ThirstyAffiliates Review (2023): Overview, Features, Pros & Cons, Pricing - StatsDrone

Overview

Affiliate marketing has become one of the primary sources of eCommerce revenue in recent years. In fact, its growth has been such that industry experts estimate that it will soon surpass email marketing.

Despite its popularity, if you have been in this market for a while, you will know that making a sale and getting commissions is not as easy as it is often portrayed in blogs and social media groups.

One of the things that people struggle with the most is optimizing their website or social network to meet the changing needs of affiliate marketing.

Of course, the main factor that determines this optimization (or lack thereof) revolves around the issue of affiliate links. However, just adding it is not enough to generate results. The bigger the advertising campaign, the more complicated it will be to keep track of everything that happens with each link, product, promotion, and sale.

Because of this, it is necessary to have the appropriate tools that allow us to observe the development of each link and obtain measurable, observable, and quantifiable statistical results.

The easiest way to achieve this is through link cloaking plugins for WordPress, which supplanting uninteresting links with the URLs of your brand or the brand you are promoting.

For this reason, we would like to introduce you to a powerful tool known as ThirstyAffiliates. This tool is a WordPress plugin that allows you to fully manage and control your affiliate links.

You can create and optimize links for each product you offer with the features included in this plugin.

Best of all, this plugin is free. However, a pro version (which is paid) has even more benefits than the free version.

As for the free version, it offers the following:

• Link naming
• Destination URL
• Attach images
• Link inserted scanner
• Link options
• No-follow link
• Open link in new window
• Pass query string to destination URL
• Redirect type
• Additional rel tags

Ease of Use and Interface

As a plugin, its interface becomes very simple and practical to use.

To purchase the free version, you just have to access the WordPress plugin page, search for ThirstyAffiliates in the browser, download it, install it, and activate it.

Once you have done this, you can start creating your affiliate links and optimizing their position on every part of your website.

The menu for this tool will appear on the WordPress board. Sliding your mouse over this menu will bring up the rest of the options, which will allow you to review existing links, create new links, check your link categories, manage the tool's settings, and view the results reports.

ThirstyAffiliates is definitely super easy to use and, being so intuitive, it won't take too much practice before you can use it like a pro.

Features Explained in More Details

So far, we have mentioned some of the most essential features of ThirstyAffiliates; however, there is still a lot to discover about this exciting plugin.

Here is a list of each of the features of this tool along with their description:

• Autolink Keywords: Choose a group of keywords to link your affiliate link automatically.

• Smart Uncloaking: If you are looking to comply with amazon's terms of service, then you can turn this option to uncloak some of your links; remember that this is entirely optional.

• Detailed reports: All the data you need in one place. Get a complete insight with organized and intuitive charts and tables, plus regular admin email reports.

• Geolocation links: If you have multiple target markets, you can redirect them to the right places. Make sure your international clicks go where they need to with the country targeting tool.

• Proactive Link Fixer: Front-end link fixing script helps you maintain all of your links updated and running 24/7.

• Automatic 404 Checkers: Apart from a proactive fixer, ThirstyAffiliates also has an aggressive checker. This allows you to never miss another affiliate link on a 404 error.

• CSV Import/Export: ThirstyAffiliates allows you to manage all your affiliate links via CSV, allowing you to easily export or import data across sites.

• 3rd Party Link Importing: Maintain everything in one place; import your links from supported third-party APIs like Amazon Products.

• Google Analytics Events: ThirstyAffiliates has tight integration with Google Analytics. Push every click event when an affiliate link is clicked.

While it is true that all of the above is impressive, you must remember that these are only the features of the free plan.

There is now a pro version of ThirstyAffiliates that contains many more ways to optimize your affiliate links and take them to the next level.

Pros & Cons

ThirstyAffiliates is an excellent tool that offers you, as mentioned above, a free version and three premium plans that adapt to the needs and requirements of each type of business.

However, every tool has its good side and its less good side. Below is a list of the pros and cons of ThirstyAffiliates (we consider the tool in general, including both versions of it).

Pros

• Free version available
• 3 premium plans are available
• Low-cost tool
• Allows you to short links with just a plugin
• Link scheduling tools
• Auto keyword linking incorporated
• Amazon APIs support for easier link creation
• Advanced reports with CSV export
• One-time payment

Cons

• No split testing is available
• Additional options are only available through paid add-ons
• Does not offer integration with digital downloads and WooCommerce
• Pro version might be a bit expensive for beginner affiliates

Pricing Plans

There are three premium plans available at ThirstyAffiliates called: basic, plus, and advanced. Each of them includes more features than the previous plan and is designed to reach small, medium, and large projects that require more specialized attention and resources to meet their goals.

