Links are one of the greatest assets for modern businesses, providing seamless access to any online destination from countless mediums, including social media, SMS, and email.
However, long URLs can be clunky, inefficient, and even untrustworthy in some cases. Luckily, there are plenty of options for brands looking to shorten long URLs into neat, branded links—some of them free.
That said, while they may all look great on the surface and market themselves as the best link trackers and shorteners, the truth is, not all deliver as expected. Some have usability or reliability issues, and others have limits that can impact their value to your customer engagement and marketing efforts.
Let’s look at four of the top free URL shorteners and see how well they live up to the hype.
Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
Key features that matter for long-term use
With marketing budgets still down in 2025, plenty of business owners and marketers are looking for free URL shortening tools.
The good news is that there are plenty of free platforms. Unfortunately, there are also some that advertise free plans as a teaser or trial, rather than a valuable offering, typically restricting essential functionality to paid tiers.
So it’s important to assess a potential tool’s free plan before signing up. Look for things like:
- Ease of use: A hard-to-use tool will be more trouble than it’s worth, as it can be difficult for your team to fully leverage its features.
- Customization: A tool with advanced customization capabilities can help reinforce your brand in shortened links, promoting audience recognition.
- QR Code support: QR Codes can be a valuable add-on, especially if you plan to use physical marketing materials, as they eliminate the need for audiences to manually type links.
- API access: This feature allows you to integrate your shortening platform with existing business tools, like SMS and email marketing software, helping you automate link shortening, management, and sharing across systems.
- Mobile app or browser extension feature: An app or extension enhances platform accessibility, allowing you to shorten URLs from multiple devices and directly in browsers.
It may also be helpful to consider whether a platform provides short link tracking analytics. While this feature is typically only found in paid plans, it’s a good idea to confirm whether it’s available so you don’t have to switch platforms when you need to monitor your links’ performance. If it’s available, you make sure you can easily upgrade your plan if or when the time comes.
You may also want to consider the expected long-term availability of the service itself. Google recently announced that its URL shortener links are expected to cease functioning after August 25, 2025, meaning current users will have to transfer all their existing links to a different platform.
Overview: Free plan feature comparison chart
| Dub | Rebrandly | Short.io | Bitly | |
| # of links/month | 25 | 10 | 1,000 | 5 |
| QR Codes | Yes | Yes (10/month) | Yes (unspecified) | Yes (2/month) |
| Branding/custom domains or back-halves | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (custom back-halves) |
| API access | Yes (unspecified) | Yes (100 calls/min) | Yes (unspecified) | 1,000/month |
| Analytics availability | Yes | Limited | Comprehensive | No |
| Mobile app or browser tools | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Redirect/editable link features | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Custom landing pages | No | No | No | Yes |
| Ease of use | No | Yes | No | Yes |
4. Dub
Dub is an open-source platform that helps users shorten, track, and manage their URLs. As with most of the other shorteners on our list, Dub offers both free and paid plans.
The URL management service claims that its free plan features are among the most competitive in the market, offering:
- 25 new links per month
- 1,000 tracked clicks per month
- 3 custom, branded domain names
- Link performance metrics, including total number of clicks, clicks by region, and clicks by device
- QR Code generation
- API access
Dub’s reliance on custom domains for branded links may appeal more to developers and tech-savvy users than marketing teams or small business owners. You’ll need to know how to self-host and troubleshoot short link issues and configurations to take full advantage of the service.
Business owners and marketers may prefer using tools that don’t necessarily require domains to brand URLs. With Bitly, for example, you can brand your links by simply customizing their back-halves to align with your business.
Further, Dub’s QR Code feature may be limiting for businesses looking to align their assets with their branding, as it only offers a few color options.
3. Rebrandly
Rebrandly is a popular choice for its branding capabilities. Its free plan comes with a “rebrand.ly” domain as well as a custom domain offering, giving businesses room to highlight their brands in URLs. With this platform, you get:
- 10 links per month
- 10 QR Codes per month
- 1 custom domain
- Unlimited clicks and scans
- Custom back-halves
- Limited analytics (total clicks, plus clicks over time and by country)
- Mobile app and browser extension accessibility
Rebrandly is relatively easy to use and can be an ideal solution for both tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy customers. That said, it may be better suited for users who primarily care about link branding, such as bloggers and content creators, thanks to the platform’s strong domain branding capabilities.
