Wealthy Affiliate Review 2023: Scam? Legit? The Real Deal?

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Welcome to my Wealthy Affiliate review where I give you a behind-the-scenes look at what Wealthy Affiliate is, how it works and how it can help you finally make your online income goals a reality.

I write this review as someone who has been a Wealthy Affiliate Premium member for 9+ years and has had the opportunity to meet Wealthy Affiliate co-founders, Kyle and Carson so I can give you the real scoop before you join.

Here's what you need to know in a nutshell:

Wealthy Affiliate Review (2023) At A Glance

About: Wealthy Affiliate is an all-in-one affiliate marketing platform that gives aspiring entrepreneurs the training, tools and community to succeed.

Price: Free Starter Membership. $19 First Month Premium, $49/month thereafter.

Pros: Step-by-step core training, weekly live classes, beginner-friendly website builders, awesome community support and it's free to try.

Cons: It can take time and there's a lot to learn.

Verdict: A brilliant training platform for affiliate marketing beginners that will guide you through the steps to launching your first online business.

OVERALL RATING

4.5 Star Rating NEW

I’ve been a Wealthy Affiliate member for 5 years and this is by far the best affiliate marketing training program for beginners I’ve come across.

Even if you’re sceptical, join as a free Starter member and test drive the whole platform completely risk-free. You have nothing to lose.

In a nutshell, Wealthy Affiliate is an online community made up of brand new beginners and experienced entrepreneurs where you learn how to build a successful and profitable online business from the comfort of your own home.

The training is interactive, thorough and specifically designed with beginners like you in mind. Wealthy Affiliate not only gives you the right know-how and community support to be successful, but as a member, you’ll have the tools you need at your fingertips to make it happen.

In this full (and long!) Wealthy Affiliate review I’ll be as detailed as I can, share my results with you, give you a rundown of what Wealthy Affiliate is and how they can help you get to where you need to be.

Why I Joined Wealthy Affiliate

I'll be honest with you:

I was desperate for life change.

I really was…

In the 10 years since I left school, I worked in so many different call centres working for banks, insurance and energy companies.

The thought of spending the next 40 years chained to that headset sat in a dreary office cubicle was enough to send shivers down my spine.

You see, I always had this dream to live and work in Thailand since I was 14 years old.

I had the heart to help give slum children a brighter future. This is just something I know I was born to do. But despite my passion and the best of intentions, lack of money always got in the way and here I was rotting away in a call centre with life passing me by.

I hated it!

Something had to change.

I knew there must be a way to make money online.

I heard about other people doing it so why couldn't I?

Why can't you? It would mean you could be free to work anywhere in the world on your own timetable and live life on your own terms.

But as I'm sure you already know, the problem starts when you search for ‘how to make money online'…

All the internet scammers come scurrying out of the woodwork. It's impossible to know who to believe, what to believe…

I've been scammed badly a few times… I fell for gambling scams (embarrassing to admit but it's true), paid for other “guaranteed profit systems” but nothing ever worked.

Then one blustery night in March 2014 I finished watching a video on YouTube of this guy on a yacht in Barcelona bragging about how many muscle cars he had and how much money he had. It looked scammy and it was, but this arrogant guy made me all the more determined to find a way.

Then I fell upon a Wealthy Affiliate review like this one, it seemed pretty legit and since Wealthy Affiliate is free to try, I decided to give it a shot.

Because I'd been scammed before, to tell you I was cautious going into this would be an understatement. Sure, I was guarded but at the same time, ready to try if it worked.

So I went ahead, created my free Wealthy Affiliate starter account, uploaded a profile image, wrote a short bio about myself and started with the first training course…

I think I must've completed a week's worth of training in 2 days, but I was careful to follow every piece of advice and complete every action step at the end of the lessons.

I was doing it! I built my first real website. I'd experimented with ‘hobby' blogs before, but that's completely different from running a website as an online business.

I learned a lot and achieved a lot in a short space of time because I was ready, no, I was hungry for a real way to make money online.

A week later I decided to go from being a Starter member to a Premium member. I'll show you the differences between the Wealthy Affiliate membership options in a second, but just to say I'm still a member to this day, and probably will be for life.

