Top 10 Best URL Shorteners to Simplify Your Links Instantly

Most web addresses are long and difficult to manage especially when they include extra details like where a visitor came from or which ad they clicked on. One way to solve this issue is by using a URL shortener. These tools take long links and make them much shorter and easier to handle.

For a long time, Google’s URL Shortener was popular and free, but it was closed down in 2019. However, there are still many other options available.

With my experience reviewing tech and web apps for over ten years, I can say there’s rarely one perfect solution to any problem except when it comes to food, where pizza is always a winner! The best URL shortening service depends on what you need. Some are simple and quick, others are geared towards big companies for marketing and analytics, and there are many choices in between.

I’ve been updating this guide for years. This year, I tested more than 45 different URL shorteners to help you find the best ones and explain what makes each of them great.

The Top 10 URL Shortening Providers

• Bitly: Great all-around URL shortener with detailed stats and customization.
• Dub: Modern and sleek URL shortener.
• BL.INK: Perfect for business owners.
• Short.io: Excellent free plan for URL shortening.
• Rebrandly: Good alternative to Bitly with branded links.
• TinyURL: Free, quick, and anonymous short links.
• URL Shortener by Zapier: Automatically creates short links for you.
• Ow.ly: Social media managers will find it helpful as it is integrated with Hootsuite.
• is.gd: Easy to use and fast, with simple statistics tracking and link customization options.
• Shorte.st: it gives you the opportunity to monetize your shortened links and make money doing so.

What Determines the Leading Url Shortener?

Ease of Use:

• Simple Interface: The tool should be easy to navigate and use without needing a lot of instructions.
• Quick Shortening: It should provide quick and efficient URL shortening.

Reliability:

• Uptime: The service should be reliable with minimal downtime.
• Speed: The redirection should be fast, ensuring a smooth user experience.

Customization:

• Custom Aliases: Allows users to create custom, meaningful short links instead of random characters.
• Branded Links: Option to use your own domain for branded short links.

Analytics:

• Click Tracking: Provides detailed analytics on the number of clicks, geographic data, referral sources, etc.
• Integration: Ability to integrate with other analytics tools like Google Analytics.

Security:

• Spam Protection: Protects against spam and malicious links.
• SSL Encryption: Ensures that links are secure with HTTPS.

Scalability:

• High Volume: Can handle large volumes of URL shortening and redirection requests.
• API Access: Provides an API for programmatic access to shorten links and access analytics.

Additional Features:

• Link Management: Tools to organize and manage shortened links.
• Link Expiration: Ability to set expiration dates for links.
• Mobile Compatibility: Ensures links work well on mobile devices.

Cost:

• Free Tier: Offers a free tier for basic usage.
• Affordable Pricing: Competitive pricing for premium features.

Bitly: The Best Url Shortener Overall

Bitly Pros:

• Has all the link-shortening tools you could need in one app.
• Has been reliably shortening links for more than 15 years.

Bitly Cons:

• Free plan is pretty much useless.

Bitly is a complete, business-level URL shortener. It’s easy to use and packed with features. Besides quickly creating short links, it has a detailed dashboard to track your social links and other campaigns. You can also make QR codes for your short links and even manage all your links in one place with a link-in-bio feature.

However, the free plan isn’t worth mentioning anymore. It limits you to 10 links a month and only five custom URLs (like bit.ly/CUSTOM). If you had a free account from a few years ago, you still get 10,000 links a month, which is more than any current paid plan.

The $35-per-month Growth plan includes a free custom domain, lets you create 1,500 links a month, and gives more details about who clicks your links. If you need more, the Premium plan at $300/month is a big jump but offers 3,000 links a month, more detailed analytics (like city-level data and device types), and other features. There’s also a Core plan with only 100 links per month, costing $96 upfront, which is $8 per month for a year.

Bitly is a great URL shortener for large businesses sharing many links and wanting to brand and track them. It’s also good for small businesses wanting to create short URLs and track their stats for a few campaigns. Bitly has been around for so long that it’s a safe choice. If you’re ready to do some calculations and look closely at prices, you might find a better deal elsewhere. But if you’re okay with the cost and want an all-in-one URL shortener, Bitly won’t disappoint.

Bitly even works with Zapier, so you can automatically create short links from an RSS feed or add new links to a spreadsheet.

• Bitly Pricing: Free plan isn’t worth it; Growth plan starts at $35/month with branded domains, more links per month, and support.

Dub: The Best Url Shortener Available Today

Pros of Dub:

• Very easy to use
• Great value for the price

Cons of Dub:

• Still being actively developed, so it’s missing some non-essential features

Most of the best URL shorteners have been around for many years. They work well but can feel a bit outdated. You might wonder what a brand-new URL shortener would be like. Dub is here to answer that question.

