The 5 Best Alternatives to Google URL Shortener

1

Bitly

Bitly is a full service, business-grade URL shortener, although if your needs are modest, you can also use it anonymously to shorten long URLs and be on your way. But it stands out for its business offering. Part of the appeal is that Bit.ly is simple and easy to use. It has a comprehensive dashboard where you can track statistics about your links, such as click-through rates, geographic data of people visiting your links, and so forth. Tools for tracking campaigns are easy to use as well.

#Link Management #URL Shortener #Branded URLs 18 social mentions

2

Polr

Polr is an open-source project that allows people with the technical know-how to host their own URL shortener. It's available through the Polr project page and from GitHub. You can use the tool as-is or fork it if you have the programming abilities to do so. (If you're so inclined, it's written in PHP and Lumen, using MySQL as its primary database.) Though similar to Yourls, another free and open-source URL shortener, Polr has a slicker look and is designed with a modern and minimalist feel. If you just want to test out the basic interface, Polr offers a demo page.

#Link Management #URL Shortener #Branded URLs 2 social mentions

3

Rebrandly

While Rebrandly is a URL shortener much like any other, its appeal is slightly unique. Rebrandly believes that brands, whether it's a product or a person, get value out of customizing links to content that references them from all over the web. Their free plan offers five custom domains, the most of any on our list. For example, Bob Vila could customize the link to his Wikipedia entry from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Vila to BobVila.Tools/wikipedia. A link to one of his books on Amazon could be BobVila.Tools/amazon-book. Vila can use these links on his own site, business cards, or in advertisements. Rebrandly includes tools for tracking the popularity of each link and automatic QR code generation, too. If Rebrandly is more than you need, is.gd works for QR generation as well.

#Link Management #URL Shortener #Branded URLs 1 social mentions

4

TinyURL

Free URL shortener TinyURL has been in the game since 2002, and for good reason. It's a usefull tool for when you’re in a hurry and need to create a short link that will never expire. TinyURL can suggest a shorter URL for you, or you can customize the result. TinyURL also offers a bookmarklet, a small piece of javascript you add to your web browser’s toolbar that generates a short link from a webpage with the click of a button. It then leads you back to TinyURL where you retrieve the link. Although TinyURL is entirely free and anonymous to use, it doesn't contain any reports or information about your links and their popularity.

#Link Management #URL Shortener #Branded URLs 3 social mentions