People leave Bitly for three reasons: the free plan shrank to five links a month with ads, a custom domain costs $348 a year, and the Core plan is annual-only. Here are the alternatives, ranked by how much more they give you for less.
Updated 8 November 20269 tools comparedPrices in USD
Quick answer. The best Bitly alternative for most people is ReSlug: 500 active links, a custom domain and QR codes free, where Bitly gives five links with ads, and a $9/mo Pro plan against Bitly's $29/mo Growth. Short.io is the alternative for many domains, Dub for developers, Rebrandly for enterprise marketing teams.
Best alternativeReSlug500 free links and a domain vs Bitly's 5 with ads
For enterprise teamsRebrandlyBranded links, seats, SSO tier
Bitly's own pricing page, checked 8 November 2026, tells the story. Free: five links and two QR codes a month, labelled "With Ads", no analytics history, no custom domain. Core: $10 a month but billed annually only, 100 links, 30 days of history, still no custom domain. Growth: $29 a month billed annually, $348 a year, for 500 links, 120 days of history and one complimentary domain.
Against that, five tools on this page include a custom domain on their free plan, and the most generous gives you 500 links. The ranking orders alternatives by how directly they fix Bitly's weak points: domain cost, link quota, ads and analytics. Bitly itself is included at the bottom of the table for reference.
Bitly alternatives compared (Bitly included for reference)
Limits and prices from each vendor's public pricing page, verified 8 November 2026. "Free links" is the published free-plan quota; "Ads" means interstitial or branded ads shown to people who click your links.
Best for: Anyone who wants a custom domain and real analytics without paying
Free: 500 active linksPaid from $9/moCustom domains: freeAnalytics: 30 daysAPIBio pagesBot filtering
Every Bitly complaint has an answer here. Five links a month becomes 500 active links. Ads become none. No analytics becomes 30 days. A $348-a-year domain becomes a free one with SSL. And when you outgrow free, Pro is $9 a month or $79 a year for unlimited links, ten domains, routing, A/B tests and an API, against Growth's $348 for 500 links a month. What you give up is Bitly's brand, integrations catalogue and enterprise tier.
Best for: Power users who want many custom domains cheaply
Free: 1,000 links (lifetime)Paid from $5/moCustom domains: freeAnalytics: Not documentedAPIBio pagesBot filtering
Five custom domains free against Bitly's zero, 1,000 links against five, and a $5 Hobby plan. If the reason you are leaving Bitly is the domain price, Short.io is the most direct fix. See Bitly vs Short.io.
Pros
5 custom domains on the free plan and 1,000 lifetime links
Hobby plan is $5 a month for 2,500 links and 7 domains
Pro at $18 a month gives unlimited links and 10 domains
API on every plan, including free, at 50 requests a second
Cons
Analytics retention is not published for any plan
Password protection and expiration need Pro
Free quota is a lifetime total, so it runs out and does not refresh
Best for: Developers and SaaS teams who want an API, SDKs and conversion tracking
Free: 25 links/moPaid from $27/moCustom domains: freeAnalytics: 30 daysAPIBot filtering
Bitly's API is request-capped at 1,000 a month on free and 5,000 on Core. Dub's is open, documented, with SDKs, and the free plan includes three domains. Pro at $27 is cheaper than Growth and far more capable for product use. See Bitly vs Dub.
Pros
Open-source codebase, typed SDKs and a well-documented REST API
3 custom domains on the free plan
Conversion tracking, webhooks and role-based access on Business
A/B testing, geo and device targeting, password and expiration on Pro
Cons
Free plan is only 25 links a month
Pro is $27 a month, three times ReSlug's Pro
No link-in-bio pages
Quotas are annual pools billed up front on yearly plans
Best for: Marketing teams that want branded links with enterprise support
Free: 10 links/moPaid from $16/moCustom domains: 2 on paidAnalytics: Not documentedAPIBio pagesBot filtering
The closest like-for-like replacement for marketing departments: branded links, galleries, teammates, SSO on Enterprise. Essentials ($16/mo) includes two domains where Bitly Core includes none. See Bitly vs Rebrandly.
Pros
Strong branded-link features: multiple domains, link galleries, UTM builder on all tiers
API on every plan including free
Teammates, password links and expiration on Professional
Enterprise tier with SSO and dedicated support
Cons
Free plan is 10 links a month with watermarked QR codes and galleries
Professional, where most features live, is $39 a month ($32 annual)
Click-history retention is not clearly published
Pricing page shows several overlapping price pairs, which is confusing
Best for: Enterprises that need a well-known vendor, SSO and a sales contract
Free: 5 links/moPaid from $10/moCustom domains: 0 (Growth plan and up) on paidAnalytics: NoneAPIBio pagesBot filtering
Included so the table compares like with like. Bitly remains the right choice for enterprises that need a known vendor; the alternatives above are for everyone else.
Pros
The most recognised brand in link shortening, with a long uptime record
QR codes, landing pages and links in one product
Mobile deep linking and an enterprise tier with SSO and 2-year history
Integrations with almost every marketing tool
Cons
Free plan is 5 links a month, shows ads and keeps no analytics history
Custom domains only arrive on Growth at $29/mo billed annually ($348/yr)
Core plan is annual-only and still capped at 100 links a month
Link quotas are monthly, so unused links do not roll over
Export your links from the Bitly dashboard as CSV.
Create the new account and connect your custom domain (ReSlug, Short.io, Cuttly and Dub provision SSL automatically).
Import the CSV. ReSlug accepts 100 rows free and 1,000 on Pro; Rebrandly and Cuttly offer bulk import on paid plans.
Update printed QR codes only if they encode bit.ly addresses. Codes that encode your own domain keep working after you repoint DNS.
Keep the Bitly account alive for a few months so old bit.ly links still resolve.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Bitly?
ReSlug: 500 links, a custom domain, QR codes and 30 days of analytics free, with no ads. Short.io is the alternative if you need several domains.
Why is Bitly so expensive?
Bitly has moved upmarket toward enterprise customers. The free plan is five links a month with ads, Core is annual-only, and a custom domain requires Growth at $29/mo billed annually.
Is there a Bitly alternative with an API?
Dub is the strongest API-first alternative, with SDKs and a free tier. Short.io offers a free API at 50 requests a second. ReSlug's API is on the $9/mo Pro plan.
Can I keep my branded domain when leaving Bitly?
Yes. Point the domain's DNS at the new provider. Links on your own domain keep working once you recreate them; bit.ly-hosted links do not transfer.