Bitly
Link shortener and QR code generator with click analytics. Free plan limited to 5 links a month; the Core plan costs $10 a month (annual billing only) for 100 links, and a custom domain only comes with the Growth plan at $29 a month.
A link shortener is a table of codes and a redirect: Shlink does it on your own domain, with click statistics, for the cost of a small server. For a handful of links, Bitly's limits (5 a month for free, custom domain only from $29) are more expensive than hosting yourself. What you lose: the polished analytics dashboard, the QR code and landing page generator, and an uptime guarantee: if your server goes down, all your short links go down with it.
What you lose
- The polished analytics dashboard
- The QR code and landing page generator
- An uptime guarantee: your short links keep working if you do not maintain a server
- Nothing to host or update
Existing alternatives to Bitly
- ShlinkOpen source
Self-hosted URL shortener (MIT) with click statistics and an API.
- YOURLSOpen source
Simple self-hosted URL shortener (MIT), lighter than Shlink.
The prompt to build it yourself
Set up a self-hosted link shortener to replace Bitly, on my own domain. Do not build a shortener: deploy Shlink. To do: - A docker-compose.yml with Shlink and PostgreSQL, volumes in ./data, automatic restart. - Caddy in front, automatic HTTPS on a short domain that I will give you. - The API key generated and kept in .env, never in the repository. - A simple script to create a link from the command line and list click statistics. - Import of my existing Bitly links (CSV export), keeping the same short codes where possible. - A nightly encrypted backup of the database, copied off the server, with restore.sh and a restore test. Out of scope: link-in-bio pages, QR code design. README: launch, link creation, import, restore, and a reminder that if the server goes down, every short link goes down.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Bitly be replaced by a custom-built tool?
- casevibecode verdict: Replaceable. A link shortener is a table of codes and a redirect: Shlink does it on your own domain, with click statistics, for the cost of a small server. For a handful of links, Bitly's limits (5 a month for free, custom domain only from $29) are more expensive than hosting yourself. What you lose: the polished analytics dashboard, the QR code and landing page generator, and an uptime guarantee: if your server goes down, all your short links go down with it.
- What is Bitly used for?
- Link shortener and QR code generator with click analytics. Free plan limited to 5 links a month; the Core plan costs $10 a month (annual billing only) for 100 links, and a custom domain only comes with the Growth plan at $29 a month.
- What alternatives to Bitly already exist?
- Shlink (open source), YOURLS (open source). Options to compare before committing to a custom build.
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