Best ThirstyAffiliates Alternatives for WordPress
Most people start looking for a ThirstyAffiliates alternative once their link list grows and the free plugin stops being enough. The free plugin gives you cloaked links and basic click counts, and nearly everything else is on the paid plans. That includes CSV import and export, country redirects and the broken link checker.
The cheapest plan, Basic, costs $99.60 in the first year and renews at $249 for a single site. You end up paying that every year just to export your own links in bulk or send a reader to the right regional store.
I’d pick based on how you want to move. If you want the easiest move, I’d go to BetterLinks, which imports ThirstyAffiliates links in one click. If you want country rules and click reports for free, I’d use GT Link Manager, the free link manager I built, and bring the links over as a CSV.
I compared 7 alternatives on what decides this switch: how they get your ThirstyAffiliates links out, what the free version covers and what the first paid plan costs after renewal. The two I’d shortlist first are BetterLinks for a one-click move and GT Link Manager for free country routing.
Quick Comparisons
Find the reason you’re leaving in the second column, then jump to that plugin’s section. Prices are list prices for 1 site. If you’re choosing a first plugin rather than switching, my list of the best affiliate link plugins for WordPress ranks the wider field.
| Plugin | Best for | Free version | Cheapest paid plan | Brings ThirstyAffiliates over |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetterLinks | The easiest move | Yes | $99/yr or $399 lifetime | One-click migration |
| GT Link Manager | Free country rules and reports | Full plugin | None, all free | CSV with column mapping |
| Pretty Links | The same company with better storage | Yes | $99.60 first year, then $249 | CSV |
| LinkCentral | A generous free tier | Yes | $49.99/yr | Built-in importer |
| URL Shortify | A cheap lifetime license | Yes, 7-day stats | $99/yr or $299 lifetime | One-click import |
| Easy Affiliate Links | The lowest yearly price | Yes | $29/yr | CSV |
| Lasso | Product boxes and Amazon data | Lasso Lite | $190/yr | Lasso Lite importer |
Why People Leave ThirstyAffiliates
ThirstyAffiliates has 30,000+ active installs, and its smart uncloaking is still a nice touch for Amazon links. The problems show up in the paid plan and in how it stores your links.
- The free version is thin. It covers cloaking, categories, the editor link picker and basic click counts.
- CSV import and export are paid. On the free plugin you can’t take your own links out in bulk with the built-in tools.
- Country redirects use MaxMind. The plugin can fetch MaxMind’s free country database, or you can upload a paid database or connect MaxMind’s web service.
- Renewals run at full price. Basic goes from $99.60 to $249, Plus from $149.60 to $374 and Advanced from $199.60 to $499.
- Links are stored as posts. Every affiliate link is a WordPress post with its own set of post meta rows.
That last point shows up long after you leave. Gatilab ran ThirstyAffiliates with a `/go/` prefix back in 2022. The plugin is long gone, but its 481 links are still in the database as `thirstylink` posts, each carrying at least 12 meta rows.
That happens with any plugin that saves its data as posts, because removing that data is a separate step and it’s easy to forget.
Best ThirstyAffiliates Alternatives
These are in the order I’d recommend them to someone leaving ThirstyAffiliates. Each section names the job that plugin does best.
BetterLinks
BetterLinks is the easiest way off ThirstyAffiliates. Its one-click migration brings your ThirstyAffiliates links over without a CSV, so you don’t need the paid plan’s export. It’s from WPDeveloper and has 20,000+ active installs.
The free version covers more than ThirstyAffiliates’ free plan:
- Redirects: 301, 302 and 307, wildcard redirects, parameter forwarding and nofollow or sponsored per link.
- Reports: total and unique clicks, top referrers and bot filtering.
- Tools: a UTM builder, a full REST API and a built-in MCP server for AI agents, off by default.
- Storage: its own database tables instead of posts.
Pro adds geo-targeting, split tests, device and time rules, auto-linked keywords, a broken link checker and affiliate disclosures. BetterLinks Pro lists at $99 a year for 1 site, $249 a year for unlimited sites or $399 once for unlimited sites.
GT Link Manager
GT Link Manager is my pick if the main reason you’re leaving is paying yearly for country redirects and reports. I built it, it’s free and open source, and there is no paid tier.
These features are all in the free plugin:
- Country rules: per-link destinations by country, read from the header Cloudflare, CloudFront, Vercel or your server already sends. There’s no MaxMind database to download and no outside lookup.
- Redirects: 301, 302 and 307, a custom prefix or prefix-free links, and regex rules with capture groups.
- Click reports: opt-in daily trends, top links, countries, devices and the page each click came from, with CSV export.
- Privacy: no visitor scripts, cookies or stored IP addresses.
- Organization: nested categories, tags, notes, Quick Edit and bulk actions.
- Automation: a REST API, block editor link search and access for AI agents through Site Agent.
Links sit in dedicated, indexed database tables, so 1,000 links add no rows to your posts table. Gatilab runs its 1,366 active affiliate links through it.
The move from ThirstyAffiliates takes a CSV. On ThirstyAffiliates Pro, export one and map the name, slug and destination columns in GT Link Manager’s import preview. On the free plugin, you need a general export tool to pull the `thirstylink` posts and their `_ta_destination_url` field first, which is the extra step BetterLinks saves you.
