Pretty Links alternative
Change the tool.
Keep every
/go/ link.
The free version of Pretty Links (now spelled PrettyLinks) already covers what most sites use it for: branded redirects on your own domain, 301, 302 and 307 redirects, click and unique-click counts, nofollow and sponsored, and CSV import and export. Pro starts at $99.60 for the first year and renews at $249 a year; keyword auto-linking, split tests and QR codes need its dearer plans. The alternatives are ThirstyAffiliates and Lasso for affiliate links inside posts, the free Redirection plugin for plain redirects with hit counts, and short-link tools on a subdomain of your own. Whichever you choose, your old links are already in emails, videos and posts, so give them redirect rules before you switch Pretty Links off. Below: Lite against Pro, the alternatives side by side, a free planner that turns your export into redirect rules, and Builderify Short Links, gaps included.
By the Builderify team
Pretty Links free vs Pro:
what does Lite already do?
More than most people expect. Version 4.0 rebuilt the plugin and added smarter bot filtering, privacy controls and CSV link importing to the free version. Exporting your links is free too, which matters most when you are leaving.
Lite sends a 302 unless you choose otherwise, and marks each link nofollow by default; sponsored is a switch per link. Pro is for automation: links added to your posts on their own, traffic split between destinations, links that expire.
Read on WordPress.org and in the PrettyLinks 4.0.17 source on 17 October 2026. Plans as prettylinks.com/pricing lists them; where the pricing page doesn’t say which plan includes a feature, it says Pro.
| Feature | Lite, free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Branded links on your own domain, any prefix you type | Yes | Yes |
| 301, 302 and 307 redirects | Yes | Adds cloaked, JavaScript, meta-refresh, pixel and Pretty Bar redirects (Beginner and up) |
| Click and unique-click counts, reports by date | Yes | Adds conversion reports (Marketer and up) |
| Bot filtering, IP anonymising, a click retention window | Yes | Yes |
| Nofollow and sponsored, per link | Yes | Yes |
| Pass query strings on to the destination | Yes | Yes |
| Import and export links as CSV | Free in 4.0 | Yes |
| Stripe payment links (PrettyPay) | A 3% fee per sale on top of Stripe’s | No PrettyLinks fee |
| A link made for every new post | No | Beginner and up |
| Keyword auto-linking and automatic disclosures | No | Marketer and up |
| Split tests and link rotations | No | Marketer and up |
| QR codes, UTM builder, product displays | No | Super Affiliate |
| Categories and tags, expiring links, geo, device and time targeting, link health checks | No | Pro |
How much is Pretty Links Pro?
Read the second year first.
Pro is sold by the year, in three plans. The prices on the pricing page are introductory: the small print says “all annual renewals are at full price”, and the full price is the “normally” figure next to each plan. So the second year costs two and a half times the first.
If you use keyword auto-linking on hundreds of posts, split tests or product boxes, Pro does work you would otherwise do by hand. If you mostly make a link, share it and count its clicks, Lite already does that for free, and so does every alternative below.
ThirstyAffiliates lists the same author on WordPress.org, Blair Williams, and the same prices: Basic $99.60 then $249 for one site, Plus $149.60 then $374 for five, Advanced $199.60 then $499 for ten. Both offer a 14-day refund. Prices in US dollars, read 17 October 2026.
The Pretty Links alternatives,
side by side.
The first question isn’t the price. It is where the links will live: under a path on your WordPress site, which needs a plugin forever, or on a short domain that works anywhere. The second is whether you need them inside your posts, or out in the world.
| Tool | Links live at | Free | Paid | Installs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PrettyLinks Lite | yoursite.com/any-slug | Redirects, click counts, nofollow and sponsored, CSV import and export | Pro from $99.60 the first year, then $249 | 200,000+ | Staying where you are |
| ThirstyAffiliates | yoursite.com/recommends/…, prefix changeable | 301 (default), 302 or 307, categories, click reports, a link picker in the editor, uncloaking for Amazon | Pro from $99.60 the first year, then $249; CSV import is Pro | 30,000+ | Affiliate posts, with categories free |
| Lasso Lite and Lasso | yoursite.com/go/… | Cloaked links, product displays, groups, basic click counts, importing from PrettyLinks | Creator $190 a year ($19 a month), Pro $289, Studio $549 | 4,000+ | Product boxes and Amazon displays |
| Easy Affiliate Links | yoursite.com/… or the original link | Cloaked or plain links, monthly and lifetime click counts, sponsored and ugc, CSV import and export | Premium $29 a year, or $119 for 20 sites | 6,000+ | The cheapest paid step |
| Redirection | Any path on yoursite.com | Redirects with hit counts, a 404 log, CSV and .htaccess import and export, a PrettyLinks importer | Free | 2+ million | Keeping old URLs alive, nothing more |
| Builderify Short Links | go.yoursite.com/s/…, a subdomain you connect | No cap on links; clicks, unique clicks, referrer, place, device and proxy flags | Short links cost no credits; 250 free credits a month for the rest | — | Links you share outside WordPress |
Active installs from WordPress.org, prices from each pricing page in US dollars, read 17 October 2026. ThirstyAffiliates and PrettyLinks show introductory first-year prices that renew at full price. Lasso Lite keeps a basic click count per link; Lasso’s own analytics start on its paid plans. Bitly belongs in this list too, on its own domain: the Bitly free plan guide covers its link cap and the ad page on free links.
