Link shorteners look interchangeable until the first month of real use.
This guide ranks twelve of them on the ceilings that hit first: new links per month, whether branded domains and QR codes sit on a paid plan, which meter drives the invoice, and whether the links can be hosted on your own server or domain.
Vendors can pay for visibility on this page. It never changes what an entry
says about a product, including the criticism, and we earn nothing when you click through to a
vendor. How that works.
In short
What link shorteners and QR codes software does
Link shortener software creates short redirect addresses, often on a branded domain, and records who clicks them, usually adding QR codes, tags and an API for bulk creation.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether
you can leave, and who each link shorteners and QR codes tool is built for. Why those five, and why there is no
score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Free tier; per month per plan, published; Enterprise quoted
Yes
Companies that value a familiar name and a published ladder
Individuals who create more than a few links a month for free
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
French link shortener with QR codes, hosted in France
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Setup is an afternoon: sign up, point a domain, create links. The 14-day trial needs no card. The real price moves with two meters, new links per month and tracked visits per month, and the user count is capped per plan, so a growing team climbs tiers quickly.
CSV import and export is listed on paid plans, which helps if you leave. Single sign-on is reserved for the Team plan.
What stands out
Free tier
France hosting
Branded domains
Where it costs you
The free plan allows only 10 new links a month
Branded domains are listed from the Starter plan upward
Right for
Small teams that want published prices and links hosted inside France
Wrong for
Anyone needing unlimited links on a free plan
FranceFree tier; per month per plan, published; Enterprise quoted
Polish shortener with a generous free tier and stepped plans
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
The cheap tiers are limited by history and branding, not by clicks: paid plans include unlimited link clicks, but 30-day analytics on the entry plans means year-on-year reporting needs the Single plan or above.
Branded domains scale from one on the free plan to ten and ninety-nine on the team tiers. The terms identify the supplier as an individual trading as Web Room Studio, which is a fact to weigh for supplier risk.
What stands out
Free tier
Published price
Team workspaces
Where it costs you
Analytics history is limited to 30 days on the Free and Starter plans
Operated by one sole proprietor, so continuity depends on one person
Right for
Freelancers and small teams wanting a published ladder of plans
Wrong for
Organisations whose procurement rules require an incorporated supplier
PolandFree tier; per month per plan, published; custom plan billed annually
Branded short links on up to five custom domains, free
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
The free tier lists one user, five custom domains, 1,000 branded links in total, 50,000 tracked clicks a month and 10 MB storage. That suits a portfolio of small sites, each with its own domain.
The cost appears when the link count hits the lifetime cap or when a second user is needed, because the free plan is single-user. The paid ladder runs through Hobby, Pro, Team and Enterprise.
What stands out
Free tier
Custom domains
7-day trial
Where it costs you
The free plan caps branded links at 1,000 in total, not per month
The trial on paid plans lasts only seven days
Right for
Teams running several branded domains who want a free starting point
Wrong for
Teams that create thousands of links a month on a free plan
United StatesFree tier; per month per plan, published; 7-day trial on paid plans
Link attribution platform with an AGPL core you can self-host
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Open sourceSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
Plans on the pricing page include 10,000 new links a month and 250,000 tracked events on the entry tier, with 10 users. QR codes, UTM builder and link cloaking are listed across plans.
Because 99 percent of the repository is AGPLv3 and the rest is under a commercial licence, a self-hosted install is possible, but enterprise features sit in the commercial part. Self-hosting then costs setup hours instead of subscription fees.
What stands out
Open source core
Self-hostable
Conversion tracking
Where it costs you
The pricing page lists no free plan, only a 14-day trial
The cheapest plan is sized for partner programmes, with payout limits in its allowance
Right for
Product teams who want attribution and affiliate tracking with a self-host option
Wrong for
Individuals who only need a handful of short links
Not stated by the vendorPer month per plan, published; 14-day trial only; Enterprise annual
Link marketing suite: short links, bio pages and QR codes
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
The Scale plan is listed with unlimited links and 50,000 monthly clicks, and the Agency plan with ten workspaces and 250,000 monthly clicks.
The point is the bundle: link pixels, UTM tracking and bio pages in one account, rather than three subscriptions. The weakness is that the footer reads only Replug, so a procurement team cannot find a registered entity on the pages I checked.
What stands out
Free tier
Bio pages
Agency workspaces
Where it costs you
Neither the home page nor the terms identify the operating company or its address
Paid tiers are capped by monthly tracked clicks
Right for
Agencies and social marketers who want retargeting and bio pages with links
Wrong for
Buyers who must verify the supplier's legal entity first
Not stated by the vendorFree tier; per month per plan, published; 14-day trial on paid plans
Ownership is complete: the links sit in your database on your domain, so leaving means copying your own data. The cost shows up in the first ninety days as setup hours, then as upkeep: container updates, database backups, uptime monitoring.
A single named maintainer is a concentration risk to weigh. Nothing on the project page promises a hosted version, so a non-technical colleague cannot sign up.
What stands out
Open source
Self-hosted
MIT licence
Where it costs you
The project page offers no commercial hosting or support
Hosting, upgrades and backups are your own job
Right for
Technical teams that want links on their own domain and servers
Wrong for
Marketers without engineering help to host and update it
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source; self-hosted, no vendor subscription
Because YOURLS is plain PHP, it runs on ordinary web hosting, and the link table stays in a database you can export directly. The licence is MIT for code and CC BY 4.0 for documentation.
The project is maintained by contributors rather than a vendor, so security patches depend on you watching releases. Pick it when nobody outside the company should hold the click log.
