Is it the best affiliate marketing training? Should you go for it? Keep on reading my research article!
Wealthy Affiliate Review – Overview
- Product: Wealthy Affiliate
- Type: Affiliate marketing training
- Owners: Kyle Loudon and Caron Lim
- Price: $49 or $99 monthly or $495 or $997 yearly
- Trial: Free Starter membership
- Refund: Officially no
- Tools: Included in membership
- Community: Yes (1.7 million members)
- Support: Yes (community and tech support)
- Rating: 4.8/5
Overview: Wealthy Affiliate is a reputable online platform where you can start building your own affiliate marketing business. It provides tools, training, and community for competitive prices.
✅ Wealthy Affiliate Pros
What I like the most about Wealthy Affiliate is the online business method they teach. The program is based on affiliate marketing using free traffic methods like blogging (no paid ads).
One of the best things about WA is the package every member gets. Their Premium membership gives you access to all the tools, training, and help you need to start making money online.
You can try it out for free. And the membership is really affordable too (only $49 or $99 a month).
Probably the most significant pro to Wealthy Affiliate is that people are still getting results with this training. In other words, it’s not as outdated as some fake reviews point out.
🛑 Wealthy Affiliate Cons
One of the most annoying things about Wealthy Affiliate is the number of distractions. From the community, user-generated training, and tools, it’s easy to get lost and lose focus.
On top of that, some of the members of the community have a habit to share wrong advice. This is not something you want when you’re building a real affiliate marketing business.
Furthermore, despite affordable membership, the costs can easily build up over time.
That’s because unlike other programs out there, the Wealthy Affiliate method takes a lot of time and effort to start getting results. By the way, that’s why some reviews say it is an outdated training program.
👎👍 Scam or Legit?
If you don’t have the time to read my in-depth review, I can save you a few minutes by saying that Wealthy Affiliate is a legit affiliate marketing training program.
Sure, like every other online training platform, WA has its faults. But Wealthy Affiliate is not a scam! If you want to start a legit affiliate marketing business, you should consider joining it.
So, should you go for it? Keep reading my Wealthy Affiliate review to find out! Or click the button below to create your free account and get your own review!
Test-Drive Wealthy Affiliate Today
This review is going to be comprehensive, detailed, and incredibly helpful. So strap on your seatbelt and get ready to learn everything about Wealthy Affiliate!
Let’s start with…
What Is a Wealthy Affiliate?
Wealthy Affiliate is one of the internet’s most popular affiliate marketing training courses. It is also a huge community, as well as a hosting company (among many other tools they sell).
The WA community has a 1.4-million members from all over the world. The main goal of the platform is to provide these members with affiliate marketing training, marketing tools (websites, hosting, research tools), and live help.
Here is a quick overview of the features:
- Affiliate marketing training
- Websites, hosting, domains
- Keyword research tool
- Live help and tech support
- Interactive Community
- Lucrative affiliate program
A quick disclaimer before you continue…
I’m a long-time member of Wealthy Affiliate. However, my review is unbiased. That said, in this review, I’m sharing both the good and bad about this affiliate marketing training platform.
I joined Wealthy Affiliate in 2017 so I’m close to 5 years of continuous membership. I have earned 1000s of dollars in affiliate revenue thanks to this course (proof in this review).
About Kyle And Carson – Founders of WA
Kyle Loudon and Caron Lim established Wealthy Affiliate about 17 years ago. Their goal was and still is to help others achieve the same success they had over the last decade and a half.
WA started as a simple keyword research tool (Jaaxy) designed to help new marketers to find marketing opportunities.
Over the last 17 years, the platform evolved by continuously adding training, more tools, and more. Along the way, Kyle and Carons built the largest community of online marketers…ever!
So how can you leverage this platform to start with affiliate marketing?
Let me first explain what affiliate marketing is. And then, I’ll show you how WA works in relation to the process of making money online with affiliate marketing…
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another person’s or company’s products or services.
The affiliate simply searches for a product they like, then promotes that product to other interested individuals, and earns a piece of the profit from each sale they make.
What makes affiliate marketing the best online business model is the fact that it doesn’t require a big up-front investment (you can start for free with WA – more about this in my Wealthy Affiliate review)!
Furthermore, once you become an established and successful marketer, you can choose your own hours, take your office wherever you want, and earn lots of money while having the freedom to enjoy your life.
And here’s how Wealthy Affiliate can help you to start with affiliate marketing…
How Does Wealthy Affiliate Work?
Wealthy Affiliate teaches you how to set up a WordPress website from scratch, use it to drive free organic traffic, promote other people’s products and earn a commission for every new sale you make.
Below is a diagram that paints a better picture than my words…
Basically, you can learn how to choose your niche based on your passions. This could be anything from fitness to playing the guitar or even basketball or cooking.
The second step is building a website that you will use to publish content (blog posts) and advertise affiliate programs.
Building the website part is super-easy in my experience because all the tech stuff is done for you (I hate to use that set of words, but that’s how it really is with Wealthy Affiliate SiteBuilder).
Next, guys will spend a lot of time teaching you how to perfect content creation based on keyword research. The ultimate goal is to get top rankings in Google and other search engines and free organic traffic.
And YES, this method still works despite what some Wealthy Affiliate reviews say!
What I like about this method is that it is based on helping people in your niche. What I don’t like is the fact that it takes a lot of time to get life-changing results (12+ months).
Lastly, if all goes well (that part is up to you!), the making money part is going to be automatic.
With that being said, there are two different ways how you can start an affiliate marketing business via the WA program:
Approach #1 – Build Your Own Niche Website
The first way is to finish the core training called Online Entrepreneur Certification (I’ll share details later in my Wealthy Affiliate review). Basically, you will be learning how to promote ANY product in ANY niche you want.
Some people say that this course (approach) doesn’t work anymore…but I beg to differ.
