Last Updated on July 29, 2025 by Eric Cantu
What’s new with Wealthy Affiliate in 2025? In this review, I’ll show you why I feel Wealthy Affiliate is still the best bang for your buck affiliate marketing training platform you’ll find online. There’s plenty of updates, and as someone who’s used this platform for 8 years since 2017 I’ll give you an expert tour of everything you get and even cover the areas where WA can improve.
TL;DR Wealthy Affiliate In Review 2025
Wealthy Affiliate is an all-in-one affiliate marketing platform offering step-by-step training, built-in AI tools, and 2025 updates like Activity Commissions that reward member engagement
- Activity Commissions Now Pay You Back
Earn real commissions simply by being active in the community — going through training, asking questions, and helping others can now cover your membership. - One Tier, Full Access
No more upsells. One membership gives you access to everything: tools, training, expert classes, hosting, and direct coaching. - Completely Updated Core Training
The June 2025 refresh brings fresh strategy, video walkthroughs, and clear action steps for building your affiliate business from scratch. - WA Communities for Deep-Dive Learning
Specialized hubs like SEO, YouTube, and AI help you focus your learning in the direction that fits your niche and content style. - Addressing the Criticism Head-On
I break down the most common complaints about Wealthy Affiliate (like outdated training, support issues, and MLM accusations) and give you my honest take, so you can decide for yourself.
Wealthy Affiliate Review 2025 (July Update): New Commissions & Full Tutorial
Video Chapters & Quick Jump Guide (Click to Expand)
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:37 Why You Should Listen To Me (8 Years Experience Inside WA)
- 1:41 Full Walkthrough of the Wealthy Affiliate Free Starter Account
- 4:30 Introduction to Wealthy Affiliate’s Core Training
- 7:09 How to Choose Your Niche
- 9:14 The Best Way to Approach Your Free Starter Account
- 9:56 Unlocking 100% of Wealthy Affiliate’s Training
- 10:16 Wealthy Affiliate Pricing (How Much Does Wealthy Affiliate Cost?)
- 11:09 How Wealthy Affiliate’s Brand New Activity Commissions Work
- 11:34 Wealthy Affiliate Monthly vs Yearly Membership Pricing
- 13:31 Intro to WA Communities
- 15:40 Sneak Peek Into My Personal Wealthy Affiliate Premium Plus+ Account
- 16:12 How My Activity Commissions Are Paying 100% of my Membership
- 18:20 A Look Into Premium Plus+ Expert Video Shorts Training, the Brand New Live Chat with Gifs, & Video Classes Training
- 21:29 A Look Into the My Businesses Tab (Wealthy Affiliate Hubs, AI Content Creation Tools, AI Article Designer)
- 23:40 Final Thoughts & Conclusion
An Honest Review From Years of Experience
I’ve been with Wealthy Affiliate since 2017, and I owe all my success in affiliate marketing to this platform. I’m not going to over-hype things, I’m going to be transparent with you. I share what I love, and what I think needs improvement.
But all that being said, my success won’t matter if this training isn’t a good fit for YOU! So let me guide you through this Wealthy Affiliate review for 2025, show you what’s new and how to get the most out of the platform, and then you can get your hands dirty with your own free starter account and see how you like it.
Hey, I’ll Be Your Support Coach!
Sign up for your free starter account through the link below and I’ll personally guide your first steps inside Wealthy Affiliate. Let’s build something real together!
Create Your Free Starter Account + Get My Coaching!I’m 100% open to any discussion. Your point of view matters. Do you have some Wealthy Affiliate complaints? Feel like Wealthy Affiliate scammed you? Let me know your negative experience in the questions and comments below the review!
This is a very transparent review and I point out several Wealthy Affiliate complaints at the end of the review so you can decide on them for yourself. I hope that’s fair.
How Much Does Wealthy Affiliate Cost?
