29 March 2022
10 Best Affiliate Plugins For WordPress Sites
Running an affiliate marketing business on WordPress is much more complicated than most people think.
You need to create and publish high-quality content, keep track of affiliate links, stay on Google’s good side, and make your audience happy. It’s a lot.
Thankfully, there are many affiliate WordPress plugins out there to help you.
In this article, we have done the research and chosen the best affiliate plugins for WordPress.
So, let’s get started!
What To Look For in a WordPress Affiliate Plugin?
Here are the things you can look for in a WordPress affiliate plugin:
- Ease of Integration: The plugin should be easy to set up and compatible with your WordPress theme and essential plugins.
- Affiliate Management: Look for features that will help you manage your affiliates efficiently, such as tracking, commission rates, and payout methods.
- Reporting and Analytics: The plugin should offer detailed reports and analytics to track affiliate performance, conversions, and revenue.
- Customization: Allows you to customize affiliate links, banners, and promotional materials.
- Referral Link Cloaking: Option to shorten and cloak affiliate links for cleaner URLs.
- Security Features: Protection against fraud, ensuring accurate affiliate tracking.
- Multilingual and Currency Support: If you target a global audience, the plugin should support multiple languages and currencies.
- Support and Updates: Regular plugin updates and strong customer support for troubleshooting.
10 Best Affiliate Plugins for WordPress
Here are the best affiliate marketing plugins for WordPress sites:
1. AffiliateWP
AffiliateWP is one of the best self-hosted WordPress affiliate program plugins. It offers all the affiliate management features you need right within your WordPress dashboard.
It’s extremely easy to set up and comes with a user-friendly setup wizard that allows you to get started effortlessly. The setup process allows you to choose the referral rate or commission that you want to provide to your affiliates right away.
Furthermore, it provides an Affiliate Portal for the higher plans. It can be used to enroll new affiliates in your program, who will then have access to a personal dashboard where they can see their earnings, generate referral links, and do other tasks.
It also works with PayPal and Stripe to allow for easy one-click payouts. You can pay affiliates individually or all together.
Furthermore, AffiliateWP allows you to create an unlimited number of creatives, such as banner images and infographics, to ensure that your affiliate campaigns generate strong clickthrough rates.
Plus, it integrates with several WordPress plugins to help with referral tracking.
Overall, AffiliateWP is a top affiliate plugin for WordPress.
Key Features:
- Easily launch your affiliate program with 1-click integration.
- Get detailed affiliate reports to see what’s working and what’s not.
- Powerful affiliate management for registration, approval, payouts, and more.
- Easy affiliate registration, with manual or automatic approval.
- Easily pay all your affiliates with a single click using Stripe or PayPal.
- Create unlimited creatives such as referral links, affiliate banners, affiliate coupons, etc.
- Supports over 30 languages.
Pricing:
A free version is available on WordPress.org. The pro version starts at $149.60/year.
2. Pretty Links
Pretty Links is a popular WordPress affiliate link management plugin that is used by over 7 million marketers.
It helps you quickly add links to your WordPress posts and make short and unique affiliate URLs for podcasts and social media.
You may also use the auto-linking option to create affiliate links for specific keywords automatically. The plugin allows you to configure redirects, which is useful if an affiliate link returns a 404 error.
Plus, it also offers a powerful broken link checker that can detect and fix broken affiliate links on your WordPress site.
Key Features:
- It offers a one-click installation and an easy-to-use interface.
- Auto-link to specific keywords.
- Easily manage and add affiliate links.
- Get detailed statistics on link views, clicks, and purchases.
- Import and export affiliate links.
Pricing:
A free version is available on WordPress.org. The pro version starts at $112.05/year.
3. ThirstyAffiliates
If you’re joining affiliate programs, finding a tool to optimize your affiliate links is important. And ThirstyAffiliates is the ideal tool for that.
Basically, ThirstyAffiliates cloaks your outgoing referral links by converting them into visually appealing links. Referral links offered by vendors are often lengthy and ugly. However, ThirstyAffiliates allows you to redirect users to an affiliate link using your own domain name and whatever slug you like.
Furthermore, Cloaking any link with ThirstyAffiliate is really easy, too. Simply enter your target URL and a slug for your cloaked URL, and ThriveAffiliates will do the rest.
