ClickBank vs Digistore24: Payouts, EPC, Approval (2026)

Which network pays affiliates faster, ClickBank or Digistore24?

ClickBank pays faster once you clear the one-time CDR. Digistore24 can look faster on paper because it starts at EUR 50 on one payout date, but the 10% security retention and fixed calendar slow the money that actually lands in your account. The current help docs list 4 payout dates per month, not a true weekly run. That matters.

Per ClickBank support docs, new accounts do not receive the first payout until they show 5 sales that meet internal criteria: unique customers, each sale more than 14 days old, and a mix of payment methods. After that, ClickBank pays weekly or biweekly on Fridays, and you can set a threshold from $10 to $1,000,000, with $100 as the default. Per Digistore24 Help Center, payouts normally run on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th, with EUR 50 on the 7th and EUR 200 on the other dates.

That is the whole trade.

How do ClickBank gravity and Digistore24 popularity compare as signals?

ClickBank gravity is a usable screening signal because it compresses recent affiliate activity into one number. Digistore24 does not expose a gravity clone in the docs I checked, so you have to read more pieces at once: top products, top vendors, cancellation rate, earnings per visitor, and trust level. Gravity is faster. Digistore24 asks for more work.

Per ClickBank support docs, gravity reflects how many affiliates earned a commission on an offer in the past 90 days, with recent activity weighted more heavily. That makes it good for finding offers that are live now, not offers that looked hot 2 quarters ago. It is still only a proxy. A high gravity offer can be crowded, and a low gravity offer can still print if the page fits your traffic.

Per Digistore24 Help Center, the platform gives you top product and vendor views, cancellation rates, earnings per visitor, and funnel stats. I treat that as a broader but slower signal. You do not get one neat public number. You get enough fields to tell whether the funnel is healthy.

Read the trend, not the headline.

Which network is easier to get approved on as a new media buyer?

ClickBank is easier for most new media buyers. That is the part people fight about, because Digistore24 looks looser once you see automatic affiliations, but the actual operating path is heavier. ClickBank lets you open an account, create nicknames, and generate tracking links quickly on offers that do not require seller pre-approval. Digistore24 adds company data, VAT or tax details in Europe, and a more explicit approval layer for products and marketplace entries.

Per ClickBank support docs, you can sign up, search the marketplace, and request a tracking link. Some sellers require pre-approval, but that is seller-specific, not a network-wide gate. On Digistore24, the affiliate marketplace is open to browse, and many vendors accept partnerships automatically, but the network still expects the account and tax setup to be clean. Per Digistore24 Help Center, payouts only go to companies, not private individuals.

• ClickBank: faster first link, narrower seller-side pre-approval.
• Digistore24: easier once your company record is already clean and your vendor is auto-accepting.
• For a solo US buyer, ClickBank usually has less friction on day 1.

If you already have an EU company and you are promoting to EU buyers, the gap shrinks. For a blank account, it does not.

Where are EPCs actually higher for nutra and info offers?

I would not name a universal winner. For nutra, ClickBank usually gives the cleaner EPC read because its marketplace stats were built around 30-day EPC and 90-day average $/conversion. For EU-facing info offers, Digistore24 can win when the checkout, upsells, and language match the traffic. The network does not save a weak offer, but it can preserve a strong one.

Per ClickBank support docs, EPC is average net commission per click over the last 30 days. That is useful because it keeps you away from vanity metrics. Digistore24's conversion cockpit focuses on earnings per visitor and funnel performance, which is closer to a merchant-side read than an affiliate hype score. Different tools, different blind spots.

Here is the practical version. If a nutra offer pays $25 on initial conversion and converts at 4%, the gross EPC is $1.00 before refunds, fees, and media cost. If refunds erase 20% of those sales, the real EPC falls to $0.80. A prettier gravity number does not change that math.

For info offers, the better EPC often comes from the page that matches the buyer, not the network badge on the footer.

How do refund handling and the 10% security retention differ?

The percentage is similar. The clock is different. ClickBank withholds a 10% return allowance for about 12 weeks, then releases it. Digistore24 withholds 10% as security retention for 60 days, and that reserve is tied to its payout schedule and threshold logic. If you care about usable cash, the release date matters more than the label.

