If you're running a WooCommerce store and looking to grow sales through affiliates, you know the right plugin can make all the difference. The Affiliates plugin by itthinx might not have the flashiest design. But does it deliver on the features?
In this detailed review, we'll walk through its setup, key features, and management options, so you can decide if this plugin's powerful features outweigh its dated interface.
Table of Contents
- Setting Up the Affiliates Plugin
- Core Features and WooCommerce Integration
- Managing Your WooCommerce Store Affiliates
- The Affiliates Plugin Pricing
- Customer Reviews and Feedback
- Final Thoughts on the Affiliates Plugin
Setting Up the Affiliates Plugin
Getting started with the Affiliates plugin by itthinx is a more traditional experience compared to many top WooCommerce affiliate plugins. There is no setup wizard to guide you, so the entire configuration is handled manually through a series of settings pages.
After installing the plugin, it provides an instruction at the top that gives a good idea of the basic flow of the setup:
- Review general settings.
- Enable affiliate registration.
- Create an affiliate area.
- Install an integration.
Clicking on these buttons takes you directly to that settings page, where you can configure your program in a few clicks.
Although the interface feels a bit old-fashioned, the logical layout makes the manual setup process manageable.
Core Features and WooCommerce Integration
If you look past the dated interface, the Affiliates plugin includes a powerful and flexible set of features. It moves beyond basic link tracking to provide a highly configurable system for managing your affiliate program.
Flexible Commission Structures
Instead of a single site-wide rate, the plugin allows you to create highly specific rules and set commissions as fixed amounts or percentages.
You can set different rates per affiliate, per product, or even per WooCommerce product category. The Enterprise version even supports multi-level programs, where affiliates can earn money on sales generated by other affiliates that they recruited.
You can also enable tiered commissions, where rates increase as the total sales reach various tiers. There is also support for lead commissions, where affiliates receive a commission when a referral fills out a contact form.
Coupons and A/B Testing
The plugin lets you assign specific coupon codes to your affiliates and earn commissions when a customer uses their code at checkout, even without clicking a referral link.
The Enterprise version introduces a Campaigns feature, which allows your partners to create and track their own marketing campaigns for A/B testing. This is a powerful feature for experienced affiliates who want to optimize their funnels.
Pay-per-Click (PPC) Commissions
The plugin also lets you pay commissions based on clicks or visits, rather than just sales. While this model is not common due to a higher risk of fraud, it can be a valuable feature in specific situations, such as rewarding a trusted, high-traffic affiliate for placing a promotional banner on their site.
WooCommerce Integration: Free vs. Pro
The Affiliates plugin offers different levels of WooCommerce integration based on the version of the plugin you use on your website.
The Free version provides a light integration. It will track sales and create referrals, and allow you to run a basic affiliate program for your WooCommerce store. However, its features are limited.
The Pro version provides a full, deep integration. The most important feature here is the automatic synchronization of referral and order statuses. This means if an order is refunded in WooCommerce, the associated referral can be automatically rejected in the Affiliates plugin, protecting your revenue. The Pro integration also unlocks recurring commissions on subscription products and allows setting product-specific commission rates.
Managing Your WooCommerce Store Affiliates
The Affiliates plugin gives you direct control over every stage of your partners' lifecycle. This includes their initial application to their final payout. Let’s look at this process in more detail.
Registering and Approving Affiliates
The plugin lets you decide how you onboard your partners. You can allow affiliates to sign up through a registration form on your site, and you can choose whether they are approved automatically or held in a "Pending" status for you to review manually.
You can also integrate affiliate registrations with the built-in WordPress user registration process and/or the WooCommerce customer registration process.
The manual approval process is the recommended approach, as it allows you to vet each applicant before they can represent your brand. This is all handled from the Manage Affiliates screen, where you can also add partners manually or edit existing profiles.
The registration form can even be customized with extra fields to collect important information, like a specific email address for payments.
Supporting Affiliates
Once you have signed affiliates, your next goal should be to give them the support they need to be successful. The Affiliates plugin provides a functional dashboard where they can find all of the essential information.
From this dashboard, your affiliates can track their performance, including their earnings.
