AffiliateWP - Direct Link Tracking vs WooCommerce
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| Feature | AffiliateWP - Direct Link Tracking v1.3.3 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Paid Visit Details | WooCommerce v11.2.1 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.5/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | — | 7M+ |
| Last updated | — | October 9, 2026 |
| Editions | AffiliateWP - Direct Link Tracking ($) | WooCommerce |
| Pros | Affiliates can link with plain URLs, no referral parameter needed; Approval workflow with optional emails to managers and affiliates; Global and per-affiliate domain limits plus a domain blacklist | Simple and variable products, cart, checkout and coupons; Built-in payment, shipping zone, tax and email tools; REST API and WP-CLI commands for store management |
| Cons | Requires AffiliateWP and an AffiliateWP licence; Depends on the HTTP referrer, which is often missing or trimmed; Updates are tied to the AffiliateWP add-on updater | Payments, shipping and tax all need setup before selling; Many advanced features come from paid marketplace add-ons; Contacts Woo and WordPress services for some optional features |
| Mentioned in our posts | — | 2 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Credits visits from approved affiliate domains via the referrer ($), 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 ($) | Simple and variable products, Cart and checkout, Built-in offline payment methods and gateway API, Shipping zones and methods, Tax rates and calculation, Coupons, Order query API, REST API for products and orders, WP-CLI commands, Analytics reports |
| Integrations | ||
| Payment | — | PayPal |
| Analytics | — | WooCommerce usage tracking service |
| Plugins | AffiliateWP ($) | WooCommerce.com |
| Requires WordPress | — | 7.0 |
| Requires PHP | — | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | — | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | Only if you agree |
| External services | — | public-api.wordpress.com, woocommerce.com, api.webflow.com, tracking.woocommerce.com, www.paypal.com, www.sandbox.paypal.com, api-3t.sandbox.paypal.com, api-3t.paypal.com, dzv365zjfbd8v.cloudfront.net, api.wordpress.org, plugins.svn.wordpress.org, translate.wordpress.com, api64.ipify.org, ipecho.net, ident.me, tnedi.me, ipinfo.io, api.country.is |
| Blocks | — | 60 |
| Shortcodes | 1 | 7 |
| Custom tables | 1 | 31 |