10 Best URL Shorteners (Free & Paid)

URL Shortner	Best Features	Learn More
1. Bitly	Bitly gives you all the tools to manage links and QR Codes in a single unified platform. Excellent choice for beginners.	Read ReviewVisit Site
2. TinyURL	TinyURL is great for capturing useful information about your URLs, including insights into which of your links perform best. The dashboard is easy to use, and you can even create custom domains.	Read ReviewVisit Site
3. Short.io	Short.io is excellent for teams and agencies using branded links. There are tons of team management features and a range of great tools for protecting your links and privacy.	Read ReviewVisit Site
4. Rebrandly	Rebrandly is great if you’re looking for a lot of in-depth features for managing and customizing your links. The reports are fantastic, and you can even create branded reports.	Read ReviewVisit Site
5. Blink	Bl.ink is great for enterprise-level link tracking and customization. Every plan comes with unlimited redirects and GDPR compliance, as well as the option to create your own URLs with custom domains.	Read ReviewVisit Site
6. T2M	T2M is a feature-rich solution with lots of added extras for beginners. There’s an uptime guarantee for peace of mind and lots of ways to customize your links.	Read ReviewVisit Site
7. Sniply	Sniply is a fantastic tool for driving more visitors back to your website, with custom CTAs included as part of your link customization features.	Read ReviewVisit Site
8. Cuttly	Cuttly is excellent for optimizing and understanding your most powerful links. There are tools for A/B testing, and a range of fantastic analytics.	Read ReviewVisit Site
9. ClickMeter	If your main focus for your URL shortener is to enhance your affiliate marketing campaigns, ClickMeter is likely to be the best tool for you.	Read ReviewVisit Site
10. TinyCC	TinyCC is an easy-to-use and efficient tool for link management, with pay-as-you-go plans you can change at any time.	Read ReviewVisit Site

How to Choose a URL Shortener?

When choosing a URL shortener service for your small business, you should use the following criteria:

• The number of links per month - how many links you can shorten per month.
• Link analytics retention period - how long they keep the link analytics data.
• QR Code support - Some services allow you to create a QR code with your links and this is great.
• Custom domain name support - the ability to create short links based on your own domain.

As you can see in the comparison table below, the cheapest service is not always the best. It depends on the features you get with each paid plan.

URL Shorteners Reviews

1. Bitly

One of the most popular link shorteners on the market today, Bitly is a business-grade solution for customizing your links. The solution has its own QR generator, to help you share your URLs with a wider selection of customers. Plus, there are various tools for tracking your links and understanding customer acquisition paths too.

Best Link Shortener Features

One of the best things about Bitly is its simplicity. You don’t need an account to get started. Instead, you simply paste a long URL into a box on the website, and click “Shorten”. If you want to access more advanced features, the premium service comes with a comprehensive dashboard where you can track information about the location of your visitors, and organic shares.

Bitly’s comprehensive analytics and data insights are excellent for developing a better understanding of your target audience. You can even track what kinds of devices customers use to visit your website. There’s also a range of integrations and API access to add Bitly to your other tools.

Every link is encrypted with HTTPS, and you can customize your URL to boost your brand presence. There are tools for UTM tracking and link-in-bio creation for social media channels like Instagram. It’s even possible to track a complete history of all the links you’ve shared.

Pros

• Custom-branded links with SSL encryption
• API access and integrations
• Link redirects and custom back-halves
• Data exportation and custom reporting
• In-depth demographics tracking
• QR codes for easier sharing

Cons

• Limited free plan functionality
• Can be quite expensive to access in-depth analytics

Pricing

Bitly does have a free account available, but all of your links will be Bitly branded, so it’s hard to develop your brand identity. The free version does come with a QR code and reporting, however.

Paid packages start at $8 per month, for more access to link redirects, link-in-bio tools, and data exportation. You’ll need at least the $29 per month package to customize your links with your own brand, however. The more advanced packages, like “Premium” at $199 per month come with advanced analytics and insights.