GT Link Manager has no keyword auto-linking, split testing, product boxes, Amazon import or broken link scanning. It’s new, on WordPress.org since March 2026 with 100+ installs, and its country rules need a CDN or server that sends a trusted country header. The full feature list is on the GT Link Manager page.
Pretty Links
Pretty Links is the right move if you like how ThirstyAffiliates works but want links out of the posts table. Both plugins come from the same team, and Pretty Links keeps links in its own tables.
Its free plan is richer than ThirstyAffiliates’ free plan. You get detailed click tracking with referrers and browsers, IP anonymization and free CSV import. Paid plans add country, device and time redirects, split tests and keyword auto-linking, while product displays need the top Super Affiliate plan.
The price is the same: Pretty Links Beginner costs $99.60 in the first year and $249 after that. I compared the two plugins side by side in Pretty Links vs ThirstyAffiliates, and if Pretty Links’ renewal is the problem, Pretty Links alternatives covers the other side of it.
LinkCentral
LinkCentral gives you the most free features for a small plugin. It launched in September 2024, has 400+ active installs and imports ThirstyAffiliates and Pretty Links links directly.
Its free version includes password-protected and scheduled redirects, QR codes, link-in-bio pages, click reports by email and GA4 events. Premium adds geo-targeting down to city, split tests, auto-linked keywords, a broken link checker and conversion tracking with Awin and Impact callbacks.
LinkCentral Premium costs $49.99 a year for 1 site or $149.99 once. Exporting your links is Premium only, which repeats the ThirstyAffiliates problem if you ever leave.
URL Shortify
URL Shortify suits a buyer who wants a lifetime license at a low price. It has 10,000+ active installs and a one-click importer for ThirstyAffiliates, Pretty Links and 6 other plugins.
The free version covers branded links, the three common redirect types, groups and a REST API, but click history stops at 7 days. Pro adds full click history, geo and device redirects, link rotation and a broken link checker, with location lookups sent to outside IP services.
URL Shortify Pro costs $99 a year for 1 site or $299 once.
Easy Affiliate Links
Easy Affiliate Links is the cheapest paid option and the closest to ThirstyAffiliates’ Amazon side. Premium searches Amazon products through Amazon’s Creators API and adds a broken link checker and country or device links.
The free plugin has categories, monthly and lifetime click counts and CSV or XML import and export. Easy Affiliate Links Premium costs $29 a year for 1 site. It has no auto-linking or product boxes, and it also stores links as posts.
Lasso
Lasso fits if what you want from ThirstyAffiliates is product boxes and Amazon pricing. Its free Lasso Lite plugin imports ThirstyAffiliates links, and paid plans add displays, comparison tables and Amazon data without your own API key.
The Creator plan costs $19 a month or $190 a year, and country localization starts on the $289-a-year Pro plan. If you cancel Lasso, your links keep working but you can’t edit them or your displays. I compared other options for that job in Lasso alternatives.
Moving Off ThirstyAffiliates
The safest move keeps every public link exactly where it is. Old posts, emails and pins will keep requesting those addresses for years.
These checks matter most:
- Keep the prefix. ThirstyAffiliates uses `/recommends/` by default unless you changed it. Set the same prefix in the new plugin, and GT Link Manager lets you choose any prefix you like.
- Carry the rel settings. Check that nofollow and sponsored come across, along with any uncloaked Amazon links.
- Test a sample before you deactivate. Try a plain link, a link with query parameters and a geo-targeted link, and confirm the affiliate ID reaches the merchant.
- Clean up afterward. Once the new plugin answers every route, remove the old `thirstylink` posts and their meta with a cleanup plugin or a database query, after a backup.
If you’re also changing destinations inside old articles, I covered that in how to change affiliate links across WordPress posts.
FAQs on ThirstyAffiliates Alternatives
Is ThirstyAffiliates free?
ThirstyAffiliates has a free plugin with cloaked links, categories and basic click counts. CSV import and export, country redirects, Amazon importing and the 404 checker need a paid plan, which starts at $99.60 for the first year and renews at $249.
What is the easiest ThirstyAffiliates alternative to switch to?
BetterLinks has a one-click ThirstyAffiliates migration, so it works even on the free version. LinkCentral, URL Shortify and Lasso Lite also import ThirstyAffiliates links directly.
Does ThirstyAffiliates store links as posts?
Yes. Each affiliate link is a WordPress post of the thirstylink type, with its settings saved as post meta. Pretty Links, BetterLinks, URL Shortify and GT Link Manager use their own database tables instead.
Which alternative has free geo-targeting?
GT Link Manager includes per-link country rules in its free plugin, using the country header from Cloudflare or another CDN. In BetterLinks, LinkCentral, URL Shortify and ThirstyAffiliates, geo-targeting is a paid feature.
Is Pretty Links better than ThirstyAffiliates?
For most sites, yes. Pretty Links has a stronger free plan and stores links in its own tables, at the same price. ThirstyAffiliates is better if you want Amazon importing and .htaccess redirects on the cheapest paid plan.
Final Remarks
If you’re on ThirstyAffiliates Pro and use its Amazon importer, .htaccess redirects and 404 checker together, I’d stay. Easy Affiliate Links matches the Amazon part for $29 a year, but not the rest.
If you’re on the free version and mostly want your links out with their settings intact, I’d start with BetterLinks for the one-click move. If country routing is the reason you’d pay, I’d try GT Link Manager on a staging copy with your top 10 links first.
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