Building niche websites is a simple process that hasn’t changed much over the last 15 years. As I said earlier, there are four simple steps to this process and they are:
- Choose your niche
- Build a website
- Attract visitors
- Earn revenue
The Wealthy Affiliate Online Entrepreneur Certification course contains 50 step-by-step lessons where you can learn how to complete all four steps from the above.
Approach #2 – Build WA Bootcamp Website
Another course found inside Wealthy Affiliate is about building a website (using the same 4-step formula) and promoting the WA affiliate program to people inside the Make-Money-Online niche.
It’s called Affiliate Bootcamp and it’s composed of 70 step-by-step lessons.
Some people might say this is actually the “core” training, and they are not far away from the truth…
When I first joined, I had the feeling that Kyle and Carson are attracting newbies with no sense of direction. Their goal is to provide them with one and help them to earn their first dollar online.
Whether this is true or not, doesn’t really matter actually…
What matter is that both course STILL WORK.
So if you have a passion for an MMO niche or any other niche out there, you can make use of these two Wealthy Affiliate courses to start making money online.
Speaking of which…
Are People Getting Results With WA?
A sure way to find out whether Wealthy Affiliate is a scam or not is to check out other people’s results with it. Keep in mind that success with this, or any other program of this nature is NOT guaranteed.
Like in every other business (online or offline), you have to hustle and then hustle some more to succeed.
These three persons are the prime example of what you can accomplish too if you take this (or any other) opportunity seriously…
Eddy Solomon Made Over $1 Million With Affiliate Marketing
Eddy is one of the oldest members of the Wealthy Affiliate platform (I’m not talking about his age). He’s been a member for over 10 years and his results with affiliate marketing are…well, fascinating.
In short, Solomon has managed to earn $1 million dollars using the methods and techniques from WA.
Fascinating results, right?
Jerry Huang Made $6K in One Month Promoting Wealthy Affiliate
Jerry was only 20 years old when he joined the community. Thanks to this training, he quickly went from a newbie to earning $1000’s every single month from his affiliate websites!
In the meantime, Huang has created his own affiliate course in the Mandarin language and turned his focus on helping people to follow in his footsteps.
Nathaniel Is Earning $1000’s a Month Thanks to WA
Just like Eddy, Nathaniel is one of the senior members of the community. He owns multiple successful affiliate websites in various niches that make tens of 1000s of dollars each month!
Nathaniel has also decided to share his experience with others in a form of video training.
However, unlike Huang, he records his video tutorials and publishes them inside the Wealthy Affiliate platform for Premium (and free) members to learn from.
Now, is there any chance for you to replicate these results…?
How Much Can You Earn With a Wealthy Affiliate?
To be honest, there is no fixed answer or a concrete number. You see, you can earn as much as you want with Wealthy Affiliate. As I said in my review, there are no guarantees.
The best way to answer this question is to say this; how much you put in, you get out!
In other words, what you sow, so shall you reap (to be Biblical about it)…
Even Kyle (the co-founder) makes it VERY CLEAR at the beginning of the course that making money online is a process!
One thing is for sure, the training videos inside the platform are good enough to get you started on the right foot.
And with all the coaching and the community inside, you can easily replicate Eddy’s, Jerry’s, and Nathaniel’s success. But only under the condition that you are willing to roll up your sleeves, and hustle like there’s no tomorrow!
If you are a newbie, you might get lucky and earn a few quick bucks.
However, the reality is that most people who join ANY affiliate marketing course give up only after a few short months. This is because they don’t understand that affiliate marketing is a real business…
They’ve been influenced by courses like 12 Minute Affiliate or Perpetual Income 365 to think that you can make money with affiliate marketing fast and without any effort.
In other words, don’t get fooled by thinking that affiliate marketing is a quick way to riches.
That said, as you can see from my review, Wealthy Affiliate can help you to begin your journey. But it is your own responsibility to invest enough time, effort, and money into your success.
Nothing in this world comes easy…
How Much Can You Make Promoting WA?
As I said in the opening paragraphs, Wealthy Affiliate has a lucrative affiliate program. You can earn commissions by promoting the platform to other people interested in the affiliate marketing business.
WA Commission Structure
Your affiliate commission is about 49% if you are a Premium Member, and 23% if you are a free member.
And since there are a few different payment plans, the amount that you can earn from one sale varies.
Below is the official view of the affiliate program…
For example:
- If a person enrolls in the 7-day $19 test deal, you’ll earn a one-time payment of $8 ($4 if you’re a free member).
- You earn $22.50 ($11.25 if you’re a free member) on every full-price Premium sale.
- If a person buys a Yearly Premium subscription, you earn about $235 per sale ($117.50 if you are a free member)
There is also a PremiumPlus membership (more about this later in my Wealthy Affiliate review), which costs $99 a month or $995 a year.
Your affiliate commissions are:
- You earn $23.50 if your referral buys the 7-day $49 test deal (free members earn 25% of the deal).
- If a person buys a full package for $99 a month, you earn $46.50 from each sale ($23.25 for free remembers).
- You can also earn $465 once your referral upgrades to a yearly subscription (3232.50 if you’re a free member).
All payment plans are recurring, which means you keep making money for as long as your referral maintains paying their subscription charges.
According to WA’s affiliate page, the standard Starter to Premium conversion is 12%.
This means that 12 out of 100 people that join WA as a free member will at some point upgrade to a Premium subscription.
My Results Promoting Wealthy Affiliate Program
By the way, I have joined and tested the Wealthy Affiliate affiliate program. You can read about my results in this Bootcamp review.
Or check out the video below…
Not bad, right?
And I’m not the only one who earned something promoting WA.
You can watch the Wealthy Affiliate review from one of the members below to see how much and how he is making money with the WA affiliate program…
Looks like Roope is getting really nice results…
So as you can see, there is good money in promoting WA. But how much is it going to cost you to get started? Keep reading my Wealthy Affiliate review to learn more…
How Much Does Wealthy Affiliate Cost?
You can join Wealthy Affiliate free of charge. But since Kyle and Carson are constantly changing things, free membership went from a free-forever model to a 7-day free trial.
