You’ve probably seen John Crestani’s face on a YouTube ad. The mansion in the background. The laptop-on-the-beach lifestyle. The promise that affiliate marketing can make you rich without creating a single product.
And now you’re here, wondering if any of it is real.
I get it. After 15+ years reviewing online business programs, I’ve sat through hundreds of these pitches. Some deliver. Most don’t. John Crestani is one of those figures who sits right in the middle — genuinely knowledgeable, but wrapped in the kind of marketing that makes skeptical people click away.
So let’s cut through it. In this review, I’ll break down who John Crestani actually is, what his Super Affiliate System teaches, what it costs, and whether it’s worth your money in 2026. I’ll also cover his newer AI Marketers Club program, since that’s where much of his focus has shifted.
But first — if you want to skip the $997 course gamble and see what I’d do instead, keep reading this section.
What I’d Do Instead of Paid Ad Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing through paid ads can work. But spending money every day to test campaigns — with no guarantee of return — isn’t my idea of a smart first business.
I build simple two-page websites that rank in Google for local service businesses. Each site generates $500 to $1,500 per month in recurring revenue. No ad spend, no chasing commissions, no algorithm changes wiping out your income overnight. Just ranked websites generating leads that local businesses pay monthly for.
Go here to see exactly how this works
Now — the full John Crestani breakdown.
Who Is John Crestani?
John Crestani is a digital marketer and affiliate marketing educator based in Los Angeles. He’s been in the space since roughly 2012, and he’s built a legitimate reputation — alongside some equally legitimate controversy.
His background, in short: Crestani attended California State University, Northridge, where he studied marketing. Before going full-time into affiliate marketing, he worked at a digital marketing agency running pay-per-click campaigns. He found he had a talent for it, eventually going independent and scaling his own affiliate campaigns to significant revenue.
He claims to have generated over $500,000 per month at his peak through affiliate marketing — primarily using paid advertising on platforms like Facebook, Google, and YouTube. Those numbers are difficult to verify independently, but he has been featured in Forbes and Business Insider, which at least suggests his income claims aren’t entirely fabricated.
His YouTube channel has over 600,000 subscribers and 30+ million views, making him one of the most visible affiliate marketing educators online. His estimated net worth sits around $7.5-$11.5 million, depending on the source.
The Controversies
No John Crestani review would be honest without mentioning the red flags that follow him:
The university cheating scandal. Early in his career, Crestani reportedly used his tech skills to obtain test answers for online courses at his university, which he then sold to other students. He’s been fairly open about this in interviews, framing it as early entrepreneurial instinct. You can decide how you feel about that.
PayPal bans. Crestani’s accounts were banned from PayPal at one point, though the exact reasons remain unclear. This isn’t uncommon among aggressive affiliate marketers, but it’s still worth noting.
Aggressive marketing tactics. His sales pages use countdown timers, inflated pricing comparisons, and high-pressure urgency tactics. None of this is illegal, but it does set a tone. If the marketing feels manipulative going in, that tells you something about the culture of the program.
Trustpilot ratings. His Super Affiliate System holds a 2.5/5 rating on Trustpilot. Common complaints include difficulty getting refunds, the course pushing students to promote the course itself as their affiliate offer, and underwhelming customer support.
How John Crestani Built His Business
Understanding Crestani’s journey matters because it reveals the gap between his marketing and reality.
After leaving university, Crestani worked at an internet marketing agency where he learned pay-per-click advertising — specifically how to run profitable campaigns on Google and Facebook. He was reportedly fired from that position, which became a key part of his origin story narrative: “I got fired, so I started my own thing.”
He then spent several years running affiliate campaigns independently. His approach was straightforward: find affiliate offers (health supplements, software, finance products), create landing pages, and drive paid traffic to those pages. When the math worked — when the commissions exceeded the ad spend — he scaled the campaigns.
