Every shortener says it has a free plan. This page compares what those free plans actually include: links, custom domains, ads shown to your audience, and how much analytics you can see without paying.
Updated 8 November 20268 tools comparedPrices in USD
Quick answer.ReSlug has the best free plan: 500 active links, a custom domain with SSL, QR codes, a bio page and 30 days of analytics, with no ads. Short.io is second with five free domains and 1,000 lifetime links. Bitly's free plan, five links a month with ads, is the weakest here.
Best free overallReSlug500 links, custom domain, QR, 30-day analytics
Most free domainsShort.io5 custom domains, 1,000 lifetime links
No-account linksTinyURLUnlimited basic links, no analytics
A free URL shortener is only free if it does not cost you clicks. Ads in front of your audience, a generic domain that gets flagged as spam, or analytics that vanish after a week all have a price. So this ranking looks at four things: how many links you can create, whether you can use your own domain, whether people who click see an ad, and how much click data you get.
The spread is enormous. At one end, ReSlug gives you 500 active links, a branded domain and a month of analytics. At the other, Bitly gives you five links a month, shows ads and keeps no history. Two tools, T.LY and Switchy, have no free account at all and are listed at the bottom for completeness.
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 real shortener without a credit card
Free: 500 active linksPaid from $9/moCustom domains: freeAnalytics: 30 daysAPIBio pagesBot filtering
ReSlug's free plan reads like other tools' paid plans: 500 active links, 1,000 tracked clicks/mo, one custom domain with auto-SSL, a QR code on every link, link expiration, a bio page and 30 days of click analytics with bot traffic filtered out. There is no trial clock and no card required. The only meaningful limit is the 1,000 tracked clicks a month; links keep redirecting past it, you just stop seeing new analytics until the month resets or you upgrade to the $9 Pro plan.
Pros
500 active links, a custom domain with auto-SSL and 30 days of analytics on the free plan
No ads or interstitials on any plan
Pro is $9/mo ($79/yr) for unlimited links, 10 domains and a year of analytics
Bot clicks filtered out of analytics by default
Geo, device, UTM and scheduled routing plus A/B splits on Pro
Cons
Launched in 2026, so it has a short track record compared with Bitly or TinyURL
Free: 1,000 links (lifetime)Paid from $5/moCustom domains: freeAnalytics: Not documentedAPIBio pagesBot filtering
Short.io's free plan allows five custom domains, 1,000 links and 50,000 tracked clicks a month, with the API included and commercial use permitted. The 1,000 links are a lifetime total rather than a monthly refresh, so heavy users will eventually need the $5 Hobby plan, and analytics retention is not stated. Still, five free domains is unmatched.
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
Free: 25 links/moPaid from $27/moCustom domains: freeAnalytics: 30 daysAPIBot filtering
Dub's free plan is small on links, 25 a month, but includes three custom domains, 1,000 tracked events, 30 days of retention, QR codes, UTM templates and full API access with SDKs. It is the best free plan for building something, and the worst for sharing lots of links.
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
Cuttly's free tier includes one branded domain, 30 days of analytics, a QR code and a bio page with five links. The cap is 30 links a month and free links carry a Cutt.ly branding label. Good for a creator with a handful of links.
Pros
Free plan includes a branded domain, 30 days of analytics and a bio page
Bot-click chart on Single and up
Clear, published pricing with annual discounts
Link-in-bio and UTM builder on every tier
Cons
Only 30 links a month on free
Starter is $12 a month for just 300 links and still 30 days of analytics
Free: 100 links/moPaid from $15/moCustom domains: freeAnalytics: Country-levelAPIBot filtering
Linkly's free plan includes a custom domain and full API access, but only 100 links and 500 clicks a month, and links pause when the click quota runs out. That makes it a trial of the paid product rather than a plan to live on.
Pros
Free plan includes a custom domain and full API access
Explicit bot and social-crawler management from Starter
Link rotators, geo and device redirects, click- and time-limited links on Pro
Zapier, Make, n8n and webhooks on paid plans
Cons
Free plan is capped at 500 clicks a month and links pause when exceeded
Free: Unlimited basic linksPaid from $9.99/moCustom domains: Up to 3 branded domains on paidAnalytics: NoneAPIBot filtering
TinyURL is free for unlimited basic links, with no account, no ads and custom aliases. There are no analytics and you cannot edit a destination. Fine for pasting a link in a chat, not for anything you want to measure.
Pros
Free basic shortening with no account and no limit on link count
No ads or interstitials on free links
Twenty-plus years of uptime; links from 2002 still resolve
Custom aliases and QR codes on free
Cons
No analytics at all on the free plan and no editing of destinations
Custom domains, analytics and the API all require Pro, from about $10 a month
Pro caps you at 500 active links, fewer than ReSlug's free plan
Free: 5 links/moPaid from $10/moCustom domains: 0 (Growth plan and up) on paidAnalytics: NoneAPIBio pagesBot filtering
Bitly's free plan is labelled "With Ads" on its own pricing page: five links and two QR codes a month, no custom domain, no analytics history. Every other free plan on this page is more generous. Bitly's strengths are on its enterprise tier, not here.
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
T.LY offers a five-day trial and then charges from $5 a month. Switchy has no free plan and starts at $47 a month. Both are reasonable products, but they are not free URL shorteners.
The catches to check on any free plan
Monthly vs lifetime quotas. Bitly, Dub, Cuttly, Rebrandly and Linkly reset monthly. Short.io's 1,000 free links are a lifetime total. ReSlug counts active links, so deleting one frees a slot.
Ads. Only Bitly's free plan is documented as showing ads.
Branding. Cuttly labels free links as Cutt.ly branded; Rebrandly watermarks free QR codes and galleries.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free URL shortener with a custom domain?
ReSlug (one domain, 500 links, 30-day analytics) or Short.io (five domains, 1,000 lifetime links). Dub, Cuttly and Linkly also include a free custom domain with smaller link quotas.
Does Bitly have a free plan?
Yes, but it allows five links and two QR codes a month, shows ads, and keeps no analytics history. A custom domain requires the Growth plan at $29/mo billed annually.
Is TinyURL completely free?
Basic shortening is free and unlimited with no ads. Analytics, editing destinations, branded domains and the API are paid, from roughly $10 a month.
Can I use a free URL shortener for business?
Yes. Short.io explicitly permits commercial use on free, and ReSlug's free plan has no non-commercial restriction. Avoid any tool that shows ads to your customers.