The trust question

Affiliate vs MLM.

This is the single most important distinction on the site. Affiliate marketing and multi-level marketing get lumped together, but structurally they're opposites. One pays you for sales; the other leans on recruiting a downline. Here's the honest, factual breakdown.

Affiliate marketing is a single-level commission for a real sale through your link. No recruitment. No downline. No buy-in. Free to join.
MLM pays you partly for recruiting others and usually requires a buy-in or recurring purchases. The product is often secondary to "building a team."
Side by side

The structural differences.

Same row, two models. Notice that everything an MLM adds — recruitment, buy-ins, downlines — is exactly what affiliate marketing leaves out.

Affiliate marketing vs multi-level marketing (MLM), compared row by row.
Factor Affiliate marketing MLM
How you earn Commission on real product sales through your tracked link Sales plus a cut of what your recruits ("downline") sell
Recruitment None — there is no team to build Central — income and rank depend on recruiting others
Cost to join Free, always Buy-in, starter kit, and/or recurring monthly purchases
Inventory None — you never buy or hold product Often required to buy or "load" inventory
Income structure Single-level (just you and the brand) Multi-level (paid on tiers below you)
Who gets paid Anyone who drives a sale Disproportionately the small group near the top
Typical outcome Modest but real — $0–$1k/mo for most beginners FTC: most participants made $1,000 or less per year
What the data shows

The FTC's 2024 findings.

The most rigorous public look at MLM earnings. An FTC staff report (September 2024) analyzed 70 MLM income-disclosure statements.

≤$1k
Most participants earned per year
<$84
That's per month
17+
MLMs where most made nothing
70
Disclosure statements analyzed

In the FTC's words: "most participants made $1,000 or less per year — that's less than $84 dollars per month… In at least 17 MLMs, most participants didn't make any money at all."

A separate 2026 FTC action noted one MLM's own 2024 disclosure showed 79% of active participants earned nothing in commissions, and at most 0.035% earned more than $25,000 a week. Consumer advocates note that, once expenses are counted, the vast majority of MLM participants lose money. Exact "95% fail" figures are widely cited but imperfectly sourced — directionally, most people earn little.

Spot the difference

MLM red flags to watch for.

If a "program" shows these signs, it's an MLM or pyramid structure dressed in affiliate language — not affiliate marketing.

  • You have to pay to participate — a buy-in, a starter kit, or a mandatory monthly purchase.
  • Recruitment is the focus — income comes from "building a team," not from selling products.
  • Income claims front and center — earnings screenshots, "quit your job in 30 days," rented-lifestyle imagery.
  • Inventory loading — you're required to buy or hold product to "stay active."
  • The product is secondary — in a pyramid, real revenue comes from recruitment, not sales. The FTC calls a business an illegal pyramid when most profit comes from membership/recruitment.
For clarity

MLMs people confuse with affiliate marketing.

These are well-known multi-level marketing companies — not affiliate programs: Herbalife, Amway, doTERRA, Mary Kay, LuLaRoe, Arbonne, Younique, Nu Skin. Their own income disclosures repeatedly show most participants earn little or nothing, and the FTC continues to take enforcement action against deceptive MLM earnings claims.

By contrast, companies like Amazon, Nike, and Shopify run legitimate affiliate programs: free to join, single-level, commission on sales. If you're ever unsure which you're looking at, run it through our 7-point vetting checklist.

Now you can tell them apart

Find a legit program.

Every program in our directory is free to join and pays on real sales — no recruitment, no downline, no buy-in.

Browse Programs → Vetting checklist