Many affiliate marketers use Pretty Links to shorten and manage their affiliate links. It is a great plugin for this particular functionality. But, what if it no longer suits your needs? Or maybe you want a Pretty Links-like plugin that offers better features?
That’s what I will cover in this post. I will show you some cool plugins I have just discovered. They have similar functionality as Pretty Links where you can shorten long links into a more easier-to-remember format.
The best part, they all offer a free version so that you can try them until you can find the one that really fits you.
You can try the free version of each plugin on the list below to learn the offered user experience and features so that you can better decide whether or not it deserves your money if you have a plan to upgrade to the pro version.
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Some Features You Need to Look for in a Pretty Links Alternative
Pretty Links is a WordPress plugin designed to shorten links. Pretty similar to tools like Bitly and TinyURL, but it lives on your website. It works by redirecting users from a certain link (the shortened link) to another link (destination link).
The destination link can be an internal link or an external link.
Apart from its core functionality to shorten links, Pretty Links also comes with some useful features. One of which, it allows you to create categories to organize your links.
Pretty Links also allows you to monitor the performance of your shortened links by displaying the number of clicks each link has gained.
These two features (the ability to create link categories and click reporting) are two key features you need to look for in a Pretty Links alternatives.
Bonus point if a plugin allows you to add a link prefix.
Here are some features you need to look for in a link shortener plugin. Especially if you want to migrate from Pretty Links:
- Migrator
- Ability to create link categories or tags
- Ability to add link prefix
- Click reporting (analytics)
- Ability to set redirect type
- Ability to set link attributes
Free Alternatives to Pretty Links
- ClickWhale
- Linker
- BetterLinks
- URL Shortify
- ShortLinks Pro
- Affiliate Links
- ThirstyAffiliates
- Exact Links
1. ClickWhale
ClickWhale is the link shortener plugin I personally use on my blog projects. I use the plugin for two main reasons. First, it allows me to add a prefix to the links I shortened. Second, it doesn’t add an annoying icon on the Gutenberg formatting bar.
You can use ClickWhale for free just like Pretty Links. A pro version is available with more advanced features. But for basic link shortening, the free version is more than enough.
All core features of ClickWhale are accessible on the free version, after all. Including click reporting which allows you to monitor the performance of your links. With this feature, you can check how many clicks a shortened link has gained.
However, you can only check the number of lifetime clicks. To check the number of clicks on a specific date, you need to upgrade to the pro version.
Key Features of ClickWhale Free:
- Ability to add link categories and tags
- Ability to add prefix
- Click reporting
- Ability to set link attributes
- Ability to set redirect type
- Link in bio builder
- Migrator
2. Linker
If you use Elementor on your WordPress website, then Linker is an ideal Pretty Links replacement for you. The plugin is developed by Elementor with the aim of helping you track outbound link clicks.
Before you can track outbound link clicks, you need to shorten the link first. Linker will let you know the number of clicks a link has gained.
Linker can be a great solution if you often create landing pages with Elementor. With the plugin, you can easily monitor the number of clicks a link has gained regardless of the link placement. Be it in a regular text or in a CTA button. No need to set up Google Tag manager.
Linker is an extremely simple plugin. You can only use it to shorten a link, delete and edit it. No even settings screen!
It doesn’t allow you to create categories to organize links.
Key Features of Linker:
- Click reporting
- Prefix (not editable)
3. BetterLinks
BetterLinks is a plugin from WPDeveloper. It offers a more advanced link shortener solution for WordPress. Not only you can use it to shorten links, but you can also use BetterLinks as a marketing tool.
With BetterLinks, you can shorten affiliate links and other types of links and then monitor their performance. You can also set the redirect type (temporary or permanent), add link attributes, set a link prefix, and so on.
BetterLinks comes with a settings menu to allow you to apply global settings.
You can monitor the performance of your links using its useful analytics feature. The plugin allows you to check weekly performance, monthly performance or daily performance. You can also check the performance of your links on a specific date.
Other features offered by BetterLinks include the ability to organize links in categories, broken link checker, QR core generator, link preview, and access manager.
If you currently use Pretty Links and want to migrate to BetterLinks, there is also a migrator feature you can leverage.
Key Features of BetterLinks Free:
- Ability to add link categories and tags
- Ability to add prefix
- Advanced analytics
- Ability to set link attributes
- Ability to set redirect type
- Migrator
4. URL Shortify
URL Shortify doesn’t come with a migration feature to make it easy to migrate from Pretty Links like BetterLinks. But it is definitely a great plugin to replace Pretty Links.
One of the simple features I love from URL Shortify is the ability to display the favicons of the destination websites. This simple feature makes it easy to recognize the destination links when you manage them.
URL Shortify also allows you to add a prefix to the links you shorten, but you can only set a global prefix. As a comparison, ClickWhale allows you to set a custom prefix of individual links.
