IMPORTANT: Multiple users have reported that using the Lasso plugin breaks Amalinks Pro shortcodes. Either something in their code or possibly one of their settings does something to alter our shortcodes – thereby breaking them. Last we knew, the Lasso plugin is incompatible with AmaLinks Pro®. Amazon affiliate WordPress plugins should not conflict with each other – and this conflict is solely on the Lasso side.
While Lasso is an “affiliate” plugin, it has some key concerns when you look at some parts that can cause pain to Amazon affiliates. The biggest glaring error that can get your account terminated is the use of Amazon resources (images, links, data API) to sell another affiliate’s products.
At their core they don’t care about protecting your account from being terminated from the Amazon associates program, this is dangerous to your livelihood as once you are banned you can’t ever have an account again and in this space, this is life-changing.
Why The Claims Are Just Absurd and Providing TRUTH
The claims begin with “managing links”, currently there is no link management within Amalinks Pro as we aren’t trying to be PrettyLinks or similar management plugins. Our viewpoint is that we provide you a platform to create high-converting and compliant Amazon content by providing insertable Product Showcases, Product Tables, Buttons, and images which help to ensure site consistency whether API or Non-API.
But that’s just for starters. I’ll go through several more of the ridiculous claims and then tell you the truth.
Claim 1 – AmaLinks Pro® costs more per site
Yes, our Blogger plan is currently $117/year for one site but this is for a YEAR or we offer a $11 a month plan – but our other plan levels significantly bring down the cost ‘per site’ if you do the math. Our pricing plans are designed to offer savings to those who choose to purchase plans that accommodate licensing for more than one site as well as monthly plans for those who need access as a lower month-to-month cost point.
Lasso does offer a very pricey multi-site plan! At least at the time I am writing this, they cost you $39 per site each month for a single site ($468 per year) and a three-site plan at $99 each month which comes in at just under $1200 a YEAR! Their pricing model is outrageously more expensive than the pricing offered for AmaLinks Pro®. Scroll down to the Pricing subheading below to see a fair comparison.
Claim 2 – The free trial
This one is true, Lasso actually comes with a free 14-day trial after you provide details to charge you later after it expires. AmaLinks Pro® does not offer a free trial.
Why don’t we offer a free trial? Because we offer the next best thing – a 100% money-back guarantee. You can try AmaLinks Pro® and if you don’t like it – just ask us for a refund. You don’t even have to tell us why (but we sure would appreciate the feedback).
Lasso does also offer full refunds but this makes little sense as they offer a free trial.
Note: To get the Lasso plugin 14-day trial, you must enter your payment information and you will automatically get charged after 14 days if you do not cancel.
Claim 3 – Lasso claims to offer “real-time” customer support
Okay, so maybe they try to. But this only works if you staff it to that level as currently the “real-time” support is only when they are there. And when they feel like it. That’s great.
But they aren’t always there and they don’t always feel like it. How do I know this? Because we’ve tried their “real-time” customer support chat box several times and have yet to get an immediate response.
Lasso doesn’t even use a professional email ticket support system as we do here at AmaLinks Pro®. Their ‘support’ page consists of a search box where they want you to search through their help articles – then includes their not-so-responsive ‘real-time’ chat box down in the corner. Here is what it looks like…
Back in 3 hours, huh?
That’s not real-time to me. To me, I’m online now and I won’t be on my computer in 3 hours. I’m not impressed.
Here at AmaLinks Pro® – no, we do not offer real-time chat support. But, we do offer something better. We have a trackable & professional email ticket support system. We have multiple support agents and we always respond as quickly as possible – even on weekends!
Claim 4 – Feature comparisons
Lasso plugin features versus AmaLinks Pro® Plugin Features: The rest of the ‘comparison chart’ on their page lists a bunch of Lasso features that they state AmaLinks Pro® does not.
Considering that they are a “link management” plugin similar to PrettyLinks means they will have a different feature setup than our plugin would as they do two different things masqueraded as the same thing.
Claim 5 – People are making the switch from AmaLinks Pro® to Lasso for Amazon affiliate marketing
Our data and stats on purchases don’t bear this out, but if you are interested in keeping the cash you work hard to earn then this is a bad decision as you are paying them about 2 times as much for one site and growing vastly as you grow your business.
We do communicate with our customers consistently to have conversations and discuss what they like about some of our competitors as well as dislike. Not a single one of the people that I’ve talked to has said anything about the Lasso plugin.
Oftentimes, people will specifically point out to me things that our competitors do offer and ask me how we can do the same with AmaLinks Pro®. To date – nobody has mentioned anything that Lasso does and has asked for it.
To me this I cover in the Apples & Oranges section below.
