AffiliateWP - External Referral Links vs Astra
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | AffiliateWP - External Referral Links v1.2.2 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 3.0/5 Visit Details | Astra v4.14.1 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.9/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 700+ | 1M+ |
| Last updated | August 27, 2025 | October 15, 2026 |
| Editions | AffiliateWP - External Referral Links | Astra · Astra Pro ($) |
| Pros | Lets affiliates promote landing pages on a different domain; Only three settings: store URL, referral variable, cookie lifetime; Cookie keeps the referral across page views on the external site | Header and footer builder with schema markup; Compatibility layers for WooCommerce, Elementor, LearnDash and Yoast SEO; Lightweight front end and RTL and translation support |
| Cons | Only useful with AffiliateWP running on the store site; Rewrites links client-side with jQuery only; No reporting of its own; tracking happens in AffiliateWP | Astra Pro add-on and premium modules are sold separately; Free theme shows Pro upgrade notices in the admin; Optional usage tracking asks for consent first |
| Mentioned in our posts | — | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Stores the affiliate ID from the URL in a cookie, Appends the affiliate ID to links pointing at the store, Settings page for store URL, referral variable and cookie lifetime, Filter to change the cookie lifetime, Pantheon-compatible cookie name | Header and footer builder, Schema.org markup, WooCommerce compatibility layer, Elementor compatibility layer, LearnDash compatibility layer, Google Fonts in the typography options, Pro upgrade notices |
| Integrations | ||
| E-commerce | — | WooCommerce |
| Plugins | AffiliateWP | Elementor, LearnDash, Yoast SEO |
| Other | — | Google Fonts |
| Requires WordPress | 5.2 | 5.3 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 5.3 |
| Tested up to | 6.8 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | Only if you agree |
| External services | — | fonts.googleapis.com, api.ipify.org |