The best thing about these plans is that, unlike other tools, you will only make a one-time payment when you get access to the ThirstyAffiliates plugin. Plus, with regular discounts of up to $50, you can get it for a gift price.

Below is a description of each of the premium plans available:

Basic Plan

The Basic Plan is designed for small businesses that only run one website at a time. For a one-time payment of $99 (or $49 with the discount), you will get the following features:

• Monitoring of 1 website
• 14-day refund guarantee
• Shortening and destination cloaking
• Link categorization
• Redirect type options (Enhanced JS redirect or Server-side)
• Affiliate link picker tool
• Advanced link insertion type
• Smart uncloaking (for Amazon Associates compatibility)
• No-follow & open in new tab options
• Custom post types
• Basic statistics reports
• Exclude known bots from statistics
• REST API compatibility
• WPML & Polylang translation plugin integrations
• See which pages/post affiliate links are inserted in
• Automatic keyword linking
• Advanced statistics and reports
• Geolocation link redirects
• Automatic affiliate disclosure
• Amazon API importing
• CSV import/export tool
• Export statistics reports as CSV
• Link scheduling
• Google Analytics click event pushing
• High-Speed HTAccess redirect
• Link event notification emails
• Automatic 404 checker
• URL shortening (with bit.ly and goo.gl)
• Google tag manager compatibility
• Control plugin visibility for multi-author blogs
• WooCommerce external product integration

Plus Plan

The Plus Plan is designed for medium-sized projects that handle up to 5 websites simultaneously. For a one-time payment of $149 (or $99 with the discount), you will get the following features:

• Monitoring of 5 websites
• 14-day refund guarantee
• Shortening and destination cloaking
• Link categorization
• Redirect type options (Enhanced JS redirect or Server-side)
• Affiliate link picker tool
• Advanced link insertion type
• Smart uncloaking (for Amazon Associates compatibility)
• No-follow & open in new tab options
• Custom post types
• Basic statistics reports
• Exclude known bots from statistics
• REST API compatibility
• WPML & Polylang translation plugin integrations
• See which pages/post affiliate links are inserted in
• Automatic keyword linking
• Advanced statistics and reports
• Geolocation link redirects
• Automatic affiliate disclosure
• Amazon API importing
• CSV import/export tool
• Export statistics reports as CSV
• Link scheduling
• Google Analytics click event pushing
• High-Speed HTAccess redirect
• Link event notification emails
• Automatic 404 checker
• URL shortening (with bit.ly and goo.gl)
• Google tag manager compatibility
• Control plugin visibility for multi-author blogs
• WooCommerce external product integration

Advanced Plan

The Advanced Plan is designed for large projects that handle up to 10 websites simultaneously. For a one-time payment of $199 (or $149 with the discount), you will get the following features:

• Monitoring of 10 websites
• 14-day refund guarantee
• Shortening and destination cloaking
• Link categorization
• Redirect type options (Enhanced JS redirect or Server-side)
• Affiliate link picker tool
• Advanced link insertion type
• Smart uncloaking (for Amazon Associates compatibility)
• No-follow & open in new tab options
• Custom post types
• Basic statistics reports
• Exclude known bots from statistics
• REST API compatibility
• WPML & Polylang translation plugin integrations
• See which pages/post affiliate links are inserted in
• Automatic keyword linking
• Advanced statistics and reports
• Geolocation link redirects
• Automatic affiliate disclosure
• Amazon API importing
• CSV import/export tool
• Export statistics reports as CSV
• Link scheduling
• Google Analytics click event pushing
• High-Speed HTAccess redirect
• Link event notification emails
• Automatic 404 checker
• URL shortening (with bit.ly and goo.gl)
• Google tag manager compatibility
• Control plugin visibility for multi-author blogs
• WooCommerce external product integration

What Is the Best Plan Available?

Each plan adjusts to the individual needs of each project according to its size; however, if you are just starting out or have just one website that you want to optimize the management of links, the free plan and the basic plan are your best options.

The truth is that the only notable difference between all the premium plans is the number of websites you can monitor simultaneously. For this reason, unless you have that amount of web pages to monitor, you will not need another plan beyond the free or the basic one.

User Reviews and Ratings

One of the main recommendations that are usually made before buying anything (primarily an online tool) is to know the opinions and experiences of other users.

This way, you can know for sure what they liked, what they didn't like so much, and even what problems they managed to overcome using the tool.

For this reason, we would like to share with you some reviews from various ThirstyAffiliates users collected from the plugin's homepage and from several reliable and varied sources.

Harsh Agrawal of shoutmeloud.com mentions the following about his experience using the ThirstyAffiliates plugin:

"The most advanced Affiliate link management plugin for serious affiliates and smart bloggers. For established bloggers, GA events and Automatic 404 Checker is a blessing."

