later on vs afterwards

later on and afterwards both are adverbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
later on	No	No	No	Yes
afterwards	No	No	No	Yes

As adverbs, later on and afterwards are synonyms defined as:

later on and afterwards: happening at a time subsequent to a reference time

Other synonyms of later on include after, afterward, later, subsequently.

later on (adverb)	afterwards (adverb)
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time	happening at a time subsequent to a reference time