The Best Free Bitly Alternatives in 2026 (Honest Comparison)
The best free Bitly alternative depends on your needs. Honest 2026 comparison of Short.io, Dub, TinyURL, Cuttly, Rebrandly and Minily.
If you searched for the best free Bitly alternative, you probably already use Bitly for free, and you have noticed it does not feel free anymore. Since early 2025, Bitly's free plan caps you at a handful of links a month, hides click analytics behind a paywall, and shows a full-screen ad before your link redirects, including on links you created years ago. This is an honest, fact-checked comparison of the real free plans in 2026, including what Bitly still does better than everyone else, and including the limits of our own tool, Minily. We verified every plan in May 2026; free tiers change fast, so check the linked sources before you commit.
Why people are leaving Bitly's free plan in 2026
Bitly did not get worse by accident. It changed who its free plan is for. What used to be a genuine consumer service is now a sample of a paid marketing product. That is a legitimate business decision, but it means the free tier is no longer a tool you can rely on for everyday links.
What Bitly's free plan actually includes now
According to Bitly's own free plan page, the free tier gives you 5 short links per month, 2 QR codes per month, 3 custom back-halves per month, and 2 custom landing pages. Links never expire and get unlimited clicks and scans. You also get 1,000 API requests per month, two-factor authentication, the mobile apps, and browser extensions.
The catch is analytics. The same page confirms that detailed click and scan analytics are not part of the free plan. You can see that a link was clicked, but the country, device, referrer, and time breakdowns that made Bitly useful are reserved for paid plans. To unlock them, you need the Core plan, which Bitly prices at $10/month billed annually (so $120/year), with Growth and Premium tiers above it.
The interstitial ad page (February 2025)
The bigger change for most people is the ad page. As reported by Coywolf, Bitly began showing an interstitial advertising page before the redirect on free-account links starting in February 2025. Bitly's own support article, "Why are there ads on my links?", confirms that free links and QR codes may show a preview page with advertising before sending people to the destination, and that the only way to remove it is to upgrade to a paid plan.
The part that stung the most: it applied retroactively. Links you shortened years ago, back when the free plan was generous, now show an ad page too. If you printed a bit.ly link on a flyer or embedded one in old documentation, your audience now sees an ad first.
What this means in practice
Put together, the free plan is now a trial of Bitly's paid marketing product rather than a standalone service. Five links a month is enough to evaluate the dashboard, not to run anything. If you only need a couple of links and do not mind the ad page, the free plan still technically works. For everyone else, it is time to look elsewhere, and the good news is the alternatives are genuinely good.
What still makes Bitly good (the honest part)
It would be easy to write a hit piece, but that would not help you choose. Bitly remains the strongest brand in link shortening, and brand matters: a bit.ly link reads as safe to a lot of people, which can lift click-through on cold audiences. Even the free plan keeps 1,000 API requests per month, which is more than most free tiers offer for developers who just want to test. The paid product has a mature API, deep integrations, custom landing pages, and an analytics suite that is hard to match.
So the question is not "is Bitly bad." It is "is Bitly's free plan still the right free plan for me." For most people in 2026, the answer is no, and here is what to use instead.
Free Bitly alternatives at a glance
Before the individual reviews, here is the comparison on the criteria that actually decide whether a free plan is usable: how many links you get, whether you get real click analytics, whether QR codes are included, whether you can use a custom domain for free, and whether there is an ad page before the redirect. Every number is linked to its source in the reviews below.
| Tool | Free links / month | Click analytics (free) | QR codes (free) | Custom domain (free) | Ad before redirect? | Paid starts at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitly (reference) | 5 / month | No | 2 / month | No | Yes | $10/mo (annual) |
| Short.io | 1,000 (total, not monthly) | Yes (up to 50,000 clicks/mo) | Yes | Yes (5 domains) | No | $5/mo |
| Dub | 25 / month | Yes (30-day retention) | Yes | Yes (3 domains) | No | $25/mo |
| Cuttly | 30 / month | Yes (30 days) | Yes | Yes (1 domain) | No | Paid tiers |
| TinyURL | ~100 / month | No | Limited | No | No | $9.99/mo |
| Rebrandly | 10 / month | Yes (100 clicks) | Yes (watermarked) | No (rebrand.ly only) | No | Paid tiers |
| Minily | 5 (lifetime, not monthly) | Yes (global) | Unlimited | No (Pro only) | No | EUR 5/mo |
The honest reading of this table: no free plan wins on every axis. Short.io wins on raw volume, TinyURL wins on no-signup simplicity, Cuttly and Rebrandly land in the middle for campaign tracking, Dub wins for developers, and Minily wins on depth per link, not on the number of links. We will explain each one below, including where ours falls short.
The 6 best free Bitly alternatives, reviewed
1. Short.io — best for high volume of branded links
Short.io is the most generous free plan in this list by a wide margin. Its pricing page lists 1,000 branded links (a lifetime total, not a monthly allowance) and 50,000 tracked clicks per month on the free tier, with 5 custom domains, no credit card required, and commercial use explicitly allowed. You get real click statistics for those 50,000 clicks, which puts it far ahead of Bitly's free plan on every practical measure.
