SaaS Reseller vs. Affiliate: What’s the Better Path for Solopreneurs?

Solopreneurs face a constant balancing act: limited time, limited resources, unlimited responsibilities. When it comes to building revenue streams in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) space, two business models often come up—becoming a SaaS reseller or joining a SaaS affiliate program.

Both paths can generate passive income. Both let you leverage someone else's product. But they differ in how you operate, earn, and scale. Which is the better path for a solopreneur? Let’s break it down.

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What Is a SaaS Affiliate?

A SaaS affiliate promotes another company’s software product and earns a commission for every customer they refer who signs up or pays.

Key Characteristics:

• No customer service or product management.

• No upfront costs (in most cases).

• Revenue is commission-based, typically a percentage of sales or recurring payments.

• You’re a marketer, not a seller.

Affiliates focus on content, SEO, ads, email marketing—whatever gets eyeballs and clicks. Your job is to convince users to try a tool, not to manage their journey after.

Pros:

• Easy to start: Just sign up, get a link, and promote.

• No customer support needed.

• Recurring commissions are common.

• Scales well with content or ad spend.

Cons:

• Low control over pricing or branding.

• Commission rates can be cut at any time.

• You're at the mercy of the company’s affiliate rules.

• You don’t own the customer relationship.

What Is a SaaS Reseller?

As a SaaS reseller, you sell access to a SaaS product under your own brand or as a white-label solution. You usually buy licenses in bulk (or get a discounted rate) and resell them to clients at a markup.

Key Characteristics:

• You’re a service provider or consultant.

• Higher margins, since you set your own price.

• You manage customer onboarding and support.

• Closer to a real business, not just a revenue link.

This model is common among digital agencies, IT consultants, or niche service providers. You can bundle the SaaS with your own services or build a business entirely around the product.

Pros:

• You control pricing and margins.

• You own the customer relationship.

• You can offer value-added services.

• Greater potential for brand building and long-term income.

Cons:

• Requires customer support or onboarding.

• Can involve upfront costs or commitments.

• More complex setup and operations.

• Less passive than affiliate income.

Head-to-Head: SaaS Affiliate vs. Reseller

Let’s compare the two models across key areas.

1. Startup Costs

• Affiliate: Almost zero. Sign up, promote, earn.

• Reseller: Varies. Some platforms have monthly fees, license minimums, or integration costs.

Winner: Affiliate.

If you’re cash-strapped and need to start lean, affiliate wins.

2. Revenue Potential

• Affiliate: Typically 10–40% commission. Some offer lifetime or recurring payouts.

• Reseller: You can mark up subscriptions significantly—50% to 200% isn’t rare.

Winner: Reseller.

Affiliates may earn $10–$50 per sale; resellers can earn $100–$500+ per client, per month, depending on your pricing strategy.

3. Control and Branding

• Affiliate: Minimal control. You promote someone else's brand.

• Reseller: Full control. You can white-label the software and create your own customer experience.

Winner: Reseller.

If you're building a business with long-term value, reselling offers more control and brand equity.

4. Customer Relationship

• Affiliate: The company owns the customer. You send traffic and hope they convert.

• Reseller: You own the customer. You manage support, billing, and upselling.

Winner: Reseller.

With ownership comes responsibility—but also opportunity. You can deepen the relationship and upsell other services.

5. Scalability

• Affiliate: Highly scalable. You can promote to 10 or 10,000 people with the same effort if you’re good at content or ads.

• Reseller: Scalability depends on your model. If you handle onboarding and support personally, it’s harder to scale.

Winner: Affiliate (unless you automate support or build a team).

If your goal is passive income without touching customer service, affiliate is the clear choice.

What Kind of Solopreneur Should Choose Each?

Go Affiliate If:

• You’re a content creator, blogger, YouTuber, or influencer.

• You’re strong in SEO, paid ads, or email marketing.

• You want a side income stream without dealing with customers.

• You prefer lower-risk, low-commitment models.

Affiliate marketing is best if your main skill is marketing, not operations or service.

Go Reseller If:

• You’re a freelancer, consultant, or agency serving clients.

• You already offer web design, marketing, or IT services.

• You want to own the full client relationship and upsell.

• You’re okay with more complexity in exchange for higher profits.

Reselling is for solopreneurs who are ready to build a business, not just a revenue stream.

Hybrid Path: Start as an Affiliate, Grow Into a Reseller

Here’s a strategy that many solopreneurs use:

1. Start as an affiliate. Test the waters. Promote tools you believe in. Build an audience.

2. Learn what your audience wants. See what they click on, what sells, and what kinds of problems they’re trying to solve.

3. Pick a winner and go deeper. Once you see a tool getting traction, consider becoming a reseller for it.

4. Build a service around it. Offer onboarding, customization, or support. Bundle it into your consulting packages.

This path minimizes risk, builds trust, and lets you graduate from commission chaser to business builder.

Examples in the Wild

1. ClickFunnels

• Affiliate Program: 30–40% recurring commission.

• Reseller Option: Become a certified partner and sell ClickFunnels setups as a service.

2. GoHighLevel

• Affiliate: One-time or recurring commissions for referrals.

• Reseller: White-label the platform and sell it as your own SaaS.

3. Notion or Airtable Templates

• Affiliate: Promote paid templates or upgrades.

• Reseller: Build and sell custom setups for teams or clients.

These hybrid models are popular for a reason—they let solopreneurs grow from promotion to ownership.

Final Verdict: Which Is Better?

There’s no universal answer. It depends on your goals, skills, and risk appetite.

• Choose affiliate if you want low-maintenance income and have strong marketing skills.

• Choose reseller if you want to build a higher-margin business and don’t mind supporting customers.

For solopreneurs looking to grow a real brand or service, reselling is often the more sustainable long-term play. But for those testing the waters or stacking income streams, affiliate marketing is a great launchpad.

Factor	Affiliate	Reseller
Setup Time	Very low	Moderate
Upfront Costs	Minimal or none	Low to medium
Revenue Potential	Low to moderate	Moderate to high
Control & Branding	None	High
Customer Ownership	No	Yes
Support Required	None	Yes
Scalability	High	Moderate (unless automated)
Best For	Content creators, marketers	Freelancers, consultants

In the end, the "better" path is the one that fits how you work and what you want your business to become. If you just want a hands-off income stream, affiliate is hard to beat. If you’re ready to build something that scales with your effort and adds real value to clients, reselling gives you the keys.

Either way, the SaaS ecosystem is rich with opportunity. Pick a path, get started, and iterate.

About LMS Portals

At LMS Portals, we provide our clients and partners with a mobile-responsive, SaaS-based, multi-tenant learning management system that allows you to launch a dedicated training environment (a portal) for each of your unique audiences.

The system includes built-in, SCORM-compliant rapid course development software that provides a drag and drop engine to enable most anyone to build engaging courses quickly and easily. 

We also offer a complete library of ready-made courses, covering most every aspect of corporate training and employee development.

If you choose to, you can create Learning Paths to deliver courses in a logical progression and add structure to your training program.  The system also supports Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) and provides tools for social learning.

Together, these features make LMS Portals the ideal SaaS-based eLearning platform for our clients and our Reseller partners.

Contact us today to get started or visit our Partner Program pages