Bitly alternatives in 2026, compared on what the free plan actually gives you

You print 300 flyers for a Saturday market stall. The QR code on the back points to a Bitly link you made in a hurry.

On Thursday you notice a typo in the page it lands on, fix the page, and decide you'd rather send people to the shop instead.

On Bitly's free plan you can't change where that link goes. The flyers are printed. The link is what it is.

That small moment is why people go looking for a Bitly alternative. It's rarely about the short domain. It's about what the free plan stops you doing.

What do you actually get on Bitly's free plan in 2026?

Less than most people remember.

As of October 2026, Bitly's free tier is called Free With Ads, and it gives you 5 short links a month, 2 QR codes a month, 2 landing pages and 3 custom back-halves (the bit after the slash). Clicks and scans are unlimited.

Changing a link's destination isn't on the free plan at all. Bitly calls it "custom redirects", and it starts at 5 a month on Core. Link expiry isn't on Free or Core either.

The cheapest paid plan, Core, is $10 a month and is only sold annually ($120 a year). Growth is $29 a month on annual billing and is where branded links and a custom domain come in.

Premium is $199 a month. All of these figures are from Bitly's pricing page, checked on 9 October 2026.

None of that makes Bitly a bad product. It's a mature link platform with good integrations. It just isn't a generous free one any more.

The alternatives, judged on their free plans

We looked at four tools on the same terms: how many links you get for nothing, whether you can change a link after it's printed, and what you'd pay to go further.

Prices are as of October 2026, from each company's own pricing page.

Dub: the best free plan if you want an API and your own domain

Dub gives you 25 new links a month on its free plan, 1,000 tracked events a month, 3 custom domains, QR codes and API access. Analytics are kept for 30 days.

That free custom domain and free API are the two things we can't match on our free plan. If you're a developer or you want links on your own domain from day one, Dub is the one to try first.

The paid step is steep for a solo user. Pro is $30 a month for 1,000 new links. Password protection and link expiry sit on the paid plans.

Short.io: the most links for nothing

Short.io works differently. Its free plan gives you 1,000 branded links in total, not per month, plus 5 custom domains and 50,000 tracked clicks a month. Updating a link's destination is included on every plan, free included.

If you make links slowly and want your own domain, that's a lot of runway. Password protection and link expiry start on Pro at $18 a month. Hobby, at $5 a month, adds country targeting and more links.

Rebrandly: brand-first, but tight on free

Rebrandly gives free users 10 links a month and 10 QR codes, which carry a watermark. You get one free branded domain on their yourbrand.bio domain.

Destination edits aren't on the free plan, and password-protected links and expiry start on Professional ($22 a month billed annually, $32 monthly).

Essentials, at $8 a month annually or $11 monthly, gives you 250 links and 10 destination edits a month.

TinyX: links that you can change, password and expire, plus files

This is our product, so read this section knowing that.

On the TinyX free plan you get 25 short links a month, a QR download for every link, basic click analytics, password protection and expiry.

You can change where a link points on every plan, including Free, so the market-stall problem above goes away.

The part the others don't do is files. The same account sends files on expiring, password-protected links (150 MB per file on Free) and runs simple markdown forms. If your stack is Bitly plus WeTransfer plus a form tool, that's where the saving comes from.

Pro is $9 a month (or $90 a year) for 1,000 links a month, full analytics and custom short codes. Max is $29 a month for unlimited links. The full list is on our features page.

Where TinyX loses, plainly

Custom domains are the big one. Dub, Short.io and Rebrandly all give you a branded domain for free. On TinyX, a custom domain only comes with the White Label plan, which is priced by quote.

Our free plan has no API keys, and custom short codes (choosing the word after the slash) are Pro and Max only. Bitly gives you 3 custom back-halves a month for free; we give you none.

And if you need 1,000 links without paying, Short.io's lifetime allowance beats our 25 a month.

Which Bitly alternative should you pick?

If you need your own domain for free, pick Short.io or Dub. If you need an API on day one, pick Dub. If brand controls matter more than price, Rebrandly is built for that.

If what you actually do is send people somewhere and sometimes send them a file, and you want to fix a link after it's printed, that's the case TinyX was built for.

FAQ

Is there a free Bitly alternative with no ads? Yes. Dub, Short.io, Rebrandly and TinyX all have free plans, and none of them describe their free tier as ad-supported the way Bitly's "Free With Ads" plan is named.

Which Bitly alternative lets you edit a link for free? Short.io and TinyX both let you change a link's destination on the free plan. Bitly and Rebrandly don't.

Do Bitly links stop working if I leave? Links you already made live on Bitly's domain, so whether they keep redirecting depends on Bitly's terms for your account. Check that before you cancel, and make new links on the new tool.

Which alternative gives a free custom domain? Dub (3 domains), Short.io (5) and Rebrandly (1 on their yourbrand.bio domain). TinyX doesn't on Free, Pro or Max.

If you want to try the link-and-file side of this, start on the free plan and make your next printed QR code a link you can still change.