Linkgaze vs. Pretty Links — Which Is Better for Affiliate Marketers?

Two Popular Tools, Two Very Different Approaches

If you've searched for ways to manage and track your affiliate links, you've probably come across both Linkgaze and Pretty Links. They both help affiliate marketers organize and monitor their links — but they solve the problem in fundamentally different ways.

Pretty Links is a WordPress plugin that cloaks and manages affiliate links directly inside your WordPress site. It's been around for years and is trusted by thousands of bloggers.

Linkgaze is a standalone link tracking platform built for creators who promote across multiple platforms — YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, blogs, and email — and want cross-platform click analytics with automatic UTM tracking.

So which one should you use? It depends entirely on how and where you promote. This comparison breaks down features, pricing, strengths, and limitations so you can make the right call.

Quick Comparison

How They Work: The Core Difference

The fundamental difference comes down to where each tool lives and what problem it solves.

Pretty Links: WordPress-Native Link Manager

Pretty Links installs as a WordPress plugin. It creates redirect URLs on your own domain — turning ugly affiliate links into clean paths like yoursite.com/recommend/camera.

Everything happens inside your WordPress admin. You create links, organize them by category, set redirect types, and view click stats — all without leaving your dashboard.

The paid versions add features like auto-linking (automatically turn keywords across your blog posts into affiliate links), link health checking, product displays, and link rotation.

Linkgaze: Cross-Platform Link Tracker

Linkgaze is a standalone web app. You don't need WordPress — or any CMS at all. You create short links through the Linkgaze dashboard, share them anywhere, and track clicks across every platform.

The key differentiator: Linkgaze automatically adds UTM parameters to every link, so you can see exactly which platform sent each click. Share the same product link on YouTube, Instagram, and your newsletter — Linkgaze shows you a breakdown of clicks by source.

If you're unfamiliar with UTM tracking, check out our complete UTM parameters guide.

Feature Breakdown

Link Management

Pretty Links wins on WordPress-specific features. Auto-linking keywords across all your blog posts is a massive time-saver if you have hundreds of articles. Link rotation is useful for A/B testing different affiliate offers. Product displays (on the Super Affiliate plan) let you create eye-catching product boxes inside your content.

Linkgaze keeps link management simple and platform-agnostic. You create a link, customize the slug, and share it anywhere. No plugin to install, no WordPress dependency.

Analytics and Tracking

This is where the two tools diverge the most.

Linkgaze is built for analytics. Its entire value proposition centers on showing you which platforms drive clicks. You see a dashboard that breaks down every link by source (YouTube, Instagram, blog, email), device (mobile, desktop), and location. This is the data that tells you where to spend your time.

Pretty Links tracks clicks, but not deeply. You'll see how many clicks each link got and basic trend data. But you won't know if those clicks came from your blog, your YouTube description, or your email newsletter — unless you manually set up UTM parameters yourself (which Pretty Links doesn't automate).

Platform Requirements

This is the deal-breaker for many creators.

Pretty Links requires WordPress. Your site must run on self-hosted WordPress (WordPress.org, not WordPress.com). If you're a YouTuber without a blog, an Instagram creator using Linktree, or someone who promotes via email and social media — Pretty Links simply doesn't work for you.

Linkgaze works everywhere. It's a web app. Create a link, copy it, paste it into a YouTube description, an Instagram bio, a TikTok profile, an email newsletter, a blog post — anywhere. No CMS required.

This doesn't mean Linkgaze is "better." It means they serve different audiences. If your entire affiliate strategy lives on your WordPress blog, Pretty Links gives you deeper WordPress integration. If you promote across multiple platforms, Linkgaze gives you the cross-platform visibility Pretty Links can't.

Pricing Comparison

Which Is Cheaper?

It depends on how you look at it.

Pretty Links is cheaper annually. At $99.50/year for the Beginner plan, it works out to about $8.30/month. Linkgaze's paid plan starts at $12/month ($120/year). Pretty Links wins on raw cost — especially if you only need one WordPress site covered.

Linkgaze's free tier includes analytics. Linkgaze Free gives you 10 links with 1,000 clicks/month and basic UTM tracking — enough to test the tool on a few products. Pretty Links' free plugin gives you link shortening and basic redirects but no click tracking, no auto-linking, and none of the premium features.

Multi-site cost favors Linkgaze. If you manage multiple sites, Pretty Links charges more per tier ($149.50/year for 2 sites, $199.50/year for 5 sites). Linkgaze's plans aren't limited by number of sites — your links work anywhere.

Real-World Scenarios: Which Tool Fits Your Workflow?

Scenario 1: WordPress Blogger Who Earns Primarily from Blog Content

Meet Rachel. She runs a food blog on WordPress with 200+ recipe posts. She promotes kitchen gadgets through affiliate links embedded in her articles.

Best choice: Pretty Links.

Rachel's entire operation lives inside WordPress. Pretty Links' auto-linking feature means she can add a new affiliate product and have it automatically linked across every post that mentions that keyword. She doesn't promote on YouTube or Instagram — her blog is her business.

