The most common reason developers don't start a blog is thinking they need to build the perfect setup first. They don't. The setup described here took a weekend to put together, costs almost nothing to run, and is a realistic path to earning affiliate income over a few months.
Here's exactly what's involved.
The core stack (all free)
Next.js for the framework. It's free, handles static site generation well, and Vercel (the company behind Next.js) offers free hosting for projects built on it. The combination of Next.js and Vercel is the standard choice for developer blogs right now.
Markdown files for content. No database, no CMS, no admin panel. You write articles as .md files in a folder. The site reads them and builds pages automatically. This sounds too simple, but it works well and keeps things fast and cheap.
Vercel free tier for hosting. Free for personal projects with no traffic limits. Your site builds automatically every time you push to GitHub. SSL is included.
GitHub for version control and deployment. Free. Every push to your main branch triggers a build on Vercel.
VS Code for writing both code and articles. Free.
Total monthly cost with this stack: $0. The only annual cost is a domain, around $10 to $12 per year for a .com from Namecheap.
What to write about
Developer blogs that earn money through affiliate marketing generally fall into a few categories:
"Best X for Y" articles (best laptops for developers, best AI coding tools for beginners). Comparison articles (Notion vs Obsidian, NordVPN vs ExpressVPN). Review articles (is Hostinger worth it for a first project?). Tool-specific tutorials that link to the tool at the end.
The important thing is specificity. "Best AI tools" is too broad. "Best AI tools for backend developers who mainly work in Python" is specific enough that fewer articles compete for it, and the readers who find it are more likely to actually buy something.
Write about tools you actually use or have genuinely evaluated. Readers can tell the difference between someone who has used a product and someone who copied the features list from the vendor's website.
Affiliate programs to join
You don't need traffic to apply to most programs.
Amazon Associates is the easiest starting point. No minimum traffic requirement. You can embed Amazon links in articles immediately. The commission rates are low (1 to 4% for most electronics and software categories), but Amazon converts well because people already trust it.
Hostinger pays $60 to $100 per referred signup. Their affiliate program is accessible to new blogs. If you write about web hosting or have articles where hosting is relevant, one conversion per month more than covers your domain cost.
NordVPN has a generous affiliate program with commissions up to 40% on recurring subscriptions. Their signup page asks for your website but doesn't seem to require a traffic minimum.
For most new developer blogs, starting with Amazon Associates plus one or two relevant software affiliate programs (whatever tools your blog is actually about) is enough.
When to start spending money
In the first few months: don't. Traffic is low, earnings are zero, and adding subscription costs just extends the time until you're actually profitable.
The first thing worth paying for is Semrush or Ahrefs, around $100 to $130 per month, once you're publishing regularly and want data on what people are searching for. But this is optional and you can do reasonable keyword research with free tools (Google Search Console, Keyword Surfer Chrome extension) for a long time.
The second thing worth paying for is a proper AI writing assistant like Jasper or Claude paid plan, if you're publishing frequently and the time savings justify the cost. At $20 to $50 per month, this makes sense when your blog is actually earning.
Don't pay for these things before you're earning. Do it the other way around.
What actually takes time
The blog setup is the easy part. The hard part is:
Writing articles consistently. One article a week is a reasonable target for someone with a day job. Less than that and Google doesn't have much to index.
Waiting for Google to trust your site. New domains typically take 3 to 6 months before articles start ranking for the keywords you wrote them for. This isn't a failure, it's just how search works. Keep publishing.
Writing articles specific enough to rank. Broad keywords are dominated by established sites. Very specific long-tail keywords (best VPN for Indian developers working with US companies) have much less competition and are more realistic targets for a new blog.
The honest timeline
Month 1 to 2: Setup complete, first 5 to 10 articles published. Zero visitors from Google. Maybe some traffic from sharing on Twitter or Reddit.
Month 3 to 4: Google starts indexing articles. A few hundred visitors per month. First small commissions possibly, but don't count on it yet.
Month 5 to 6: Some articles start ranking for their target keywords. Traffic grows. First real affiliate commissions. Usually small amounts ($20 to $100/month at this stage).
Month 9 to 12: With consistent publishing, traffic is in the thousands per month. Affiliate income is more consistent. This is where it starts feeling like it might actually work.
Nothing about this is fast. But the cost to run it is essentially nothing, so the ratio of potential upside to downside is good.