What happens to /go/ links when you deactivate Pretty Links?
They stop redirecting, all at once. PrettyLinks answers its links itself, so without it every /go/ address becomes a request for a page that doesn’t exist, and visitors usually land on your “not found” page instead of the merchant’s. That is why moving away is the risky part, whichever tool you pick.
Two smaller things go with it: any [prettylink] shortcode prints as plain text, and Pro’s automatic keyword links vanish. Deleting the plugin leaves its database tables behind, so nothing is lost while you plan.
Where an old /go/ link lives, and whether you can still change it
-
Your posts and pages You can edit
Search and replace, or leave them: the rule keeps them working.
-
Emails already sent Can’t edit
Every newsletter and autoresponder already in an inbox.
-
Video and podcast descriptions You can edit
One at a time, if you can find them all.
-
PDFs, ebooks and slides Can’t edit
Every copy someone already downloaded.
-
Other people’s sites Can’t edit
Reviews, forums and roundups that link to you.
-
Printed QR codes Can’t edit
Flyers, packaging and business cards.
Anything you can’t edit keeps sending people to the old address for years. Only a redirect at that address reaches them.
-
01
Export your links
In PrettyLinks, use Export CSV on the links list; it is part of the free version. Export the click history too if you want to keep it.
-
02
Give them a new home
Create the links in the tool you are moving to, or decide that the old URLs go straight to the destination.
-
03
Write the redirect rules
Paste the export into the planner below. It writes rules for the Redirection plugin, Apache or Nginx.
-
04
Test before and after
Run
curl -Ion two or three old URLs, or open them in a private window. Then switch PrettyLinks off and test again: every one should answer 301 or 302, never 404. -
05
Watch the 404s for a week
Redirection logs every “not found” on your site, so a /go/ link you missed shows up there.
The free Redirection plugin, with 2+ million active installs, has a PrettyLinks importer under Tools › Redirection › Import. It reads PrettyLinks’ tables straight from your database, so it works after you deactivate it. Check the result: it copies every row, links in PrettyLinks’ trash included. Then, under Options, change Default query matching from “Exact match in any order” to “Ignore all query parameters”. With the default, a link that arrives as /go/hosting?utm_source=newsletter doesn’t match /go/hosting at all.
How do I keep my old
Pretty Links URLs working?
Paste your PrettyLinks CSV export, or type one link per line: the old path, then where it goes. Choose where the links will live, and copy rules for the Redirection plugin, Apache or Nginx. Nothing you paste leaves your browser.
The file from PrettyLinks’ Export CSV button, or lines such as go/hosting https://hosting.example.com/?aff=1234.
Read as a PrettyLinks CSV export · 6 links
Recommended: 301 to a new short link, 302 straight to a destination.
Links that forwarded them in PrettyLinks always do. Builderify short links don’t pass them on.
source,target,regex,code "/go/hosting","https://go.yoursite.com/s/hosting",0,301 "/go/camera","https://go.yoursite.com/s/camera",0,301 "/go/course","https://go.yoursite.com/s/course",0,301 "/go/Black Friday","https://go.yoursite.com/s/black-friday",0,301 "/go/c++-book","https://go.yoursite.com/s/c-book",0,301 "/go/vpn","https://go.yoursite.com/s/vpn",0,301
Where it goes: install Redirection, then Tools › Redirection › Import, choose the file and import. Under Options, set Default query matching to “Ignore all query parameters”, or “Ignore and pass all query parameters” if links should pass them on. New installs already ignore capitals and trailing slashes.