- Free starter account: 100% free. No payment information added, no credit card needed
- Premium Plus+ monthly rate: $49 for the first month, $99/month thereafter
- Premium Plus+ yearly rate: $588/year (50% discount, avg $49/month)
In previous years, WA had multiple tiers of membership. There was Premium, Premium Plus+, even Premium Plus+ Accelerated for a short time.
In an effort to simplify the enrollment process, new members upgrading from the free starter account now go straight to the one-tier membership of Premium Plus+, getting 100% of the tools, training, and support WA offers at a discounted rate.
Brand New to WA in 2025: Activity Commissions!
One thing I HAVE to share with you, and this seems like the perfect place to do it, is Wealthy Affiliate’s brand new Activity Commissions.
You can now earn real commissions, deposited into your PayPal account, based on your activity within the platform. That means by simply going through the training, asking questions, being helpful to other members, etc., you can actually have your membership pay for itself.
Read that again.
Want to learn more about Activity Commissions and how they work? Check out the video above at the 11:09 and 16:12 marks!
Wealthy Affiliate’s Updated Core Training
With June 2025’s brand new UI update to WA came a full update of all its training. In my opinion, this is where WA stands apart from the other platforms.
There’s no guru cliches or weird promises of revenue and how you just need to plug into WA’s full proof “done for you” plan blah blah blah. It’s just straightforward training with a focus on you actually learning.
Every single lesson has a video tutorial to follow along with along with actionable steps to take before you go to the next lesson. When you come back you know exactly where you left off and can continue.
Wealthy Affiliate’s core training covers:
- How the “make money online” process works
- Setting your business goals
- Creating your brand and a professional logo
- Choosing your own .com domain (free with upgrade)
- Creating your first niche post
- Getting your website set up for SEO
- How to find answers inside the community and live chat
- Harnessing website speed for better engagement
- Keyword research and creating content that ranks
- Learning how to use AI tools, both inside WA and online
- Utilizing affiliate links and disclaimers
- Introducing YouTube into your content to find your audience
- Learning social media marketing to extend your reach
- Creating content consistently using the AI article designer to build out your first 50 posts
- Optimizing your website design and user experience
- Generating buzz with shareable content
- Understanding affiliate marketing financials
- Scaling your business
- Mastering WordPress for full website customization
- …and much, much more!
Brand New to WA in 2025: WA Communities
The core training at Wealthy Affiliate gives you the foundation to build in any direction you want. That’s true affiliate marketing. And with WA Communities, you can now deep dive into any aspect of affiliate marketing you like.
These communities are like mini hubs so you don’t have to go looking all over the platform for specifics that you want to deep dive into.
Want to find that expert class series on YouTube? Dive into the YouTube community. Need an answer to a question you have about SEO? Dive into the SEO community and browse some of the member questions and answers there.
WA Communities currently include:
- WordPress & Web Hosting
- Artificial Intelligence
- Social Media Marketing
- YouTube
- User Generated Content (UGC)
- Search Engine Optimization
- Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC)
- Affiliate Marketing
- Email Marketing
Brand New to WA in 2025: Member Vlogs
This is something so many WA members were asking for. In past years, only a select few inside WA could upload video training, called Expert Classes and Expert Video Shorts. As of July ’25 all members can upload video vlogs to share inspiration, offer training, or just share their day!
In my opinion the Wealthy Affiliate community is one of the most underrated aspects of the entire platform. It’s like that same feeling you get when you’re in a fun class. Yeah, you’re there to learn, but you have fun doing it.
There’s a “family” feel to it, tons of help any time you need it, 24/7, and now we’re able to put some personality to those screen names.
Wealthy Affiliate Complaints
No true review talks about a platform without acknowledging complaints. And I want you to get the most value possible from this, so allow me to list the complaints I’ve found and give you my own rebuttal. Fair enough?
