Gymshark Affiliate Program Review: Is it worth it?

For most fitness creators, the Gymshark affiliate program is a bit of a no-brainer. Not because the commissions are incredible, but because the brand itself does most of the heavy lifting for you.

The real win here is partnering with a global powerhouse. Gymshark has such insane brand recognition and high conversion rates that it makes earning commissions much easier, even with a modest percentage. If brand alignment matters to you and you’ve got an audience that’s ready to buy, this is definitely worth a look.

A Realistic Look at Earning Potential

Let’s get down to it. Can you actually make money with Gymshark? The short answer is yes, but it’s not as straightforward as just looking at the commission rate.

The rate itself, which sits at around 4%, isn’t going to blow you away. But here’s where the brand’s power comes into play. Think about it: promoting a smaller, lesser-known brand with a 10% commission can feel like pushing a boulder uphill. You first have to sell your audience on the brand’s legitimacy before you can even start talking about the product.

Promoting Gymshark is a different game entirely. Your audience already knows them, trusts them, and probably already has a wishlist. Your job is just to give them that final nudge. The boulder is already rolling downhill.

Let’s put some numbers to that. The affiliate program is a huge piece of Gymshark’s marketing strategy, which helped them pull in an annual revenue of £556.2 million (roughly $709 million). Their website gets about 8.9 million visits a month and converts browsers into buyers at a solid rate of 3.00% to 3.50%. You can dig deeper into Gymshark’s impressive growth on simicart.com.

Who Is This Program Best For?

The Gymshark affiliate program isn’t a one-size-fits-all deal. It really shines for a few specific types of creators:

• Content Creators with an Engaged Audience: If your followers actually listen to what you say and you’ve built real trust, you’re in a great position to succeed.
• SEO-Savvy Bloggers and YouTubers: Anyone who can create high-quality reviews, try-on hauls, or comparison content that ranks on Google or YouTube can build a serious passive income stream here.
• Fitness Influencers Focused on Brand Alignment: If your own brand is all about community, progress, and being authentic, then partnering with Gymshark will feel completely natural to your followers.

But if your main goal is simply to find the highest commission percentage out there, you might be better off looking elsewhere. The trade-off is crystal clear: you’re accepting a lower rate in exchange for a much, much higher chance of conversion.

How the Gymshark Affiliate Program Works

Before diving in, you need to know about the engine running everything behind the scenes: Rakuten Advertising.

Think of Rakuten as the independent third party that handles all the technical stuff. It’s a massive affiliate network that manages the tracking, reporting, and payments, so you can just focus on making great content.

When you join, you’re not just signing up with Gymshark directly. You’re actually creating an account on the Rakuten platform. This is where you’ll grab your unique affiliate links, keep an eye on your clicks and sales, and watch your commissions roll in. Rakuten’s tech is what makes sure that when someone in your audience buys something, you get the credit you earned.

The Customer Journey From Click to Commission

The process itself is pretty simple. One of your followers clicks your unique Gymshark affiliate link—maybe from a YouTube description, a blog post, or an Instagram story. That click places a small tracking file, known as a cookie, onto their browser.

This cookie has a lifespan, which we call the cookie duration. For Gymshark, this is a generous 30 days. What this means is if the person who clicked your link buys anything within that 30-day window, you get the commission.

It’s like leaving a digital breadcrumb trail that leads right back to you. They don’t even have to buy right away. If they click your link, browse around, and then come back to the site a week later to make a purchase, you still get paid.

This infographic breaks down how the value flows from Gymshark to you.

As you can see, your content is the essential bridge. You connect the brand with customers, drive sales, and generate your income in the process.

Your Dashboard The Rakuten Hub

Once you get the green light, the Rakuten dashboard becomes your mission control. This is where you see all the tracking magic happen. You get detailed reports on the key metrics that show you exactly what’s working and what’s not.

Here’s a quick look at what you can track:

• Clicks: The total number of times people have tapped on your affiliate links.
• Sales: How many completed purchases came from your links.
• Commissions: Your total earnings from those sales.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks that actually turn into a sale.

