Royal Plugins

<p><strong>The most powerful free affiliate link management and URL shortener plugin for WordPress.</strong></p>
<p>Royal Links is a complete link cloaking, click tracking, and link management solution that gives you every tool you need to shorten, cloak, track, and optimize your affiliate links and marketing URLs — without paying a cent. No “lite” version, no feature gates, no upsells. Everything competitors charge $200/yr for is included free.</p>
<p>Whether you manage affiliate links, run marketing campaigns, track click performance, or just want clean branded short URLs on your own domain, Royal Links has you covered.</p>
<h4>Link Management</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Branded Short URLs</strong> — Create clean links using your own domain</li>
<li><strong>Multiple Redirect Types</strong> — 301, 302, and 307 redirects</li>
<li><strong>Link Categories & Tags</strong> — Organize everything with taxonomies</li>
<li><strong>Nofollow / Sponsored / UGC Attributes</strong> — Stay compliant with search engine guidelines</li>
<li><strong>Password-Protected Links</strong> — Gate access to sensitive destinations</li>
<li><strong>Link Scheduling</strong> — Set start and end dates for any link</li>
<li><strong>Affiliate Disclosure Notices</strong> — Automatically display FTC-compliant disclosures</li>
</ul>
<h4>Click Tracking & Analytics</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Detailed Click Analytics</strong> — Browser, device, OS, referrer, and country data</li>
<li><strong>Dashboard Widget</strong> — At-a-glance stats with period-over-period comparison</li>
<li><strong>QR Scan Tracking</strong> — See how many clicks come from your QR codes</li>
<li><strong>UTM Parameter Builder</strong> — Build campaign-tagged URLs without leaving WordPress</li>
</ul>
<h4>Advanced Redirects</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Geo-Targeting</strong> — Redirect visitors to different URLs based on their country</li>
<li><strong>Device-Based Redirects</strong> — Send desktop, mobile, and tablet users to different destinations</li>
<li><strong>Time-Based Redirects</strong> — Automatically swap destinations on a schedule</li>
<li><strong>A/B Split Testing</strong> — Test multiple destinations and track which converts best</li>
</ul>
<h4>Content & Display</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>QR Code Generator</strong> — Generate downloadable QR codes for any link</li>
<li><strong>Product Display Boxes</strong> — Eye-catching product cards with images and CTAs</li>
<li><strong>Automatic Keyword Linking</strong> — Define keywords and Royal Links auto-links them across your content</li>
<li><strong>Gutenberg Block & Classic Editor</strong> — Insert links from either editor</li>
</ul>
<h4>Site Health</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Broken Link Checker</strong> — Automatic monitoring flags dead destinations</li>
<li><strong>Link Health Dashboard</strong> — See all link issues at a glance</li>
</ul>
<h4>Migration Wizard</h4>
<p>Switching from another plugin? Royal Links imports your links, categories, and click data in one click:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Pretty Links</strong> — Full import including groups and clicks</li>
<li><strong>ThirstyAffiliates</strong> — Full import including categories and click data</li>
<li><strong>BetterLinks</strong> — Full import including analytics</li>
</ul>
<h4>Why Royal Links?</h4>
<p>Most link management plugins offer basic features for free and lock the good stuff behind a paid upgrade. Royal Links takes a different approach — every feature is included from day one. Geo-targeting, A/B testing, QR codes, auto-linking, product displays, device redirects, and link scheduling are all built in with no restrictions.</p>
<h4>Powered by Royal Plugins</h4>
<p>Royal Links is built by the team behind <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/royal-mcp/" rel="ugc">Royal MCP</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/sitevault-backup-restore-migration/" rel="ugc">SiteVault</a> — free WordPress plugins trusted by thousands of sites. We believe powerful tools should be accessible to everyone.</p>
<h3>External Services</h3>
<p>This plugin connects to the following external service under specific conditions:</p>
<h4>ip-api.com</h4>
<p>Royal Links uses the <a href="http://ip-api.com" rel="nofollow ugc">ip-api.com</a> geolocation API to determine a visitor’s country for the geo-targeting feature. This service is <strong>only contacted when a site administrator has configured country-based redirect rules on a specific link</strong>. If no geo-targeting rules are configured, no data is sent to this service.</p>
<p>When geo-targeting is active on a link and a visitor clicks that link, the visitor’s IP address is sent to ip-api.com to determine their country. The country result is then used to decide which destination URL the visitor should be redirected to.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Service URL:</strong> <a href="http://ip-api.com" rel="nofollow ugc">http://ip-api.com</a></li>
<li><strong>Terms of Service / Privacy Policy:</strong> <a href="https://ip-api.com/docs/legal" rel="nofollow ugc">https://ip-api.com/docs/legal</a></li>
<li><strong>Data sent:</strong> Visitor IP address (only when geo-targeting rules exist on the clicked link)</li>
<li><strong>Data received:</strong> Country code for the visitor’s IP address</li>
<li><strong>Data retention:</strong> Royal Links does not store the IP-to-country lookup. The country is used only for the redirect decision. IP addresses are only stored in the click log if the “Store IP Addresses” setting is enabled (disabled by default).</li>
<li><strong>When it is used:</strong> Only when a visitor clicks a link that has geo-targeting redirect rules configured by the site admin</li>
<li><strong>When it is NOT used:</strong> If no links have geo-targeting rules, this service is never contacted</li>
</ul>


Royal Links

Free affiliate link management, URL shortener, and link cloaking plugin with geo-targeting, A/B testing, QR codes, and auto-linking. No premium tier.