Still, this is a great deal! It’s always good to have the option to test drive the program before taking out your credit card without even seeing the deal.
Here are some of the top features of free WA membership:
- Access to Level 1 of the training
- Community access for seven days
- One free WordPress website
- Access to WA’s affiliate program
- 30 free searches in Jaaxy
I personally recommend you give it a free test drive before making any judgment. One of the best ways to make sure that Wealthy Affiliate is not a scam, is to see it for yourself, right?
If you feel that it is not for you, you have wasted only seven days…
How Much Does Wealthy Affiliate Premium Cost?
On the other hand, if you decide to join Wealthy Affiliate Premium, it will cost you $49 a month or $495 a year.
Here are some of the top features of Premium membership:
- Access to all levels of training
- Unlimited 356 community access
- Direct access to Kyle and Carson
- Ability to host up to 50 websites
- Advanced hosting features and tools
- 50% commission on the WA affiliate program
- Access to Premium coaches and website support
You can also bump your membership to PremiumPlus ($99 a month or $995 per year). Below are more details…
In my opinion, this is not necessary right away. However, once you get established and your websites start to grow, there are some cool features that come with PremiumPlus.
Keep in mind that this is not an upsell…
You can think of PremiumPlus as a business-class ticket to an airplane. Both economy and business class get to ride in the same plane and go to the same destination, just under different conditions.
Can You Cancel Your Subscription?
Wealthy Affiliate offers full flexibility when it comes to managing subscriptions, which is something I really like about the platform.
That said, you can cancel your subscription anytime!
All you have to do is log in, go to your Account Settings/Subscriptions, and cancel the billing.
Can You Get a Refund From WA?
To be honest, Wealthy Affiliate doesn’t offer refunds…but there’s a trick on how to get one.
In case you really need your money back, you can contact the billing team or Kyle and Carson directly and ask them nicely to give you a refund.
This is just another thing that answers the most popular question; Is Wealthy Affiliate a scam or legit?
Is Wealthy Affiliate Worth the Time and Money?
I personally believe that a Wealthy Affiliate is worth time, money, and effort in the long run, of course.
Even if you don’t make any money in your first year with affiliate marketing, you will “only” waste about $500 on subscription fees. I know, this sounds a bit negative…but stick with me.
Most newbies hardly ever make any income during the first 12 months!
However, if you stick to it for another year, the second 12 months might bring an avalanche of positive results and your investment could pay off quickly.
This scenario has happened to me (and I’m glad it did!).
I came in in 2017 as a newbie with very limited knowledge and experience. My first year with WA was not so lucrative, although I earned some cash (proof in this Wealthy Affiliate review!).
But I kept learning and working on my websites and today, I’m looking at a different picture. All my membership fees have been paid off and I’m raking in pure profits.
Now, talking from a strict price-to-quality standpoint, Wealthy Affiliate is, once again, worth it.
For only $49 a month, you get access to 120 training lessons, all the tools that you need to become an affiliate marketer, community help and technical support, access to Premium coaches, and more.
Other affiliate marketing courses charge 10x more for 5x less value…
What Are Wealthy Affiliate Features?
So as I said earlier in my Wealthy Affiliate review, there are two training courses:
Online Entrepreneur Certification Training
OEC is good for newbies who are interested in learning the basics of affiliate marketing. The course is good and it really works for people who actually put the effort into the lessons.
Here’s a quick overview of topics covered with each of the 5 modules inside this training…
Some people might say that this course is outdated…but once again, I beg to differ.
You see, three years ago, I joined this course and started building a website in the personal development niche. It was a passion project and I was a newbie from head to toe!
Today, this website holds several first-page rankings on Google (despite the fact that I was clueless about the process of ranking websites for keywords in search engines!).
Moreover, this site has made a few $1000’s along the way on ClickBank and CJ Affiliate.
So it is safe to say that this training still works in 2022!
Affiliate Bootcamp Training
Another training inside Wealthy Affiliate is called Affiliate Bootcamp and it is all about learning how to promote WA.
Here is a quick overview of the topics covered in this course…
Once again, there are naysayers out there who say that Affiliate Bootcamp is Kyle’s and Carson’s main focus. And they are not too wrong here.
However, you as a free person have the free will to choose your own direction.
All that I can say is that, after being a member for over 4 years, I have strong evidence that both Online Entrepreneur Certification and Affiliate Bootcamp are good enough to help you to make money with affiliate marketing.
Here are some of the payments that I got from promoting WA.
Therefore, both courses WORK and Wealthy Affiliate are legit! I openly promote WA because I’m GETTING RESULTS with it.
You may have read some reviews that claim differently, but they haven’t taken action with this course and are probably promoting something else.
If you like the idea of WA, and affiliate marketing, you should stop reading fake reviews! It WORKS!
Anyway, let’s continue this Wealthy Affiliate review by sharing what else you get for $49 a month…
Wealthy Affiliate Tools and Resources
What I liked about WA when I first joined back in 2017 is its so-called toolbox. In other words, you get lots of cool features that help to build and profit from affiliate marketing websites.
Here is what you will be getting:
- Website hosting and domains
- Website Builder
- Keyword research tools
- Content writing tool
- Affiliate programs research tool
To be honest, these are not the best tools in their categories, but they serve the purpose and will help to build your own affiliate marketing website and get results.
In other words, you don’t need to spend tons of cash on already overpriced marketing tools.
I haven’t bought ClickFunnels, AHREFS, or BlueHost yet I get results…
Wealthy Affiliate Support
One of the top features of Wealthy Affiliate, and in my opinion, one of the main reasons why this company is still the main topic when it comes to best affiliate marketing courses is the support they provide.
First of all, free members have only seven days of access to these features. However, this is long enough to give you the opportunity to test it with your questions.
On the other hand, all Premium members have 24/7 access to support.
Non-Stop Technical Support Team
For example, if your site breaks down, the support team will jump right into the problem and get you up and running in no time.
And you wouldn’t believe how fast the support is!