- Outdated Training & “Catch-All” Approach (Reddit)
“They don’t actually keep up with SEO trends… Horrible, outdated training, they don’t teach you anything…”- My rebuttal: Untrue. WA fully overhauled its core training in June 2025. It’s now step-by-step, current with SEO best practices, and paired with daily expert video shorts, weekly expert classes and niche-specific communities. If your opinion is based on the old version of WA that had some outdated aspects within its core training, it’s worth taking another look.
- Biased Promotion of WA (Reddit)
“Wealthy Affiliate tells new members to promote Wealthy Affiliate… It’s just downright dishonest if you ask me.”- My rebuttal: It’s natural for someone on the outside to think this because they see a review like this one and think this is all WA trains its members to do. This is false. You can choose any niche you like for your business(es). As an example, I have a chess website where there is of course no mention of Wealthy Affiliate. You never have to promote WA if you don’t want to.
- Poor Hosting & Support (Reddit)
“THEIR HOSTING IS TRASH… my own sites would go down occasionally… support… half the time you had to wait several hours to LITERAL DAYS.”- My rebuttal: This is currently fair, but it’s not a “hosting” issue. Site Support is going through an update, so there are longer than normal response times. All my websites are hosted at WA and have been since 2017 without issue. If you don’t like WA’s hosting you have full freedom to host your websites anywhere you like.. Kyle, WA’s co-founder, discussed Site Support and its update in his recent “Beer With Kyle” weekly blog and how it is currently being improved.
- Ranking System Distracts from Real Business (Reddit)
“Everybody’s trying to improve their WA ranking… but still suck at affiliate marketing!”- My rebuttal: With a community as big as WA’s, there are always going to be members focused on the social aspect instead of building their business. Heck, some may have joined WA purely for the social aspect. Do some members want to be the top ranked activity leader on the site? Yes. Does this affect you? No. Control what you can control. Focus on your business, focus on learning, and the rest falls into place.
- Accusations of MLM-Like Recruiting (Reddit)
“Wealthy affiliate is a quasi MLM… once you join it, you will be forced to promote it as an affiliate…”- My rebuttal: Totally false. WA is not an MLM. There are no “downlines” and you don’t earn from the members you refer. As stated earlier, you can choose any niche you like to build your business. You can have 10 businesses with none of them ever making any mention of WA. WA’s affiliate program is 100% optional.
- Lock-In Domain & Cancellation Restrictions (eBiz Facts)
“…domains you buy are locked into the platform, so if you cancel… you also lose your domains. It seems like everything is set up to lock you into their program.”- My rebuttal: 100% false. WA owns none of your content. You can leave at any time and take your websites with you to be hosted anywhere else. You don’t even have to use WA’s hosting if you choose. You have full freedom to host anywhere you like and you are never locked in.
You’re probably like me. You base your decisions on what you see for yourself, not on what other people tell you. That’s exactly why the free test drive exists. Try it for yourself and you can make your own informed decision from that.
My Personal Tips For Success at Wealthy Affiliate:
- Focus on learning first! Ask yourself “How much can I learn each day” and see how much your affiliate marketing knowledge grows. Everything else falls into place after that.
- Don’t give yourself arbitrary commission deadlines. If you tell yourself, “I need to make $1000 in my first month” you will fail. Focus instead on how much you can learn in that first month and commissions and success will follow.
- Trust the system. Put your head down and follow the training like a robot.
- Avoid shiny object syndrome. You’re given all the tools you need in the training right as you need them. Avoid thinking you’re the first brain to arrive at WA. Don’t cherry pick what lessons to follow. Follow them all!
- Ask questions! If you sign up through any of my links you have full access to me. Let me know what your goals are, what your previous hurdles have been. No question is a bad question and I’m always available to you!
- Have fun with this opportunity! Wealthy Affiliate is the best business decision I’ve ever made. This is the fun part! Enjoy the ride.
Final Thoughts
With its 2025 facelift, Wealthy Affiliate maintains its focus on having the end user actually learn affiliate marketing. The training is straightforward, affordable, and it delivers. I owe my success to Wealthy Affiliate, and if you choose to give it a test drive, I look forward to helping you find the same success.