Not only that, but ThristyAffiliates also works well as a link automation tool. The auto-link tool inserts affiliate links on relevant keywords inside your content, allowing you to set and forget your affiliate links.
Key Features:
- Built-in affiliate shortner and link cloaker.
- Easily group your affiliate links into hierarchical categories.
- Set 301, 302, and 307 safe link redirects.
- Add images and banners to your affiliate links.
- Click tracking and reports.
- Automatic keyword linking.
- Google Analytics integration for tracking.
- Automatic link health checker.
- Import and export affiliate links via CSV.
Pricing:
A free version is available on the WordPress.org. The pro version starts at $112.05/year.
4. Easy Affiliates
Easy Affiliate, similar to AffiliateWP, is an affiliate program plugin for WordPress.
It stands out for its neat and appealing setup wizard and user interface. Plus, starting and launching your affiliate marketing program with Easy Affiliate is very easy.
The setup wizards guide you through the basics, such as commission type, commission rates, integrations, and affiliate registration settings.
In terms of affiliate dashboards, Easy Affiliate is similar to AffiliateWP. It has a clean layout that displays a summary of your affiliates’ referrals and commissions. The data includes clicks, conversions, commissions, and other information.
Like AffiliateWP, Easy Affiliate allows unlimited affiliates to sign up for your referral program.
However, there are a few drawbacks compared to the advanced marketing features offered by AffiliateWP. Affiliates, for example, are unable to generate promo codes or get tier-based payments. With AffiliateWP, you also get affiliate coupon code tracking.
Regardless, Easy Affiliate is a complete affiliate marketing plugin that provides all of the functionality you’ll need to launch and run your affiliate program efficiently.
Key Features:
- Easy to install and set up.
- Tracks transactions, click-throughs, and commissions.
- Built-in affiliate application.
- Support for a number of email marketing tools.
- Integration with MemberPress, WooCommerce, and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Custom affiliate link generation.
- Real-time clicks and affiliate stats reporting.
- Automatic broken links checker with email notifications.
Pricing:
A free version is available on WordPress.org. The pro version starts at $112.05/year.
5. Adsanity
AdSanity is the top ad management plugin for WordPress. It comes with robust display options for placing affiliate ad banners in your website’s header, sidebar, and footer.
The plugin let you to add affiliate links to your ads and increase clicks. You can also set the start and end dates for advertising in the publication settings, allowing you to promote exclusive specials from your affiliate partners.
It also provides detailed graphical statistics for individual advertising, allowing you to determine which ad placements are doing effectively on your website.
Key Features:
- Manage your affiliate ads from the WordPress dashboard.
- Google Analytics integration.
- Video Ads integration.
- Good customer support.
- Multiple ads display options.
Pricing:
Adsanity starts from $59/year.
6. WP Affiliate Manager
Are you using an eCommerce plugin or solution on your WordPress website? WP Affiliate Manager can help you manage an affiliate marketing program that will bring more visitors and sales to your shop.
Affiliate marketing is the fastest-growing advertising approach and is extremely cost-efficient.
This WP affiliate plugin makes it easier to recruit, register, log in, and manage affiliates.
It will also track the referrals your affiliates provide to your site and pay out the relevant commissions.
Key Features:
- Simple and easy to use.
- A user-friendly affiliate dashboard for monitoring performance.
- Real-time reporting.
- Easily integrates with eCommerce solutions.
- Tracks unlimited affiliates.
- Multiple language support.
- Customizable affiliate registrations.
- It offers flat rate or percentage-based commissions.
Pricing:
A free version is available on WordPress.org. The pro version starts at $39/year.
7. YITH WooCommerce Affiliates
WooCommerce Affiliates by YITH is another popular affiliate plugin for WordPress that is designed for eCommerce stores running an affiliate program.
It includes all of the features needed to manage your affiliate program in WordPress. You may set up an affiliate section so that new affiliates can register. Each affiliate gets access to the dashboard, which shows crucial indicators such as earnings, conversion rate, and visitors.
The dashboard also highlights the history of recent client visits via referrals.
Affiliates can also request payment for their earnings, which a vendor can approve quickly with a single click.
The only small drawback we saw with WooCommerce Affiliates by YITH is that it lacks a few advanced features available in AffiliateWP, such as leaderboards for top affiliates and tiered commissions.
Key Features:
- Allow affiliates to share their referral link on social media.
