Best Free URL Shorteners in 2026 — 7 Tools Tested & Compared

Bitly is the most well-known URL shortener on the planet. If someone says "link shortener," most people think of Bitly. It has a solid mobile app, reliable redirects, and a polished interface. But the free tier has been gutted over the years. You now get just 10 links per month with no custom domain. Want branded links? That starts at $10/month for Core (custom domains at $29/mo Growth). For individuals and small teams, the value just isn't there anymore unless you specifically need the brand recognition.

TinyURL has been around since 2002 and it still does one thing well: shorten links fast. No account required. Paste your URL, click a button, get a short link. That simplicity is its biggest strength — and its biggest limitation. There are no analytics, no custom domains on free, and the generated URLs use the tinyurl.com domain which can look unprofessional. But if you just need a quick short link and don't care about tracking, TinyURL is hard to beat for speed.

Dub.co is a modern, open-source URL shortener built with developers in mind. The interface is beautifully designed, the API is well-documented, and the free tier includes 25 links per month with a custom domain. If you're building a SaaS product or want to integrate link shortening into your workflow programmatically, Dub.co is a strong choice. The downside is that upgrading to Pro costs $30/month, which is steep for a URL shortener — and as a newer company, long-term stability is always a fair question to ask.

Short.io offers solid analytics and supports multiple custom domains even on its free plan. The catch? You only get 50 links total — not per month, total. Once you hit 50, you're done unless you upgrade. That makes the free tier more of a trial than a real free plan. If you do upgrade, the Pro plan at $18/month is reasonable and includes detailed analytics and team features. But for a truly free experience, the 50-link lifetime cap is very restrictive.

Rebrandly positions itself as the branded link management platform. If your primary concern is making every link look on-brand, Rebrandly has some nice features including link retargeting and deep tagging. The free plan gives you 10 links per month, which is restrictive but usable for light use. Where Rebrandly falls down is pricing clarity — the plans are confusing and the jumps between tiers feel unpredictable. Still, for brand-obsessed marketers, it's worth a look.

ShortURL.at is about as bare-bones as it gets. Visit the site, paste your URL, get a short link. No signup, no account, unlimited links. It's fast and it works. But that's about all it does. There are no custom domains, no meaningful analytics, and no API. If you need a quick throwaway short link and don't care about tracking or branding, ShortURL.at gets the job done. For anything more serious, you'll outgrow it immediately.