Per ClickBank support docs and Digistore24 Help Center, a sale that returns debits the payout back out of the seller and affiliate accounts. ClickBank also gives the seller 24 hours to try to save the sale before the refund is processed automatically. Digistore24's payout overview shows commissions, merchant reserve, chargebacks, refunds, and the final payout amount. The networks both reserve against reversals, but they do it on different clocks.

Example: one $100 commission on ClickBank. If the account has already cleared CDR and the threshold, the money can issue on the next Friday, but $10 stays in return allowance until roughly day 84. Example: one EUR 100 commission on Digistore24. In many cases, EUR 90 becomes payable after 14 days, and the last EUR 10 unlocks after 60 days, assuming the account still clears the payout threshold. That is why a gross EPC screenshot is not the same thing as bankable revenue.

Which network wins for EU, LATAM, and US traffic?

US traffic usually fits ClickBank better. EU traffic usually fits Digistore24 better. LATAM is the middle case, and you should decide it by language, checkout friction, and payout rail rather than network loyalty. Same law. Different buyers.

Per Digistore24 Help Center, the platform is built around European reseller logic, multilingual product pages, and automatic or manual affiliate partnerships. Per ClickBank support docs, payments can run weekly or biweekly, and direct deposit is available in the US and select countries. That makes ClickBank a cleaner first test for English-language US traffic. Digistore24 becomes stronger when the page is localized and the vendor already lives inside the EU business stack.

For LATAM, I would not treat either network as automatic. If the offer is Spanish or Portuguese and the checkout is localized well, Digistore24 can work. If the offer is a US-facing VSL and the traffic source is broad social or search, ClickBank usually gives you fewer operational surprises.

Per FTC Endorsement Guides and Meta Advertising Standards and Ad Library docs, the ad-law floor does not move with the network. Claims must be truthful, substantiated, and properly disclosed, and Meta reviews ads before they go live.

Which offers are scaling on each network right now?

I cannot certify today's top sellers without a live listings database, and I am not going to fake a ranking. What I can say is how to spot what is scaling this week: current marketplace activity, current ad repetition, and a refund curve that survives the first settlement window. If those three line up, the offer is probably real.

On ClickBank, look for rising gravity, a healthy 30-day EPC, and a seller who does not trap you in a slow approval loop. Per ClickBank support docs, brand-new offers may not even have enough data yet, so a low- or blank-gravity listing is not automatically bad. It may just be new. On Digistore24, look for top product and top vendor placement, automatic affiliations, low cancellation rates, and a Conversion Cockpit that shows real visitors, purchases, and earnings per visitor. That is the live read.

Per Meta Advertising Standards and Ad Library docs, the Ad Library is useful only as a check on which ads are active now. It does not tell you ordinary commercial spend, and it does not tell you whether the offer is profitable. It will still catch your eye on what is currently being pushed. Use it as a sanity check, not as a leaderboard.

The offers worth testing are the ones still buying traffic this week and still looking healthy after the refund window.

Frequently asked questions

Which is faster for a first payout?

ClickBank is usually faster. Once CDR is cleared, weekly or biweekly Friday payouts can start moving. Digistore24 has a lower stated threshold on some dates, but the 10% reserve and fixed payout calendar slow the cash.

Is Digistore24 easier for affiliates?

Only if your account is already set up as a business. Automatic partnerships help, but VAT or tax data and payout rules add friction. For a brand-new solo buyer, ClickBank is usually simpler.

Should I trust gravity or EPC more?

EPC is the cleaner number. Gravity tells you whether other affiliates got paid recently. EPC tells you what each click returned. Use gravity to shortlist, EPC to decide, and refunds to sanity-check the decision.

Which network should I test first for US traffic?

ClickBank is the first test for most US traffic. The checkout, payout rhythm, and seller-side approval model usually fit US English offers better. Test Digistore24 first only when the vendor and page are already EU-native.

Sources

Named rather than linked — verify before relying on any figure below.

• ClickBank support docs
• Digistore24 Help Center
• FTC Endorsement Guides
• Meta Advertising Standards and Ad Library docs