By his own account, he hit $500,000 per month in revenue at his peak. But revenue is not profit. In paid advertising, your margins depend entirely on the spread between what you spend on ads and what you earn in commissions. Industry insiders estimate that profitable affiliate marketers typically keep 20-40% of revenue as profit, which would put Crestani’s actual monthly income at $100,000-$200,000 at his peak — still impressive, but a different number than the one his marketing emphasises.
At some point — and this is the trajectory that almost every successful affiliate marketer follows — Crestani realised that teaching affiliate marketing was more profitable and more stable than doing affiliate marketing. Course sales provide upfront revenue without ad spend risk. And when your students become your affiliates (promoting your course for commissions), you’ve created a self-reinforcing machine.
This isn’t unique to Crestani. It’s the standard playbook. But it’s worth understanding because it reframes everything: the product he’s really optimised for selling isn’t affiliate marketing success. It’s the Super Affiliate System itself.
What Is the Super Affiliate System?
The Super Affiliate System (SAS) is John Crestani’s flagship course. It’s a six-week training program with over 50 hours of video content that teaches affiliate marketing through paid advertising.
Here’s what the course covers week by week:
Week 1 — System Setup: The basics of affiliate marketing, setting up your business infrastructure, and understanding how the model works.
Week 2 — Niche and Offer Selection: How to pick profitable niches and find affiliate offers to promote. Crestani tends to focus on high-commission niches like finance, health, and software.
Week 3 — Facebook Ads: Campaign creation, audience targeting, ad creative, and optimisation. This is a heavy focus area.
Week 4 — Google Ads and YouTube Ads: Expanding beyond Facebook into other paid traffic channels.
Week 5 — Copywriting and Funnels: Writing ad copy, building landing pages, and setting up email sequences that convert.
Week 6 — Scaling: How to scale winning campaigns and manage your ad spend as revenue grows.
The course also includes access to a private Facebook group, weekly webinars, pre-built campaign templates, and affiliate network referrals.
What It Costs
The Super Affiliate System costs $997 as a one-time payment. There’s no payment plan option that I’ve seen recently.
But that’s not the full picture. To actually implement what SAS teaches, you’ll need additional budget for:
- Paid advertising ($500-$2,000+ to test campaigns properly)
- Landing page software (ClickFunnels, Leadpages, etc. — $49-$97/month)
- Email marketing tools ($30-$50/month)
- Tracking software ($29-$99/month)
Realistically, you’re looking at $2,000-$3,000 minimum to get started when you factor in the course plus implementation costs. That’s not pocket change, especially for beginners who might burn through ad spend before finding a profitable campaign.
AI Marketers Club: Crestani’s Newer Program
In 2025-2026, Crestani shifted much of his focus to the AI Marketers Club, which teaches affiliate marketing using AI tools for content creation and campaign management.
The program is significantly cheaper than SAS and focuses on:
- Using AI tools to create faceless social media content for TikTok and Instagram
- AI-powered ad copy and creative generation
- Daily checklists and step-by-step action plans
- Promoting affiliate offers through ClickBank and similar networks
The appeal is obvious — lower barrier to entry, no huge ad budgets required, and leveraging AI to speed up content creation. Some students have reported making their first ClickBank commissions within months.
That said, the AI-generated content space is becoming incredibly saturated. What worked in early 2025 is already harder in 2026 as platforms crack down on low-quality, AI-generated content and competition explodes.
What I Like About John Crestani’s Programs
He’s a real practitioner. Unlike many “gurus” who teach theory they’ve never applied, Crestani built his wealth through actual affiliate marketing before creating courses. His paid advertising knowledge is genuinely deep.
The course is comprehensive. Fifty hours of structured content covering multiple ad platforms is more thorough than most competing courses. You won’t run out of material.
Paid traffic skills transfer. Even if you never do affiliate marketing, understanding Facebook, Google, and YouTube advertising is valuable for almost any online business.
Active community. The Facebook group and weekly webinars provide ongoing support, which matters when you’re stuck on a technical issue at 2am.
What I Don’t Like
Heavy reliance on paid ads. The entire system is built around spending money on advertising to make money. If you don’t have $1,000+ to burn on testing campaigns — and you probably will burn it before you profit — this isn’t the right path.
