Every affiliate marketeer knows that the ability to track and manage affiliate links is crucial for your success as a publisher. It allows you to optimize and adjust your marketing effort and allows you to maximize your profit. In this article, we will showcase some of the most advanced and most popular link trackers available in 2024.
In affiliate marketing you’re always dealing with an changing environment. The right affiliate link tracker can be as a compass, showing you what direction to go. Knowing what works and what methods are outdated, allows you to improve. But some of these tools do more than just track. They include features like autolinking, geotargeting and integrating affiliate link clicks with other data such as GA4. For publishers earning using affiliate marketing, having the right link tracking system is not just beneficial—it’s a must have.
This article will provide valuable insights into the best affiliate link trackers available of 2024. We will look at the unique features and advantages offered by LinkGenius, Clickmagick, ThirstyAffiliates, PrettyLinks, and Voluum. Each of these tools has its own strengths and weaknesses. Let’s start of and have a look how these tools can lift your efforts to a new height.
What features should a Affiliate link Tracker have
With so many options for affiliate link tracking available, it is easy to lose track about what affiliate link tracking is all about. Therefore, we will list the most important features before looking into the available options.
Click Tracking
This is obviously the most basic feature and an absolute must-have for any affiliate link tracker. Every link tracker should be able to track the clicks and combined these with other data you might be interested in.
Conversion Tracking
Monitoring conversions or actions take after a click, such as sale, signups or any other lead or defined goal is a must have. These allow you to measure the effectiveness of your affiliate links. Commission can often be tracked using postback URL Tracking.
Commission Tracking
Ultimately, you want to know how many commission your affiliate links are generating. This is what you ultimately want to optimize. This feature gives detailed insights of how different programs perform and how your income stream perform.
Analysis Reports
Apart from storing the data, you will want to view the data and, ultimately, combine it with other data your tracking. If you’re running an affiliate website, you might want to integrate this data with your Google Analytics data. When you’re buying trafic you want match it with the cost of your traffic.
Link Cloaking
Link Cloaking is the ability to disguise your affiliate links, making them shorter en more user friendly.
Advanced features
This is where the features become depended on how you are applying affiliate marketing. If you use a website to attract visitors and direct them to your affiliate link, you’ll want other features than when you are buying traffic from ad platforms to your affiliate links directly.
In the case of an affiliate website, you will need features that allow you to easily manage your affiliate links. These are provided by plugins that allow you to automatically place affiliate links in your content, disclose your affiliate links and keep them organizes using categories and/or tags.
If you are buying traffic you’re probably more interested in how you can measure the cost of your traffic, how it integrates with different platforms and how you can detect/reduce fraudulent clicks.
1. LinkGenius
Overview
In our opinion, LinkGenius definitely deservers to be at the top of our list of affiliate link trackers. This WordPress plugin is beginner friendly and offers a large set of features. With it features it is not only a good link tracker tool, but actually an allround affiliate link management tools as wel. These features include automated keyword linking, automated URL replacement, automated affiliate disclosure, both click and conversion tracking, and GA4 integration. With those features, it is the most extensive tool of our list when looking at the paid version. However, also the free version of LinkGenius has more features compared other free tools in the list.
Key Features
- Manage your affiliate links in one place, group them using tags or categories and show them in your content. You can layout the links the way you want on each page, using its templating system.
- GA4 Integration: One of LinkGenius’ standout premium features is its seamless integration with GA4. This feature provides marketers with in-depth analytics and insights to optimize their strategies effectively. It’s the only tool in our list that allows you match your commissions with GA4 session data.
- Click and Conversion Tracking: LinkGenius allows you to track both clicks and commission. This allows you to measure campaign performance, the click through rate and the conversion rate in great detail.
- Automated Linking: LinkGenius offers automated affiliate linking based on keywords or URLs in your content. This allows for seamless integration of affiliate links into content without manual effort.
- Link Cloaking: LinkGenius allows you to create branded and shortened links that enhance the aesthetic appeal and trustworthiness of affiliate URLs.
- Self-Hosted Solution: LinkGenius offers the flexibility of a self-hosted solution, putting publishers in control of their data and providing an added layer of security.
Pricing
LinkGenius offers a free version with limited features and paid version which includes full tracking:
- Free Version: Ideal for those starting out, the free version of LinkGenius contains management and disclosure features. The free version does not include tracking. However, because of the nature of LinkGenius you can easily set this up using MonsterInsights.