2. TinyURL

With more than 20 years in the URL shortener market, TinyURL is a well-respected and valuable tool. You can create a free account to quickly convert your URLs into something more manageable, and you can track your link history too. The service is very easy to use and offers premium plans for creating highly customized URLs.

Best Link Shortener Features

TinyURL is a convenient link-shortening solution, with full-scale link management built-in. You can create and manage thousands of URLs in one space, and use the convenient dashboard to collect useful information, like which links deliver the most traffic.

You can customize either the end of your shortened URLs or use your own branded domain with more expensive packages. There’s even a tool for creating your own custom domains directly within the software. Campaign monitoring and analytical tools give you a behind-the-scenes look at your target audience and their interactions with your brand.

You can track links individually, or segment them into groups to see what kind of URLs drive the most clicks. The dashboard is great for tracking all of your aggregated information in one convenient place. You can even track information on a time-based chart.

Pros

• Highly customizable branded links
• Create domains directly within the TinyURL dashboard
• Track information on an all-in-one dashboard
• API access and integrations
• Convenient free plan
• Unlimited click data

Cons

• The free plan doesn’t allow for branded domains
• Redirect information is harder to track

Pricing

The free plan gives you basic ad-supported link shortening for individual users, but you won’t be able to use your own custom domain. There are also limitations on how much API access you get. If you upgrade to the cheapest “Premium” plan at $9.99 per month, you’ll get a lot more functionality, including branded and customized links. You also get more detailed insights and analytics.

There are also “Bulk” plans available for agencies and companies looking to convert a large number of URLs at once.

3. Short.io

Short.io processes more than 20 million redirects every day for businesses across the globe. The simple tool is great for getting more out of every link you share, with extensive customization for your URLs, and a host of powerful tools for collecting detailed insights into clicks. You can also manage multiple custom domains in the same dashboard.

Best Link Shortener Features

Short.io has a lot of great features to explore for a modern URL shortener. You can track clicks in real-time from every URL you share, and design team environments where all of your employees can access your library of custom URLs in one place. There are tools for creating custom mobile links, and even setting your links to expire after a certain time.

Short.io also offers advanced features like link cloaking, so your customers only see your shortened link. Plus, geo-targeting features allow you to send customers specifically to the URL most relevant to them, based on their region or country.

Other features include in-depth password protection for defending private links, and QR code generation if you want to give your customers more ways to find your content. There are 303 redirects, app integrations and API access, and single sign-on support too.

Pros

• Excellent privacy and security features for links
• Link expiration and link cloaking
• Track clicks in real time and collect valuable insights
• Link importing and exporting supported
• SSL coverage for all of your links
• App integrations and API access

Cons

• Quite a lot of features to get used to for beginners
• The most advanced features do require a paid plan

Pricing

The free plan from Short.io only allows for a single user and up to 5 custom domains. You can create 1,000 branded links, however, and you also get unlimited redirects. The “Personal” plan for $19 per month comes with country targeting, unlimited branded links, link expiration, and a range of other advanced features, like password protection.

If you’re working with a team, you’ll need at least the “Team” package at $49 per month to allow for unlimited users to track and access the same links.

4. Rebrandly

One of the best URL shortener tools on the market, Rebrandly is an industry-leading tool built for growing businesses. You can create, share, and track shorter URLs with a custom domain name, and access a comprehensive dashboard for managing insights. The company already tracks around 2 billion clicks per month for countless leading brands.

Best Link Shortener Features

Rebrandly is a highly flexible tool for today’s business leaders, with more than 100+ integrations to leading solutions like Twitter, and LinkedIn. There are tools for tracking the popularity of each link you share, as well as insights into who might be clicking on your links. You can manage multiple domain names in one space too, and create custom reports from scratch.