The trade-off is the learning curve. Short.io is built for teams and power users, so the dashboard has more knobs than a casual user needs, and the onboarding assumes you know what a branded domain is. When you outgrow the free limits, the Hobby plan is $5/month (2,500 links, 100,000 clicks, 7 domains) and Pro is $18/month (unlimited links and clicks, 10 domains).
Choose Short.io if: you need to shorten and brand a lot of links for free and you are comfortable with a more technical tool.
2. Dub — best open-source and developer choice
Dub is the modern, developer-first option. Its free plan includes 25 links per month, 1,000 tracked events per month, 30-day analytics retention, 3 custom domains, and API access, with no credit card. The headline feature is that it is open source: the codebase is on GitHub under AGPL-3.0, and Dub publishes a self-hosting guide, so you can run it on your own infrastructure if you want full control and no link limit.
The limits to know: 25 links a month is low for a hosted free plan, and conversion tracking only appears on the Business plan ($75/month). Paid tiers run Pro at $25/month (1,000 links) and Advanced above that.
Choose Dub if: you are a developer or a team that values open source, wants an API, or wants the option to self-host. For everyone else, the 25-link cap is the thing to watch.
3. TinyURL — best for no-signup quick links
TinyURL is the simplest tool here. You can shorten a link instantly without creating an account, and the resulting links do not expire. According to its pricing page, the free plan allows roughly 100 links per month, but tracked clicks are listed as zero: there is no click analytics on the free tier at all. Paid plans start at $9.99/month (Pro) when you need analytics and branded domains.
So TinyURL is the opposite of Bitly's free plan in one good way (no ads, no signup, more links) and the same in one bad way (no free analytics). If you just need a clean short link to paste somewhere and you do not care who clicked it, TinyURL is the fastest path. If you want to know what happened after the click, look elsewhere. We compare the two directly in Minily vs TinyURL.
Choose TinyURL if: you want a one-off short link with zero setup and you do not need analytics.
4. Cuttly — best free analytics and UTM combo
Cuttly sits in a useful middle ground for marketers. Per Cuttly's documentation, the free plan offers 30 short links per month, click analytics with 30-day history, one branded custom domain, QR code generation, a link-in-bio page, a built-in UTM builder, and no ads on clicked links, with no credit card required (source). For someone running light email or social campaigns, that is a genuinely workable free tier.
The limits are mostly around depth: no link expiration, no password protection, no destination editing, and no bulk CSV shortening on the free plan, with analytics history capped at 30 days. But for tracking a modest set of campaign links with proper UTMs, it does the job for free.
Choose Cuttly if: you want free click analytics plus a UTM builder for a small number of campaign links.
5. Rebrandly — best for testing branded short domains
Rebrandly's strength is branded links, but its free plan is the tightest in this list. The pricing page shows 10 branded links per month, 100 tracked clicks per month, and one custom domain, with a Rebrandly watermark on QR codes and the link gallery. There is no destination editing, password protection, or team access on the free tier.
That makes the free plan a trial more than a service, much like Bitly's, but at least without an ad page before the redirect. It is best used to test whether a branded short domain improves your click-through before you commit to a paid plan. See Minily vs Rebrandly for a feature-by-feature look.
Choose Rebrandly if: you specifically want to test branded short domains and only need a handful of links.
6. Minily — best for depth per link and EU privacy
Now the honest part about our own tool. Minily's free plan shares Bitly's biggest limit: 5 links. If you want a large number of free links, Minily is not your tool, and you should pick Short.io, Cuttly, or TinyURL from this list instead. We are not going to pretend otherwise.
Where Minily is different is what those 5 links can do, and the fact that the limit is a one-time cap rather than a monthly reset. On the free plan you get global click analytics (clicks, top countries, your 10 most recent clicks), password protection on any link, conditional geo and device redirects, a built-in UTM builder, scheduled and expiring links, an opt-in link preview, a GDPR-friendly CSV export of aggregate stats, and unlimited QR codes. Minily is also hosted in France and the EU, and its analytics export is built around aggregates rather than personal data. Authentication supports GitHub, Google, email, and passkeys.
Just as important is what Minily does not have, so you are not surprised later: there is no public REST API, no white-label option, no multi-touch attribution, no predictive AI, and no CRM integration. Custom domains and per-link analytics depend on the Pro plan (EUR 5/month), which lifts the link limit entirely and adds tags, full analytics, and live mode. If those gaps matter to you, Bitly's paid product or Dub will serve you better, and we would rather tell you that here than after you sign up. For the full head-to-head, see Minily vs Bitly.
Choose Minily if: you want serious per-link features (analytics, password protection, geo/device routing, expiration, QR codes) on a small number of links, hosted in the EU, and you do not need a high free link volume or a public API.
Which free alternative should you choose?
The "best" free Bitly alternative is the one that matches what you are actually trying to do. Here is the decision by use case, with no marketing spin.
