BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP vs PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links

BetterLinks is the complete link management plugin for WordPress. Turn long, ugly URLs into short, branded, memorable links — then cloak them, redirect them, organize them and track every single click, all from one dashboard inside WordPress. No third-party URL shortener. No monthly subscription for basic link tracking. Your links live on your own domain, and your click data stays in your own database. 👉 See All Features | Documentation | Live Demo | Upgrade to PRO 🤖 NEW: Manage Your Links With AI (MCP Connector) BetterLinks now ships a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, so AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code can work with your links directly — in plain English. Ask your assistant to “create a short link for this affiliate offer”, “which links got the most clicks last month?” or “put every Black Friday link in its own category”, and it does the work inside your own dashboard. Runs on your own site — no hosted broker and no third-party service; your links and click data never leave your server 14 built-in tools — create, update and delete links, manage categories and tags, read click analytics, and read or update settings Two ways to connect — a one-time OAuth approval for Claude and ChatGPT, or a copy-paste command for Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code Off by default — nothing is exposed to anyone until you switch it on in BetterLinks → MCP Scope-aware — apps that ask for read-only access are enforced as read-only and clearly labelled in your dashboard Revocable any time — reset the connection token, or revoke a single connected app, with one click Admin-scoped — every action runs as the administrator who approved it and respects that account’s permissions Built-in health check — a live “Test connection” round trip tells you exactly which step failed if a client can’t connect Built on the WordPress Abilities API, bundled with the plugin — there are no companion plugins to install. 🔗 Create Short Links In Seconds Paste a long URL, pick a slug, hit publish. BetterLinks generates clean short links like yoursite.com/go/deal that are easy to share, easy to remember and impossible to mistype. Instant URL shortener — shorten any internal or external URL in a couple of clicks Custom slugs — write your own, or auto-generate from the title, target URL, or a random string One-click copy & share — grab any short link straight from the dashboard Duplicate & bulk actions — clone links, bulk delete with undo, drag-and-drop to reorder Quick Link Creation — create short links from outside the WordPress admin using an API key Custom fields — attach your own metadata to any link ↪️ Powerful Redirects & Link Cloaking Send visitors exactly where you want, with the redirect type that fits the job. 301, 302 & 307 redirects — permanent, temporary and method-preserving Link cloaking (PRO) — keep your branded short URL in the address bar the whole visit Wildcard redirects — match a whole path pattern with /folder/* Parameter forwarding — pass query strings straight through to the destination Case-sensitive slugs — treat /Deal and /deal as separate links when you need to Nofollow & sponsored tags — mark affiliate links correctly for search engines Force HTTPS (PRO) — every redirect goes out secure, whatever is stored on the link 📊 Real-Time Click Tracking & Link Analytics Know which links actually work. BetterLinks records every click and turns it into reports you can act on — no external analytics account required. Total & unique clicks for every link Real-time analytics dashboard with an interactive date-range calendar Traffic sources — top referrers, social clicks, campaign performance Geographic reports — see which countries your clicks come from Browser, OS & device breakdown (PRO) Per-link analytics (PRO) — a full report for any single link Top & worst performers (PRO) — find your winners and your dead weight Bot filtering — automated traffic is detected and kept out of your numbers Exclude your own IP (PRO) — stop your team’s clicks from skewing the data Google Analytics 4 & Facebook Pixel (PRO) — push click events server-side 💰 Built For Affiliate Marketers BetterLinks is a full affiliate link manager, not just a shortener. Cloak affiliate links (PRO) so long tracking URLs never appear in your content Auto-Link Keywords (PRO) — turn chosen keywords into affiliate links across your whole site automatically Affiliate link disclosure (PRO) — FTC-friendly notices via block, shortcode, or site-wide rule Uncloak per link or category (PRO) — stay compliant with Amazon Associates and similar programs Sponsored & nofollow attributes built into every link Broken link scanner (PRO) — catch dead affiliate links before they cost you commission 🗂️ Organize Hundreds Of Links Without The Mess Categories & tags with bulk