Read Enough?

If you're still on the fence and not sure whether or not to join Wealthy Affiliate, I just wanted to give you some quick Wealthy Affiliate income proof to whet your appetite…

Just two weeks after I joined Wealthy Affiliate I earned my first commission! Someone bought a Black & Decker juicer on Amazon through my website. I didn't earn much but I danced around my room like it was a million pounds!

Why?

Because I knew this minuscule $1.20 in my bank account would be the first commission of many. I knew I was on the right track, I knew what I was learning at Wealthy Affiliate was working.

Here's the success post I wrote:

how to make money blogging

Can you tell I was excited?! 🙂

This motivated me even more and I kept going…

I scaled it up, I did something every day that took my business one more step forward and I never looked back.

What started out as a sale here and there soon became a couple of sales a day, then a dozen a day and it just kept growing.

Here's a screenshot of my daily earnings just 6 months after joining…

make money blogging earnings example

At the 12-month mark, it was finally time to wave goodbye to the call centre once and for all. It was time to live the life I'd been dreaming about for all these years…

I was scared, nervous and excited at the same time. I call it the “happily-terrified” feeling 🙂

I left the quiet English village life behind and set my face towards my adventures in southeast Asia and booked a one-way ticket to Thailand.

From there my income continued to grow exponentially and still does…

This year I celebrated my first $1,200 day and I could never have imagined living the kind of life I do now…

In September I got to visit the Philippines to help with Sidewalk Sunday School in compounds around Manila…

And here's me on a weekly visit to a local Thai slum…

Here I am in October teaching and spending time with Bible college students in Myanmar…

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It's not all work though! Here's me on a recent rafting trip in Wang Wieng somewhere in the middle of Laos…

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And finally, 3 months ago my mum and sister came to visit me, so I took them to an island off the coast of Sriracha, Thailand…

profile

Why am I telling you this?

Because I want you to see that the training and community at WealthyAffiliate.com give you everything you need to run a real and successful business online.

The new life I live is only made possible because of what I learned (and then applied) at Wealthy Affiliate.

No matter what your dreams are – Wealthy Affiliate can help you too.

What is Wealthy Affiliate, Exactly?

the-wealthy-affiliate-review

Okay, so now let's shift gears a little bit. You know my personal story but let's take a look at some of the nuts and bolts stuff about Wealthy Affiliate and see how you can go about creating your own success story.

This is a Wealthy Affiliate review after all 🙂

When you first get inside the member's area there's a lot going on…

You'll see members asking questions and getting answers in live chat, members sharing their success stories, posting their own training and connecting with like-minded business builders.

You could say the Wealthy Affiliate member's area looks like a version of Facebook specifically set up for online entrepreneurs, but Wealthy Affiliate is so much more than a social media site…

Here's a quick video run-through about what Wealthy Affiliate is about:

Wealthy Affiliate is a multi-layered all-in-one online business centre that offers training, tools and community that's unparalleled.

So let's go through the 4 main ways Wealthy Affiliate (WA) can you achieve online success and why it's so unique from all the other ‘make money online programs' out there…

1. WA Is The Top Affiliate Marketing Course Online

How to Become an Affiliate Marketer Online in 2017

When you create your account and log in for the first time you'll see a big green get started button on the left-hand side.

This is the starting point for any aspiring entrepreneurs looking to build a successful and profitable online business.

Education is at the heart of what Wealthy Affiliate is about and you'll find the step-by-step video training and video tutorials super easy to follow.

What they teach gets results, every lesson is practical and hands-on and it literally takes you by the hand and guides you through every single step of making money online.

There are two main courses: the Certification Courses (5 courses, 10 lessons each course) and Affiliate Bootcamp (7 courses, 10 lessons each course).

There are also expert members training modules uploaded every day and 52 live video training webinars every year.

what do you learn at wealthy affiliate

2. WA Has The Best (Newbie-Friendly) Website Builders

best-web-hosting

To be successful online you need a website!

At Wealthy Affiliate, they know your website(s) will be the foundation of all your future success online and this is why they've created the powerful web hosting platform known as SiteRubix.

