What is Pretty Links and what is it used for?

Pretty Links is a WordPress link management plugin that helps users create short, branded, and easy-to-share URLs. It is commonly used by affiliate marketers, bloggers, and businesses to manage long or complex links in a more professional and organized way.

How does Pretty Links help with affiliate and marketing links?

Pretty Links allows users to cloak long URLs, track clicks, and centralize link management. This makes it easier to monitor link performance, update destination URLs, and maintain consistent links across website content and marketing campaigns.

Is Pretty Links easy to set up and use?

Yes, Pretty Links is beginner-friendly and requires no technical skills. Users can create and manage links through a simple dashboard, making it easy to start shortening and organizing links immediately after installation.

Does Pretty Links support tracking and analytics?

Pretty Links includes built-in click tracking and reporting, allowing users to see how often links are clicked and where traffic is coming from. These insights help optimize marketing strategies and improve conversion performance.

Who should use Pretty Links and what benefits does it offer?

Pretty Links is ideal for affiliate marketers, content creators, podcasters, and online businesses. It offers cleaner URLs, easier link management, improved tracking, and a more professional user experience that can lead to higher engagement and revenue.

Reviewed · Updated 2026-06-19

Pretty Links

Pretty Links is a powerful WordPress plugin that enables users to create, manage, and track clean, short, and shareable links from their website.

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team · 2026-06-19

Try Pretty

Pricing

Paid

Best for

Bloggers

Category

Marketing Automation

The bottom line

The definitive WordPress link-cloaking and tracking plugin for affiliate marketers who want branded, on-domain short URLs.

7.2

Our score

7.2 / 10

Conversion Gems editorial verdict

Free (Lite); Pro from $99.60/yr

Features8/10

8 - link cloaking, auto keyword replacement, split testing, QR codes, and conversion reports cover most affiliate marketer needs comprehensively.

Value7/10

7 - free Lite tier is generous; paid plans competitive for WordPress tools, though the jump from free to $99.60/yr is steep and renewal rates rise.

Ease of use8/10

8 - clean WordPress admin UI, one-click link creation, and auto-keyword scanning keep day-to-day use simple despite a broad feature set.

Ecosystem5/10

5 - deep WordPress integration is its strength, but minimal native integrations outside WordPress and no public API for cross-platform workflows.

Support7/10

7 - priority and premium support tiers on paid plans; free users rely on community forums and documentation.

What it really is

Pretty Links — WordPress plugin for branded link shortening, affiliate link cloaking, and click tracking.

Our take

Pretty Links is the go-to WordPress-native link management plugin for affiliate marketers. It lives entirely on your own domain, so every shortened URL reinforces your brand rather than a third-party service. DB listed entry price as $49.50/year and price_tier as paid, but the actual entry plan is $99.60/year and a fully functional free Lite version is available on WordPress.org, making the correct tier freemium. Category 'Marketing Automation' is a loose fit — Pretty Links is squarely a link management and affiliate tracking tool.

Why we rate it

Pretty Links is mature, actively maintained, and installed on hundreds of thousands of WordPress sites. Its automatic keyword-to-link replacement and click-level reporting genuinely save hours for high-volume affiliate sites, and keeping everything on your own domain protects SEO equity that third-party shorteners erode.

The catch

Requires a self-hosted WordPress site — useless outside that ecosystem. Pricing jumps sharply from free to $99.60/yr, and advanced conversion reports are locked to the mid-tier Marketer plan. Annual renewal pricing reverts to full (non-introductory) rates.

Best for

Affiliate marketers managing dozens of cloaked links across a WordPress blog

Content creators who want branded, on-domain short URLs without a separate SaaS subscription

Podcasters and email marketers who need clean, trackable links tied to their own domain

Not good for

Non-WordPress websites or SaaS apps needing a standalone link shortener

Teams wanting collaborative multi-user dashboards (tool is single-site, single-admin focused)

High-volume enterprise campaigns needing real-time multi-channel attribution beyond click data

Friction report

Time to value

Fast: install from the WordPress plugin directory, activate, and create your first pretty link in under five minutes.

Scale breakpoint

Managing hundreds of links becomes unwieldy without rigorous tagging; conversion tracking and split tests require upgrading to Marketer or above.

Walled garden

High: all links and data live inside your WordPress install. Migrating to another platform means rebuilding every redirect rule manually; no native export to third-party link management SaaS.

A look inside

Frequently Asked Questions

Alternatives

Step up

Lasso (WordPress affiliate plugin with richer product displays and reporting) for power affiliate marketers needing more merchandising features.

Lighter alternative

Bitly or Rebrandly for teams needing a standalone branded link shortener outside of WordPress.

Ready to try Pretty Links?

Opens the official site — we may earn a commission if you sign up.

Try Pretty

Explore related categories

Conversion Gems independently reviews every tool. We may earn a commission if you sign up through our links — it never affects our verdict or ranking.

Pretty Links

A look inside

Frequently Asked Questions

Alternatives

Tags

Explore related categories