- Seamless integration with the WooCommerce platform.
- Pay commissions manually via direct bank/wire transfer.
- Create a custom advanced form for your affiliate registration process.
- Automatically approve all affiliates after their registration to avoid manual enabling.
- Assign coupons to affiliates.
- Pay commissions automatically when the affiliate reaches a threshold.
Pricing:
A free version is available on WordPress.org. The pro version costs $179.99/year.
Get YITH WooCommerce Affiliates
8. MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights is a WordPress analytic plugin that brings Google Analytics’ most valuable reports to your WordPress website backend.
Tracking your click performance regularly is a key component of successful affiliate marketing. MonsterInsights lets you track the success of your affiliate links from the WordPress backend, allowing you to measure performance without leaving your website.
While plugins like as ThriveAffiliates and Pretty Links may track your affiliate link statistics, they cannot give additional information about your entire site metrics.
MonsterInsights, on the other hand, brings together all of your website analytics data into one place.
So, if you want to monitor which blog posts are doing the best and track affiliate link hits, MonsterInsights is the perfect solution.
Key Features:
- Automatic affiliate link and ads tracking.
- Detailed Google Analytics dashboard.
- Enhance eCommerce tracking.
- Compatible with multiple WordPress affiliate plugins.
- Automatically track form conversions.
- Easy integration with popular WordPress plugins.
Pricing:
A free version is available on WordPress.org. The pro version starts at $99.50/year.
9. Solid Affiliate
Solid Affiliate is a WordPress plugin for adding affiliate functionality to your WooCommerce-powered website. You can set up affiliate logins, track different sales, give an affiliate dashboard, and even pay your affiliates from the WordPress dashboard.
However, it should be noted that Solid Affiliate is only available for WooCommerce or WordPress. So, if you’re already utilizing other eCommerce platforms like Wix or SquareSpace, this solution is not for you.
Key Features:
- Works seamlessly with WooCommerce.
- Four-step setup wizard.
- Affiliate link generator.
- Automatic affiliate coupon tracking.
- Drag-and-drop registration form builder.
- Banner ads and promotional videos to share with affiliates.
Pricing:
Solid Affiliate costs $49/month or $249 for a lifetime.
10. Ultimate Affiliate Pro
If you want an all-in-one affiliate marketing WordPress plugin, use Ultimate Affiliate Pro. Simply install the plugin, and you’ll be able to set up your affiliate system quickly.
It allows you to easily create various commission structures and track affiliate referrals and revenues in real time. You can also offer bonuses and rewards to top-performing affiliates.
The plugin also offers advanced features like multi-level marketing (MLM), recurring commissions, and an affiliate leaderboard, making it a full solution for businesses wishing to maximize their affiliate marketing efforts.
Key Features:
- Customizable affiliate commissions.
- Recurring commissions and bonus rewards.
- Templates for login, registration, and account pages.
- Reports for affiliate activity, referrals, and payouts.
- Percentage-based or flat-rate commissions.
- PayPal and Stripe payouts.
Pricing:
Ultimate Affiliate Pro costs $69 for a lifetime.
Which WordPress Affiliate Plugin You Choose?
If you are thinking of starting an affiliate program on your WordPress site, you should go with AffiliateWP.
We strongly recommend AffiliateWP since it is the most comprehensive affiliate management plugin available. You may sign up new affiliates, configure commission rates, and track referrals in real time.
It also features customizable creatives, which can help you increase your referral conversions. In addition, you get a number of additional features such as affiliate coupons, leaderboards, tiered commissions, direct link tracking, 1-click payments, and more.
AffiliateWP offers excellent value for money, given the large amount of features available for you. However, if you’re looking for a more affordable option, Easy Affiliate is an outstanding affiliate management plugin.
Finally, if you’re a marketer who works as an affiliate partner for a vendor, link-tracking software like ThirstyAffiliates or Pretty Links might make your job easier.
Both of these plugins have similar functionality and are commonly used by affiliate marketers to cloak direct affiliate links using their own brand name and a simpler link structure.
We hope this article helped you choose the best WordPress affiliate plugin for your needs.
For more, check out these other helpful resources:
- 25 Best WordPress Affiliate Programs You Can Promote Today
- 21 Best Ways to Make Money Online Blogging With WordPress
Lastly, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay updated on the latest WordPress and blogging-related articles.