If you’re looking for more functionalities, such as landing page creation capabilities and extensive QR Code customizations, a Rebrandly alternative like Bitly may be a better fit.
2. Short.io
Short.io positions itself as one of the most generous free URL shortening tools, offering a wide range of features, including:
- 1,000 branded links
- 5 custom domains
- Custom back-halves
- Unlimited redirects
- QR Code creation and customization capabilities (upload your logo and pick your preferred error correction level and colors)
- Tracking capabilities for up to 50,000 clicks (total click data and clicks by location, operating systems, day, referrers, and mediums)
- 50 tracked conversions per month
With so many features available in its free tier, Short.io may be especially suited for teams looking for free, comprehensive link analytics. However, Short.io’s dashboard is more complex than comparable tools, and it requires some knowledge of things like domain configuration to fully leverage its capabilities.
If you prioritize simplicity, a more intuitive alternative might be better. While this may mean giving up some features, it could eliminate the need to hire developers and make work easier for your team.
1. Bitly
Bitly is a comprehensive URL management, QR Code generation, and landing page creation platform designed to help you get the most out of your links.
Not only can you shorten and brand URLs, but you can also pair them with custom QR Codes to bridge the gap between online and offline channels. Bitly also offers mobile-friendly, no-code landing pages to make it easy for audiences to access multiple links.
Here’s what’s included in Bitly’s free plan:
Unlimited clicks and QR Code scans
Whether you’re on a paid Bitly plan or a free one, you never have to worry about link or QR Code engagement restrictions. Bitly offers unlimited link clicks and QR Code scans, making it a solid choice for creating public-facing assets.
5 short links and 3 branded back-halves per month
Bitly’s URL shortener lets you generate up to five short links per month and customize three back-halves to make your URLs more memorable and help you enhance your brand identity.
While you may not get as many links, Bitly’s customization options, additional offerings, and user-friendly interface more than make up for it. Plus, the lower volume can be just right for short-term campaigns, startups, or small teams.
2 QR Codes per month with multiple file types
With Bitly, you can make it easy for target audiences to transition from physical mediums to digital destinations by embedding two of your short URLs in QR Codes. You can even customize these codes by selecting unique patterns, frames, and colors, and then download them in PNG, JPEG, or SVG formats, depending on your chosen medium.
Custom landing pages with view tracking
Bitly eliminates the need for a standalone landing page builder. It allows you to create two Bitly-branded, mobile-optimized, no-code landing pages from professional, pre-built templates, then add your own images, content, and links. It’s a great option for aggregating multiple links or promoting specific products or events.
You also receive real-time landing page view data, which can provide insight into audiences’ interest in your offerings.
Mobile app, browser extension, and 2FA
Bitly’s free plan also includes accessibility and security features to enhance team experiences and promote data privacy. You can access your account via Bitly’s mobile app or a browser extension and secure your assets and processes through two-factor authentication.
1,000 API requests per month
Under the free plan, you can integrate Bitly with apps like customer relationship management (CRM) tools, SMS automation platforms, and social media marketing software. Just take advantage of the 1,000 API requests per month feature.
Integrations (via API) can promote smoother digital marketing campaigns and more efficient customer engagement workflows, reducing your team’s workload.
Bitly gives you the best free plan for long-term value
Whether you’re looking for a Google URL shortener replacement, a TinyURL alternative, or a new free URL shortening service, the platforms covered here are all great options. But, as you’ve seen, they’re not created equal.
With Bitly’s free plan, you can do everything from one user-friendly platform—create custom URLs, QR Codes, and landing pages and even track landing page views for valuable customer insights.
You can also access your Bitly account via mobile or browser extension, secure it with 2FA, and connect it with existing business tools for seamless and secure link management. And when you’re ready for advanced analytics or more volume, you can upgrade to a paid plan with just a few clicks.
Tired of platforms that bury essential features behind paywalls? Switch to Bitly’s generous free plan and upgrade anytime!