It's never been easier and quicker to build your own website. (34 seconds is the average time it takes to get your website live!)

Even if you've never done anything like this before, Wealthy Affiliate's top-performing web hosting platform means even normal people like you and me can create beautiful and professional-looking sites.

3. WA Is Your All-In-One Business Building Platform

best blogging tools

Wealthy Affiliate really is a one-stop shop. As well as top affiliate marketing training, you'll be equipped with all business tools and resources you'll need as you implement the training.

Website builders, link tracking tools, keyword research tools, site health checks, domains, hosting and site feedback are all included in your membership.

This means you'll have everything you need to be a success at your fingertips.

4. WA Is A Super Helpful Community Of Entrepreneurs

make money helpful blog

This is where Wealthy Affiliate really shines!

Wealthy Affiliate is a very active community of over 2.2 million members from 195 countries made up of people like you and me – both experts and newbies alike.

As soon as you get inside the member's area you'll see members discussing and networking in the live chat and comment areas and classrooms.

The site is alive and buzzing with activity 24/7 with people asking questions and getting answers, introducing themselves, networking or celebrating passing their latest milestones.

What Will You Learn At Wealthy Affiliate?

Let me start by saying what Wealthy Affiliate doesn't teach:

  • You won't make money overnightit takes time. It took me 2 weeks to get my first sale and 12 months to replace my full-time income. It all comes down to how much time you can put in and how badly you want it.
  • It's not an automatic money-making system – it'll take more than a click of your mouse. Work is required at your end and you'll need passion and drive to see it through.
  • No scams, no hype – and definitely no harassing your family and friends to buy useless overpriced products they don't want. Just simple and practical how-to.

Wealthy Affiliate only teaches aspiring entrepreneurs real ways to make money by building an actual online business.

The truth is there are hundreds of ways to make money online and at Wealthy Affiliate, you'll know exactly how the process of making money online works.

The core training modules can be broken down to a simple 4 step process, each covered in detail within the courses:

what is affiliate marketing and how does it work process

1. Choose any topic you like

how to make money by blogging

You'll be learning how to transform your passion into an online income.

We all have things that can get us talking, we all have hobbies we enjoy and topics we're interested in – whatever your passion, you can build a profitable business around it.

Your chances of success skyrocket when you're actually talking about what you love and are having fun!

2. Launch your first website

how to start a wordpress blog

Don't worry – Wealthy Affiliate makes starting your very own website super easy and will guide you through step-by-step!

The truth it will only take you 34 seconds before you have a professional website you can proudly call your own.

Before joining Wealthy Affiliate I never knew how to set up an affiliate website and I definitely don't consider myself a technical person, now I have 4-5 sites on the go!

If I can do it, don't worry, you definitely can too!

3. Start to attract website visitors

how to drive traffic to your website

This is where you learn how to leverage social media marketing for sites like Facebook and Twitter to build a loyal readership of people who will love and share your content.

Driving traffic to your website via Google, YouTube and email marketing are all covered in detail within the courses.

4. Make Money (The fun bit!)

how to earn money on the internet

Once you've got everything in place, you'll learn exactly how to monetise your website through affiliate marketing.

Once you've got these 4 steps in place; a website with a steady stream of visitors, you can now start making money with your site.

Affiliate marketing is ace – it's my favourite way to make money online because you get to promote products or services from well-know brands and reputable companies and earn up to a 75% commission.

No storage, no shipping, just a nice commission at the end of the month.

The Results You Can Expect To Achieve

On any given day you'll find me inside the member's area giving support to newbies just starting out. And whenever I log in I see peoples latest posts on my timeline. I thought I'd share a few them with you here.

I love to see people celebrating milestones; they've created their first site, they've got ranked in Google, they've made their first sale, they've made their first $1,000…

wealthy affiliate success stories

These are real stories from ordinary people like you and me and members are posting updates like this every day.

The reason they are getting these results is that they didn't rush through the training and applied what they learned along the way.

4 Compelling Reasons To Start Your Success Story With Wealthy Affiliate

1. If it worked for me it will work for you

All I did was follow the training step by step and complete the daily assignments and guess what?

