01
Stay on free if
- You run affiliate links + a few static banners
- AdSense or Google Ad Manager covers your monetization
- You manage every ad yourself and never sell to others
- Classifieds is a nice-to-have, not a revenue stream
WordPress · Link Cloaker + Ad Manager · Free forever
Two tools in one WordPress plugin. Link cloaker and ad manager. Free forever.
Stop running separate plugins for links and ads. WB Ad Manager bundles an affiliate-link cloaker and a 5-type ad manager with 16+ placements into one free install. Click tracking, scheduling, frequency caps, geo-targeting by country, AdSense, BuddyPress + bbPress + Jetonomy placements, full REST API. None of it locked behind Pro.
2 tools in 1 · Unlimited sites · BuddyPress + bbPress integration · No feature locks
For readers, advertisers, and the person running the site
Two tools, one install. Here is what each side does.
Readers experience
- Click affiliate links that look like /go/clean-slug instead of long URLs
- See ads that fit their device, country, and the time of day they visit
- Land on working destinations thanks to scheduled broken-link checks
- Sign up via newsletter ads embedded inline with content
- Get fewer ads thanks to frequency caps that stop hammering them
- Skip irrelevant ads thanks to category and post-tag targeting
You can
- Cloak hundreds of affiliate links with per-link click tracking
- Drop 5 ad types in 16+ placements without editing theme files
- Show different ads on desktop, tablet, and mobile from one dashboard
- Schedule ads by date, day-of-week, and time-of-day window
- Set AdSense once with your Publisher ID; paste any network tag as a code ad
- Add community ad placements to BuddyPress and bbPress automatically
The decision in 10 seconds
Most sites stay on free.
Pro pays off when one of these is true.
02
Move to Pro when
- You want advertisers to buy ad slots without you invoicing them
- You sell classifieds listings with featured + urgent upgrades
- You need A/B testing that auto-picks the winning creative
- You want revenue reports with geo and device breakdowns
- You charge for membership-gated submissions
Free, Personal, Professional, Agency
Use it free forever. Move to Pro when you sell ad slots.
Free is the complete link cloaker + ad manager toolkit on unlimited sites. Pro adds the self-serve advertiser portal, the classifieds marketplace, A/B testing, and revenue dashboards. Every Pro tier is available annually or as a one-time lifetime license. Read the refund policy.
WB Ad Manager
Free forever
Free
Unlimited sites · no license key
- Affiliate link cloaker + click tracking
- 5 ad types · 16+ placements
- AdSense + geo-targeting by country
- Scheduling + frequency caps
- BuddyPress + bbPress + Jetonomy placements
- Full REST API
WB Ad Manager Pro
Personal
$59/year
or $199 once · lifetime
1 site
- Everything in free
- Self-serve advertiser portal + wallet
- Classifieds marketplace
- A/B testing with winner promotion
- Revenue dashboard + geo / device analytics
- Wbcom Credits SDK (5 adapters)
Most popular
WB Ad Manager Pro
Professional
$129/year
or $299 once · lifetime
5 sites
- Everything in Personal
- 5 site licences
- Priority email support
- Updates (lifetime or 1 year)
WB Ad Manager Pro
Agency
$299/year
or $499 once · lifetime
Unlimited sites
- Everything in Personal
- Unlimited site licences
- Priority email support
- Updates (lifetime or 1 year)
Other ad plugins exist
Honest comparison with the two big WordPress ad plugins.
Both are good at what they do. Neither bundles affiliate cloaking. Neither has a classifieds marketplace or a self-serve advertiser portal. WB Ad Manager free covers links + ads in one install; Pro adds the marketplace layer.
vs Advanced Ads
What they get right
- Mature codebase
- Big community
- Many placements
What they leave on the table
- Pro adds quickly to $100s/yr
- No affiliate cloaker
- No classifieds
- No self-serve sales
WB Ad Manager: Same placement engine in free, with affiliate cloaking and geo-targeting bundled in. Pro adds the classifieds marketplace and the advertiser portal those plugins do not have.
vs Ad Inserter
What they get right
- Free tier exists
- Lightweight
- Code-block insertion
What they leave on the table
- No frontend submission
- No revenue dashboard
- No A/B testing
- No community placements
WB Ad Manager: WB Ad Manager free already covers Ad Inserter's feature set + adds the link cloaker. Pro layers classifieds + self-serve + A/B + analytics on top.
Before you install
Seven questions, seven straight answers.
- 01
How do I manage ads in WordPress?
Create an ad once and choose where it runs. Five ad types cover the common formats across more than sixteen placements, with country-level geo-targeting, all managed from one screen instead of theme widget areas.
- 02
Is WB Ad Manager really free?
Yes. The free version on wordpress.org and via direct download ships the affiliate link cloaker, the 5-type ad manager with 16+ placements, click tracking, geo-targeting by country, AdSense support, BuddyPress + bbPress + Jetonomy placements, scheduling, frequency caps, and the full REST API. No feature locks on any of it. The classifieds marketplace and the advertiser portal are part of the separate Pro plugin.
- 03
How is this different from Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates?
Those plugins do affiliate-link cloaking only. WB Ad Manager free includes the cloaker plus a full ad manager. If you only need link cloaking and nothing else, Pretty Links is fine. If you run ads too, WB Ad Manager replaces both plugins, and Pro can add a classifieds marketplace on the same install later.
- 04
How is this different from Advanced Ads or Ad Inserter?
Advanced Ads + Ad Inserter focus on ad rotation and placement. WB Ad Manager free has the same placement engine plus affiliate cloaking and free geo-targeting by country. Pro adds the classifieds marketplace and the self-serve advertiser portal those plugins do not have - members buy credits and post their own ads.
- 05
Will it slow down my site?
No. Ad-delivery queries are indexed for milliseconds-scale lookups. AdSense uses Google's own delivery network. The plugin adds two small scripts and one CSS file - similar footprint to any modern WordPress plugin.
- 06
When is Pro worth it?
Move to Pro when you want advertisers to buy ad slots without writing invoices, you want a classifieds marketplace with featured upgrades, you need A/B testing with winner promotion, or you gate listings by membership plan.
- 07
Does Pro ship Stripe, PayPal, or Razorpay directly?
Stripe and PayPal top-ups are supported as direct gateways, plus manual and bank-transfer top-ups. Pro also hooks into your existing checkout via 5 Credits SDK adapters: WooCommerce Products, WooCommerce Subscriptions, WooCommerce Memberships, Paid Memberships Pro, and MemberPress. Whatever billing you already run, advertisers buy credits through that.
Two plugins worth of work. One free install.
Affiliate cloaker + 5-type ad manager + geo-targeting + AdSense + BuddyPress placements + REST API. None of it locked behind Pro. Under thirty minutes from install to first live ad.
Prefer to read first? Read the documentation
Forever free · Unlimited sites · 2 tools in 1 plugin · No feature locks