To organize your links, URL Shortify allows you to create groups. Its visual analytics feature is super useful to monitor metrics like the number clicks and the number of unique clicks. You can check these metrics on a specific date with the free version.
Key Features of URL Shortify Free:
- Ability to create groups
- Ability to add global prefix
- Analytics
- Ability to set link attributes
- Ability to set redirect type
- Export and import
5. ShortLinks Pro
If you need a link shortener plugin with an analytics feature on the free version, then ShortLinks Pro is one of the plugins you can use.
The analytics feature on the free version allows you to check the number of weekly clicks, monthly clicks and daily clicks. You can also get some information like which country you get the most links from, devices your visitors use, and so on.
ShortLinks Pro allows you to assign each shortened link to a category and you can also add tags. In fact, the plugin uses the native category and tag editor of WordPress.
Furthermore, Shortlinks Pro comes with a settings menu where you can set global settings like link prefix, link attributes, and redirect type.
Key Features of ShortLinks Pro (Free Version):
- Ability to create categories
- Ability to add tags
- Ability to add global prefix
- Analytics
- Ability to set link attributes
- Ability to set redirect type
6. Affiliate Links
As the name suggests, the plugin is designed specifically to manage affiliate links. You can use it regardless of the affiliate programs you join.
The overall features offered by Affiliate Links are not much different from the above plugins. It also allows you to set a link prefix to make it easier for you to distinguish between affiliate links and regular links.
You can also set whether the redirection mechanism is temporary or permanent. Also, you can monitor the performance of the links you have shortened. You only have categories to manage your links. Affiliate Links doesn’t allow you to add tags.
Key Features of Affiliate Links:
- Ability to create categories
- Ability to add global prefix
- Analytics
- Ability to set link attributes
- Ability to set redirect type
- Export and import
7. ThirstyAffiliates
If you need a more advanced link shortener plugin, the ThirstyAffiliates can be the solution. Not only can you use it to shorten links and manage them, but you can even use ThirstyAffiliates to accept collect payments via Stripe in case you want to sell your own products.
ThirtyAffiliates also offers a dedicated feature to make it easy for you to insert an affiliate link to your blog post (assuming you use Gutenberg). While the feature is useful enough, I don’t really like it. But you may have a different perception.
ThirstyAffiliates offers plenty of setting options which you can access via the settings screen. Apart from the ability to set link prefix, link attributes and redirection type, you will also find extra setting options like an option to block bots, an option to uncloak links and so on.
In ThirstyAffiliates, you can also import links you have shortened from another website but the feature is only accessible on the pro version.
Another useful feature available on the free version of ThirstyAffiliates is analytics, which you can use to monitor the performance of your affiliate links and other links you have shortened.
Key Features of ThirstyAffiliates Free:
- Ability to create categories
- Ability to add global prefix
- Analytics
- Ability to set link attributes
- Ability to set redirect type
- Ability to uncloak links
- Affiliate link inserter for Gutenberg
8. Exact Links
Not only does Exact Links allow you to shorten an affiliate link, but it also allows you to add the shortened link directly into a CTA button in a box content. In your box content, you can add an image of the affiliate product that you promote, the price and additional text.
Exact Links offers several box layouts you can choose from, but the free version can only choose one. The look of the box is editable. You can change the default text color, default button color and default ribbon/badge color.
What about the link shortener feature?
Exact Links allows you to organize your links using tags. It doesn’t allow you to create categories. There are no options to set link prefix and redirection type.
Basic stat feature is available, but you can only check the number of unique clicks. The options available on the settings screen are limited. You can set link attributes like target and rel, but you can only set them on individual links.
Key Features of Exact Links Free:
- Ability to add tags
- Basic stat
- Ability to set link attributes
- Ability to add a link directly to box content
Summary
The use of a link shortener plugin is a common practice in the affiliate marketing world. Not only does it allow you to insert an affiliate link more easily since the link lives on your website, but it also allows you to monitor the performance of your affiliate links.
Good marketing involves performance evaluation. Right?
Pretty Links is a popular plugin widely used by affiliate marketers to shorten their affiliate links. But if you don’t like it, you can try one of the above plugins.
Which Pretty Links Alternative You Should Use?
As I mentioned, I personally use ClickWhale for two main reasons. It allows me to add a prefix to the links I shortened. Second, it doesn’t add an unnecessary icon to Gutenberg, keeping the editor clean.
However, other plugins are worth using too.
Exact Links is a great solution if you often promote affiliate products (physical products) via listicles. You can easily create box content and place your affiliate links to a clickable CTA button.
BetterLinks and ThirstyAffiliates are two plugins you can go to if you need a more advanced link shortener plugin although you need to upgrade to the pro version to unlock some features.
Linker, meanwhile, is a perfect solution if you are looking for an extremely simple link shortener plugin.