By digging into this data, you can figure out which content or products are making you the most money. You might find that your YouTube review of the Vital Seamless collection is converting like crazy, while your Instagram posts are just so-so. That’s a clear signal to double down on what’s working.

Getting a handle on this process is the first real step in mastering affiliate marketing for content creators. It all comes down to a simple, trackable system where Gymshark rewards you for sending them customers, with Rakuten acting as the trusted middleman making sure everything is transparent and fair.

Breaking Down the Commission and Payouts

Alright, let’s get into the part that really matters—how much you can actually make. Gymshark offers a commission rate of up to 4% on every sale that comes through your link. Now, I know what you might be thinking. 4% doesn’t sound like a huge number, especially if you’ve seen programs for digital products. But in the world of fitness apparel, where the profit margins are much tighter, that’s actually a pretty solid rate.

What really makes this work is Gymshark’s brand power and, more importantly, its high average order value (AOV). People aren’t just buying one pair of shorts; they’re often checking out with a full cart. The typical AOV hovers somewhere between $150 and $175, which means that 4% starts to look a lot more appealing.

Your job isn’t to convince people that Gymshark is a good brand; they already know that. Your role is simply to be the final, trusted recommendation that guides them to click “buy,” making the 4% commission much easier to earn.

From Percentage to Real Money

So, what does that 4% commission actually translate to in your bank account? Let’s run a quick, simple example.

Say you get 100 people to click your affiliate link this month. With a decent 3% conversion rate, three of them end up buying something. If we take a conservative AOV of $150, you’ve just generated $450 in sales.

Your 4% cut of that is $18. I get it, that’s not life-changing money. But remember, this is based on just 100 clicks. The affiliates who are really succeeding with this program are driving thousands of clicks every month from their SEO-optimized blogs, YouTube reviews, and engaged social media accounts. Scale that up to 5,000 clicks a month, and suddenly you’re looking at $900 from this one program alone. It really puts into perspective how much affiliates can realistically make when they get the traffic flowing.

The Payout Process Explained

Getting paid is thankfully pretty straightforward. The entire process is handled by the Rakuten network, so you don’t have to chase anyone down for your money. Gymshark pays out on a reliable monthly schedule, which means you can count on consistent income.

There are a couple of key things to know, though:

• Minimum Payout Threshold: You’ll need to hit at least $50 in commissions before you can cash out. If you don’t make it one month, no big deal—your earnings just roll over to the next month until you hit the threshold.
• Payment Methods: Rakuten gives you a few options for getting your money. You can set up direct deposit to your bank account, get a physical check mailed to you, or use PayPal. The choice is yours, depending on what’s easiest for you.

This system is clean and dependable, which is a huge plus. Once you hit that minimum payout, your commissions are processed and sent automatically every month. It lets you focus on creating great content instead of worrying about invoices and payments. It’s a simple, reliable setup that works well for creators at any level.

Getting Approved: A Look Inside the Application

Getting into the Gymshark affiliate program is the first real hurdle. It’s less about having a massive follower count and more about the quality and vibe of your brand. Think of your application like a pitch—they want partners who mirror their own commitment to fitness and quality.

The whole show runs through the Rakuten Advertising network. First, you’ll need to set up a Rakuten account, which means plugging in details about your main content platform, whether that’s a blog, YouTube channel, or Instagram profile. Once your Rakuten profile is good to go, you can search for the Gymshark program and apply directly.

What Gymshark Actually Looks For

Here’s the thing: approval isn’t just a numbers game. The team at Gymshark manually reviews every single application. They’re looking for specific signs that you’d be a solid partner. It’s about building a community of genuine fitness fans, not just collecting a list of links.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what they really care about:

• High-Quality, Original Content: Your posts, videos, or articles need to look good and actually offer something of value. Grainy photos and generic “get fit” captions just won’t fly.
• A Professional Brand Image: Your website or social media profile should be clean, easy to navigate, and have a consistent look that fits the fitness world.
• Genuine Audience Engagement: They look past follower counts to see if you have a real, active community. We’re talking actual comments, conversations, and a clear connection with your audience.
• Clear Niche Alignment: Your content has to be squarely focused on fitness, health, or wellness. A lifestyle account that throws in a workout post now and then is way less likely to get the nod than an account that lives and breathes fitness.