What they said would happen DID happen.

I saw my traffic stats go up and watched as the sales started coming in.

What started out as just a small trickle turned into a sale a week which became a sale a day, which grew into several sales a day.

And my income is still growing month on month…

2. You get to test drive the whole system for free

Remember it’s 100% free to join Wealthy Affiliate and get started. Simply enter your email and password to get instant access to the community member's area.

I mean it, completely free to join – no credit card needed as the Starter Membership is free.

You’ll be inside, viewing the training, meeting the community and building your business at absolutely no cost.

GO FOR IT! Try it… for FREE and then come back here and tell me what you think!

3. I will be on hand to help you personally

You must be committed to learning, asking questions and taking action. Do that and I'll be on hand to help you as much as I can.

If you're serious then I'm serious.

If you're willing to dedicate the time to make your business grow then I commit to being on hand every step of the way. That's exactly the reason I'm in Wealthy Affiliate every single day helping people like you get started.

As soon as you create your Wealthy Affiliate profile, I'll pop by and say ‘hi‘, just to show you I do what I say.

From understanding how the process of making money online works, to creating your first site, to making that all important first sale – I will support you every step of the way because I really want to see you make it online.

So many people helped me when I was just starting out – so it's only fair I pay it forward! Trust me when I say I will be available every step of the way.

4. IT IS Possible To Make Your Dreams a Reality

I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found Wealthy Affiliate when I did that night in 2014. I will never forget it, it was life-changing for me.

I'd searched for years trying to find a real way to make money online. Sure they made lots of big promises and empty guarantees but I was left high and dry every time.

Now you've found the real way to earn an online income, you can stop looking.

My decision to join Wealthy Affiliate was one that would change the course of my life. Since then I've backpacked across south-east Asia and seen the beauty of Laos and Burma and just next week I'm visiting friends in Siam Reap, Cambodia.

Today I sit in my condo in Sriracha, Thailand where I live and volunteer, living the life I only dreamed about for years. I still have to pinch myself every morning.

This is my life! My dream became true!

I'll never get over that!

This is possible only because I made the decision to take action.
refugee

No more call centre jobs, no more rush hour traffic, no more working for someone else. Now I work for me, to accomplish my dreams, to determine my own destiny.

This is your time.

Are you ready?

No gimmicks, no hype – just practical how-to and support

Simon Crowe

Still Got Questions?

Create your free Wealthy Affiliate account here and I’ll personally do all I can to help you in the community, alright?

I’ll see you on the inside! : )

19 thoughts on “Wealthy Affiliate Review 2023: Scam? Legit? The Real Deal?”

  1. Hi Simon,

    Thanks for the great review and transparency. Just love to know what you are spending each month to keep your business running, like website cost etc. So many times online business state it will cost you so much but then you need to pay for websites, email, fb ads, Google ads etc.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Hi Jason, right now I’d say I’m paying less than $200 a month on Wealthy Affiliate ($36 a month paid yearly), premium website hosting ($90), Canva ($12), keyword tools ($30ish) and $49 a year for the premium GeneratePress WordPress theme. I also have a few writers I outsource to. That’s it I think. And I built that up over time. I used the free version of Canva and free keyword tools in the beginning. I also used Wealthy Affiliate hosting.

      The Wealthy Affiliate membership is a great way to get started as everything’s included then you can add fancy tools etc. further down the line. I just wrote this post How Much Money Do You Need To Start Affiliate Marketing: Full Cost Breakdown if you wanna take a look.

      Reply
      • I tried to sign up but it’s not accepting it. It’s implying that I’m already a member. About 10 years ago I was looking at them but that’s all I did. Do you know of Pot Pie Girl? She would have introduced me to it. But I don’t know her, did nothing with it. You are so engaging and transparent, just what I’ve been looking for all this time but I don’t want to sign in without you being the one who I’d work with. Please help, I was so excited!

        Reply
        • Hi Fran, yes I have seen her name around. Maybe you must’ve created a free account back then?

          It’s ok, you can sign up through this link and I’ll be on hand every step of the way. If it won’t let you, try using a different email address.