As you can see from the screenshot above, I have sent them a request to create a staging environment for one of my websites hosted on the Wealthy Affiliate platform.
Basically, I wanted to test some plugins without having to worry about breaking my site…
Guys from the SiteSuppport team were quick to respond to my request. They created the child website for me, sent me the instructions, and everything else when smoothly.
So team the support element is GREAT!
Live Chat and Instant Help Feature
And even if you have questions, you can post them on the platform and the members of the community will give you a hand.
Indeed, there is no doubt about it that support is one of the best features in my Wealthy Affiliate review. However, the community aspect has its pros and cons…
Wealthy Affiliate Community
The Wealthy Affiliate community is one of the most talked-about aspects of the entire platform. That’s for two reasons…
One, the community is HUGE!
There are over 1.4 million members that are actively engaged in the community. This means that you’ll never be alone on your journey to success with affiliate marketing.
In other words, whenever you have questions or a problem, you can simply post them in the community and you’re guaranteed to get answers in a matter of minutes!
You can also access the Live chat…however, it is available only to Premium members.
On top of that, Kyle and Carson are quite active in the community. That said, they too are always ready to share some knowledge and give you a hand.
Even more, they are really friendly guys and WILL help you with any issue you may face.
Live Chat With Wealthy Affiliate Co-Founder Kyle
For example, as a Premium member of WA and active affiliate, I have managed to qualify for their annual conference in Las Vegas (300 sales in a calendar year!).
Below is the friendly conversation I’ve had with Kyle regarding the trip.
And that’s not the only occasion I have had to chat with him or Carson (I just used this one to brag a bit about my success LOL).
I’ve reached out to them numerous times with questions like how to increase conversion rates, boost my traffic, etc. And each time, they went two steps further to help me out!
This is a rare, rare thing in this industry…trust me.
Does Wealthy Affiliate Training Deliver?
The Wealthy Affiliate training program is good and it delivers value. The quality of the videos and the information shared is invaluable.
When compared to the likes of The Authority Site System (complete SEO course) and Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity, WA falls short.
However, WA, Affiliate Lab, and TASS teach almost the same techniques for building and ranking authority websites on Google.
The only difference is that WA is focused on content creation and organic backlinks, while on the other hand, the Affiliate Lab and TASS are all about content creation and manual backlink building.
Their method brings faster results, but it’s riskier…
Is Wealthy Affiliate Good For Beginners?
In my opinion, Wealthy Affiliate is best for newbies and affiliate marketing beginners.
As a beginner, in my opinion, you need access to three things for a reasonable price:
- Step-by-step and easy-to-understand training
- Tools such as keyword research tools, websites, etc.
- Coaching, support, and live help
That said, WA has got all a newbie need to make his or her first steps online. And a lot of newbies confirm that it works for them every single day…
If you are just getting started, you will quickly see the difference between WA and other courses. Other courses are designed to cater to advanced marketers mostly.
And this is exactly the reason why some people in other Wealthy Affiliate reviews say that the training is not good. See they speak from an advanced standpoint.
That’s all…
The bottom line is, that the training is designed to cater to newbies, not advanced marketers.
But even if you are an expert who is on a hunt for some golden nuggets (or just a newbie looking for a ton of knowledge), you WILL find them in WA for sure.
You see, OEC and Affiliate Bootcamp are not the only training courses available!
Let me explain…
WA platform has concentrated a TON of user-generated training over the years. You can learn from the likes of Nathaniel, Eddy, and Jerry through their tutorials, training videos, and guides.
These guys are all experts and super-successful marketers. They’ve gone through the basic training, went out on the field, and brought back a ton of valuable knowledge.
So when you read a review where people say that Wealthy Affiliate is a scam or outdated, refer to my review instead…
And with that said, you can count that even advanced marketers will find a lot of value in being members of this training program for sure.
Is Wealthy Affiliate a Scam?
Wealthy Affiliate is not a scam! WA is not mistreating people in any way, shape, or form. It’s a real affiliate marketing company that provides people with training, tools, and live community help.
However, there are some people who say differently…
This person above has left his review over at eBizFacts.com (credits for the image above and below!). However, it’s clear that he or she was misinformed before joining the program.
Kyle and Carson DON’T promise too much! But they do deliver a workable course…
The problem is that some people get lost and forget that they have to work to earn their share of success.
Here is another negative Wealthy Affiliate review…
The reason why this user’s website was “ugly” and didn’t make him or her any money is that he or she is one of those people who expect instant results.
If he or she was an action taker, this review wouldn’t be so negative…
That said, the main reason why some people say that WA is a scam is that they tried it, didn’t get instant results, and then, they post negative comments online.
But at the end of the day, that’s really their own fault. They just put the blame on WA.
Another group might call it a scam because they promote some other training company so they want to get leverage over WA.
The screenshot above is from the DreamGrow website where the author writes unverified information about Wealthy Affiliates to make it look bad so that he can promote the Affiliate Lab course.
In any case, both groups are wrong…
Is Wealthy Affiliate Legit?
Wealthy Affiliate is a legit training company. The main reason for saying so is that you can join the platform for free. You get 7 days to test-drive the features and training, and if you don’t like it, you can walk away freely.
In my experience, I find that all features of WA are legit.
The Online Entrepreneur Certification is a legit and workable training course for beginners to learn about affiliate marketing.
As you can see throughout my review, and from the screenshots below, people are getting success with Wealthy Affiliate, which can mean only one thing……it’s LEGIT!
A user named CLoney has successfully followed the course, and as a result, she made it to her first $1000 month!
Can you see from her Wealthy Affiliate success story that she’s actually earning money by promoting products from Amazon?
So what’s that about WA Online Entrepreneur Certification being outdated…? Rubbish talk. That’s all.
Here’s another example…
BrokFTJFH, on the other hand, is 10 steps ahead of CLoney!
For your reference, you can check whether these Wealthy Affiliate success stories are legit by joining the platform, and contacting these members directly.