assignment and per-term click stats List view & board view — pick the layout that suits how you work Compact mode — a dense, single-line list when you want to scan everything at a glance Search, filter & sort by category, tag, date, clicks or favorites Favorites — pin the links you touch every day Role-based permissions (PRO) — decide exactly who can create, edit, or view links and analytics 🚀 Marketing & Campaign Tools UTM Builder — attach campaign parameters to any link Global UTM templates (PRO) — save presets and apply them in bulk Dynamic redirects (PRO) — A/B split testing, geo-targeting, device targeting and time-based rules on a single short URL Link scheduling & expiration (PRO) — publish later, expire by date or click count, with a fallback URL Password-protected links (PRO) — gate a short link behind a password Custom link previews (PRO) — control the title, description and image when your link is shared on social Custom domain (PRO) — serve short links from your own branded domain AI Bulk Link Generator (PRO) — generate short links across many posts at once ⚡ Fast, Lightweight & Developer-Friendly BetterLinks is engineered for speed. Redirects resolve from an optimized cache instead of hammering your database, so short links stay fast even with tens of thousands of them. Optimized queries and a JSON-backed redirect cache Works with any theme Gutenberg block and Elementor integration for inserting links while you write Fluent Boards integration — manage short links directly from your project tasks Full REST API for developers MCP server & WordPress Abilities API support — expose your links to AI agents and automations Translation-ready and WPML-compatible 🔄 Switching From Another Plugin? Move your existing links across in one click — no CSV wrangling, no lost redirects. Pretty Links → BetterLinks ThirstyAffiliates → BetterLinks Simple 301 Redirects → BetterLinks Plus CSV import/export for links and click history 🏆 Why Choose BetterLinks Your data stays yours — links and analytics live in your own WordPress database No per-click pricing — unlike hosted URL shorteners Built for scale — thousands of links without slowing your site down Actively maintained by WPDeveloper, trusted by millions of WordPress users Free forever core — shortening, redirects, categories, analytics and migration are all in the free plugin 🔥 Upgrade To BetterLinks PRO Unlock the full toolkit: link cloaking, dynamic redirects with A/B split testing, geo & device targeting, individual link analytics, Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel integration, auto-link keywords, affiliate disclosures, password protection, link scheduling & expiry, the broken link and full-site scanners, custom domains, role management, email reporting and the AI Bulk Link Generator. Get BetterLinks PRO → 💜 More From WPDeveloper 🔝 Essential Addons For Elementor – The most popular Elementor extensions library, with 2 million+ active users. 👉 Essential Blocks For Gutenberg – Advanced block library to supercharge the WordPress editor. 🔔 NotificationX – Social proof & FOMO marketing solution that increases conversion rates. 📄 EmbedPress – Embed content from 250+ sources with one click, in Gutenberg and Elementor. 📝 BetterDocs – Documentation & knowledge base solution that reduces your support load. ⏰ SchedulePress – Complete WordPress scheduling with an editorial calendar and social sharing. ☁️ Templately – 5000+ ready templates for Elementor & Gutenberg with cloud collaboration. 🎨 Flexia – Lightweight, customizable, multipurpose WordPress theme. 👨‍💻 Documentation & Support Documentation & tutorials YouTube playlist Community support forum Facebook community Loving BetterLinks? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review

PrettyLinks takes any long, ugly URL and turns it into a short, branded link on your own domain. So instead of sharing some endless affiliate string, you share yoursite.com/recommends/widget — clean, memorable, and unmistakably yours. No more renting your links from bit.ly, tinyurl.com, or whichever shortener raised its prices this year. Here’s the part people love most: your links and your click data live on your site, not someone else’s. You own the branding. You keep the analytics. And if a destination URL ever changes, you update it once and every link you’ve ever shared just keeps working. Why people pick PrettyLinks 🌠 If you share links for a living — affiliate marketers, bloggers, podcasters, social media folks — you want three things: links that look professional, the freedom to change where they point, and a real picture of what’s getting clicked. PrettyLinks does all three. Every click is logged with referrer, browser, OS, and host, so you’re never guessing about what’s working. And version 4.0 is a big one. We rebuilt the whole thing from scratch on a fast, modern React admin, then added smarter bot filtering, built-in privacy controls, and CSV link importing — all of it free. PrettyPay™ Links 💵 Want to sell something? PrettyPay™ lets you spin up a one-click Stripe checkout link and share it anywhere — e-books, courses, downloads, subscriptions, you name it. It all runs through your own domain and brand. Share the link, get paid. No store required. Lite Features ✔️ 🔗 Branded Short Links on Your Own Domain Turn any long URL into a clean, branded short link in seconds. 