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

by WPDeveloper · Uncategorized

Also makes 45 other plugins · 2.9M+ installs across the portfolio →

Shorten, cloak, redirect & track every link in WordPress. Branded short URLs, click analytics, affiliate links & MCP access for AI assistants.

How scoring works →
90 Health · A
Maintenance 100/100
Rating quality 92/100
Support 70/100

90 health vs 56 average across 16,376 Uncategorized plugins

Directory ranking optimization

How it's scored →

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

98 / 100

Excellent listing optimization

Well tuned across the board

Update recency 100/100
WP compatibility 100/100
Rating quality 91/100
Listing tuning 100/100
Support resolution 100/100

Daily downloads

Since 2022-10-05 · 1,424 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+574% vs prior 30d
640Downloads · Aug 26

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges

47.6K

now · peak 47.7K

47.7K30d downloads · Aug 26

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

BetterLinks · #1292 you PrettyLinks · #223 LinkCentral · #9393 ShortLinks Pro · #14116

Rating trend

Star average over time · dips mark rough releases

4.8Stars · Aug 26

Update activity

How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.

2.4Kper 1k installs · Aug 26

Release cadence

Actively maintained
from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

18

releases in the last 12 months

2mo ago

latest release · v2.4.13

103

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

2.4.13 · 2mo ago2.4.12 · 3mo ago2.4.11 · 3mo ago2.4.10 · 4mo ago2.4.9 · 4mo ago2.4.8 · 5mo ago2.4.7 · 6mo ago2.4.6 · 6mo ago2.4.5 · 7mo ago2.4.4 · 7mo ago2.4.3 · 8mo ago2.4.2 · 8mo ago2.4.1 · 8mo ago2.4.0 · 8mo ago

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v2.4 70%
v2.2 11%
v2.3 8.6%
Older / other versions 9.9%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “20K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
20K–30K ≈29K

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

Install history · since 2021-07-31 · 1,430 observations

20KInstalls · Aug 26

Estimated value

What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.

Est. annual revenue

N/A

Est. acquisition value

N/A

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. The recent download trend is too spiky to read.

Details

Version
3.1.2
Last updated
5d ago
Added
2021-01-14 · 5 yrs old
Requires WP
5.3
Tested up to
7.1
Requires PHP
7.4

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. the7thscroll
    3mo ago

    As a nonprofit, this has been an integral tool for serving our community more fully! Big thanks to the WPDeveloper Team for developing such a great software. And great support as well.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. sprucetreemedia
    6mo ago

    This plugin is exactly what we needed to help us share long links and track them. We had an issue and support didn’t rest until it was fully resolved. Best support I’ve ever received. This is a great team backing a great product. 100% recommend.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  3. uri25
    7mo ago

    It’s the easiest way to check your internal and external links or to keep an eye on your links

    Read on wp.org ↗
  4. lifeofvi
    9mo ago

    I use BetterLinks Pro across multiple client websites, and it has made managing and sharing links so much easier. Many of my clients book services through external platforms, and this plugin lets me create simple, branded redirects that are easy for customers to click and remember. It keeps everything organized in one place and saves me from dealing with long, messy URLs. Support has also been great when I needed guidance. Quick responses, clear help, and no runaround.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  5. userblah
    9mo ago

    I’ve been using BetterLinks Pro for a while now, and it’s been one of the easiest plugins to work with. It has made it simple for me to share links in ways people actually use, especially for promotions on places like Instagram where QR codes are not always practical or easy for people to understand. Being able to quickly create clean links and track how they perform has made a real difference in how I share things online. The support team has also been fantastic. Every time I had a question or ran into something I could not figure out, they responded quickly, helped me through it, and I never felt brushed off. That experience is a big part of why I liked it enough to upgrade my license from a single site to unlimited. Overall, it just does what it is supposed to do without being complicated, and it has genuinely helped me.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  6. lisalin2025
    9mo ago

    Great Plugin! Thanks for Tracy’s support!

    Read on wp.org ↗
  7. rune
    10mo ago

    This plugin is so great for managing custom URLs and redirects while adding tracking. I use it for all my clients and it helps enforce domain authority and security. Also, I needed help from Support and they were very quick to response and resolve my issue.Thanks!

    Read on wp.org ↗
  8. eddysalomon
    11mo ago

    I recently left another tool and decided for a self hosted option. Betterlinks is actually better than the tool I left. The redirects are fast and it was easy to set up. I love that you can transfer your existing links from another link service with a few clicks. Initially I had some issues doing this. But I reached out to support (Kathryn) and she sent me a video walking me the easy fix. I’m happy I invested in this plugin. It’s been great so far. I’ll finally be able to easily track all my internal and affiliate links with ease.

    Read on wp.org ↗

Latest updates

via wp.org changelog

Recent releases and news for this plugin

  1. Version 2.4.13 Few minor bug fixes & improvements 2.4.13
  2. Version 2.4.12 Improvement: Redesigned Import/Export with improved field mapping and support for complex imports. Improvement: Resolved Plugin Check (PCP) warnings and errors. Few minor bug fixes & improvements 2.4.12
  3. Version 2.4.11 Few minor bug fixes & improvements 2.4.11
  4. Version 2.4.10 Improvement: WPML support for Affiliate Link Disclosure Notice translations. Fixed: Missing ABSPATH protection issue causing PHP fatal errors on direct file access. Fixed: CSV import issue stripping % characters from tar 2.4.10
  5. Version 2.4.9 Improvement: Added WPML-compatible translatable string support. Few minor bug fixes & improvements 2.4.9
  6. Version 2.4.8 Fixed: Resolved an issue where duplicating a BetterLinks URL caused the original Shortened URL to stop working Few minor bug fixes & improvements 2.4.8

Known vulnerabilities

via Wordfence Intelligence

4 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.

  1. 2026-08-24 CVE-2026-19801 Missing Authorization Affects <= 3.1.0 Patched in 3.1.1
  2. 2024-11-01 CVE-2024-51672 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') Affects <= 2.1.7 Patched in 2.1.8
  3. 2023-10-18 CVE-2023-45104 Improper Authorization Affects <= 1.6.0 Patched in 1.6.1
  4. 2021-10-20 CVE-2021-24812 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects < 1.2.6 Patched in 1.2.6

Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.

CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0

Low memory footprint
Low page-speed impact
Runs on latest PHP + WP
No PHP errors
No JS errors
Activates cleanly
No resource errors
No external HTTP errors
Optimized database use
Frequently updated

Languages

via translate.wordpress.org

Translated into 5 languages, 0 at 90% or more

Portuguese (Brazil) 71%
Dutch 26%
Russian 6%
Bengali 4%
Spanish (Spain) 3%

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

  1. 2024-07-14 10K+ → 20K+ up after 1 days in tier
  2. 2024-07-13 20K+ → 10K+ down after 3 days in tier
  3. 2024-07-10 10K+ → 20K+ up

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Compare head to head →

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BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP: 20K+ active installs, 4.8★ (85 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-28. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/betterlinks