If you’ve been in the affiliate space for any length of time, you’ve probably wondered whether you’re on the right platforms, whether you should be on all of them, and whether the grass is greener somewhere you’re not currently posting. So LTK vs ShopMy vs Amazon, let’s get into it.
It’s a fair question. LTK, ShopMy, and Amazon are the three platforms dominating the affiliate conversation right now. And each one serves a different creator in a different way. Before we get into the breakdown, one thing worth saying clearly: none of these platforms are discovery tools. Your audience finds you on Instagram or TikTok and follows you to wherever you’re linking. The platform you choose is a conversion tool, not a growth strategy. That distinction matters when you’re deciding where to invest your energy.
Here is an honest breakdown of all three.
LTK
LTK is the most established platform in the fashion and lifestyle affiliate space, and it has earned that position. It has a built-in shopping audience, a native app with real consumer behavior, and a format that fashion creators have been building around for years. If your content is rooted in general fashion, everyday style, or lifestyle, LTK tends to be the most natural home base.
Where LTK particularly shines is with what we’d call the OG creator. You know the ones. Heavy on links, hauls, styling videos, outfit roundups, and product content. Several posts a week. A loyal audience that follows them specifically for the recommendations, not necessarily for the personal narrative. This style of content and this type of creator-audience relationship is where LTK has always performed best, and it continues to do so. The platform also tends to resonate strongly with a millennial audience and up. Also with shoppers who are already familiar with LTK, already have the app, and already trust the format.
One thing worth knowing: LTK is a platform that rewards commitment and recognizable style. Anyone can succeed there, but it takes effort and consistency like anything else. Half-hearted participation rarely produces strong results.
With nearly a decade of working on LTK, it is the platform we know most deeply at Right Hand Gals, and that expertise is something we bring to every client we support there.
Best for: General fashion and lifestyle creators, established creators, and those with a millennial-and-up audience already familiar with the platform.
ShopMy
ShopMy has grown quickly and with good reason. The commission rates tend to be higher, the customization options are more sophisticated, and the overall aesthetic lends itself to a more curated, aspirational storefront experience. If your brand identity is built around quality, elevation, or a highly visual point of view, ShopMy reflects that in a way that feels intentional rather than just functional.
One of ShopMy’s most underutilized advantages is its gifting and campaign opportunities. Brands on ShopMy actively use the platform to connect with creators through gifting programs and lower-lift campaign offerings. Creators who are consistently linking and building their presence on the platform can move through the tiers and access more opportunities over time. For a creator focused on building genuine brand relationships, this is a meaningful differentiator.
ShopMy also tends to resonate particularly well with younger audiences, both in terms of age and in terms of where they are in their journey as a consumer of creator content. Gen Z and younger millennials are drawn to the visual formatting and the curated, aspirational quality of a well-built ShopMy storefront. If your audience skews younger or is newer to following creators, ShopMy is worth prioritizing.
It is also worth noting that some of the most successful creators on ShopMy are established, experienced creators who committed to the platform fully. The results are there for anyone willing to put in the work. It is not a platform that rewards a passive approach, but neither is anything else worth doing.
ShopMy is also an excellent fit for luxury, beauty, and skincare creators where the elevated aesthetic and higher commission structure align naturally with the content and the audience’s buying behavior.
Best for: Luxury, beauty, and skincare creators. Younger audiences and newer creator-consumer relationships. Creators focused on brand relationship building.
Amazon
Amazon operates differently from both LTK and ShopMy, and it plays by its own rules. The audience arriving at your Amazon storefront is already in a purchasing mindset. That built-in intent is one of Amazon’s biggest strengths, and for creators in the affordable fashion space or those sharing home, beauty, or everyday finds, it can be an incredibly productive revenue stream.
Every creator, regardless of niche, should maintain an updated Amazon storefront. Even luxury creators who also share household finds or real-life everyday purchases have an audience that shops on Amazon and appreciates that recommendation. The key is knowing how your specific audience shops and organizing your storefront accordingly. Testing different formats, including idea lists, shoppable posts, and graphics, and paying attention to what your audience actually clicks and converts on, is how you build an Amazon presence that works rather than one that just exists.
One channel that is genuinely underutilized for Amazon-focused and affordable fashion creators right now is Facebook. Distributing content to a Facebook creator page alongside your Instagram posting is producing real results in this space. The audience behavior on Facebook skews toward purchase intent in a way that pairs naturally with the Amazon shopping mindset. Most creators in this space are not fully leveraging it yet.
Commission rates on Amazon are lower than ShopMy, and the platform rewards volume and consistency. Having a system behind your Amazon presence is what separates creators who earn meaningfully from it and those who treat it as an afterthought.
Best for: Affordable fashion creators, home and lifestyle creators, and any creator with an audience that has strong everyday purchase intent.
So which platforms should you actually be on?
Our general recommendation is Amazon plus either LTK or ShopMy, but not all three unless you are genuinely prepared to manage all three well. Spreading across every platform without the strategy or bandwidth to do any of them justice is one of the most common mistakes we see. Additionally, it tends to confuse audiences more than it serves them.
Which of the two you lead with alongside Amazon comes down to your niche, your audience, and where you are in your creator journey. A general fashion or lifestyle creator with an established audience is usually best served by LTK. A luxury, beauty, or skincare creator should be building on ShopMy. A creator with a younger or newer audience has a real opportunity on ShopMy as well.
There is no universal right answer, and frankly, getting that combination wrong is a costly mistake in both time and revenue. The creators earning the most from affiliate are not necessarily on the most platforms. They are on the right ones, with a deliberate strategy behind each one.
The other thing worth addressing directly: organic affiliate and brand deals are not competing priorities, they work together. Creators who build genuine audience trust through consistent, intentional affiliate content are the ones who walk into brand deal conversations with real leverage. Prioritizing brand deals before that organic foundation is in place is another common mistakes we see. It limits earning potential in both directions.
The bottom line
LTK, ShopMy, and Amazon each have genuine merit. The question is never which platform is best in general. It is which platform is best for you, your niche, your audience, and where you are right now.
If you are not sure which combination makes the most sense, that is exactly the kind of strategic conversation we have with every creator before we build anything.
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