Linker – URL shortener & track outbound link clicks

46 Quality Score

Active Installs

15/30

With roughly 2,000 active installs, Linker has a modest but real user base, which earns it a middling popularity score relative to the category leaders.

Update Freshness

3/25

The plugin was updated on December 8, 2024 and is confirmed compatible with WordPress 6.7.5, but it still requires PHP 7.0, which signals an older codebase rather than active modernization.

User Rating

13/15

Its 86 out of 100 average from 14 ratings is genuinely strong, though the small sample size means the rating has not yet been stress-tested by a larger audience.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads, resolved or otherwise, is a yellow flag: there is no public track record showing the author responds to user issues in the WordPress.org forums.

WP Compatibility

8/15

Compatibility scores reasonably well because it tested clean against WordPress 6.7.5 and supports back to 6.0, but the PHP 7.0 minimum rules out hosts stuck on older runtimes.

Scores higher than 2% of indexed plugins

About

Track Outbound Link Clicks Easily: Shorten & track your site links by using your own domain name. e.g. "your-domain.com/go/link"

Active Installs 2k+

Rating ★★★★ 4.3/5

Last Updated 2024-12-08 3:26pm GMT

Requires WordPress 6.0+

Tested Up To 6.7.7

Requires PHP 7.0+

Security History

1 known vulnerability, all patched

1 Medium

Most recent: October 31, 2023

View details ▸

What It Does

Linker creates short, branded redirect links using your own domain (for example, your-domain.com/go/promo) and tracks each outbound click in a local database. It is designed to monitor how visitors interact with external links from emails, social posts, paid campaigns, or affiliate placements, giving you a single dashboard for outbound click analytics.

Who It's For

This plugin fits solo creators, affiliate marketers, and small e-commerce stores that want full control over outbound link branding and click tracking without paying for a SaaS like Bitly or LinkTrust. It is also a reasonable fit for agencies managing a handful of client sites that need a simple, self-hosted short-link tool rather than a full enterprise marketing platform.

Who Should Skip It

If you run a high-traffic site that already uses a third-party link management tool like Bitly, Pretty Links, or a CRM-based tracking platform, Linker adds little value. Developers needing REST API access, advanced bot filtering, or integration with Google Analytics 4 events should also look elsewhere.

The Bottom Line

Linker delivers a focused, self-hosted outbound link tracker with solid ratings but limited real-world proof. Given the overall quality score of 49.34 out of 100 and zero documented support activity, treat it as a viable small-site option rather than a proven enterprise solution. Verify on a staging site first if click-tracking accuracy is mission-critical.

Related Plugins

All in One SEO 98/100

Pick this instead if you need full SEO suite functionality, since Redirection alone cannot handle sitemaps, schema, or on-page optimization.

Redirection 89/100

Pick this instead if your main goal is managing 301 redirects for broken or moved content, not branded short-link click tracking.

301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 86/100

Pick this instead if you just need a lightweight 301 redirect manager and do not care about branded short links or click analytics.

Redirection for Contact Form 7 85/100

Pick this instead if you only need to redirect users after a Contact Form 7 submission, which is a very narrow use case compared to Linker.

Redirection 85/100

Pick this instead if you need a more mature alternative redirect manager with a larger install base, though it does not cover Linker's outbound click tracking.