- Paid Version (Starting from $6 per month): For those seeking advanced tracking capabilities, the paid version of LinkGenius is a comprehensive solution. Starting from $6, it unlocks all the tracking abilities needed to optimize affiliate marketing strategies effectively. With this major price gap compared to the other tools, it is by far the best valued solution in our list.
Pros
- GA4 Integration: Seamless integration with GA4 provides robust analytics and insights.
- Click and Conersion and Commission Tracking: Detailed tracking of clicks and commissions for precise campaign analysis.
- Self-Hosted Solution: Offers a self-hosted option, providing control and an additional layer of security.
- Most extensive features: LinkGenius not only offers tracking features, but also link management features and automated link placement in your content.
- Pricing: With a price starting from just $6 per month it is lower priced than the alternatives.
Cons
- Free Version Limitations: Similar to the alternatives, the free version lacks embedded tracking features. With LinkGenius you’ll have to integrate click tracking using MonsterInsights.
- Reporting GA4 Dependent: Though the GA4 integration allow for more extensive reporting, if you don’t (want to) use GA4 LinkGenius loses its reporting capabilities. It is possible to integrate LinkGenius with other analysis systems, but you’ll have to create the connection yourself using the hooks LinkGenius provides. This requires technical knowledge.
Why Choose LinkGenius
LinkGenius is the link tracker with the most extensive features in total. It keeps a clean user-friendly interface for people who are already familiar with WordPress. The GA4 integration not only streamlines analytics but also facilitates data-driven decision-making in a way you cannot achieve with native reports.
The ability to track clicks, conversions and commission with precision empowers publishers to fine-tune their strategies for optimal performance. Moreover, the self-hosted nature of LinkGenius adds an extra layer of reliability and security, aligning with the needs of publishers who prioritize control over their data.
LinkGenius is not just a link tracker but an all round affiliate link management solution. The tracking is part of this solution but LinkGenius offers much more than just tracking.
2. Clickmagick
Overview
Clickmagick is a tool that focuses on tracking and attribution. It addresses issues some issue GA4 has, like short attribution windows, estimated data, “greedy attribution” and the impact of iOS “Do not track” and other privacy initiatives. These can all skew stat and misattribute conversions. ClickMagick is well-known for its advanced tracking features and user-friendly interface. If you are looking for a tool that allows you to track clicks, conversions, and commissions earned from you affiliate links across different advertising platforms this is the tool for you.
Key Features
- Intuitive Interface: Clickmagick is proud of its intuitive interface that streamlines the link tracking process. This makes it an accessible tool for both beginners and seasoned marketers.
- Conversion Tracking: The platform excels in providing detailed conversion tracking. This allows publishers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns in great detail and make data-driven decisions.
- Link Cloaking: Clickmagick allows for secure link cloaking, ensuring a professional and trustworthy appearance for affiliate links.
Pricing
Clickmagick offers several pricing plans. The lower-tier plans have fewer features. More sophisticated features are added in the higher-tier plans:
- Starter Plan ($69 per month): Ideal for beginners, this plan provides essential features to get started with affiliate link tracking.
- Standard Plan ($149 per month): Geared towards intermediate users, this plan unlocks advanced tracking capabilities for more extensive campaigns.
- Pro Plan ($299 per month): Tailored for advanced users, the Pro Plan offers comprehensive features for scaling affiliate marketing efforts.
Pros
- Conversion Tracking: Detailed conversion tracking for campaign performance analysis. This tools does tracking like no other tools in our list can.
- Intuitive Interface: User-friendly interface for easy navigation. This makes the tool accessible for user with all experiences.
- Link Cloaking: Secure link cloaking enhances the professional appearance of affiliate links.
- Flexible Pricing: Offers flexible pricing plans to cater to different user levels.
- More sophisticated features: The larger pricing plans contain many sophisticated features like audience optimization, click fraud prevention and advanced attribution models.
Cons
- Cost for Advanced Features: Some advanced features may require higher-tier plans, impacting overall cost.
- Tracking only solutions: Clickmagick is a tool for tracking. It does the tracking supremely, but is not an overall affiliate management solution.
Why Choose Clickmagick
Clickmagick stands out because of its tracking abilities. It is a comprehensive solution that balances sophistication with user-friendliness. The platform’s emphasis on conversion tracking allows publishers to optimize their strategies for maximum impact. Additionally, the availability of link cloaking ensures a professional and trustworthy appearance for affiliate links.
Clickmagick emerges as a top recommendation when it comes to solely tracking your performance. It offers a powerful toolkit for publishers seeking precision and effectiveness in their affiliate marketing endeavors.