Look for my welcome message on your profile after you create your account. Reply to it and let me know what your goals are and what have been the hurdles in the past that have held you back. My entire goal as your personal coach is to get you on the fast track to success.
I look forward to seeing you on the inside!
This is How I Built Full-Time Income!
Sign up for your free starter account through the link below and I’ll personally guide your first steps inside Wealthy Affiliate. Let’s build something real together!
Get Started FREE With Me As Your Coach!Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wealthy Affiliate legit in 2025?
Yes, Wealthy Affiliate is 100% legit and has been helping people build real affiliate marketing businesses for over 20 years. With over 2.8 million global members, a 4.9/5 TrustPilot rating, and constant platform updates, it’s one of the most trusted training platforms online.
What do you get with the free Wealthy Affiliate starter account?
You get access to all of Phase I of the Core Training, full use of the Hub tools including the AI Article Designer, and your own free website to start applying what you’re learning.
Is Wealthy Affiliate good for beginners?
Wealthy Affiliate was designed with beginners in mind, walking you through each step from choosing a niche to building your site, creating content, and monetizing. The training is beginner-friendly, but still powerful enough to help you scale.
What makes Wealthy Affiliate different from other affiliate platforms?
There’s no guru cliches, unrealistic promises of revenue, and the same tired a-la-carte system of upsells where you have to buy training module after training module to finish the course. WA offers a true test drive and then offers access to 100% of the tools, training, and resources on upgrade.
I came here to take a look at your website and what you’ve built and this is 100% a testimonial to the training at WA. I love the training you do and it’s a joy to sit in on.
What would you say remains the biggest hurdle in affiliate marketing today? Is it content creation, traffic, monetization, or staying consistent? What’s one thing you wish you knew when you first started?
Thanks so much for the kind words. The biggest key to affiliate marketing is simply consistency. Creating quality content, pushing forward, building and growing each day. Too often people stop to drown themselves in analytics, stopping their momentum, worrying about the next shiny object… You have to double down on content for your website, for your YouTube, etc. That’s how you find your audience and that’s what I teach my referrals to follow. WA provides it all! Thanks for the comment!
Been a proud Wealthy Affiliate member for a while now and I genuinely believe in it’s value. The training tools and support community here are unreal—totally changed the way I approach affiliate marketing. If you’re on the fence, trust me—just dive in and give it a go. There is always someone available to help with tips or answer questions, or even to share what’s worked for them so far.
I appreciate your testimonial! Thank you for the comment!
I really appreciate how you broke everything down, from training and tools to the pros and cons. It’s refreshing to see honesty about the learning curve and time commitment, without overhyping the “make money fast” angle.
For someone juggling a day job and exploring affiliate marketing on the side, which part of the platform would you say gives the best “quick win” or boost of momentum?
For me the expert classes are invaluable. Even when they’re on a topic that I’m not working on, I always learn something. Other than that, just take the training one lesson at a time. Focus on learning, and everything else falls into place. Thanks for the comment!
All of the other sites that I had looked at about affiliate marketing presented a lot of smoke and mirrors and there was no way to experience what the other sites were about without paying for sign-up. Wealthy Affiliate gives you a chance to sample the experience for free, and that was a key point in letting me know that there was not a lot of smoke and mirrors. I signed up and have been with them for just a few weeks, but there is so much dedicated material to helping one succeed. One of my favorite parts is the AI assistance provided that cuts the time in content production to a small fraction of what it would normally take. Thanks so much for this review.
Glad you enjoyed this! And welcome aboard!
This review was incredibly detailed and motivating! Your passion for Wealthy Affiliate and your success story really shine through, and it’s inspiring to see how much you’ve accomplished since 2017. I love how you broke everything down step-by-step and made it clear that real success comes from consistency and following the process. It’s especially great to see how much focus WA puts on constant updates and real support — that’s so important for anyone serious about building an online business. What’s the biggest mistake new members make when they first start with Wealthy Affiliate, and how can they avoid it?