The course promotes itself. One of the most common complaints is that SAS encourages students to promote SAS itself as their primary affiliate offer. This creates a cycle where the biggest winners are the ones selling the course, not building independent affiliate businesses.
Outdated elements. While Crestani updates the course periodically, digital advertising changes rapidly. Some students have found that specific tactics taught in older modules no longer work on current ad platforms, particularly after iOS privacy changes disrupted Facebook targeting.
Refund complaints. Multiple reviewers on Trustpilot and Reddit report difficulty getting refunds despite advertised money-back guarantees. That’s a meaningful concern when you’re spending nearly $1,000.
No organic traffic training. SAS teaches almost nothing about SEO, content marketing, or building traffic you don’t have to pay for. This means your income stops the moment you stop spending on ads.
Is John Crestani Legit?
Yes, John Crestani is a legitimate affiliate marketer with genuine expertise. He’s not running a scam.
But “legitimate” and “recommended” are two different things.
The fundamental problem with SAS is the business model it teaches. Paid advertising affiliate marketing is one of the highest-risk ways to make money online. You’re spending real money every day on ads, and if your campaigns don’t convert, you lose that money. Most beginners go through several thousand dollars in ad spend before finding a profitable campaign — if they ever do.
The people who succeed with this model typically have prior marketing experience, substantial testing budgets, and the emotional resilience to lose money for weeks or months before seeing returns. That’s not the profile of most people buying a $997 course.
| Factor | Rating |
|---|---|
| Course quality | 7/10 |
| Value for money | 5/10 |
| Beginner friendliness | 4/10 |
| Income potential | 7/10 (with significant investment) |
| Risk level | HIGH |
| Trustpilot rating | 2.5/5 |
Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Buy This
Consider SAS if you:
- Already understand digital marketing basics
- Have $3,000+ to invest (course + ad budget)
- Are comfortable losing money during a learning period
- Want to specialise in paid traffic affiliate marketing specifically
Skip SAS if you:
- Are a complete beginner with no marketing experience
- Can’t afford to lose your initial investment
- Want passive or semi-passive income
- Prefer building something you own rather than renting traffic
Alternatives to the Super Affiliate System
If you’re drawn to affiliate marketing specifically, there are other options worth considering before spending $997 on SAS:
Wealthy Affiliate — A membership-based platform ($49/month or $495/year) that teaches affiliate marketing through SEO and content creation rather than paid ads. Lower risk because you’re building organic traffic instead of spending on advertising. We have a full Wealthy Affiliate review if you want the deep dive.
Authority Hacker — A premium SEO-based affiliate marketing course ($997-$1,997) with a strong reputation for teaching sustainable, content-driven affiliate businesses. More expensive than SAS, but the model builds long-term assets. Read our Authority Hacker review for details.
Legendary Marketer — Dave Sharpe’s platform teaches various online business models including affiliate marketing, with entry-level pricing at $2,500 for the Business Blueprints. Our Legendary Marketer review covers the full breakdown.
Free resources — YouTube channels, blogs, and forums like r/affiliatemarketing on Reddit contain enormous amounts of free information about affiliate marketing. You won’t get the structured curriculum, but you also won’t risk $997.
The key question isn’t which affiliate marketing course is best. It’s whether affiliate marketing itself is the right model for your situation. For most beginners, the answer is: probably not as your first business.
The Problem With Affiliate Marketing as a First Business
Let me be direct about something that most affiliate marketing gurus — including Crestani — won’t tell you.
Affiliate marketing has gotten significantly harder over the past five years. Here’s why:
Rising ad costs. Facebook, Google, and YouTube ad costs have increased 40-60% since 2020. The same campaign that was profitable in 2019 may be a money-loser today.
Platform restrictions. After iOS 14.5 privacy changes, Facebook ad targeting became less precise. Many affiliate campaigns that depended on granular targeting simply stopped working.