Link by link
Old URL → new short link| # | Old URL | Goes to | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paste some links to see the plan. | |||
| 1 | /go/hosting | https://go.yoursite.com/s/hosting | 301 |
| 2 | /go/camera | https://go.yoursite.com/s/camera PrettyLinks passed query strings on to this destination. Builderify short links don’t, so they are dropped. | 301 |
| 3 | /go/course | https://go.yoursite.com/s/course | 301 |
| 4 | /go/Black Friday | https://go.yoursite.com/s/black-friday The alias is black-friday: Builderify aliases are letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores, up to 50. | 301 |
| 5 | /go/c++-book | https://go.yoursite.com/s/c-book The alias is c-book: Builderify aliases are letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores, up to 50. | 301 |
| 6 | /go/vpn | https://go.yoursite.com/s/vpn Was a cloaked redirect in PrettyLinks Pro; it becomes a plain redirect. | 301 |
Tested on 17 October 2026: the .htaccess rules on Apache 2.4.67 and the Nginx rules on nginx 1.25.4, with spaces, plus signs, brackets, dollar signs, quotes and accents in the old paths, trailing slashes, capitals and added query strings, and the CSV through the import code of Redirection 5.10.1. Rules match the path whatever its capitals, as PrettyLinks did on a standard WordPress database.
Moved off Pretty Links?
Six things to check.
The redirects are the big job. These are the small ones that PrettyLinks did quietly, and that nobody notices have stopped until the clicks dip.
rel="sponsored" lives on the link
Google asks for paid links to be marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" on the <a> tag. Links you inserted with PrettyLinks’ editor button keep their rel attributes in your posts. PrettyLinks also sent X-Robots-Tag: noindex, nofollow on its own redirects, nofollow being on by default; redirect rules don’t send it.
301 or 302
A 301 is permanent, and RFC 9110 lets browsers cache it, so it suits an old URL that now points at a new short link. Straight to a merchant, use 302 or 307 (PrettyLinks’ default was 302) so a changed destination takes effect at once.
Query strings
Links shared in emails and on social media often arrive with tracking parameters added. The .htaccess and Nginx rules match the path whatever the query string. Redirection’s default, “Exact match in any order”, doesn’t: set Default query matching to “Ignore all query parameters” under Tools › Redirection › Options.
[prettylink] shortcodes
Search your posts for [prettylink before you switch the plugin off. Without it, WordPress prints the shortcode as text instead of a link. Replace each with an ordinary link to the old URL.
Keyword links disappear
PrettyLinks Pro links keywords as each page is built, not in the text saved in your posts, as its changelog describes, so those links go with the plugin. Links you typed or inserted stay.
Capitals and trailing slashes
PrettyLinks answered /go/hosting/ as well as /go/hosting. The rules here ignore a trailing slash and capitals; new Redirection installs ignore both by default.
Short links on your own subdomain,
gaps listed.
Builderify Short Links don’t live inside WordPress. A link looks like go.yoursite.com/s/hosting, on a subdomain you point at Builderify, so it works the same in a post, a Broadcast email, a video description or on a flyer, and it keeps working if you ever rebuild your site. That suits links you share out in the world more than links woven into posts.
-
1. Connect a subdomain
Under Connect › Domains, add a tracking domain such as go.yoursite.com, then publish the ownership TXT record and the CNAME shown. Builderify checks them for you. Until it is verified, links use the shared domain, bdrfy.com.
-
2. Add each link
Under Manage › Short Links › Add Link: the destination URL, a title and a custom alias. The planner’s Builderify tab lists them in that order.
-
3. Point the old URLs at them
Paste the planner’s rules into Redirection, .htaccess or Nginx, then switch PrettyLinks off and test.
-
4. Read the clicks
Each link’s stats show total and unique clicks for the last 24 hours, 7, 30 or 90 days, with referrers, countries, regions, cities, devices and browsers.
Short links have no line on the rate card: making a link and every click on it cost no credits, and links don’t stop when your balance runs low. Every account gets 250 free credits a month for the rest of Builderify, such as the widget, email or User Journey. Packs start at $9 for 1,000 credits, are bought once, never expire, and are all on the pricing page.
What it does
- No charge per link or per click, and links keep redirecting when your credits run out
- Change a link’s destination, title or alias at any time; pause it and switch it back on
- Total and unique clicks: a click is unique when it is the first from that address in 24 hours
- Referrer, country, region, city, device and browser, over 24 hours, 7, 30 or 90 days
- Proxy, VPN and hosting clicks flagged next to the totals, which still include them
- Click detail kept for 400 days, totals for as long as the link exists
- No WordPress plugin needed: a short link works in an email, a video description or on paper
Not yet
- 301 or 307: every short link answers with a 302
- Expiry dates, QR codes, UTM fields, tags or categories
- Passing query strings on to the destination
- Importing links in bulk: they are added one at a time
- Links under a path on your main domain, such as yoursite.com/go/…
- Keyword auto-linking, product boxes or a button in the WordPress editor
- An old /go/ URL takes two hops after the move: your redirect rule, then the short link. That is one more than PrettyLinks made.
- Aliases are unique across all of Builderify, on your own domain too, and take letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores, up to 50. The planner makes them from your old paths.