Rach Santiago

Lasso

Andrew Fiebert

Phuc Do

Caitlin Ward

Gene Schleeter

lassoteam

Khang

Chuong Phan

Tri Phan

<p>Simple URLs helps you manage and organize links directly inside WordPress. It’s useful for affiliate marketers, bloggers, and anyone who wants more control over outbound links.</p>
<h3>What you can do with Simple URLs</h3>
<ul>
<li>Create short, clean URLs with custom slugs  </li>
<li>Cloak affiliate links with optional attributes (new window, nofollow, sponsored)  </li>
<li>Organize and edit links from a central dashboard  </li>
<li>Insert links from the editor while writing posts  </li>
<li>Track basic click counts on your links  </li>
<li>Works with both the Block Editor and Classic Editor  </li>
</ul>
<h3>Why it’s helpful</h3>
<p>With Simple URLs, you don’t need spreadsheets to keep track of affiliate links. Update a link once in your dashboard, and it’s automatically updated everywhere it’s used on your site.</p>
<p>When writing new content, you can quickly search for a link in the editor and insert it without leaving the page. This helps keep your workflow smooth and lets you stay focused on creating content.</p>
<h3>Getting started</h3>
<ol>
<li>Install and activate Simple URLs.  </li>
<li>Go to <strong>Simple URLs <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> Add New</strong>.  </li>
<li>Enter the destination URL, slug, and any attributes.  </li>
<li>Save your link and insert it into posts or pages.  </li>
</ol>
<p>That’s all there is to it — manage as many links as you need, all in one place.</p>
<h3>Looking for advanced features?</h3>
<p>For comparison tables, product grids, or performance reports, see our separate plugin <a href="https://getlasso.co/docs/" rel="nofollow ugc">Lasso Documentation</a>.</p>


Simple URLs – Link Cloaking, Product Displays, and Affiliate Link Management

Why does anyone need to "fix" something that wasn't broken by adding code that breaks a site?

Simple URLs was a good product. Lasso is not. It is buggy and not worth even using the free version.

The constant upselling to "pro" is not only annoying, but the code displays before the editing screen displays.

Time to find another URL redirection tool. Lasso is not it!

Lasso is Lousy

In a perfect example of “answering questions that aren't being asked,” this plugin has suddenly become bloated with tons of upsells and features we don't need. 

For years, I used this plugin precisely because it did one thing... beautifully. Simple redirection and link shrinking, perfect for affiliate link management. 

Now, I'm bombarded with upsells for a bloated feature set I don't need. Why not release all those features in a NEW plugin, and leave Simple URLs alone?

Before forcing users into an “all-in-one” solution for affiliate marketers, it might have been wise to first determine what solution your plugin solved in the first place.

Now I've got to figure out how to migrate hundreds of redirect links out of SimpleURLs to a new plugin. So, thanks for that.

Ruined a perfectly simple plugin.

A once simple and useful plugin has been remade with an awful and tacky interface that is unpleasant to use.

To make it worse, the plugin now loads a CSS file and other clutter to the frontend which is inexcusable for what was once promised to be a simple link redirect manager.

Absolutely stay away from this plugin.

Avoid

Rolling back to version 107. The simple URL that every love.

The simple URL that every love.


Was certainly surprised to log in here and see so many negative reviews. This plugin has changed everything for my affiliate marketing business. Easily a 20-30% increase in conversions post install, and combining this with Geniuslink has made a massive difference in my international sales.



Yes, this plugin is expensive, but it's not meant for sites that are just starting out. Instead, you should already have success with other affiliate marketing plugins. I have harped on the price for years as it wasnt multi-site friendly, which they've changed -- along with more leniency on staging sites.



I really suggest giving this a shot if you're having trouble with conversion rates. The displays are beautiful, and they work.


After 1 year, can't say enough good things.


Good:




pretty UI and display output, including customizing colors



can import/export using the default WordPress tool (but they don't show/tell you that and their helpdesk does not have an article about it)



many link management plugins don't seem to be maintained regularly, but this one is.




Bad:




it's not "smart" when importing an affiliate link, always preferring the shortest possible URL slug. For example, it imports a ShareASale link as mysite/go/shareasale -- um, no!



no way to view more than 10 links at a time in the Dashboard's list (not even in Screen Options) even though the font size is huge. I'd like to see more of a typical Media Library list view with the ability to customize how many display at a time



search/replace (find/update) does not work in free version, only paid version. Seems a fairly simple expectation for a link manager. Basically not recommended to use the free version at all. The paid version is a nice upgrade, although it's prohibitively pricey per site if you're just getting started with affiliate earnings.



Pretty but lacking in usability


I asked the plugin dev how to get rid of the banner and he stated once its dismissed, its permanent which is a blatant lie. When it was Simple URL's it was great, now the most annoying plugin in the repo.



Need to work out how to migrate out of Lasso permanently.


Banner That Never Goes Away

Simple URLs helps you to manage links, create product displays, and grow your affiliate marketing business.

Royal Links vs Simple URLs – Link Cloaking, Product Displays, and Affiliate Link Management