Short.io vs Cuttly
Short.io and Cuttly both publish prices and offer a free plan, yet each caps something different. Short.io gives five custom domains on the free tier and a lifetime ceiling of 1,000 branded links, and its paid plans run from $5 to $148 a month. Cuttly counts links per month, starting at 30 on the free plan, and keeps analytics history short on the cheapest tiers. Short.io is run by a Delaware corporation, while Cuttly belongs to a sole proprietor in Gdansk. Link volume and the report history you need should settle it.
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Choose Short.io ifyou run several small sites that each need a branded domain and you want a free start with five of them. You can live with a lifetime link cap on the free plan and a seven-day trial on paid ones.
Choose Cuttly ifyou make a modest number of links each month, want a published ladder of plans in dollars, and accept a one-person supplier based in Poland. You are happy to move up a tier when you need longer analytics history.
Short.io and Cuttly side by side
| Short.io | Cuttly | |
|---|---|---|
| Our link shorteners and QR codes rank | #4 of 13 | #2 of 13 |
| Established in | United States | Poland |
| List price, 8 November 2026 | Monthly in USD: $0 free, Hobby $5, Pro $18, Team $48, Enterprise $148; 7-day trial on paid plans; annual amounts not shown | Five rungs after the free one: Starter $12, Single $25, Team $99, Team Enterprise $149 monthly, or $132, $275, $1,089 and $1,639 a year; Custom on request |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | Teams running several branded domains who want a free starting point | Freelancers and small teams wanting a published ladder of plans |
| Not for | Teams that create thousands of links a month on a free plan | Organisations whose procurement rules require an incorporated supplier |
Both are reviewed in full in our link shorteners and QR codes ranking: Short.io and Cuttly.
Where they differ
Short.io 3 · Cuttly 2 · open 1- 01
1,000 links for life or 30 a month
Short.io's free plan allows 1,000 branded links in total, not per month, so once the cap is reached the plan stays full. Cuttly's free plan allows 30 short links a month and one branded domain, with 30 days of analytics history and 3 API calls per 60 seconds. A site that creates a handful of links a week suits Cuttly's monthly reset. A one-off campaign with hundreds of links fits Short.io's lifetime pool, until the pool runs out.
Depends on the buyer
- 02
Five custom domains without paying
Short.io lists five custom domains on the free plan, seven on Hobby, ten on Pro, fifty on Team, and unlimited on Enterprise. Cuttly lists one branded domain on Free and Starter, five on Single, ten on Team and 99 on Team Enterprise. Short.io also names free automated SSL on its home page. For an owner of several small sites, Short.io puts more domains within reach at every price point we read.
Edge: Short.io
- 03
Dollar prices from $5 to $149
Short.io's monthly ladder is Hobby $5, Pro $18, Team $48 and Enterprise $148, with annual billing advertised as saving 17 percent and the annual amounts not shown. Cuttly's ladder is Starter $12, Single $25, Team $99 and Team Enterprise $149 a month, with annual prices of $132, $275, $1,089 and $1,639. Cuttly prints its annual figures, Short.io does not. Short.io is cheaper at each rung we compared.
Edge: Short.io
- 04
How far back the click reports go
Cuttly's analytics history is 30 days on Free and Starter, one year on Single and two years on Team. That limit is the real constraint on its cheap tiers, since all paid plans list unlimited clicks. Short.io's free plan lists 50,000 tracked clicks a month, while Pro and above list unlimited clicks, and no history length is given there. Cuttly is clearer here, and its two-year window on Team is the longest stated.
Edge: Cuttly
- 05
Team seats and bulk creation
Short.io's free, Hobby and Pro plans have one user, and Team and Enterprise have unlimited users. Cuttly's Team plan allows 3 teams and 5 members, and Team Enterprise allows 10 teams and 20 members. Short.io names bulk create and edit through CSV or API on its home page. Cuttly names CSV bulk shortening as a Team feature, at 2,000 links a month on Team and 5,000 on Team Enterprise. Unlimited seats favour Short.io for larger groups.
Edge: Short.io
- 06
A Delaware company against a sole trader in Gdansk
Short.io's terms name Short.cm Inc, a Delaware corporation, and name no parent or street address. Cuttly's terms name Patryk Rumiński as a sole proprietor trading as Web Room Studio, in Gdansk, Poland, entered in the Polish business register, and state that he owns the service. Cuttly is the European supplier. It is also one person, so continuity depends on him, which a procurement team may weigh against Short.io's corporate form.
Edge: Cuttly
When neither fits
If you want to host the shortener yourself or need a full link-management platform with a long list of integrations, neither is the clear answer. Shlink is a self-hostable option, and Rebrandly is a more established hosted alternative.
Short.io or Cuttly: questions
3 answersDoes the Short.io free plan reset every month?
No, the pricing page lists 1,000 branded links in total rather than per month. Tracked clicks are counted per month, at 50,000 on the free plan. Once the link total is used, you need Hobby at $5 a month or higher.
Is there a trial on Cuttly?
No free trial or trial length appears on Cuttly's pricing page. It does offer a free plan at $0 with 30 short links a month. Short.io, by contrast, states a 7-day trial on paid plans.
Which of the two is run by a company rather than an individual?
Short.io's terms name Short.cm Inc, a Delaware corporation. Cuttly's terms name a sole proprietor, Patryk Rumiński, trading as Web Room Studio. Our data lists Short.io in the United States and Cuttly in Poland.
Sources
Checked 8 November 2026- Short.io pricing page: plan prices, domain counts, free plan caps, seat counts and the 7-day trial.
- Short.io home page: free automated SSL and CSV or API bulk link creation.
- Short.io terms: Short.cm Inc as a Delaware corporation operating the service.
- Cuttly pricing page: monthly and yearly plan prices, domain counts, analytics history, team sizes and free plan limits.
- Cuttly terms: sole proprietor ownership, Web Room Studio and the Gdansk address.
- Cuttly home page: CSV bulk shortening quotas on the Team plans.