Improved External Products for WooCommerce

72 Quality Score

Active Installs

14/30

With about 1,000 active installs, the plugin has a modest but real audience, which is reasonable for such a focused, single-purpose tool.

Update Freshness

25/25

Last updated in March 2026 and tested against WordPress 7.0, the plugin shows excellent maintenance activity from the developer.

User Rating

11/15

A rating of 74 out of 100 from 26 reviews is solid but not exceptional, indicating most users are satisfied but a meaningful minority had reservations.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads opened and zero resolved is a neutral signal given the plugin's narrow scope, though it also means there is no public track record of help.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Tested with WordPress 7.0, requiring PHP 7.4 and WordPress 3.5 or higher, the plugin is compatible with virtually every modern WooCommerce setup.

Scores higher than 28% of indexed plugins

About

Opens links to external/affiliate products in a new tab.

Active Installs 1k+

Rating ★★★½ 3.7/5

Last Updated 2026-08-13 11:19am GMT

Requires WordPress 3.5+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 7.4+

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

Improved External Products for WooCommerce modifies how external and affiliate product links behave in WooCommerce, opening them in a new browser tab rather than navigating the visitor away from your site. This preserves your session and reduces bounce rate when shoppers click through to third-party retailers or affiliate partners.

Who It's For

This plugin is built for WooCommerce store owners who sell or link to products hosted on other sites, including affiliate marketers, review and comparison sites, Amazon Associates, and content creators monetizing outbound product recommendations. It is especially useful for stores that mix standard WooCommerce products with external affiliate links and want a consistent new-tab experience.

Who Should Skip It

If your store sells only physical or digital goods that are fulfilled through WooCommerce itself, or if you already use a theme or SEO plugin that opens external links in new tabs globally, you do not need this plugin. It also adds no value for sites without any external or affiliate product type configured.

The Bottom Line

Improved External Products for WooCommerce is a tidy, well-maintained utility that solves one specific problem: opening external and affiliate product links in a new tab. With a quality score of 72.03 out of 100, strong maintenance signals, and a focused feature set, it earns a cautious recommendation for site owners whose stores depend on outbound affiliate traffic. If you have more than a handful of external products, the install-once simplicity justifies adding it.

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