Increased competition. More people than ever are trying affiliate marketing, which drives up ad costs and drives down conversion rates.
Compliance crackdowns. Ad platforms have tightened their policies around affiliate offers, particularly in health, finance, and opportunity niches. Getting accounts banned has become more common.
You don’t own anything. When you’re running affiliate campaigns, you don’t own the product, you don’t own the customer relationship, and you don’t own the traffic source. If any single element breaks — the affiliate offer closes, the ad account gets banned, the platform changes its algorithm — you’re starting over from zero.
This is the fundamental weakness of the model Crestani teaches. It can generate income, but it doesn’t build wealth. There’s no asset to sell when you’re done.
My Verdict
John Crestani knows affiliate marketing. His course teaches real skills. But the model itself — spending money on ads to earn affiliate commissions — is volatile, expensive to learn, and doesn’t build anything you own.
When your ad account gets banned (and it happens), your income disappears overnight. When ad costs rise (and they always do), your margins shrink. You’re always one algorithm change away from starting over.
After 15 years of testing online business models, the approach I keep coming back to is building digital assets that generate predictable, recurring monthly income — where you own the asset and aren’t dependent on ad spend or a single platform’s algorithm.
If that sounds more appealing than gambling on paid ads, go here to see how I build simple websites that generate $500 to $1,500 per month each in recurring revenue.
Frequently Asked Questions About John Crestani
Is John Crestani a scam?
No, John Crestani is not running a scam. He’s a legitimate affiliate marketer with real expertise in paid advertising. However, his marketing uses aggressive tactics (countdown timers, inflated comparisons, urgency), and his Trustpilot rating sits at 2.5/5 with notable complaints about refunds and the course pushing students to promote SAS itself. He’s real, but his marketing overpromises relative to what most students actually achieve.
How much does the Super Affiliate System cost?
The Super Affiliate System costs $997 as a one-time payment. But the true cost is higher: you’ll need $500-$2,000+ for advertising testing, plus ongoing costs for landing page software ($49-$97/month), email tools ($30-$50/month), and tracking software ($29-$99/month). Budget $2,000-$3,000 minimum to properly implement the course.
Can you make money with John Crestani’s course?
It’s possible, but statistically unlikely for beginners. The course teaches paid advertising affiliate marketing, which requires skill, testing budget, and emotional resilience. Most students lose money on their initial campaigns before finding something profitable — if they ever do. The students who succeed typically have prior marketing experience and sufficient capital to weather the testing phase.
What’s the difference between the Super Affiliate System and the AI Marketers Club?
The Super Affiliate System is a comprehensive $997 course focused on paid advertising across Facebook, Google, and YouTube. The AI Marketers Club is a newer, cheaper program focused on using AI tools for content creation and affiliate marketing through social media. The AI Marketers Club has a lower barrier to entry but operates in an increasingly saturated space.
Is affiliate marketing still profitable in 2026?
Yes, but it’s gotten harder. Rising ad costs, iOS privacy changes, increased competition, and platform compliance crackdowns have squeezed margins. The affiliate marketers who still thrive tend to be experienced, well-capitalised, and focused on building organic traffic rather than relying solely on paid ads — which is the opposite of what SAS teaches.
How does John Crestani make most of his money?
Based on publicly available information, Crestani makes money from course sales (SAS and AI Marketers Club), his affiliate network (students promoting his courses earn commissions, driving sales), YouTube ad revenue (600K+ subscribers), and his own affiliate marketing campaigns. The proportion from each source isn’t publicly disclosed, but industry observers suggest course sales are likely his largest revenue stream.
What’s John Crestani’s net worth?
Estimates range from $7.5 million to $11.5 million, depending on the source. These figures are not independently verified. His visible lifestyle (cars, properties) suggests substantial wealth, but “net worth” for internet personalities should always be taken with scepticism.
Related Articles
Mark is the founder of MarksInsights and has spent 15+ years testing online business programs and tools. He focuses on honest, experience-based reviews that help people avoid scams and find real, sustainable ways to make money online.