Referrals:
And traffic:
The dashboard also contains a link generation tool and gives them access to any promotional banners you’ve uploaded.
However, it is not as advanced as the dashboard provided by a plugin like Solid Affiliate, which supports sharing product images, video clips, embeddable widgets, and more.
Managing Affiliates
On the administrative side, the plugin provides a number of features to monitor your program and manage your partners. The main Manage Affiliates page lets you edit, invalidate, or remove partners as needed. You can also search and sort your affiliate list by status, date, or other criteria.
The plugin also lets you invalidate an affiliate by setting an Until date, which stops them from earning new commissions without deleting their history.
The reporting screens continue the theme of function over form, and provide detailed, real-time data on traffic, referrals, and overall performance.
You can view summarized overviews or dive into specific reports on Visits and Referrals, and Traffic to see exactly how your program is performing.
Payout Management
The plugin provides a structured and deliberate process for managing affiliate payouts, which is all handled from the Affiliates > Totals screen. This page acts as your main hub for preparing and processing payments.
From here, you can filter all of the Accepted referrals that are due for payment, review the accumulated totals for accuracy, and then export the data.
It generates a Mass Payment File formatted for services like PayPal, which allows you to pay all of your affiliates at once. After you've sent the payment, you can click the Close Referrals button to mark all of the commissions as paid in bulk and keep your records clean and up-to-date.
The Affiliates Plugin Pricing
The Affiliates plugin is available in three tiers: a free version for basic needs, and two premium options, Pro and Enterprise.
For those just starting out, the Free Version is available on WordPress.org and provides enough features to run a basic affiliate program. The premium versions, however, include all of the powerful features of the plugin.
Here is a breakdown of the premium plans:
| Plan | Affiliates Pro | Affiliates Enterprise |
| 1-Site License Price | $69 per year | $149 per year |
| 5-Site License Price | $119 per year | $299 per year |
| 25-Site License Price | $229 per year | $399 per year |
This pricing structure makes the Affiliates plugin one of the budget-friendly options available.
Customer Reviews and Feedback
Before choosing a plugin, it's always a good idea to see what existing users have to say.
On the official WordPress.org repository, the free version has earned a strong reputation. It boasts a 4.5-star rating with over 138 five-star reviews highlighting positive user experiences.
While the plugin isn't widely reviewed on larger software sites, the developer's broader reputation is a key factor. itthinx has a long history in the ecosystem, and the positive feedback is consistent across its entire suite of plugins, suggesting a commitment to quality.
Final Thoughts on the Affiliates Plugin
The Affiliates plugin is a classic case of not judging a book by its cover. Its interface is undeniably dated, and it lacks the modern user experience of its more polished competitors. It would be easy to dismiss it on looks alone.
However, that would be a mistake. Beneath its simple exterior is a highly configurable affiliate marketing plugin. It offers various commission rules, good WooCommerce integration, and all the management tools needed to run your program effectively.
If you are a store owner who prioritizes features and doesn’t care much about the interface, you will find that the Affiliates plugin provides great value. However, if a more modern interface with robust features is a must-have, then you may want to look at options like Solid Affiliate.
Frequently Asked Questions - Affiliates Plugin
1. Does WooCommerce have an affiliate program?
WooCommerce does not come with a built-in affiliate program. To run one, you need to install a dedicated affiliate plugin. These plugins integrate with your store to track referrals from your partners, manage commissions, and handle payouts, giving you a complete system within your WordPress dashboard.
2. How to add affiliate products in WooCommerce?
To add an affiliate product, go to Products > Add New in your WordPress dashboard. In the Product data section, choose External/Affiliate product from the dropdown menu. This will allow you to enter the product's external URL (your affiliate link) and customize the button text.
3. What is the best affiliate plugin for WooCommerce?
Solid Affiliate is our top recommendation for WooCommerce stores. It is built exclusively for WooCommerce and offers deep integration, a modern user-friendly interface, and all the powerful features you need to run a successful program without any add-ons.
4. How to get affiliates for your product?
A great place to start is with your own happy customers; they often make the best advocates. You can also directly reach out to bloggers and influencers in your niche who align with your brand. Make it easy for them by having a clear affiliate sign-up page on your website.