Also, you can go to TrustPilot and check out some reviews there as well…
At the moment of writing my Wealthy Affiliate review, the company has got 485 reviews, 91% of which are 5-star ratings!
The company also provides people with all the tools, websites, and even help and support.
On top of that, the fact that WA has been around for 16 years (and counting) confirms that Wealthy Affiliate is legit indeed.
Furthermore, Affiliate Bootcamp is a legitimate training that teaches you how to promote Wealthy Affiliate itself. However, for this reason, some might say it is an MLM or even a Pyramid scheme…
Is it true?
Is Wealthy Affiliate an MLM?
First of all, There’s a world of difference between affiliate marketing and MLM! And before you proceed with my Wealthy Affiliate review, I suggest learning what this difference is…
An MLM is a business that sells products or services and is also recruiting people for the purpose of training them to become the company’s representatives and salespeople.
These people then have two options:
- Sell the products through an affiliate program to earn commissions
- Recruit a team and earn commissions from their sales
Hence, the multi-level marketing expression…
Now, WA has got an affiliate program that allows you to market their products and earn commissions each time someone signs up under you.
But that’s it! There’s no second option. In other words, you can’t earn an income from your referrals in case they decide to promote the company.
Therefore, there are no multiple levels of compensation.
That said, while Wealthy Affiliate does have an affiliate program that you can join to learn how to sell the program to others, it is not a multi-level marketing company…
But what about a pyramid scheme? Is WA forcing you to recruit others without giving any physical (or digital) value in return?
Is Wealthy Affiliate a Pyramid Scheme?
Wealthy Affiliate is not a pyramid scheme either. The company does not have any features that could connect it with any type of pyramid scheme, or even worse, a Ponzi scheme.
See, a pyramid scheme simply asks you to recruit people into a downline without offering any value in return except monetary compensation from your downline.
Therefore, pyramid schemes are illegal!
On the contrary, WA is a real company that creates real products (hosting, research tools).
In addition to those extremely valuable products that are needed and useful for building affiliate marketing, or any other type of website, WA includes training as well.
Do you remember?
Wealthy Affiliate owners, Kyle and Carson started a company back in 2006 selling keyword research software. You can check out a cool infographic about WA history here.
In the meantime, the company has evolved into a large community, a training company, and more!
However, one of the main reasons why some might say that WA is a pyramid scheme is the fact that it has its own affiliate program.
And two, the fact that WA has an ambassador system (image below).
But this ranking system has nothing to do with pyramidal selling…
It’s just a scoreboard that measures members’ activity within the community and awards activity credits and ranks the most active members, that’s all.
People probably look at it, get confused, and throw some accusations at it quickly…
So it probably goes without saying that, once again, Wealthy Affiliate is not a pyramid scheme, Ponzi, MLM or a scam.
If it were, they would have been closed by FTC a long long time ago…
Wealthy Affiliate Review – 10 Things I Like
- Wealthy Affiliate Is Active For 16 Years and Counting
- The Training Is Created For Beginners
- Despite Negative Comments, WA Methods Still Work
- The Premium Membership is a Bargain
- You Get All the Training, Tools, and Support
- Live Weekley Webinars With Jay
- Community Aspect is Simply Awesome
- Site Support Team is Available 24/7
- Kyle and Carson Update Wealthy Affiliate a Lot
- Wealthy Affiliate Affiliate Program is Lucrative
The Training Is Created For Beginners
I know you have read a lot of reviews out there. Some say Wealthy Affiliate is a scam, others say it is 100% legit.
But did you notice that all reviews say that the training is catered toward beginners? And it’s true.
In other words, the Online Entrepreneur Certification course really is a basic yet comprehensive and advanced enough course to help you to go from zero to hero.
I have joined the platform about 4 years ago as a newbie. I only had a few YouTube videos and a scam crash course behind me.
After a year of learning from the Wealthy Affiliate training program, I ended up having a successful website in the personal development niche and was not a newbie anymore.
Despite Negative Comments, WA Methods Still Work
Following what I said in the above section of my Wealthy Affiliate review, I want to say that I like the fact that the course and its method for making money with affiliate marketing still works!
If you go to the WA website and type in “success stories” in the search bar, you’ll see this for yourself.
The only reason why this course (or any other in this niche) doesn’t work is that people are LAZY and they expect that once they buy something, other people will do the work for them.
That’s not how the world works.
If you ever join Wealthy Affiliate after reading my review, rest assured, it WORKS!
Wealthy Affiliate Is Active For 17 Years and Counting
One of the key things that show how legit Wealthy Affiliate really is, is the fact that the company is in business for over 17 years.
Think about it, if WA was a scam or pyramid scheme or whatever, it would have been shut down a long time ago by FTC and other authorities.
Most scams last only about 1-3 years before they get busted and disappear.
So the fact that Kyle and Carson are actively invested in helping other people for a decade and a half is praiseworthy and one of the best things about Wealthy Affiliate in this review.
The Premium Membership is a Bargain
Of course, the Free Starter Membership is there just to help you get started. And you can even make money with it.
In saying this, generating money in the first week or month prior as a Starter is like having your introduction course to becoming a surgeon and expecting to perform surgery within the first month.
But it’s possible.
On the other hand, a Wealthy Affiliate Premium membership help to 10x the process.
What I like the most about Premium membership is the price-to-quality ratio.
Other courses and programs will charge hundreds and even thousands of dollars just for access to the course.
With Wealthy Affiliate, you get EVERYTHING you need to start a successful affiliate marketing business for only $49 a month – that’s a bargain!
You Get All the Training, Tools, and Support
As said in the above section of my Wealthy Affiliate review, you will get ALL that you need to start making money online.
One of the things that I appreciate the most is the tools section.
If you become a Premium member, you will get access to website hosting, website builder, keyword research tool, affiliate program research tool, content writing platform, and more!
All these tools cost a few hundred dollars on monthly basis alone.
With Wealthy Affiliate, you get them all for the same $49 you pay to get access to the course and the community.