          And I really appreciate your kind words. I try and be as straightforward as possible – it’s the best way! 🙂

          Reply
  2. This is a really big deal a major decision. I like many of the others commenting am a bit apprehensive if not scared. And have been looking a long time for something i may have just found. there are other similar blogs, sites ect. out there promising xx by day 10 and xx by day 60 and of course comes in at a premium I do not have right now. i just had surgery on a badly injured ankle and it will be fine lord willing. I like your blog and thanks for being honest about income potentials in the beginning it seems a lot more real to me described as you did rather than being swept up by like minded individuals saying be a millionaire in 6 months or a year with our training. In this life very few things we like or enjoy are without some hard work and dedication. I will give this some serious consideration and more likely than not see you inside . And once again thankyou for the very informative blog. I type with three or four fingers and have been in the construction industry all my life , all my computer time has been for purchasing or Entertainment purposes , does a guy like me stand a chance at success in this arena ? we will soon see i think, but i would love your input thanks Rob

    Reply
  3. Hi Simon,

    What a great review! I have been thinking about joining Wealthy Affiliate for a long time, and I wanted to know if it was worth it. You covered all the important information through this review which will definitely help me make an informed decision. Thanks a lot for sharing your personal experience with wealthy affiliates, it really helped me understand this program better, and I am looking forward to trying it out myself. I really appreciate your help.

    Reply
  4. Do you find that WA is good at noticing changes in the market and adapting to them with training and in the chat groups? I know that affiliate marketing has seen a ton of changes in the last 2-3 years and many think that it isn’t a great way to make money anymore. What do you think?

    Reply
    • Yes for sure Blake, I know last year certain people started complaining that the Wealthy Affiliate core training was out-of-date as it hadn’t been updated in 3/4 years but they’ve just refreshed and revamped it again this year so it’s definitely relevant to 2021. The central concepts of the training don’t change but some of the applications of it obviously will with each Google update especially.

      I think people will always say affiliate marketing is dead but these stats say otherwise!

      For example, affiliate earnings have increased 10% every year since 2015 with no signs of slowing down. Just think, more people are getting access to the internet every day and we’re spending more online than ever before. The earning potential is HUGE.

      Follow the Wealthy Affiliate training and you’re going to learn how to create a website and attract daily traffic. You can monetise that with affiliate marketing, ads or by promoting your own products and services. I do a mix of all 3 depending on the site but affiliate marketing is my main income source and has been for the last 6 years.

      Reply
  5. Hey Simon, I read your WA review. Can I see one of your websites? I saw you replied to a post about working 10 hours a day on a on your website. That’s a lot. Why must you have more than 1 websites? Are multiple websites included in the $49 monthly cost?

    Reply
    • Hi Albert,

      I know that sounds scary so let me clarify! There are stints when I’m putting in 10 hour days but then 3 months where I might just do 1-2, it really depends on what’s going on at the time and where I’m at. I really like the flexibility that comes with running your own business ????

      You only need one website to be super successful at this! I actually tell beginners to just focus on 1, get that up and running so it’s generating traffic and sales before even thinking about starting a second one. You don’t need to and running one site can be a full-time job by itself depending on how far you want to take it.

      You’re much better off creating one big authority site over time and dominating a niche instead of having 10 little sites not really doing anything. Maybe after a year or 2 or 3 when you’ve mastered one niche, you could think about another as you’ve then got the income and skills to start outsourcing and building to scale.

      My first website was GrowChurch.net – be warned that website hasn’t been touched in at least 4 years! ???? What’s cool though is that little site is still getting about 500 visitors a day on average and generating a nice little side revenue each month.

      Right now my focus is on FightForFluency.com – a joint project with my wife. It’s in the language learning niche aimed at the Thai market where we promote various online language courses.

      I hope this helps clarify a few things, let me know if you need any help getting started! ????

      Reply
  6. Thanks for this! I almost fell for enrolling in a much expensive course. 🙂
    I’m also happy to see your picture when you visited the Philippines. I hope you had a great time in our country.