Pretty Links gives her:

• Clean links on her own domain (rachelsrecipes.com/recommend/stand-mixer)
• Auto-linking "KitchenAid mixer" across all 200+ posts instantly
• Link management inside her familiar WordPress dashboard

Scenario 2: YouTuber with a Blog and Email List

Meet Carlos. He reviews tech products on YouTube (80K subscribers), writes detailed reviews on his blog, and sends a weekly email newsletter to 12,000 subscribers. He shares the same affiliate links across all three platforms.

Best choice: Linkgaze.

Carlos needs to know which platform is worth his time. Last month he earned $2,800 in affiliate commissions — but has no idea if YouTube, his blog, or his newsletter drove those sales.

Linkgaze gives him:

• One short link per product, shared across all platforms
• Automatic UTM tracking that shows YouTube drove 60% of clicks, blog 30%, email 10%
• Device breakdown showing 72% of his YouTube clicks are mobile
• Data to reallocate his 30+ hours/week of content creation toward what actually converts

Scenario 3: Blogger Who Also Posts on Instagram

Meet Aisha. She runs a WordPress travel blog and has a growing Instagram account (25K followers). She promotes travel gear and booking links on both.

Best choice: Both — or Linkgaze.

Aisha could use Pretty Links for her blog's internal link management (auto-linking destination names across posts) and Linkgaze for tracking which platform converts better.

If she has to pick one, Linkgaze covers both platforms. She loses the WordPress auto-linking but gains cross-platform visibility that Pretty Links can't provide.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Pretty Links Strengths

• Auto-linking is a killer feature. If you have a large WordPress blog, automatically turning keywords into affiliate links across every post saves enormous time.
• Your domain, your links. Links live on your site — no third-party domain involved. yoursite.com/go/product builds trust.
• WordPress-native workflow. No separate dashboard to manage. Everything lives where you already work.
• Product displays. The Super Affiliate plan lets you create visual product boxes that can boost CTR.
• Mature product. Years of development, large user base, extensive documentation.

Pretty Links Weaknesses

• WordPress lock-in. No WordPress = no Pretty Links. Period.
• No cross-platform tracking. If you share links on YouTube, Instagram, or email, Pretty Links can't tell you where clicks came from.
• Basic analytics. Click counts without source, device, or location data.
• No automatic UTM tagging. You'd need to manually add UTM parameters to every link — and Pretty Links doesn't help with that.
• Plugin overhead. Like any WP plugin, it adds load to your site. Heavy auto-linking configurations can impact page speed.

Linkgaze Strengths

• Cross-platform analytics. The core feature — see which platform drives clicks and revenue.
• Automatic UTM tracking. Zero manual setup. Every link is tracked by source without you doing anything.
• Platform-agnostic. Works on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, blogs (any CMS), email, podcasts — anywhere you can paste a URL.
• Detailed click data. Source, device, location, and time trends in one dashboard.
• Useful free tier. 10 links with basic UTM tracking and analytics — enough to validate the tool before paying.

Linkgaze Weaknesses

• No WordPress integration. No plugin, no auto-linking, no in-dashboard management.
• No product displays. You can't create visual product boxes or comparison tables.
• Separate dashboard. You manage links in the Linkgaze web app, not inside your CMS.
• Newer platform. Smaller community and fewer integrations compared to Pretty Links' years-long track record.
• No geo-redirects or link rotation. Pretty Links offers these on paid plans; Linkgaze doesn't.

Can You Use Both?

Yes — and for some creators, that's the best answer.

Here's a setup that gives you the best of both worlds:

• Pretty Links for WordPress link management — auto-linking keywords across your blog posts, cloaking links on your domain, and using product displays.
• Linkgaze for cross-platform tracking — create Linkgaze short links for YouTube descriptions, Instagram bios, email newsletters, and TikTok profiles. Use the analytics to see which non-blog platform performs best.

This way, your blog links are managed by Pretty Links (with all its WordPress features), and your off-site links are tracked by Linkgaze (with full source analytics).

The cost? Pretty Links Beginner ($99.50/year) + Linkgaze Free ($0) = under $100/year for a solid setup. Or add Linkgaze Starter ($120/year) for unlimited links and full analytics.

The Verdict

Choose Pretty Links if:

• Your affiliate revenue comes primarily from your WordPress blog
• You want auto-linking across hundreds of existing blog posts
• You prefer managing everything inside the WordPress admin
• You don't promote heavily on YouTube, Instagram, or other platforms
• You want product display boxes in your blog content

Choose Linkgaze if:

• You promote affiliate links on 2+ platforms (YouTube, blog, Instagram, email, etc.)
• You need to know which platform drives your clicks and revenue
• You want automatic UTM tracking without manual setup
• You don't use WordPress — or your site runs on Squarespace, Wix, Ghost, or another CMS
• You want a generous free tier to start tracking immediately

Choose both if:

• You run a WordPress blog and promote on YouTube, Instagram, or email
• You want auto-linking on your blog and cross-platform tracking everywhere else

Neither tool is universally "better." They're built for different workflows. The right choice is the one that matches how you actually create and share content.

For a broader comparison of all the top tools, see our guide to the best affiliate link trackers for content creators.