Getting approved really boils down to proving you’re a serious creator who has already built a trusted voice in the fitness space. It’s about showing them you can represent their brand professionally.

Common Reasons for Rejection

Plenty of excited creators get turned down, and it’s usually for reasons they could have avoided. Knowing the common mistakes is the best way to craft an application that actually gets seen. One of the biggest no-nos is applying with a brand-new website or social profile that has barely any content or history. Gymshark wants to partner with established voices.

Another major red flag is a lack of transparency. If your site feels spammy, is drowning in ads, or doesn’t make it clear who you are, it just screams low quality. Same goes for your engagement—if it looks fake (think comment pods or a sudden jump in followers), they’ll likely hit the reject button fast.

And finally, applying with content that is off-brand or unprofessional is a guaranteed rejection. Make sure your platform is a polished, authentic reflection of your passion for fitness before you even think about submitting. Honestly, this prep work is a huge part of any successful Gymshark affiliate program review.

Weighing the Pros and Cons

Look, no affiliate program is a one-size-fits-all solution, and this Gymshark affiliate program review wouldn’t be honest without digging into both sides of the coin. The real trick is figuring out if the trade-offs work for you and your audience.

The single biggest plus is the sheer force of the Gymshark brand. You’re not just pushing workout gear; you’re tapping into a global fitness movement that people already know and love. This built-in trust and brand power do a lot of the heavy lifting for you, leading to much higher conversion rates than you’d see with a lesser-known company.

Gymshark also keeps the hype train rolling with high-quality creative assets and frequent, high-demand product drops. These launches create genuine buzz, giving you perfect, timely events to build content around that your audience is actually excited to see. That excitement translates directly into clicks and sales.

The Benefits of Partnering with Gymshark

• Immense Brand Recognition: You get to ride the coattails of Gymshark’s stellar reputation. This means you spend less time convincing your audience and more time connecting with them.
• High Website Conversion Rate: The official Gymshark store is a well-oiled machine built for sales. The traffic you work hard to send over is far more likely to actually turn into commissions.
• Access to Quality Marketing Materials: Affiliates get a library of professional banners, links, and promo content, which saves you a ton of time on the creative side.

The bottom line is this: you get to plug into a world-class marketing engine. Your job shifts from being a hard-seller to a trusted guide for an audience that’s already interested, and that’s a fantastic spot for any creator to be in.

Understanding the Drawbacks

Now for the other side. The program definitely has its limitations, and the most glaring one is the up-to-4% commission rate. Yes, the high average order value helps soften the blow, but that percentage is on the low end compared to many other programs out there, especially in the digital product space.

Competition is another beast entirely. This program is incredibly popular, which means you’re not just competing for sales—you’re competing against thousands of other creators for your audience’s attention. To cut through the noise, you need a unique angle and a genuinely engaged community. Finally, Gymshark has pretty strict brand guidelines you have to play by, which can feel a bit restrictive on your creative freedom.

The brand’s massive success with its ambassador and influencer network is a double-edged sword. This network reaches over 20 million people and pulls in a 3x to 5x return on ad spend (ROAS). It proves the model works, but it also means you’re a small fish in a very big, very crowded pond.

When you’re weighing all this, it helps to see how it stacks up against other opportunities in the creator world. For instance, comparing it to a program like Klap’s affiliate program can give you a better feel for different commission structures and partnership requirements.

Benefits and Drawbacks Side-by-Side

To make things even clearer, let’s break it down into a simple side-by-side comparison. This will help you see the good and the not-so-good at a glance.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to your personal strategy. If you have a highly engaged audience that already loves Gymshark, the high conversion rates might easily make up for the lower commission percentage. But if you’re starting from scratch or prefer more creative control and higher payouts, you might find a better fit elsewhere.