Rebrandly’s features include extensive link management, with custom URL slugs, link expiration, UTM pre-sets, and QR codes. You can also create workspaces for team members, with multiple access levels, single sign-on, and two-factor authentication.

Other features include GDPR privacy settings, branded reports, and mobile deep linking. For beginners in the URL shortener world, Rebrandly also has a fantastic training and support environment, with video tutorials, account management guidance, and onboarding tools.

Pros

• Lots of in-depth analytics and custom reports
• Powerful collaboration tools for teams
• Extensive link management with editable redirects
• Traffic routing technology with open graph control
• Domain name management with SSL
• Training and support for beginners
• Integrations with leading tools

Cons

• Small learning curve for beginners
• Links expire on the free plan

Pricing

There is a free option for Rebrandly, though it’s not advertised on the pricing page. This allows you to create up to 500 links and track 5,000 clicks per month. Unfortunately, your links will expire over time.

The cheapest free plan (purchased on an annual basis) is the “Starter” package for $24 per month, with unlimited redirects, and 25,000 clicks tracked per month. This package also comes with 5 custom domain names and 5,000 branded links. More expensive plans are available for advanced analytics and team support.

5. Blink

Promising enterprise quality link management, Bl.ink is a powerful tool for managing, monitoring, and measuring your links. The service has simple integrations with a range of social media tools, as well as connections to modern messaging tools like WhatsApp. With an easy-to-use ecosystem, it’s also perfect for beginners who haven’t used a link shortener before.

Best Link Shortener Features

Bl.ink is packed with useful features to help you optimize your URLs. The link management dashboard ensures you can maintain complete control over all of your branded links in one convenient space. There’s also the option to dynamically route links by location, language, device, or time.

In-depth analytics are also included with Bl.ink, so you can track useful information about your audience, which links are driving the most clicks, and more. You can also integrate the service with leading analytical tools from Adobe and Google.

Bl.ink allows businesses to purchase custom short domains, customize the back half of their link, and create mobile-deep links. There are solutions for UTM campaigns, tracking for all of your clicks, and real-time metrics too. All links are also privacy shield and GDPR compliant.

Pros

• Flexible pay-as-you-go plans which scale with your business
• Excellent reporting and analytics features
• Advanced dynamic routing for your URLs
• Compliance and privacy controls
• Extensive service and support from the team
• Integrations with a range of common tools

Cons

• No free plan is available
• Can be quite expensive, even for the cheapest plan

Pricing

There’s a 21-day free trial available from Bl.ink to test all the features before you sign up for a premium plan. However, there’s no forever free option like you can get from other URL shorteners. The cheapest plan starts at $489 per month, for unlimited redirects, 10,000 active links, and tracking for 7,500 clicks. You can also manage up to 15 domains.

Prices extend all the way to a “custom” package for enterprises, where you can choose exactly how many links you want to track. All packages include GDPR compliance.

6. T2M

Otherwise known as T2Mio, T2M is an easy-to-use link shortener with plenty of great features. You can transform lengthy links in a couple of clicks, and track extensive information about your visitors. The all-in-one environment also comes with a fantastic dashboard for URL management, with lifelong access to all of your URLs and printable QR codes.

Best Link Shortener Features

Feature-rich and convenient, T2M makes managing your links as convenient and quick as possible. The dashboard allows you to access all of your links in one space, with one-click social shares and password protection available. You can also adjust your routing requirements based on the location of your target audience, and add URL expiration dates.

T2M allows users to manage multiple domains, access branded vanity URLs, and ensure all of their links are secure with SSL encryption. There’s also API access, so you can link your URL shortener to the tools you’re already using. The analytics section is great too, with a timeline chart, private and public reports, and advanced analytical charts for device type and country.

T2M has its own UTM builder, and the option to categorize URLs with tags and campaign information. You can access a dedicated uptime guarantee of 99.9%, and even rest assured you’ll have GDPR compliance with all links.