3. ThirstyAffiliates
Overview
ThirstyAffiliates is an allround link management solution, just like LinkGenius. It has been around for quite some time, but its feature are still relevant in 2024. Although the free version focusses on link cloaking only, the pro version has some useful features that make it easier to track and manage your affiliate links.
Key Features
- Link Cloaking: The main feature of the free plugin. Place cleaner URLs to your own domain instead affiliate links directly in your content.
- Link Categorization: ThirstyAffiliates allows users to categorize and organize their affiliate links efficiently, providing a structured approach to link management. However, these categories are just for keeping your links organized, there is no additional functionality like displaying based on categories like LinkGenius has.
- Automated Keyword Linking (Pro): ThirstyAffiliates Pro offers automated keyword linking. Here you can specify certain keywords for a link. If the keyword is found in the text, a link will automatically be created.
- Click tracking (Pro): ThirstyAffiliates Pro allows you to view how many times a link was clicked and some information about the clicks such as GeoLocation and link texts. It does not support tracking anything afterwards, like amount of sales/leads or commission.
Pricing
ThirstyAffiliates offers a range of pricing plans to accommodate different user requirements:
- Lite Plan (Free): The Lite Plan is a free version suitable for beginners, providing essential features for effective link management and some limited reporting on the amount of clicks the links received.
- Pro Plan (starting from $99,60 per year): Geared towards more advanced users, the Pro Plan unlocks additional features for enhanced link management and better reporting.
Pros
- User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive interface for easy link management.
- Link Categorization: Efficient organization of affiliate links through categorization.
- Automated Keyword Linking: Streamlines the integration of affiliate links into content.
- Self-Hosted Solution: Offers a self-hosted option, providing control and an additional layer of security.
Cons
- Limited Free Features: The free Lite Plan has limitations compared to premium plans, the tracking reports are very limited.
- No Conversion Tracking: Although ThirstyAffiliates claim to have conversion tracking, this is only true because they see a click as a conversion. There is no support for a callback mechanism like LinkGenius provides, to track whether or not this click actually led to a sale or lead, i.e. generated commision.
Why Choose ThirstyAffiliates
ThirstyAffiliates Pro is a good all round solution. Although it places emphasis on link management and automated link placement, it also has some reporting and tracking capablities, this makes it a very useful tool for affiliate marketers.
For those seeking a balance between simplicity and functionality beyond only tracking performance, ThirstyAffiliates is a good choice in the our list of affiliate link trackers in 2024.
4. PrettyLinks
Overview
PrettyLinks is from the same developers as ThirstyAffiliates. Because of this, it has more or less the same features and same pricing as ThirstyAffiliates. The main difference is in the user interface of PrettyLinks, the renewed interface is a good option if you are not familiar with WordPress or dislike the native WordPress layout.
Key Features
- Intuitive Dashboard: PrettyLinks boasts an intuitive dashboard that simplifies the link management process, making it accessible for users of all levels of expertise.
- Link Cloaking: Like ThirstyAffiliates the main focus lies on link cloaking, allowing you to cloak/rebrand your links which adds to a professional appearance of you affiliate links.
- Click Tracking (Pro): Paid versions of PrettyLinks provide native click tracking analytics, though this is limited it might offer valuable insights into the performance of affiliate links.
Pricing
PrettyLinks offers multiple pricing plans to adjust to the needs of both starting as seasoned affiliate marketers:
- Lite Plan (Free): The Lite Plan is a free version suitable for beginners, providing essential features for effective link management.
- Beginner Plan ($99,60 per year): The Beginner Plan is ideal for beginners, offering essential features for effective link management and optimization. PrettyLinks offers more extens
Pros
- Intuitive Dashboard: User-friendly dashboard for straightforward link management.
- Link Redirection: Effective link redirection for branded and shortened links.
- Click Tracking: Click tracking analytics for performance insights.
- Flexible Pricing: Offers various pricing plans for different user needs.
Cons
- Cost for Advanced Plans: Advanced features are available in higher-priced plans.
- Limited Free Version: The free version may have limitations for more extensive campaigns.
Why Choose PrettyLinks
If you like the functionalities of ThirstyAffiliates, but don’t like the layout, PrettyLinks is a good choice. The platform’s intuitive dashboard ensures a smooth user experience, while the link redirection and click tracking functionalities help you optimize the process of placing and measuring performance of your affiliate links.
PrettyLinks is a good choice for publishers seeking a user-friendly yet powerful solution. With its blend of simplicity and functionality it has earned a spot in our list of best affiliate trackers in 2024.