    Reply
    • Hey Dulce, yes I LOVE the Philippines!!! ❤️❤️❤️

      The people are so friendly, the food is great (but I was too scared to try Balut!) and I had the most amazing time. I will never forget it and will definitely be back for sure.

      Salamat po 😀

      Reply
  7. How much time do you spend on your pages a day? Why are you still paying them if you know the system? What do people who complain about the program (or leave) say? Is the all in one package they give you any better than Wix or another other out-of-the-box website system? If you were to change web providers, would you somehow lose income or some kind of steam? Is all of your content owned by WA, or do you own it? Can they shut down your blog if they feel you have violated their standards for some reason? Are there blog topics that are considered off limits (risqué, aggressive, dangerous)?

    Reply
    • Hi Michael, just got back from Easter break so apologies for the delayed response. Let me answer your questions one by one…

      1. The time I spend creating content for websites and YouTube channels varies… I might do 10 hours a day for 3 months then not do much for a month or so. I guess it depends what else is going on in my life at the time. I think the main thing is just planning out your day and following a consistent posting schedule. I also hired a full-time writer a year ago which helps.

      2. After I went through the core training and built a profitable online business, I upgraded to Premium Plus as they have live classes delivered by experts on a variety of topics (think Skillshare or Udemy). Plus I have half a dozen or so affiliate sites now and find it easier to keep everything under one virtual roof.

      3. The biggest Wealthy Affiliate complaint is that it takes too long to see results. Typically, you’re looking at a 6 to 9-month window where you’re putting in the effort for little comeback. This is thanks in part to the Sandbox Effect. It takes time to gain trust and Google rankings.

      4. I’ve never tried Wix or any other content management system. I’m WordPress all the way! 🙂 Here’s a great post that breaks down and compares the pros and cons between WordPress and Wix.

      5. If you create your website with Wealthy Affiliate you can change domain registrars or transfer your hosting at any point. People change web hosting companies all the time and it’s no biggie.

      6. Your websites are your property alone and as far as I can tell, there are no hosting stipulations (here are the full terms of services). I’m by no means a legal expert but WA, like any other web hosting provider, would be subject to local laws.

      Hope this helps Michael, let me know if you have any other questions. Kudos to you for doing your research and I wish you every possible success!

      Reply
  8. Thank you for your review on Wealthy Affiliate, I came across this platform the other day and just have to find out what is it all about. I can relate to your story. We all got tired of that 9-5 grind and just want to find a better way to make money. By the way, I am from Thailand 🙂 I love that fact that WA is transparent, I hate that I won’t make money right away but I get it. It is a process. I am going to check it out and take it from there. 

    Reply
    • สวัสดีครับพี่นัท เป็นอย่างไรบ้าง 😉

      Where in Thailand are you from? Right now we’re in Laemchabang, Chonburi but moving to Bang Na, Bangkok soon.

      You’re right, Wealthy Affiliate is completely transparent and that’s what I appreciated them too and why I still recommend them to anyone starting it. They follow the ‘Freemium’ model which means you get to join as a free Starter member first so you can see exactly what you’re paying if and when you upgrade to Premium. 

      No endless cycle of upsells, no nasty surprises and nothing hidden.  

      It does time, yes. That’s the real barrier to entry. It’s not money because training, hosting and support is just $49 (as opposed to a MacDonald’s franchise which costs at least $500,000 to get started!)

      Most will simply give up before seeing the breakthrough in traffic and sales. When you’re used to getting paid by the hour (employee mindset) it’s hard to put in the work when the rewards are a few months down the line. If only they stuck it through, their efforts would be reward 10 times over and more!

      I like this though because it weeds out the weak from the serious and leaves more on the table for those willing to stick it out. 

      Let me know how you get on (here’s my WA profile if you have any questions) and I wish you every success! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Well Simon! I think this such a good and timely post considering I just joined a few days ago! I agree with everything you have said here. also learnt a lot. The community have been so supportive and loving. Always here to help anytime. Also the owner (Kyle) always reaches it out, which is rare  for a platform. Training has been great too

    Reply
    • Hey Esiri, it’s great to hear about your experience so far and yeah, the training is brilliant and the community is an absolute lifeline!

      Onwards and upwards! 💪

      Reply

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