Pros

• Extensive URL management with expirations and password protections
• One-click social sharing and QR codes
• Branding support for custom domains and URLs
• Detailed analytics with custom reports
• Bulk campaign management and UTM builder
• Dedicated load balancer and IP address
• On-demand add-ons for teammates and white labeling

Cons

• No free plan is available
• Can be a small learning curve for beginners

Pricing

There’s no free package available from T2M, but you can test the features available for 15 days to ensure the service is right for you. The cheapest package starts at $5 per month, for Unlimited URLs, and tracking for 5,000 clicks. Your URLs and click data will also only last for 1 year.

The next plan at $9.99 per month gives you more freedom to experiment with lifetime-accessible links and dynamic QR codes.

7. Sniply

Sniply is a unique URL shortener committed to helping you drive more traffic to your website. You can add a call-to-action to every shortened link your share. For instance, if you were adding a link to a third-party website, you could include a button to push customers back to your website. There are even dedicated packages for brands and agencies.

Best Link Shortener Features

Sniply is a powerful URL shortener that allows companies to customize their links and boost their chances of getting more clicks. The custom URL shortener allows you to add a call-to-action to every page you share, as well as track the results of every campaign.

The link management features on Sniply’s dashboard are convenient and easy to use. You can track how your readers interact with custom shortened URLs and assess useful information like how long your customers spend on each page. There’s also a range of integrations available for the existing tools your teams use, and API connections are available too.

Conversion optimization tools provide behind-the-scenes insights into how you can boost your chances of success with every link. Plus, Sniply has dedicated publisher tools for agencies and marketing companies.

Pros

• Advanced link customization with CTAs
• Tracking for clicks, time spent on a page, and more
• API connections and integrations
• Easy-to-use dashboard with lots of useful features
• Team support for agencies and businesses
• Conversion optimization tools built-in

Cons

• Limited free package with only 20 links per month
• A/B testing only available on the “Pro” plan

Pricing:

Sniply’s free package gives you access to up to 20 links per month, 1 brand profile, and tracking for up to 500 clicks. If you want more advanced functionality and freedom, the $29 per month basic package tracks up to 5,000 clicks per month and allows you to create up to 1,000 links.

The more expensive the package, the more features you get. The “Pro” plan for $79 per month allows you to A/B test links, while the “Business” package for $149 per month removes the Sniply logo.

8. Cuttly

An all-in-one environment where you can create, manage, and share custom links, Cuttly is an extensive link shortener and URL creation system. The solution is very easy to use, with a free custom URL shortener with links that never expire. There are also plenty of tools for teams, so you can bring more of your staff together on the same promotional campaigns.

Best Link Shortener Features

Cuttly’s link management platform comes with everything you need to shorten and customize your links in one convenient place. The dashboard ensures you can adjust your link however you like, share libraries of URLs with your team, and develop in-depth insights through analytics.

The analytics system is very useful for learning more about the habits and preferences of your audience. You can edit all of the parts of your link quickly, and create short links in custom domains. There’s a UTM code generator for Google analytics, as well as the option to password-protect some of your more private links.

Cuttly has its own QR code generator too, so you have multiple ways to share access to your branded pages. There are links for mobile devices, editable link destinations, and expiration options for your links too. You can even add pixels to shortened links.

Pros

• Split testing for link analytics
• Pixel tracking and UTM campaign creation
• Expiration and passwords for custom links
• QR code generator
• In-depth link analytics with insights into user location and device
• Valuable team collaboration tools

Cons

• Packages are a little expensive compared to other tools
• SSO is only available on the most expensive package

Pricing:

The free plan from Cuttly supports up to 3 branded domains and unlimited branded links. You’ll also have 30 days of link analytics history and some basic analytics. However, the features are quite limited on the free package. Upgrading to the $26 per month package will give you access to 5 branded domains, 1 year of link analytics history, and aggregated link analytics.

