BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects & Affiliate Link Manager

Description

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

🔗 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
• 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 →

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👨‍💻 Documentation & Support

• Documentation & tutorials
• YouTube playlist
• Community support forum
• Facebook community
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