Claim 6 – When using Lasso, it feels like you’re not even in WordPress. Can’t say the same for AmaLinks Pro®.
First off – you are in WordPress and it’s a huge flaw to say you need to leave the WordPress environment! Why do you need to feel like you’re not in WordPress?!?
Regardless – this statement is false. AmaLinks Pro® offers a very modern GUI interface within the post that you access directly from your WordPress post or page editor. Check out our demo page to see exactly how it works.
If you are efficiency-focused and don’t need a GUI we offer a comprehensive shortcode option to allow you to create showcase boxes in under 5 seconds!
Claim 7 – You can import your URLs from AmaLinks Pro®
No, you simply cannot. At their core, they more than likely forcefully scan your WordPress post and pages database and rip and replace URLs without your agreement for their locked-in software shortcode meaning once installed you are never able to leave.
AmaLinks Pro® does not offer export options which means there is nothing for you to import into Lasso from AmaLinks Pro®. AmaLinks Pro® simply gives you the ability to easily create and insert several different Amazon link styles into your posts or pages.
Once you insert your affiliate link – it’s part of your post or page. That’s it. AmaLinks Pro® does not store all of these links separately in your database, with the exception of comparison tables due to presenting the table itself.
Lasso Link Displays – The True Danger To Your Amazon Associate Account
Lasso gives you options within their affiliate product boxes to add elements and features that will totally put your Amazon Associates account at risk. Let me show you one example.
I found the following Lasso link display “product box” on this page – https://amagicalmess.com/slow-cooker-banana-bread-recipe/ – here is a screenshot of how it looked on the day that I wrote this post…
Looks nice, doesn’t it? Now let me show you everything that’s wrong with it and how it could put this person’s Amazon affiliate account at risk.
- Displays the Amazon Prime logo – this is a violation of Amazon’s policies. Click the link for proof.
- Offers Buy buttons for Amazon and Walmart – you cannot promote products on other retailers if you use data from Amazon – I have proof here
- Affiliate Disclosure – there is nothing wrong with this disclosure overall – except that a proper Amazon affiliate disclosure is not included anywhere else on the page – at all!
If you are promoting products for sale on Amazon, as an affiliate, you MUST disclose your relationship with Amazon (specifically). A simple and acceptable affiliate disclosure, in Amazon’s own words, would be – “As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases”
Note: it appears that the Lasso plugin allows you to edit your affiliate disclosure – so this is not a fault of theirs – just something I wanted to point out in this specific box that I showed as an example is an Amazon TOS violation as you aren;t disclaiming your connection to Amazon.
I will give credit where credit is due – one thing that the Lasso plugin has that AmaLinks Pro® does not have is the ability to add products from any affiliate program into their product boxes.
AmaLinks Pro® only works with Amazon products – and we’re perfectly okay with that. Amazon is the most powerful affiliate program on the planet and here at AmaLinks Pro®, we’ve chosen to focus solely on serving Amazon affiliates.
Lasso is Getting Free Backlinks From You by ‘helping themselves’ to a Logo “Brag”
Lasso gives you the option to ‘brag’ about them in your product boxes. This option can be turned on/off by you – but if turned on, their logo displays in the bottom corner of your affiliate boxes (as shown in the example above).
Not only does it display, but that little logo is also linked back to their sales site!
How do I know this? Because I was checking their backlink profile and noticed that they have a LOT of backlinks, from many sites with no real reason to link back to them other than being told it’s “nice” to brag.
As I scrolled through the list of sites that are linking to them – I noticed that several of them were obvious affiliate sites. It didn’t take me long to figure out how these links were being obtained. Not cool!
AmaLinks Pro® DOES NOT give you the option to brag about us. You will never see our logo in any of the elements that we allow you to insert onto YOUR website. And we will ABSOLUTELY NEVER steal backlinks from you by placing links to our sales site within our Showcase Boxes or Comparison Tables or anywhere else!
Why We Are Apples & Oranges
Comparing Lasso to AmaLinks Pro® is truly like trying to compare apples with oranges. These two plugins while surface level may seem similar are very different in functionality at their core.
Sure, Lasso does one or two things that AmaLinks Pro® does. In addition to giving you the option to insert text links, they also give you the option to create product boxes.
They call theirs, Affiliate Link Displays. We call ours, Showcase Boxes. But that’s it!
Currently, those are the only things that both plugins create which are similar.
AmaLinks Pro® offers SO much more than Lasso does, as far as high-converting Amazon link types. And Lasso offers so much more than AmaLinks Pro® does, as far as other tools for affiliate marketers. This is why I call it apples & oranges.