Live Weekley Webinars With Jay
All Premium members of Wealthy Affiliate have the opportunity to join Jay in his weekly live webinars every Friday.
This is something that I like very much because Jay is a guy who is doing this for 15 years and counting.
I’ve seen a LOT of his classes during the last 4 years and if it wasn’t for this guy, I wouldn’t be where I am right now on my affiliate marketing journey.
Community Aspect is Simply Awesome
Community help is directly tied to what I said in the above section of the Wealthy Affiliate review – it is super helpful and packed with valuable advice.
Over the last few years, I’ve had a ton of problems with my business and millions of questions too.
The ability to type them out, post them into the community, and receive help from dozens of people in a matter of an hour or two is beyond words.
Of course, not all advice is useful and helpful (more about this in the next part of my review).
But what I want to point out here is that if you bump into problems with the Wealthy Affiliate course, or feel like you’re stuck, all you have to do is connect with the community and you’re back in the business.
Site Support Team is Available 24/7
Following what I said in the above section of my Wealthy Affiliate review, I really like the fact that you get access to and can reach the technical team even at 3 in the morning.
Building your affiliate marketing website should be an easy ride, but these issues are a part of the journey.
I’ve bumped into a few over the last few years.
All I had to do is get someone from the SiteSupport team on the line, and in a matter of minutes (sometimes longer), they fixed the problem while I was busy sipping my coffee.
Most of these problems are caused by third-party things like a WP plugin or a theme.
But guys from the Wealthy Affiliate SiteSupport team don’t care about that. If you have a problem, they will fix it!
Kyle and Carson Update Wealthy Affiliate
I remember reading a lot of Wealthy Affiliate reviews from people who aren’t real members that WA is outdated.
Well, now I see that they were bullshitting me…
I joined the platform in 2017, and since then I have seen at least 3 updates. As you can see, the last one was a year ago.
Each time a new update was rolled out, Kyle and Carson introduced something new, whether it was a new interface, new training videos, new tools, etc.
And don’t get confused, they update the training course a LOT as well.
The only thing is that they don’t have to do it so often because Wealthy Affiliate training is based on evergreen methods.
So if you hear that WA is outdated in any sense through some other review, just remember what I said here.
Wealthy Affiliate Affiliate Program is Lucrative
Many will say that I’m biased with my review of Wealthy Affiliate because I am affiliated with the company’s lucrative affiliate program.
That’s particularly true…
See, it is their affiliate program is indeed lucrative and you can make a ton of money promoting WA.
But I, as a person, am not the type that is going to promote something that’s not good, helpful, and legit!
If I were only after money, I would promote stupid scams like 12 Minute Affiliate or Perpetual Income 365 and laugh my ass off while I scam newbies into selling the subpar programs.
But that’s not me.
I promote Wealthy Affiliate, not because their affiliate program is lucrative.
I promote the company because I really believe in what they are doing. I’m an active user and I have BENEFITED from their coaching, tools, and community, in a million and one ways!
So if you decide to join Wealthy Affiliate after reading my review, and feel the same about it after a year or two, you can join their lucrative affiliate program and start promoting the company too.
Wealthy Affiliate Review – 10 Things I Don’t Like
- Some Of the “Experts” Are Not Really Experts
- Most Positive Wealthy Affiliate Reviews Come From Affiliates
- A Lot Of People Join and Fail In the First 3 Months
- The Community Aspect is a Bit Cultish
- Some People are There To Kill Time
- Wealthy Affiliate Training Is Overwhelming
- Too Many Features Can Be Overwhelming
- You’re Led To Start Promoting Wealthy Affiliate
- Some Parts Of the Training is Outdated
- Wealthy Affiliate Doesn’t Offer a Refund Policy
Some Of the “Experts” Are Not Really Experts
When I first joined Wealthy Affiliate, I was amazed at the amount of help and advice I got from the community.
However, the problem was and still is that some advice you get is coming from people who are not really experts in the affiliate marketing business.
Therefore, their advice might send you in the wrong direction.
That’s why you should be very careful when taking recommendations from “experts” inside the Wealthy Affiliate community.
My advice to you is whenever you get advice, check their profiles first and see if they have any ground first.
Then, pick the most relevant person and contact him or her via WA private messaging system and ask for further help.
That’s exactly what I’ve done to filter out the “experts” from true masters in the field, and trust me, the advice from REAL experts WILL help you tremendously.
Some People are There To Kill Time
I really don’t have problems with this because I’m a focused person. But when I joined the Wealthy Affiliate community, I noticed that some people are there just to hang out.
Once again, don’t get me wrong.
You will discover a great amount of super-focused people who are there to change their lives, build a successful affiliate marketing website, and become a better version of themselves.
What I want to say is, don’t get distracted by those who are there just to kill time…
Rather, follow those who will lead you and push you to achieve your goals.
The Community Aspect is a Bit Cultish
While I’m talking about the community in this part of my Wealthy Affiliate review, I also want to say that it reminds me of a cult of some sort.
Don’t get me wrong, the community has about 1.4 MILLION members! And it’s the best one I’ve been a part of!
But I don’t buy into all that stuff that Wealthy Affiliate is the only legit course out there like some members do.
In my opinion, WA is great, but you shouldn’t close yourself into a box and be afraid of “getting out there” to learn from other people in this industry.
Wealthy Affiliate Methods Take Too Long to Work
The reason that most people who join Wealthy Affiliates fail is not really the problem related to the training itself.
I’m not indicating that the WA program doesn’t work or that it has flaws here.
What I want to say with this Wealthy Affiliate review is that their method (blogging and SEO) takes too long to start producing life-changing results.
According to Kyle and Carson, and based on my own experience with the training, it takes about 6-12 months to start seeing good results in terms of traffic and income through SEO.
For some people, this is too long.
I have had a hard time with this too, so I tried to bypass the system and invest some money into paid ads to get faster results.
However, I discovered that to do so, you need a fine amount of cash on a monthly basis.