- "I want a lot of free links." Go with Short.io (1,000 links total, 50,000 tracked clicks/month) or Cuttly (30 links per month with analytics and UTM). Skip Minily and Rebrandly here; their free link caps are too low.
- "I want a quick link with no account." TinyURL. Instant, no signup, no ads, but no analytics either.
- "I'm a developer, or I want open source or self-hosting." Dub. Open source under AGPL-3.0, self-hostable, with an API on the free plan.
- "I want real per-link features and EU privacy on a few links." Minily. Analytics, password protection, geo/device routing, expiration, UTM, and unlimited QR on the free plan, EU-hosted, but only 5 links before you need Pro.
- "I need a mature API and want to stay with a big provider." Either upgrade to a paid Bitly plan or use Dub. Minily does not offer a public API, so it is not the right fit for an integration-heavy workflow.
Notice that Minily appears in exactly one row, and not at the top of the volume row. That is deliberate. A free plan is only "the best" relative to a specific need.
What to check before switching from Bitly
Switching is mostly painless, but two things trip people up.
Your old bit.ly links keep working, with ads. Bitly does not break existing links when you stop using it, so anything already printed or published will still redirect. But on a free account, those links now show the interstitial ad page. There is no bulk way to migrate the short codes themselves to a new provider; new links you create on your replacement tool will have new short codes. Plan to swap links going forward rather than retroactively.
Check link permanence and export on the new tool. TinyURL and Bitly links do not expire. On most alternatives, links persist as long as your account is active; read each tool's terms. If you need a link to expire on purpose (for a time-limited campaign, say), Minily lets you set expiration and scheduling, while Cuttly and Rebrandly free plans do not. Also confirm you can export your links and stats: Minily offers a GDPR-friendly CSV export, and Short.io and Dub provide exports on their respective plans.
One more practical tip: if a custom branded domain matters to you, only Short.io and Dub (and Cuttly, with one domain) offer it on the free tier. Bitly, Rebrandly, TinyURL, and Minily all gate custom domains behind a paid plan, so factor that into the comparison if branding is non-negotiable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bitly still free in 2026?
Yes, Bitly still has a $0 plan, but it is heavily limited. Bitly's free plan gives you 5 short links per month and 2 QR codes per month, with no detailed click analytics, and free links show an interstitial ad page before the redirect. It works for evaluating Bitly, not for everyday use.
Why did Bitly's free plan get worse?
Bitly reduced the limits on its free plan and added a way to monetize free links directly. In February 2025 it began showing ads on free-account links (per Bitly support), framing it as the way to keep the free plan free. The net effect is that the free tier is now a trial for the paid marketing product rather than a standalone service.
What is the best free Bitly alternative with analytics?
It depends on volume. Short.io gives the most (1,000 links total plus 50,000 tracked clicks per month, free). Cuttly offers 30 links with 30-day analytics plus a UTM builder. Minily offers global analytics with per-link features but only 5 links. Note that TinyURL's free plan has no analytics at all.
Is there a free Bitly alternative without ads?
Yes. Bitly is the outlier here. Short.io, Dub, TinyURL, Cuttly, Rebrandly, and Minily do not insert an advertising page before the redirect on their free plans. If avoiding the ad page is your main reason for switching, almost any alternative solves it.
What is the best free Bitly alternative for unlimited or high-volume links?
Short.io is the clear pick for volume, with 1,000 free branded links (a lifetime total) plus 50,000 tracked clicks per month and commercial use allowed. Minily is explicitly not the right choice for high volume, since its free plan caps you at 5 links, the same number as Bitly.
Is there an open-source Bitly alternative?
Yes. Dub is open source under AGPL-3.0, with its code on GitHub and an official self-hosting guide. That makes it the best option if you want to audit, customize, or self-host your shortener with no link limit.
Do shortened links expire if I switch from Bitly?
Your existing bit.ly links keep working (now with the ad page), and Bitly links do not expire. On alternatives, policies vary: TinyURL links also do not expire, while Minily lets you set a voluntary expiration date on a link if you want one. Always check each tool's link permanence terms before relying on it.
Can I use a free Bitly alternative for business?
Often yes, but read the terms. Short.io explicitly allows commercial use on its free plan. Other free plans permit business use within their limits, but tiers like Rebrandly's 100 free tracked clicks per month are too small for most real campaigns. Match the plan limits to your expected traffic.
Conclusion
There is no single "best free Bitly alternative," and any article that names one without asking what you need is selling you something. Use the criteria that actually matter, usable links plus real analytics plus no ad page plus QR codes included, and the answer falls out by use case: Short.io for volume, TinyURL for instant no-signup links, Dub for developers and open source, Cuttly for free campaign analytics, Rebrandly for testing branded domains, and Minily for depth per link with EU privacy on a small set of links.
If your profile is "quality per link" rather than "lots of links", Minily's free plan is worth a look: five links, but with analytics, password protection, geo/device routing, expiration, UTMs, and unlimited QR codes, hosted in the EU. If you need many free links or a public API, one of the others above will serve you better, and we would rather you find the right tool than the one with our name on it. Either way, you can stop redirecting your audience through an ad page.