Additionally, Marc Prosser of fitsmallbusiness.com explains that:

"We have 1000 articles and 200+ affiliate partners. ThirstyAffiliates makes managing links and being compliant with Google's policies much easier."

In addition, Hesha Zebida of famousbloggers.net adds a simple yet effective comment that reads:

"I can't recommend it enough as the best link affiliate management plugin ever."

These are some of the reviews you can find on the homepage of thirstyaffiliates.com, but are there only positive reviews of this tool?

A review published on shoutmeloud.com mentions the following about ThirstyAffiliates:

"ThirstyAffiliates is the best Affiliate plugin for marketers. The basic plugin is free & paid add-on makes this plugin a powerhouse to increase affiliate sales. Amazon add-on is superb for anyone who is part of the Amazon affiliate program. Easy to use & right on budget."

In general, the vast majority of reviews on the Internet talk about the effectiveness of this tool concerning its low price compared to other solutions on the market.

Is ThirstyAffiliates a Good Purchase?

Definitely! ThirstyAffiliates is an excellent choice, especially for affiliates who are just starting out (thanks to its free version) and small businesses looking for a powerful tool limited to a single website.

In addition, the two other premium plans they offer also allow it to be considered an option for more significant ventures looking to simultaneously monitor up to 10 websites.

And of course, the fact that it is a plugin makes its implementation and use much more manageable because you can start optimizing your links immediately once installed.

Below you will find a list with some alternatives in case ThirstyAffiliates is not the right solution for your business:

• Pretty links: These applications are pretty similar; however, there is a fundamental difference between them. For example, pretty links has statistics monitoring in its free version, which allows you to know where your links are being clicked and how often. You can also filter your click statistics by IP address, place of origin, and many other factors.

• Thrive Leads: Managing links is a crucial aspect for any affiliate marketer. But what is even more important is that people click on those links in the first place. This application allows you to create "SmartLinks" that tells you when a guest has already subscribed to your mailing list, and if they have not subscribed, it shows them a window with a reminder to do so. This option will allow you to save a lot of time and money by promoting your links to people who are not subscribed or have not obtained what you are offering them.

• AdRotate: This tool assists you in optimizing advertising on your website. You can use it to view your own ads to get partner offers. Additionally, AdRotate has support for large publishing networks, including AdSense and DoubleClick. All in all, it is a very comprehensive tool to keep track of your links and ad campaigns.

• Ads Pro: This tool is very similar to AdRotate, in the sense that it is a very complete tool to manage your advertising directly in WordPress. Its use is generally focused on displaying AdSense advertising, third-party advertising, and affiliate deals. In general, this tool is excellent to complement it with various forms of online advertising.

ThirstyAffiliates FAQ

What is ThirstyAffiliates?

It is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to manage and optimize affiliate links. In addition, it will enable website owners to incorporate links easily and quickly to their posts and web pages.

Who should use the pro version of ThirstyAffiliates?

This plugin is recommended for bloggers using WordPress, but in reality, all affiliate marketers using WordPress as a platform can use it to optimize their links and overall results.

Does ThirstyAffiliates work with non-WordPress platforms?

No, unfortunately, this plugin only works with WordPress for the moment.

Do I need coding skills to use ThirstyAffiliates effectively?

Not at all. This plugin was designed to be 100% user-friendly and easy to use and install; of course, knowing how redirects work might be beneficial but not mandatory.

Is ThirstyAffiliates compatible with WordPress Multisite?

Of course! You can use this plugin in addition to WordPress Multisite. But, of course, you will need one of the pro versions of the tool that lets you manage 5 to 10 sites simultaneously.

How good is WordPress as a platform for affiliate marketing?

Any platform is ideal for affiliate marketing; however, WordPress offers certain advantages to its users that should be considered. One of the main ones is using plugins (such as ThirstyAffiliates) to optimize various processes in one place.

Can I use ThirstyAffiliates to promote my store with an affiliate program?

No, unfortunately, ThirstyAffiliates is not suitable for that purpose. Remember that ThirstyAffiliates is a plugin that allows affiliates to maintain their connections across all affiliate services to which they are affiliated (this includes yours as well). This plugin is not a tool that enables merchants to manage their partner network.

If I don't like ThirstyAffiliates, can I get a refund?

Yes, the premium version of ThirstyAffiliates comes with a 14-day money return guarantee. The strategy of this plugin is straightforward: if you don't like it or find out that it is not for you, you get your money back.

Can I manage Amazon affiliate links with ThirstyAffiliates?

Of course! This plugin lets you use affiliate links in compliance with Amazon's terms and conditions.