The more advanced packages, like “Team monthly” and “Team Enterprise Monthly” come with collaboration tools for your teams, branded root page redirects, and more in-depth analytics.

9. ClickMeter

ClickMeter is an all-in-one tool for URL shortening, affiliate click tracking, and monitoring. Currently used by more than 100,000 businesses worldwide, the easy-to-use tool is fantastic for getting the most from every link. You can even monitor your system for broken links, which reduces the chances of your company missing out on engagement.

Best Link Shortener Features

More than just an URL shortener, ClickMeter allows you to customize your links, target specific people with different URLs, and so much more. You can use the convenient dashboard to track broken links, click fraud, blacklists, and latency. There are also extensive tracking features to get a better understanding of your views, clicks, and conversions.

The fantastic ecosystem comes with powerful tools for sharing URL libraries with your clients, partners, and co-workers, and there’s API access, so you can connect the features of your link shortener to other tools. ClickMeter also comes with fantastic data storage features, affiliate marketing tools, and excel reports built-in.

One of the best features of ClickMeter is its A/B testing functionality, which is included even on the cheapest plan. There are tools for remarketing and retargeting, and team features with subaccounts for your staff members.

Pros

• Excellent affiliate marketing and tracking tools
• A/B test rotator included with all packages
• Fully customizable reports and insights
• Tracking for conversions and revenue
• Remarketing and retargeting features included
• Click fraud protection and broken link tracking

Cons

• Can be quite expensive for the most advanced features
• Some complexity for beginners

Pricing:

There’s no free package available from ClickMeter, but there are 30-day money-back guarantees on all of the plans. The most affordable package is the $29 per month “Medium” plan, which supports tracking for up to 25,000 clicks per month, and 1 year of data storage. You also get support for 1 branded domain and conversion tracking.

The mid-level package is $99 per month with more affiliate marketing tools, 10 sub-accounts, click fraud protection, as well as extra event tracking.

10. TinyCC

A premium version of a free URL shortener, TinyCC promises a quick and effective way to enhance your URLs and keep your branding on track. The solution serves hundreds of thousands of brands around the world and comes with valuable tools for managing affiliates, advertisers, and sales. You can even create smart links to retarget audience members based on language preference.

Best Link Shortener Features

TinyCC.com offers an advanced link-shortening experience, with lots of tools to boost your chances of conversions. You can add retargeting pixels to your links to track interest in specific products and pages. There are also fantastic analytical tools for understanding which of your ads and marketing channels are most likely to deliver ROI.

You can instantly and quickly edit links to shift customers to new landing pages in seconds. There are also custom domains for boosting deliverability within email campaigns. The convenient dashboard makes it easier to organize all of your digital resources in one place, and you can access various tools for retargeting and social media marketing.

TinyCC also comes with a link health dashboard, where you can see whether certain links aren’t performing as they should, and monitor click errors.

Pros

• Easy-to-use dashboard for link customization and editing
• Manage links using campaigns and tags
• Create smart link redirects by geolocation
• Generate unique QR codes for your campaigns
• Monitor broken links and common click problems
• Add retargeting pixels and UTM campaigns
• Pay-as-you go packages

Cons

• No free plan available for beginners
• Limited customer support on cheaper plans

Pricing:

There’s no free plan available for TinyCC, but you can access a free trial to test the functionality before you get started. The premium plans start at $5 per month for 1 custom domain, 2 users, and tracking for up to 1,000 clicks per day.

The more advanced packages start at $25 per month and come with support for 3 custom domains, 10 users, 5,000 clicks per day, and 10,000 links. There’s also access to bonus features like social media traffic alerts, and remarketing pixels.

Methodology

To help you find the best URL Shortener service, we’ve looked at the most popular link shorteners in the market. The platforms that made it to the top 10 list have all the features you need to successfully shorten your links at an affordable price. We included in the list tools that offer QR Code support, custom domains, and more great features.