AffiliateWP - Direct Link Tracking vs WooCommerce PayPal Payments
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| Feature | AffiliateWP - Direct Link Tracking v1.3.3 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Paid Visit Details | WooCommerce PayPal Payments v4.2.0 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 2.9/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | — | 800,000+ |
| Last updated | — | October 21, 2026 |
| Editions | AffiliateWP - Direct Link Tracking ($) | WooCommerce PayPal Payments |
| Pros | Affiliates can link with plain URLs, no referral parameter needed; Approval workflow with optional emails to managers and affiliates; Global and per-affiliate domain limits plus a domain blacklist | Official PayPal gateway with smart buttons on product and checkout pages; Pay Later, card fields and Apple Pay or Google Pay wallets; Subscriptions, saved payment methods and ShipStation order tracking |
| Cons | Requires AffiliateWP and an AffiliateWP licence; Depends on the HTTP referrer, which is often missing or trimmed; Updates are tied to the AffiliateWP add-on updater | Available payment methods depend on PayPal account and country eligibility; Many modules are switched on in settings, so the setup has several steps |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Credits visits from approved affiliate domains via the referrer ($), Admin screen to approve or reject affiliate domains ($), Direct Links tab in the Affiliate Area ($), Shortcode to show the direct links form ($), Global and per-affiliate limit on domains ($), Domain blacklist, Facebook and Google blocked by default ($), Emails on submission, approval and rejection ($), Enable direct link tracking per affiliate ($) | PayPal smart buttons on product, mini-cart and checkout, Pay Later messages on product, cart and checkout blocks, Apple Pay gateway, Google Pay gateway, Card fields module, Pay upon invoice alternative payment method, PayPal subscriptions and renewals, Saved payment methods, Fraud protection module, Order tracking through the ShipStation plugin |
| Integrations | ||
| Payment | — | PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay |
| Plugins | AffiliateWP ($) | ShipStation |
| Requires WordPress | — | 6.5 |
| Requires PHP | — | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | — | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | — | api-m.paypal.com, www.paypal.com, api-m.sandbox.paypal.com, www.sandbox.paypal.com, api.woocommerce.com, www.paypal.ai, d.joinhoney.com, www.google.com |
| Blocks | — | 6 |
| Shortcodes | 1 | — |
| Custom tables | 1 | — |