Dub started in late 2022 and is quickly adding new features. Some nice-to-have features like integration with Zapier and WordPress, and bulk creating links are still on the way. But right now, you get a very modern link shortener without the extra stuff you might not need. It has a simple interface, keyboard shortcuts, and even AI-powered URL suggestions.

More importantly, Dub offers great value. It has a free plan that lets you create 25 new links and track 1,000 clicks each month. You can also use up to three custom domains and even a subdomain of your own website. Plus, you get advanced analytics (like where people are clicking your links from and what device they’re using) and automatic QR codes. Many apps don’t offer these features even on their basic paid plans.

Dub also has competitive paid plans. For $24 a month, you can create 1,000 new links and track 50,000 clicks, plus you get advanced link targeting (so you can send people with different devices or from different locations to different places), custom social media cards, five users, and more, including unlimited AI credits.

It’s even open source, but setting it up on your own server can be tricky.

Dub Pricing:

• Free for 25 links, 1,000 clicks, and 3 custom domains
• From $24/month for 1,000 links, 50,000 clicks, and advanced features

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BL.INK: The Best URL Shortener for Business Owners

Pros:

• You can use your own custom domain for free.
• The Pro plan offers team features at a lower cost compared to other apps.

Cons:

• The web app could be easier to use.

Overview: BL.INK is a URL shortener service designed for small businesses and larger companies. It not only shortens long URLs but also tracks the traffic they get.

Features:

• The dashboard shows popular links and general stats.
• An analytics page helps you see traffic details like device, location, and referrers. You can also see when people click your links.
• You can add tags to links to track specific campaigns.
• Dynamic Links let you send users to different places based on their location, device, or time of day.

Pricing: BL.INK has four paid plans starting at $48/month, offering options for different business sizes based on how many links you need. The free plan lets you create 1,000 active links, track up to 1,000 clicks per link, and make a custom domain for branded links. For under $50 a month, you get features like multiple users, which can cost much more with other services.

Integrations: BL.INK works with Zapier, so you can automatically create short links from new WordPress posts or spreadsheet rows.

Pricing Summary:

• Free plan: 1,000 active links and basic analytics.
• Expert+ plan: From $48/month, 10,000 active links, 7,500 clicks per link, and 3 users.

Short.io: The best URL shortener for free

Pros of Short.io:

• Offers advanced targeting and analytics even in its cheapest plan
• Has a top-notch free plan

Cons of Short.io:

• You have to use a custom domain, even on the free plan

Short.io is one of the few link shorteners with a generous free plan. It’s perfect for beginners who can start with the free option and later switch to a paid plan for more features.

When adding a link, you can choose how to target your audience by clicking the Apple icon, Android icon, or globe icon. You can send iOS users to one page and desktop users to another, but this might get confusing. It’s better to use this feature only when you have a good reason to send different visitors to slightly different pages.

Overall, Short.io is a great URL shortener. Unlike most, it requires a custom domain, but even the free plan gives you five custom domains, which is more than any other service. You can set a default domain for any link that doesn’t work and explore detailed statistics on when, where, and how people click on your links.

Short.io also works with Zapier, allowing you to do things like create new short links from an RSS feed or Shopify products.

Short.io Pricing: Free plan with 1,000 branded links, 50,000 tracked clicks, and device targeting; Personal plan starts at $19/month for unlimited branded links and geo-targeting.

Rebrandly: The Best Option to Bitly for Bespoke Url Shortening

Pros of Rebrandly:

• Easy to use, with a simple design that keeps all features easy to find.
• Has an affordable starting plan without needing to pay for a full year upfront.

Cons of Rebrandly:

• The free plan isn’t very useful.

If you’re looking for a strong alternative to Bitly, Rebrandly is worth considering. It’s a great URL shortener, although its free plan isn’t as good as it used to be, similar to Bitly’s changes a few years back.

Still, the Essentials plan is a good deal. You get 250 branded links per month for $14 or 500 for $19, and you don’t have to commit to a yearly plan like you do with Bitly’s cheapest option. If you need more than the free plan offers but don’t want a long-term contract, Rebrandly is a solid pick.

For more control over your links and detailed analytics, you can upgrade to the $39-per-month plan or the $399-per-month Enterprise plan. The Enterprise plan also allows five or more users.

Rebrandly is also very user-friendly. The web app is fast and simple, with tools to track how popular each link is, who is clicking them, and it even generates QR codes automatically. Like Bitly, it has a “link-in-bio” feature called LinkGallery, and it works with Zapier, so you can do things like create links from Google Sheets or add new links to Buffer automatically.

Rebrandly Price Info:

• Free plan: Up to 10 links and 250 clicks tracked per month.
• Essentials plan: Starts at $13/month for 2,500 links and 10,000 clicks tracked per month.

