Bitly vs ShortlyLink
Bitly
bitly.comShortlyLink
shortlylink.comSide by side
| Figure | Bitly | ShortlyLink |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $10/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · URL shorteners | 9.5 (#1) | 8.2 (#67) |
| Analytics | Bitly provides link performance data, including location and device insights, in a unified dashboard. | Dashboards report clicks and conversions in real time, with breakdowns including geography, device, referrer, and UTM parameters. |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Audience | Bitly describes its platform as serving businesses of all sizes and provides plans for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises. | The maker describes the product as designed for affiliate marketers, media buyers, agencies, and creators. |
| Bulk link creation | Yes | Yes |
| Custom domains | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Geo targeting | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Bitly says it connects with more than 60 marketplace integrations, including Canva, Claude, and HubSpot. | ShortlyLink offers a REST API, HMAC-signed webhooks, and Slack alerts with a /shortly slash command. |
| Product | Bitly lets businesses create, share, and track short links and QR Codes. | ShortlyLink is a URL shortener and link-management platform built for affiliate marketers. |
| Security | Bitly says all links are encrypted with HTTPS and recommends strong passwords and two-factor authentication. | The privacy policy says passwords are bcrypt-hashed and webhook payloads use HMAC-SHA256 signatures. |
| Short links | The URL shortener turns long web addresses into shorter links that redirect people to the original destination. | It creates branded short links with automatically generated or custom short codes. |
Plans
Bitly
- FreeFree
- Core$10 a month
- GrowthPrice not published
- Premium$300 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Bitly
Bitly turns long web addresses into short links that redirect to the original destination, and provides tools to create, share, and track links and QR Codes. Users can make branded links with custom domains and back-halves, change destinations, schedule expiration, and route visitors by country, region, device, or platform. Analytics include geography, referrers, device tracking, campaign performance, and UTMs in a dashboard. Dynamic QR Codes can be customized, updated, and downloaded as PNG, JPEG, or SVG files. Bitly is available on the web, through browser extensions, and in Android and iOS apps; it also offers API access. The service lists more than 60 marketplace integrations, including Canva, HubSpot, Shopify, and Claude. The Free plan allows 5 links and 2 QR Codes per month, plus 3 custom back-halves; free links have unlimited clicks and never expire. The plan needs no credit card. Core costs $10 a month on an annual plan and includes 100 links, 5 QR Codes, and 5 redirects per month. Paid subscriptions renew monthly or annually according to the payment plan.
ShortlyLink
ShortlyLink is a free URL shortener and link-management platform designed for affiliate marketers, media buyers, agencies, and creators. It creates branded short links with generated or custom codes, then can route visitors by country, rotate destinations, run A/B tests, or send mobile users to app deep links with a web fallback. Real-time dashboards show clicks and conversions by geography, device, referrer, and UTM parameters. Conversion tracking uses server-to-server postbacks or a pixel, with signed click IDs helping reject forged or duplicate conversions. Click scoring sorts traffic into normal, log, challenge, or block tiers. Users can make up to 25 link-in-bio pages, QR codes, and pre-sell pages. Integrations include a REST API, HMAC-signed webhooks, and Slack alerts. Reports export as CSV or JSON, up to 100,000 rows. The Free beta plan is free, billed During beta, with limited beta spots.