If you want to compare the Lasso plugin to similar plugins – you might compare them to something like Pretty Links or Thirsty Affiliates. Those would be more similar, overall. Lasso offers full affiliate link management options, similar to what those plugins offer. AmaLinks Pro® is an Amazon affiliate WP plugin only – and does not offer link ‘management’.
As for me – I’ve used Pretty Links (the free version) for many, many years and I’m perfectly happy with it. It does what I need it to do. I’m content using Pretty Links for my other affiliate programs and AmaLinks Pro® to insert all of my Amazon affiliate links.
Lasso Plugin Pricing
Here is where Lasso can’t even come close to AmaLinks Pro® – the pricing. At the time I am writing this – Lasso costs $39/per month PER site. Their multi-site plans only barely cut this cost down leaving you giving them a lion’s share of your affiliate revenue!
So, if you want to use the Lasso plugin on ten websites, it’ll cost you $299/per month (or $3,600/per year)! AmaLinks Pro® offers our 25-site premium plan, for only $847/per year saving you a whopping $2740 over the year!
Or maybe you only have three websites. The Lasso plugin will cost you $99/per month (or $1188/year)! AmaLinks Pro® offers a 3-site Deluxe plan, for only $257/per year giving you a savings of $931 in your pocket for the year!
Okay – well, maybe the one-site plan makes sense. Think again! $39/per month (or$468/per year) for Lasso and only $117/per year for AmaLinks Pro® giving you a savings of $351 in your pocket for the year!
AmaLinks Pro® destroys Lasso in pricing. Not that it matters, because the plugins are totally different – as explained in the Apples and Oranges section above.
Note: Prices mentioned above were accurate as of the date this post was published and will likely change (on both platforms) over time.
AmaLinks Pro® Does This and the Lasso Plugin Does Not
Okay – here is the part where I list out some of the things that AmaLinks Pro® does that Lasso does not. Except I’m not going to put it in a fancy table.
- Image Links – basic plain Amazon image links (choose from ANY image available in the Amazon API for that product)
- CTA Buttons – create and insert high click-thru-rate CTA buttons
- option to choose the ‘Amazon compliant’ Buy Now buttons (provided by Amazon)
- option to create your own buttons with many options for styling
- Showcase Boxes – 100% compliant with Amazon’s policies – Lasso can’t say the same
- Product Comparison Tables – mobile responsive product comparison tables that connect to the Amazon API
- No Need to Open Amazon – AmaLinks Pro® allows you to search Amazon and select products from right within WordPress
- no copying Amazon URL’s then pasting in
- no copying Amazon ASIN’s then pasting in
- Step-by-Step User Interface – insert ANY of our link types with self-explanatory ease using our wizard-like interface
- World-Class Support – we have multiple agents constantly monitoring our support portal and we track and manage all support tickets forever
- Extremely Detailed Documentation & Tutorials – Lasso’s are mediocre at best compared to the detail we offer
- High-Value Blog Content – we work extraordinarily hard to publish valuable content on our blog that will help all Amazon affiliates
So, is the Lasso plugin really a better alternative?
I guess if you are a serious affiliate marketer who cares more about other private affiliate programs than Amazon affiliate links – then maybe the Lasso plugin WordPress might be a better option for you.
We admit – we don’t even want to be the solution for those types of marketers.
AmaLinks Pro® is an Amazon affiliate WordPress plugin only. We focus on one thing – giving WordPress users THE best options for creating high-converting Amazon affiliate links that are 100% compliant with Amazon’s policies.
Do other affiliate programs pay better commission rates? Yeah, sometimes. But do they convert like Amazon affiliate links? No! Not even close. Amazon is the king of conversions and AmaLinks Pro® is the king of Amazon affiliate WordPress plugins.
You can use Lasso if you are one of those rare affiliates who are able to make it work with other affiliate programs. But if you want the very best WordPress plugin for Amazon affiliates – then you’re already in the right place. AmaLinks Pro® is it! Click the button below to choose your plan and get started today.
This article is great and it has cleared up a lot about Lasso.
I just purchased you 3 site plan and I cannot believe that I have not used you in the past. Prior to using Amalinks I did everything manually. It would take me hours to get images, resize them, dump them in my Media folder and then place them in the Post…and then add the links…
You will save me hundreds of hours.
I thank you and now I will have more time to cook….
Dr. Bob
Thanks Dr. Bob! When you say ‘get images’… I hope you aren’t referring to downloading images from Amazon to then upload to your Media folder. That would be a total violation of Amazon’s policies and could put your Amazon Associates account at risk! Anyhow – super glad you finally found your way over to the good side. Here’s to making lots of money as an Amazon affiliate by using AmaLinks Pro®!