5. Voluum
Overview
Voluum is a cloud-based ad tracker that integrates with multiple ad platforms, connecting all the components of your campaigns together. It is designed to meet the needs of more experienced marketers in 2024. Voluum is known for its advanced features and scalability, and provides realtime in-depth campaign analysis and optimization.
Key Features
- Advanced Analytics: Voluum provides robust analytics tools. It allows to to delve into detailed campaign performance metrics, click-through rates, and conversion data.
- Customization Options: The platform offers extensive customization options, enabling users to tailor tracking parameters and reports according to specific campaign requirements.
- Scalability: Voluum is designed to scale with the evolving needs of marketers, making it suitable for both individual affiliates and larger enterprises.
- AI traffic distribution: One of the unique features is the ai-based traffic distribution. This allow you to let Voluum distribute traffic to different campaign variations and let their ai optimize the distribution. By doing so, it ensures that the best performing ads receive more traffic than the lesser performing ones.
Pricing
Voluum offers flexible pricing plans to accommodate different levels of usage:
- Profit Plan (Starting from $119 per month): Geared towards intermediate users, the Profit Plan unlocks additional features for enhanced campaign optimization.
- Scale Plan (Starting from $349 per month): The Grow Plan is designed for advanced users and larger campaigns, offering extensive tracking capabilities and scalability.
Pros
- Advanced Analytics: Robust analytics tools for detailed campaign performance metrics.
- Customization Options: Extensive customization options for tailored tracking and reporting.
- Scalability: Designed to scale with the evolving needs of marketers.
- Flexible Pricing: Offers different pricing plans to accommodate varying levels of usage.
Cons
- Higher Starting Price: Plans may be on the higher side for beginners or small campaigns.
- Learning Curve: The platform’s advanced features may have a steeper learning curve.
Why Choose Voluum
Voluum distinguishes itself as a premium solution for marketers seeking advanced analytics and scalability. The platform’s focus on customization options. This allows for a tailored approach to tracking, ensuring that marketers can adapt to the unique demands of their campaigns.
Voluum stands tall as a top-tier choice for publishers with a penchant for in-depth analytics and the scalability needed to excel in the dynamic world of affiliate marketing. For marketers aiming to elevate their campaigns to new heights, Voluum emerges as a compelling solution in 2024.
Conclusion
In this article we’ve looked at different link tracking tools. Basically, we can divide the tools in two categories. The WordPress affiliate link management plugins, tailored for websites, that also allow for tracking. These are good options when you have an affiliate website and you want to measure how your trafic generates income. In this category belong LinkGenius, ThirstyAffiliates and PrettyLinks. Tracking abilities are more limited where LinkGenius is the only one to actually allow to track sales also besides only clicks. On the other hand they provide other features that allow you to easier place links in your content and manage them.
The other categorie contains the ad tracking and analytics platforms which focus solely on tracking clicks, conversions. In this categorie fall Clickmagick and Voluum. These trackers have more advanced tracking functionalities, but do not help you to keep your affiliate links organized. When buying traffic to your affiliate links directly, these might be your preferred choice.
Most important points for each tool:
- LinkGenius: Most advanced among the affiliate link management plugins. With its seamless integration with GA4 and robust click and commission tracking, LinkGenius is a reliable tool for publishers. With a price of only $6 per month LinkGenius has the lowest pricing and most advanced options when in its category.
- Clickmagick: Positioned as a cutting-edge solution, Clickmagick impresses with its intuitive interface and detailed conversion tracking. It is one of the best and most popular link tracking platforms in 2024. The pricing plans start from $69 per month, where higher plans offer more advance functionalities.
- ThirstyAffiliates: A well-settled affiliate link management plugin. It is simple and efficient and has proven it deserves a place in the list. There is a limited free Lite Plan, but for more advanced features you’ll need to buy the pro version.
- PrettyLinks: Also a popular affiliate link management plugin. It has multiple pricing plans, starting from $69,60 per year. However, the functionalities are not as extensive as the other options.
- Voluum: Positioned as a sophisticated platform for experienced marketers, Voluum offers advanced analytics, extensive customization options, and scalability. The pricing plans, starting from $119 per month, make it accessible to a range of users with varying campaign sizes.
In always changing environment, such as found affiliate marketing, the choice of an affiliate link tracker is a critical decision that directly impacts the success of your campaigns. Whether you prioritize user-friendliness, advanced analytics, scalability, or an allround link management solution, in out list you’ll definitely find a tool that fits your needs. All of these tools are definitely worth it in our opinion and allow you to easily improve your strategies and increase your income.