Best Regards
Scott
I think the biggest mistake people make is focusing on commissions and revenue instead of focusing on learning first. It’s like diving into medical school and then being upset that you don’t have your own practice after a couple semesters. Online business just doesn’t work that way. Focus on learning first, then everything falls into place. Thanks for the comment!
How does Wealthy Affiliate’s training compare to newer alternatives out there. Is it still effective for beginners in 2025 and in today’s competitive affiliate marketing world. Do you think it’s a solid long-term investment, or more of a stepping stone for those just getting started? Would love to hear your thoughts on how it stacks up against other popular programs right now.
In my opinion, as someone who’s been with the platform for years, WA is head and shoulders above the rest. Most bang for your buck by a long shot, most of the competitors offer their training a la carte style, with each training module more expensive than the last. WA focus is on actually training you, not never ending upsells. I think it’s a breath of fresh air myself. That’s why it’s my top recommendation. Thanks for the comment!
I really appreciate how comprehensive and honest this review is. The way you explain how these tools streamline content creation is super helpful. I also like how you addressed both the pros and cons of the platform. It’s refreshing to see a balanced perspective that doesn’t just hype up the positives but also acknowledges areas where it might not be the perfect fit for everyone. Thanks for sharing your insights and experiences!
Glad you enjoyed this!
Wish I had found you sooner I just paid the $99US for fullstaq guess I should just continue learning modules but I see people on the private FB page struggling with setting up the funnels and having the links and pages not work properly that seems daunting to me. Also choosing a niche is a tough one as well as its best to sell a high end product than struggle to sell hundreds of low end items, that’s the part that’s also daunting to me too. I. In Canada so I would have to research what high end items are selling here and then try to get followers also seems daunting.
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You gotta try WA’s all new Hubs. This review doesn’t even cover it because it’s just released for 2024. I’ll be putting together a whole new 2024 Wealthy Affiliate review soon, but the new Hubs gives you a GREAT start right out of the box. There’s a niche finder tool I think you’d really like. You just input a hobby and it comes up with some great niche ideas. But the best thing about Hubs is once you create one there’s almost limitless content and topic ideas and a great AI article designer and AI authors to use along with training on how to use all the tools. Have you created your starter account yet? Go through my link and check it out 🙂 Look for my welcome message after you create your hub!
I’m really new to affiliate marketing, the whole concept in fact. I see that you mention that Wealthy Affiliate is good for the beginner and that you didn’t have experience when you started. I’m someone that is a TRUE beginner. Would it still be beneficial for me? Thank you and I appreciate what you’ve done with your website.
Absolutely. When you’re starting fresh with something completely new the advantage you have is that you don’t have to “un-learn” any bad habits you’ve developed. I feel this helped me a great deal. I learned how to build this business the right way first, and I never looked back. I think you’ll really enjoy the training! I hope to see you on the inside!
Your results with the platform are solid. Thank you for sharing those. How much time did you spend on the training each day? Did you have any background at all doing anything like this? How much time do you spend currently on your business? I appreciate your feedback and transparency.
When I first got started I spent a few hours each day in the training. It was honestly kind of addictive. I enjoyed it. Learning something completely new when you know the potential return is a huge motivating factor. I didn’t have any background at all with anything website related. I had never blogged or written articles for affiliate marketing. I owe literally 100% of my success to this platform and this training, which during my 6+ years has only gotten better. Thanks for the comment!
Why do so many platforms adopt the “pay as you go” model for their training? I’ve jumped in with a few and every single time the more you learn then the more you pay. I’m excited to see the WA platform isn’t set up that way. I was hesitant at first after being burned, but this review was very, very helpful. Thank you.
You’re very welcome. With WA, all tiers of premium give you access to 100% of the core training, with Premium Plus+ unlocking the most expert classes so you can deep dive into specific areas of interest. Thanks for the comment!