💰 PrettyPay™ Stripe Checkout Links* Create one-click payment links with Stripe. Share anywhere and start selling instantly. 🔃 301, 302 and 307 Redirects Choose between Permanent (301) and Temporary (302/307) redirects per link. ⚙️ Custom or Auto-Generated Slugs Pick your own slug or let PrettyLinks generate one. Reserved Slug Patterns protect critical WordPress paths from accidental collisions. 🔎 Click & Unique-Click Tracking Every click logged with referrer, IP, browser, OS, and host data. 🤖 Modern Bot Filtering Keep AI crawlers and bots out of your stats out of the box — with Cloudflare bot-header support and your own custom user-agent rules. 🔐 Built-In Privacy Controls IP anonymization and a configurable click-retention window help you stay GDPR-friendly. 📊 Customizable Click Reports Filter charts by date range, link, and unique vs. total clicks. ⬆️⬇️ CSV Import & Export Bulk-import links from a spreadsheet and export click history to CSV anytime — link importing is now free. 🖱️ One-Click Sharing & Copy Copy any link to the clipboard from the links list, the editor, or a Gutenberg block. 💡 Modern Admin Experience A fast, clean React-based admin UI with bulk actions, one-click duplicate, and auto-saving options. … and much more. Visit our site to see everything PrettyLinks can do. * Pro users pay no added processing fees. Free users have a small 3% per-transaction fee added on PrettyPay™ links. PrettyLinks Pro 💪 When you’re ready for more, PrettyLinks Pro adds the automation, advanced redirects, and deeper reporting that power users tend to grow into: Keyword & URL Replacements Map keywords to links and PrettyLinks automatically turns them into your branded links across your site’s content. Advanced Redirect Types Cloaked, JavaScript, Meta-Refresh, Tracking Pixel, and branded Splash Page redirects on top of the standard 301/302/307. Geographic, Device & Time Targeting Send visitors to different destinations based on country, device, browser, OS, day, or hour. Link Rotation & A/B Split Testing Distribute traffic across multiple destinations by weight or round-robin, and split-test which one converts. Expiring Links Set an expiry date or click limit and choose where expired traffic goes. Categories & Tags Organize and filter a large link library with full taxonomy-style grouping. Auto-Create Links for Posts & Pages A pretty link is created automatically every time you publish. Link Health Monitoring Scheduled scans flag broken destinations, with email digests so you can fix them fast. QR Codes Auto-generate a downloadable QR code for every link, with an optional inner logo. Pretty Bar Branding Frame third-party destinations in a branded top, bottom, or floating bar with your CTA. Advanced Reports & Conversions Rich click-history breakdowns, KPI cards, charts, and a conversion-tracking pixel for your thank-you pages. Redirect Turbo Mode Answer link requests before the rest of WordPress loads — built for high-traffic affiliate sites. Pro Add-ons 🧩 Pro plans come with a handful of optional add-ons. Install the ones you need, skip the ones you don’t: Link in Bio — Build customizable “link in bio” landing pages for Instagram, TikTok, and other social profiles, hosted on your own domain. Product Displays — Drop styled, responsive product cards into any post or page to showcase affiliate products. Splash Pages — Show a branded interstitial (with optional CTAs) before forwarding visitors, with a per-link conversion funnel report. UTMs — Build and append Google Analytics UTM parameters from a dedicated tab on the link editor. User Links — A front-end dashboard letting logged-in visitors create and manage their own pretty links. Developer Tools — API tokens and webhooks for integrating PrettyLinks with external systems. See Why Upgrade | Pricing Integrations ⚡ MonsterInsights — Surface PrettyLinks click data inside the MonsterInsights dashboard. CookieYes — Automatic cookie consent compliance for click tracking. Easy Affiliate — Use PrettyLinks as the affiliate link layer in your Easy Affiliate program. Gutenberg & Classic Editor — Native block + toolbar buttons for inserting links inline. What’s Next 🤩 Enjoying PrettyLinks? Check out our other plugins: MemberPress — Full-featured membership and course platform for WordPress with Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net support. Easy Affiliate — Run your own self-hosted affiliate program and grow your traffic with referral marketing. Members — Roles and capabilities management plugin for fine-grained access control.