The 8 Best Alternatives to Google URL Shortener

1

Google URL Shortener

Ever since Google URL Shortener shut down in March 2019, the internet has been searching for the next best option. There’s no single correct answer, as the right service for you ultimately depends on your needs and expectations. There are simple and fast free shorteners for use in a hurry, shorteners with comprehensive dashboards and tracking tools for brands, and even URL shorteners you can host on your own website.

#URL Shortener #Link Management #Branded URLs

2

Bitly

Bitly is a full-service, business-grade URL shortener. If your needs are modest, you can use it anonymously to shorten long URLs and be on your way. But Bitly really stands out for its business offering. Part of the appeal is that Bitly is so simple and easy to use. It has a comprehensive dashboard where you can track over 20 real-time data points, including the location of your visitors, organic shares, and more. Tools for tracking campaigns are easy to use as well.

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

3

Bl.Ink

BL.INK offers four tiers of paid plans to give small businesses, teams, and enterprises a variety of options based on the number of links you need to generate and track. Free account holders can generate 1,000 links, track up to 1,000 clicks per link, and create a custom domain to make branded links. If you're a business in need of a full-service URL shortener and Bitly's enterprise-grade plan seems like overkill, then BL.INK is one of your best options.

#Link Management #URL Shortener #Branded URLs

4

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

5

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

6

T2M IP

T2M has a limited Basic plan that requires a one-off fee to register, plus paid subscriptions for those who need more. The free plan does not limit the number of URLs you can generate, nor how many clicks you can track. It also gives you baked-in tools for sharing shortened URLs on social networking sites. The Standard plan is well-suited for small businesses: it adds branded and vanity URLs, password protected URLs, a tool for shortening a number of URLs at once ("bulk changer"), the ability to add one custom domain, and a few additional perks. Higher-level plans include more features and increased limits on things like how many URLs you can generate each month and the number of clicks or redirects allowed per month. T2M is a capable URL shortener for businesses that want pleasing dashboards and automatic QR code generation.

#IP Data #Networking #IP Provider

7

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

9

YOURLS

Yourls, which is an acronym for "your own URL shortener," is exactly that—a service your run on your own server. Similar to Polr, Yourls is free and open-source. With Yourls, you can choose whether your links will be public or private. It includes bookmarklets, which let you turn a long URL into a short one from your web browser in just one click. By default, the tool generates sequential URLs, but you can change it to come up with random strings instead if you prefer. There are a few traffic tracking tools as well.

#Link Management #URL Shortener #Branded URLs 21 social mentions