Strategies to Maximize Your Affiliate Earnings

Getting that approval email is just the starting line. The real work is turning your affiliate link into a steady stream of income, and that takes a bit of strategy.

Success with Gymshark isn’t about just spamming your link everywhere. It’s about creating real, valuable content that your audience actually wants to see. When you solve a problem or answer a question for them, they start to trust you. That trust is what turns a follower into a customer who uses your link.

Master High-Converting Content Formats

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. Certain types of content just work for apparel brands like Gymshark. Focus your energy on these proven formats, and you’ll create assets that can earn you commissions for months, or even years, to come.

Here are a few ideas that consistently get results:

• YouTube Try-On Hauls: These are gold. They show your audience how different sizes and styles fit a real person. Be honest, though. If a pair of leggings isn’t flattering, say so. That kind of real-talk builds the trust that drives sales.
• SEO-Optimized Collection Reviews: Dive deep with a blog post reviewing a popular line like Adapt or Vital Seamless. Target specific, long-tail keywords like “Gymshark Vital Seamless 2.0 leggings review” to catch people who are already close to buying.
• Instagram Story “Drops”: When a new collection is about to launch, build the hype. Use countdown stickers, polls, and Q&As on your Instagram Stories. This creates a sense of urgency that gets people clicking the moment the products go live.

Your goal is to become a trusted resource, not a walking billboard. When your audience sees you as a genuine expert, clicking your link feels like a natural next step for them.

Build a Sustainable Affiliate Business

One-off promotions are nice, but the real money is in thinking like a business owner. The affiliate marketing industry is projected to hit a market value of $31.7 billion by 2031, with creators set to pull in $1.3 billion in affiliate revenue in 2025 alone. Gymshark’s whole strategy is built around creators like you, showing just how big the potential is if you build a solid foundation.

Beyond just the Gymshark program, applying proven strategies for growing an online business will massively help your overall affiliate success. Building a strong personal brand and truly understanding your audience are non-negotiable.

And since we’re talking fitness, learning how to properly monetize Instagram is critical. It’s still one of the main platforms where traffic and sales happen in this space.

Common Questions About the Program

Alright, let’s wrap this up by tackling some of the most common questions I see people asking about the Gymshark affiliate program. These are the quick-hit answers to help you figure out if it’s the right move for you.

What’s the Difference Between a Gymshark Affiliate and a Gymshark Athlete?

Think of it as two totally different leagues. A Gymshark Affiliate is someone who partners with the brand on a performance basis, usually through an affiliate network like Rakuten. Your main gig is to earn a commission from sales you drive with your unique link. It’s the more accessible path for a wide range of creators.

A Gymshark Athlete, however, is the big leagues. This is a highly exclusive, invite-only sponsorship. These are the faces you see in major campaigns. It’s a formal contract that often comes with retainers, free gear, and travel, putting them at the very top of the brand’s representation.

Can I Join If I Live Outside the US or UK?

Yep, you absolutely can. Since the program runs through Rakuten Advertising, which operates globally, it’s open to creators from all over.

As long as Gymshark ships to your audience’s country and you can get paid through one of Rakuten’s methods, you’re good to go. It’s always smart to just quickly double-check Rakuten’s terms for your specific country before you dive in, just in case there are any weird payment rules.

Are There Rules for Promoting My Affiliate Link?

For sure. And not following them is the quickest way to get kicked out. Always read the official terms of service, but here are the big ones you really need to remember:

• No Self-Purchasing: You can’t use your own affiliate link to buy stuff for yourself. That’s a classic no-no in the affiliate world.
• PPC Bidding Restrictions: You’re typically not allowed to run paid search ads bidding on branded keywords like “Gymshark” or “Gymshark discount.” They want to avoid competing with their own ads.
• Mandatory Disclosure: You have to be upfront with your audience about your partnership. Using tags like #ad or #sponsored is required to comply with advertising laws and, honestly, it just builds trust.

Ready to stop guessing and start building a real, profitable affiliate business? Daniel Proctor offers a free masterclass that breaks down the exact systems used to generate passive income. Watch the free training now and learn the repeatable steps to build your own success story.