TinyURL: The Best Free URL Shortener for Speedy, Private Usage

Pros of TinyURL:

• Free to use without needing to sign up
• Simple and reliable paid plan

Cons of TinyURL:

• Fewer features than other link shorteners
• Website looks a bit old-fashioned

TinyURL is a free link shortener that’s been around since 2002. It’s popular because it quickly shortens long URLs with no hassle. Just paste your long link into the box, choose a custom part for the URL if you want, and click “Shorten URL.” The new short link will work forever without any issues.

You don’t need an account to use TinyURL, but if you do sign up, you can track all your shortened links. For extra features like link tracking, branded domains, and the ability to edit your links, you can get a paid plan. If all you need is a basic link shortener, TinyURL is a solid choice.

TinyURL pricing: Free to use; Pro plan starts at $12.99/month for extra features.

URL Shortener by Zapier: For Automatically Generating a Short URL, the Best Link Shortener

Zapier Pros:

• Makes it super easy to automatically shorten links with other apps.
• Included with a Zapier subscription.

Zapier Cons:

• It’s quite basic.

When you want to automatically create and save a shortened link every time you do something in one of over 6,000 apps like adding a photo to Instagram or uploading a new product to Shopify Zapier’s URL Shortener is a great choice.

You can set up a “Zap” (which is an automated task on Zapier) that starts every time you post something, create a product, or perform another action in the apps you use most. Zapier can then save the shortened link to a Google Sheet or send it straight to another app.

Since this is the Zapier blog, we’re a bit biased, but if you want to add URL shortening to your automated tasks, this will work well. Here are some other common ways people use Zapier’s URL shortener.

URL Shortener by Zapier Price: The free plan lets you do unlimited simple Zaps with 100 tasks per month (not really enough for URL shortening).

The Starter plan costs $29.99 per month ($19.99 per month if billed annually) and offers unlimited multi-step Zaps and 750 tasks per month.

Ow.ly

Ow.ly Pros:

• Easy to use for shortening links and tracking their performance.
• Includes features like analytics to see how your links are performing.
• Works well with Hootsuite, which is great if you’re already using it for social media management.

Ow.ly Cons:

• Limited features on the free plan.
• Requires a Hootsuite account to use.

Ow.ly is a tool for shortening links and tracking how they perform. It’s great for simplifying long URLs and seeing how many clicks your links get. If you’re using Hootsuite to manage your social media, Ow.ly is integrated into it, making it easy to use.

You can shorten a link, and Ow.ly will give you data on how well it’s doing, like how many people clicked on it. This can help you understand what content works best.

Ow.ly Price: Ow.ly is free with basic features, but if you want more advanced analytics, you’ll need to have a Hootsuite plan, which starts at $19 per month.

Is.gd:

Is.gd Pros:

• Simple and easy to use for shortening links.
• Offers analytics to track click data.
• Allows for custom short links.
• No need for an account to create short links.

Is.gd Cons:

• Limited features compared to more advanced services.
• Basic analytics; lacks in-depth reporting options.
• No integrations with other apps or tools.

Overview:

is.gd is a straightforward tool for shortening URLs. It’s great if you want a quick and easy way to shorten links without needing an account. It also provides basic click tracking and the option to create custom short links.

If you need more advanced features, like detailed analytics or app integrations, you might want to look at other URL shorteners. But for simple link shortening and tracking, is.gd does the job well.

Is.gd Pricing: Free to use, with no charges for link shortening or analytics.

Shorte.st

Shorte.st Pros:

• Easy to use.
• Pays users for clicks on shortened links.

Shorte.st Cons:

• Some users report slow payments.
• Ads can be intrusive for link visitors.

Shorte.st is a tool that lets you shorten URLs and earn money every time someone clicks on your shortened link. This can be useful if you often share links on social media, blogs, or other platforms.

You can simply paste your long URL into Shorte.st, and it will generate a shorter version. Every time someone clicks on this short link, you earn a small amount of money. You can track your clicks and earnings through their dashboard.

While we are providing this overview, it’s good to test it yourself. If you’re looking to make a bit of extra money from sharing links, Shorte.st might be a good option. Here are some popular ways people use Shorte.st.

Shorte.st Pricing: Free to use, with earnings based on the number of clicks your shortened links receive.

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Conclusion

Choosing the best URL shortener depends on your needs. Bitly is great for businesses with detailed tracking, Dub offers modern features at a good price, and BL.INK suits business owners. Short.io has an excellent free plan, and TinyURL is simple and fast.

For automation, Zapier’s URL Shortener is useful, while Ow.ly is ideal for Hootsuite users. Is.gd is straightforward, and Shorte.st lets you earn from clicks.

FAQs About Best URL Shorteners

Haryy Galindo

Haryy Galindo is a dedicated writer who is passionate about discovering the stories behind the stars. Haryy gives a unique view to the field of biographies, thanks to his sharp eye for detail and love of celebrity culture. His attractive writing style and extensive research skills provide readers an inside look at the lives of their favorite celebrities.