So I went back to my website, focused all my attention and energy on the Wealthy Affiliate program, and after a year, I had a website that was earning between $1000 and $2000 a month.
Some Parts Of the Training is Outdated
One of the problems with Wealthy Affiliate training is that you will bump into lessons that haven’t been updated for a few years.
For example, there are some lessons where Kyle uses third-party tools such as Google Search Console or Analytics, and SEO plugins to show you how to amplify your SEO efforts.
The problem is that the interface of those tools changes frequently.
So you might bump into a lesson that explains how to set up an SEO Framework plugin, for instance.
But by the time you reach that lesson, the owners of the plugin had changed some features or moved things around.
As a result, that part of Wealthy Affiliate training seems outdated.
However, keep in mind these two things.
One, Kyle and Carson are always on the lookout and they will update the lesson whenever they find some mismatch between the time they created it and the current status.
And two, the method taught by Wealthy Affiliate training is still legit and current.
You just might have to waste some time finding the most relevant video or a guide or wait until Kyle updates the lesson.
They Don’t Focus Too Much On Mindset
The main reason why most people fail with Wealthy Affiliate is that they are not mentally prepared for success, and that’s the problem that guys have to fix.
In my experience, mindset is 80% of the success, and training is only 20%.
What’s the use of the best and most relevant training course if your mind is not prepared for obstacles and difficulties that are a part of the journey?
In contrast to WA, some competitor programs like Invincible Marketer, for example, spend a great deal of time talking about the power of a positive mindset and not giving up!
That’s why more people are seeing success down the road.
Wealthy Affiliate Platform Is Overwhelming
As much as I enjoy all the features of the platform at the time of writing this Wealthy Affiliate review, I had a lot of hard times and frustration using them at the beginning.
As a newbie, I was simply overwhelmed with everything.
Moreover, I noticed that a lot of people that join Wealthy Affiliate via my reviews and links feel the same way, which is normal actually.
But the good news is, with time and practice, you will find your way around everything.
You’re Led To Start Promoting Wealthy Affiliate
Hmmm…I know what you’re thinking now. I’m going to say that Wealthy Affiliate is a scam or a pyramid scheme of some sort.
As I have established earlier in my review of Wealthy Affiliate, that’s just not true.
However, there is a part of the course where Kyle and Carson are taking “advantage” of lost newbies who have no idea what niche to choose to offer them WA way.
In other words, they use this to recruit more and more new affiliates.
I personally believe that the focus should be more on helping them to FIND that one niche that they will enjoy the most.
But once again, you are a free person and you have the ability to make your own decisions.
If you don’t want to promote Wealthy Affiliate, you don’t have to!
Wealthy Affiliate Doesn’t Have a Refund Policy
Officially, if you buy into Wealthy Affiliate membership, you can’t get a refund. The only thing you can do is cancel it and stop billing.
This is not a bad thing because, at the end of the day, WA is free to join and the first month’s premium membership fee is only $19.
So even if you change your mind during the period for any reason whatsoever, you can cancel it, and walk away to find something that suits you better.
However, as I said in my Wealthy Affiliate review before, there is a chance to get your investment back. You can try contacting Kyle or Carson and ask for it.
If you have a very good reason like financial struggles or massive debt, they will in some cases refund you.
As you can see from the screenshot above, it’s real!
That just goes to show that these guys are not there to rip you off and Wealthy Affiliate is a legit company that takes care of people in trouble.
There Is a Lot of Misconception About Wealthy Affiliate Benefits
You have probably learned by reading some biased Wealthy Affiliate reviews that this is the best affiliate marketing training program or that it’s the safest and easiest way to make money online.
The truth is, there is a lot of bad information and misconception about the WA platform.
See, I can testify from first-hand experience, that a lot of their students never achieve any life-changing success.
The reasons have been mentioned in my review of Wealthy Affiliate a couple of times.
Moreover, there is a misconception that their tools are simply the best in the industry.
I don’t agree though…
See, their tools like website hosting, site builder, and keyword research tools are super-useful and come included with the platform.
But the truth is, they fall short when compared to industry-leading tools like BlueHost, AHREFS or ClickFunnels.
Do I Recommend Wealthy Affiliate?
Yes, I recommend Wealthy Affiliate. I recommend it, especially to newbies who are looking for an easy-to-understand training program for learning about affiliate marketing.
You can join WA for free, and make your own financial decisions later…
Test-Drive Wealthy Affiliate Today
Moreover, one of the main reasons why I recommend WA to newbies is that they will get everything else that’s needed for making their first steps online without breaking the bank.
This includes:
- training course
- hosting and domains
- websites
- research tools
- live community help
- technical support
- private coaching
- and more!
All that for a price of $49 a month seems like a fair deal to me…
Other affiliate training programs that compete with WA for supremacy in this industry will charge $500, $1000, and even $2000+ upfront without even giving you a chance to check out the content.
So when I say in my review that Wealthy Affiliate is legit and best for beginners…the price is one of the main reasons for saying so.
Plus, other courses in this industry are not so beginner-friendly.
I’m not saying this is the only course for beginners… But it is definitely #1 on my list.
Another reason why I recommend WA, despite everything bad I’ve said in my Wealthy Affiliate review, is that their training really works!
I have gone through the entire content, followed the instructions from training lessons, and achieved results.
That said, I’m guessing that you are reading my post because you want to know whether it is worth it or not.
You can rest assured, that WA is worth it! It works, but it takes time and effort to see results.
By the way, here is another unbiased Wealthy Affiliate review in case you need a second opinion…
Wealthy Affiliate Alternatives
At the end of this comprehensive Wealthy Affiliate review for 2022, let me give you a few alternatives to consider.
The Authority Site System
The Authority Site System has been and is one of the best affiliate marketing courses on the market today. And the recent update is to the TASS version 3.0
The course was created by Mark Webster & Gael Breton, two guys who have slowly proved themselves as pretty knowledgeable figures in the SEO and affiliate marketing world.
