ShareASale was one of the best-known affiliate networks in the United States for more than two decades. It connected advertisers with publishers, creators, content sites, and other partners and provided the tracking, reporting, commissioning, and payment infrastructure used to run affiliate programs.
That platform is now historical. Awin completed the upgrade of active ShareASale customers to the Awin platform in 2025, and ShareASale account access officially ended on October 6, 2025. New publishers and advertisers looking for the current network experience should therefore evaluate Awin rather than attempting to open or manage a ShareASale account.
ShareASale launched in 2000 and became a major affiliate network, particularly among ecommerce merchants, small and midsize businesses, bloggers, content publishers, and niche affiliates. Awin acquired ShareASale in 2017 and later consolidated active customers onto the Awin platform.
Historically, the network acted as an intermediary. Advertisers created programs and established commission terms, while publishers applied to those programs and used tracked links or other approved promotional methods to refer customers.
Advertiser setup:
Merchants joined the network, configured their program, defined commission rules and policies, and integrated tracking so eligible sales or leads could be attributed to approved publishers.
Publisher registration:
Publishers created accounts and applied to advertiser programs that matched their audience. Individual advertisers could approve or reject applications according to their own criteria.
Links and creative:
Approved publishers could access tracking links, banners, data feeds, coupons, and other promotional assets where offered. The tracking information associated a referral with the publisher and program.
Conversions and commissions:
When a visitor completed a qualifying action, the transaction could be reported to ShareASale and credited according to the advertiser's terms. Returns, cancellations, fraud checks, or other program rules could affect whether a commission remained payable.
Reporting:
Publishers and advertisers used dashboards and reports to evaluate clicks, transactions, commissions, and program performance. This historical reporting is one reason Awin advised users to export any ShareASale data they needed before the platform closed.
Want to organize ShareASale links alongside traffic from other networks and campaigns? Read the Cymtrack referral-link tracking guide.
Awin moved active ShareASale advertisers and publishers onto the Awin platform during 2025. Awin announced that the upgrade had been completed in August 2025 and stated that all active customers had been onboarded. The legacy ShareASale platform then officially closed on October 6, 2025, ending account access.
This was not simply a rebranding of the old interface. The practical result is that current program discovery, account access, reporting, tracking tools, commissioning, and partnership management are performed through Awin's platform and current Awin documentation.
Publishers who were actively migrated should use their Awin account and current Awin tools. During the migration, Awin indicated that publisher relationships and tracking links were intended to transition with advertisers rather than requiring publishers to manually rejoin every program. Even so, publishers should verify important links, advertiser status, commission terms, payment settings, and reporting in their current account because individual programs can change over time.
If an older article, spreadsheet, or internal document still refers to “joining ShareASale,” treat that instruction as outdated. The relevant next step is to determine whether the advertiser is currently available through Awin or another network and then follow the program's current terms.
Advertisers that completed the upgrade should manage their affiliate activity through Awin. Awin has highlighted capabilities such as real-time tracking, flexible commissioning, performance insights, partner discovery, and additional compliance and management features as part of the consolidated platform.
Businesses maintaining old ShareASale documentation should update operational procedures, support references, screenshots, and onboarding instructions. Historical data that was not exported before the platform closure may no longer be available through the old ShareASale interface.
Do not assume that every historical link is broken, but do not assume that every old link remains correct either. The safest practice is to test important affiliate links, confirm the destination and advertiser relationship in the current network account, and avoid changing tracking parameters without understanding the advertiser or network requirements.
For publishers with many commercial pages, maintaining a link inventory can make migrations much easier. Record the article or placement, advertiser, destination, network, source identifier, and last review date so outdated programs can be located and corrected systematically.
Network consolidation illustrates a broader lesson in affiliate marketing: platforms, tracking systems, commission structures, and advertiser relationships change. A publisher may build years of content around a network that later migrates, merges, or closes. The long-term asset is therefore not the network account alone; it is the publisher's audience, content quality, records, and ability to maintain links as programs evolve.
Advertisers face the same operational issue. Tracking integrations and network tools should be documented, tested, and periodically reviewed so a platform change does not interrupt reporting or partner relationships.
The consolidated Awin platform gives former ShareASale users access to a broader global partnership environment rather than maintaining two separate network experiences. Awin has emphasized improved tracking, more flexible commissioning, advanced performance insights, partner-discovery capabilities, and continuing platform development.
Those capabilities do not guarantee better results by themselves. Publishers still need relevant audiences and useful content, while advertisers still need competitive offers, reliable tracking, clear program terms, and active partner management.
ShareASale remains important historically because it helped shape modern affiliate marketing, but it should no longer be described as an active standalone network. As of this 2026 review, the ShareASale platform is closed and current activity has moved to Awin.
If you encounter older tutorials describing ShareASale signup, dashboards, or reporting, use them only to understand the historical workflow. For current affiliate-network access and program management, consult the present Awin platform and current program terms. Explore Awin