- Each website in Builderify has one tracking domain. It also serves the unsubscribe pages of your emails.
- If your credits run out, the widget pauses until you top up and the cookie banner keeps running. Short links carry on redirecting.
- The flags are a guide, not a filter: proxy, VPN and hosting clicks are counted, then shown separately. Checking bought traffic and bot traffic in analytics explain what to make of them.
Sharing one affiliate link in several places? Track affiliate link clicks per post and platform plans one short link per place. Old goo.gl links in your posts too? Why goo.gl links stopped working covers recovering their destinations. Want a page of your own between the click and the merchant? That is a bridge page.
Which Pretty Links alternative
should you pick?
These are the calls we’d make, including the first one, which is not to move at all.
You use the free version, and it does what you need.
Stay on PrettyLinks Lite. It is free, maintained (updated 15 October 2026) and since 4.0 exports everything if you change your mind. Nothing below beats free and already set up.
You only want the old URLs to keep working, with a count of hits.
Redirection, free. Import straight from PrettyLinks, set the query matching, switch PrettyLinks off. One plugin swapped for another, and nothing to pay.
You put affiliate links inside posts and want categories and a link picker, free.
ThirstyAffiliates. Its free version has categories, click reports and uncloaking for Amazon, and lets you change its /recommends/ prefix: with your old prefix and the same slugs, the old URLs can stay as they are. Pro costs what PrettyLinks Pro costs.
You review products and want boxes with images and prices.
Lasso Lite, then Lasso. Product displays and a basic click count are free; Lasso’s analytics start on Creator, $190 a year.
You want click charts for the least money.
Easy Affiliate Links Premium, $29 a year for one site.
Your links go out in emails, videos and bios, and you want to see where clicks come from without another plugin.
Builderify Short Links on a subdomain: no charge per link or click, clicks by referrer, place and device, with proxy flags. Keep a plugin, or Redirection, for anything that has to live inside your posts.
Whichever you pick, it is one more thing on your site. How many WordPress plugins is too many measures what each one costs, and which jobs one script can take over.
Pretty Links, before you ask.
Yes. PrettyLinks Lite is free on WordPress.org, with 200,000+ active installs, and makes branded redirects on your own domain with 301, 302 or 307, click and unique-click counts, nofollow and sponsored, and CSV import and export. Pro starts at $99.60 for the first year, and its higher plans add automation such as keyword auto-linking and split tests.
Pro is billed yearly in three plans: Beginner for one site at $99.60 the first year, then $249; Marketer for two sites at $149.60, then $374; and Super Affiliate for five sites at $199.60, then $499. The pricing page says all renewals are at full price, and there is a 14-day refund. Prices read on 17 October 2026, in US dollars.
They stop redirecting, because PrettyLinks answers its links itself, so visitors usually land on your "not found" page. Any [prettylink] shortcode prints as text and Pro's keyword links disappear. Add redirect rules for the old URLs first, with the Redirection plugin, .htaccess or Nginx, then switch it off and test.
Yes. Redirection 5.10 has a PrettyLinks importer under Tools › Redirection › Import that reads PrettyLinks' database tables, which stay even after you deactivate it. It copies every row, trashed links included, so check the list. Then set Default query matching to "Ignore all query parameters", or links that arrive with tracking parameters won't match.
Use a 301 when an old URL now points at a new short link for good: it is permanent, and browsers may cache it. If the old URL goes straight to a merchant, use 302 or 307, as PrettyLinks did by default, so a changed destination takes effect at once. Either way, keep rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" on the links in your posts.
Sources
Read on 17 October 2026.
- WordPress.org PrettyLinks: features, Lite and Pro, 200,000+ installs
- WordPress.org PrettyLinks 4.0.17 source: redirects, CSV export, shortcode
- PrettyLinks Pricing: Beginner, Marketer, Super Affiliate; renewals at full price
- WordPress.org ThirstyAffiliates
- ThirstyAffiliates Pricing: Basic, Plus, Advanced
- WordPress.org Lasso Lite
- Lasso Pricing
- WordPress.org Easy Affiliate Links
- Bootstrapped Ventures Easy Affiliate Links Premium
- WordPress.org Redirection: hit counts, 404 log, import and export
- WordPress.org Redirection 5.10.1 source: CSV importer, PrettyLinks importer, query matching
- Redirection Importing and exporting redirects
- Google Search Central Redirects and Google Search
- Google Search Central Qualify your outbound links
- IETF RFC 9110: 301, 302 and 307
- Apache HTTP Server mod_rewrite: RewriteRule and its flags
- nginx location
- nginx return
Stop losing the visitors
you already paid for.
More leads from the traffic you already have, and follow-up that sends itself. Free to start. No card, no monthly fee.