- PROS: The Authority Site System 3.0 includes over 180 comprehensive lessons, created and hosted by two experts, Mark Webster & Gael Breton.
- CONS: One of the things that I find dislikable about TASS is the price. I know that ROI could be a lot greater, but at the same time, $599 is a sum of money that most people can’t afford.
Affiliate Lab
Affiliate Lab is a training course that teaches how to create niche sites, rank them on Google, monetize with affiliate marketing, and even sell for up to 40x their monthly profit.
Matt Diggity is one of the most mentioned people in this industry because of his skills to build these websites. And with this course, he aims to help you to follow in his footsteps.
- PROS: One of the main features of this program is step-by-step video training. In my opinion, Affiliate Lab is comprehensive, and best of all, it is based on workable methods for making money online.
- CONS: One of the most frequent criticisms about Affiliate Lab is the high price tag. Matt Diggity’s course costs almost a thousand dollars. You can find the same content online even for free!
Commission Hero
Commission Hero is a step-by-step training course for making money online. The main focus of the course is on ClickBank affiliate marketing and Facebook ads.
Basically, with this course, you can learn how to find profitable products on ClickBank, create sales funnels, and drive targeted Facebook traffic to your funnels.
- PROS: You get access to nine training modules. Each module is designed to lead you from choosing products, building affiliate sales funnels, getting traffic to your pages, and finally, making money.
- CONS: The bad thing about the Commission Hero course is that it’s not beginner-friendly. See, Robby’s method is based on paid ads. Most beginners are not ready for it financially.
Invincible Marketer
Invincible Marketer is a training course designed for people who want to become affiliate marketers. It was created by Aaron Chen – a legit online marketer and YouTube coach.
The good thing about Invincible Marketer is that you can learn how to start a LEGIT affiliate marketing business. Aaron Chen is a successful marketer and his training is packed with a lot of value.
- PROS: I like the fact that you get actionable steps after each lesson. In other words, Invincible Marketer is a step-by-step course and it’s suitable for beginners.
- CONS: The downside of this course is the price is a bit expensive in the long run, and it will cost you some extra money. For example, you’ll have to buy tools and traffic, and the price is recurring.
Legendary Marketer
Legendary Marketer is an affiliate marketing training platform created by David Sharpe. The main goal behind this platform is to help newbies to dive into the world of affiliate marketing through a series of courses.
- PROS: A good thing about this program is that it is based on affiliate marketing, which is a legitimate method for making money online.
- CONS: The bad thing about Legendary Marketer is that it is designed to get you to sign up for high-ticket courses. Those beginner courses will not show you how to make money for real, so you will have to buy upsells.
Final Words and Over To You!
As for the conclusion of my Wealthy Affiliate review, I’ll remind you that Wealthy Affiliate is legit. There are no signs of a scam, MLM, pyramid scheme, or any other fraudulent activity.
In other words, it is a legit training company that you can join if you desire to learn about and start your own affiliate marketing business online.
The company boasts hundreds and even thousands of success stories that can you can easily verify.
Most importantly, WA is sort of an all-in-one shop for building affiliate marketing websites. You can keyword research tools (see my Jaaxy review), website builders, affiliate program research tools, and more.
Basically, you don’t have to leave the platform until you start making money online.
Once you do start earning an income from your website, I highly recommend you brighten your horizons with any of the courses that I’ve mentioned in my Wealthy Affiliate review.
Affiliate Lab compliments WA well because it focuses a lot on building backlinks. As I said, WA focuses on organic backlink acquisition techniques (as per Google’s guidelines!).
Another great alternative to Wealthy Affiliate is The Authority Site System (TASS).
But before you invest $ 1000s into advanced courses like that, I highly recommend joining WA today.
They will teach you how to build your own affiliate marketing business from scratch.
You will learn how to set up your WordPress site, find keywords through keyword research, write helpful content, generate free organic traffic, make money with affiliate marketing, and more!
Test-Drive Wealthy Affiliate Today
Wealthy Affiliate FAQ
Is Wealthy Affiliate a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme?
Absolutely not. WA is not a get-rich-quick scheme nor do they imply that you can make money quickly with their training program. It’s a legit step-by-step training for making money online.
Do I Have To Promote Wealthy Affiliate?
No, you don’t have to promote Wealthy Affiliate. There are two courses and the main course is going to teach you how to promote any products from thousands of niches out there.
Do I Have To Pay Every Month For Access?
Yes, you have to pay every month. Wealthy Affiliate is a membership platform. There are two levels of membership (Premium and PremiumPlus) and both offer monthly or yearly subscription plans.
Are There Any Hidden Costs And Upsells?
There are no upsells inside the platform. You will, however, have to invest $15 a year for your own domain name. Wealthy Affiliate provides hosting, websites, themes, plugins, etc.
Does Wealthy Affiliate Membership Include Tools?
Yes, all WA members get access to essential affiliate marketing tools. These include keyword research tools, website builder tools, affiliate program research, and content writing platform.
Can I Make Money With Wealthy Affiliate?
Yes, you can earn an income with WA. The base premise of the training is to show you how to make money by promoting other people’s products or services aka Affiliate Marketing.
How Fast Can I Make Money With Wealthy Affiliate?
The speed of your results depends on multiple factors. Number one, the amount of time you can invest daily into the training. Two, your ability to implement the instructions. Three, your choice of products and niche.
How Much Time Do I Have To Invest?
Ideally, you should be able to invest at least 1-2 hours daily into watching and learning from the training lessons and implementing the instructions. The more, the better!
Is Wealthy Affiliate a Scam?
No. Wealthy Affiliate is not a scam. It is a legit affiliate marketing training platform. Reviews that write otherwise are misleading you to sell you their own training program.
You can test-drive the training and platform’s features and make your own decision…
Test-Drive Wealthy Affiliate Today
With that being said, thanks for reading my Wealthy Affiliate review for 2022!
If you have any questions for me or want to share your own reviews, feel free to drop them in the comment box below…