What stands out
Open source
Self-hosted
Plugin ecosystem
Where it costs you
There is no operating company or support contract
Features beyond the core come from plugins you vet yourself
Right for
Developers who want a private shortener with an API and plugins
Wrong for
Teams that need a hosted dashboard with accountable support
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source; self-hosted, no vendor subscription
Setup is the cheapest of the self-hosted options, since the repository ships with no build step and Docker compose files for several databases. Kutt's site says custom domains can be added or removed for free.
Click statistics are included. The trade is the same as for any open project: you run updates, and there is no named supplier to hold accountable if a release breaks something.
What stands out
Open source
Custom domains
Docker setup
Where it costs you
The hosted instance shows no plan or price I could verify
No company, address or support contact is named on the pages checked
Right for
Developers who want a small codebase with Docker deployment and custom domains
Wrong for
Buyers who need a priced hosted plan with a contract
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source; self-hosted or hosted instance
Affiliate-focused links that route each click to the right storefront
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
The base subscription covers all features and 1,000 clicks; extra clicks are billed per thousand, with volume discounts the pricing page mentions. Customers pay only for clicks the vendor deems organic.
The test is your traffic: a site with spiky referral traffic can see a bill that no plan table predicts. The terms name GeoRiot Networks, Inc. and are governed by Washington State law.
What stands out
Affiliate links
Per-click billing
Localisation
Where it costs you
The invoice rises with clicks, so a successful campaign costs more
A custom domain is billed as a separate monthly add-on
Right for
Affiliate publishers sending one link to several country storefronts
Wrong for
Brands wanting a flat fee regardless of traffic
United StatesPublished monthly base plus click overage; 14-day trial
Branded links and QR codes sold in monthly allowances
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Entry is quick, and the free plan is enough to test a branded domain. The meter is what you consume monthly: a team issuing a QR code with every link spends the allowance at the same rate for both.
The vendor lists one to ten custom domains by plan and shared workspaces from the Professional tier upward. Enterprise is priced on request, so a large organisation negotiates, while everyone else pays the published figure.
What stands out
Free tier
Monthly allowances
Branded links
Where it costs you
Free-plan QR codes carry a watermark
Links and QR codes share the same monthly counts
Right for
Marketing teams that need branded links plus QR codes under one allowance
Wrong for
High-volume link creators on a tight budget
IrelandFree tier; per month per plan, published; Enterprise quoted
WordPress plugin for cloaking and tracking affiliate links
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Because the plugin installs on your site, redirects run on your own server and the link data stays in your WordPress database. Plans differ by site count, with split testing, QR code generation and add-ons such as an UTM builder appearing on higher tiers.
The cost is the annual renewal at full price, plus the fact that the tool does nothing for links created outside the WordPress admin.
What stands out
WordPress plugin
Annual licence
Affiliate cloaking
Where it costs you
Introductory prices renew at the full rate each year
Only useful on sites that run WordPress
Right for
Affiliate bloggers on WordPress who want cloaked links on their own domain
Wrong for
Teams linking from email, print and social without a WordPress site
Not stated by the vendorAnnual licence by number of sites, published; 14-day money-back guarantee
The best-known shortener, with a very small free tier
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Link Shortener Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Bitly lists unlimited clicks and scans on every plan, so traffic does not raise the invoice; link count does. A branded domain is complimentary from Growth upward, which makes that the real entry plan for a company.
Premium is the top published plan, and Enterprise is quoted. Anyone moving away has to rebuild links on a new domain unless they already use their own, so set up a custom domain first.
What stands out
Free tier
Published price
QR codes
Where it costs you
The free plan allows only 5 new links and 2 QR codes per month
The Core plan is available on annual billing only
Right for
Companies that value a familiar name and a published ladder
Wrong for
Individuals who create more than a few links a month for free
United StatesFree tier; per month per plan, published; Enterprise quoted
How to choose link shorteners and QR codes software
Link shortener software creates short redirect addresses, often on a branded domain, and records who clicks them, usually adding QR codes, tags and an API for bulk creation. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
12 of the 12 tools here publish what they cost; the other 0 quote per organisation. The ones you can compare without a sales call: URLR, Cuttly, Short.io, Dub, Replug, Shlink, YOURLS, Kutt, Geniuslink, Rebrandly, Pretty Links, Bitly.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 12 vendors are established in 5 countries across 3 regions (Elsewhere 6, North America 3, Europe 3). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
03
Consider whether you want the source
4 of these are open source: Dub, Shlink, YOURLS, Kutt. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Free link shortener plans count links, not clicks
The free tiers in this category look similar and measure different things. Bitly allows five new links and two QR codes a month. Rebrandly and URLR allow ten new links a month, Cuttly thirty, and Replug lists one hundred links. Short.io counts differently again: its free plan caps branded links at 1,000 in total, so it never resets.
Clicks, by contrast, are mostly unlimited, which means the ceiling you hit first is link creation, usually in the first week of a campaign. A team that publishes a link with every email, post and printed flyer can exhaust Bitly's free plan before lunch. Work out your monthly link volume before you compare plans, then check whether QR codes draw from the same allowance, as they do at Rebrandly.
Count the links and QR codes you created last month.
Check whether the free allowance resets monthly or is a lifetime total.
Ask whether QR codes share the same allowance as links.
Branded domains are the line between a test and a campaign
A short link on a shared domain tells recipients nothing about who sent it, and the vendor owns that domain. Branded domains therefore decide the real price. Bitly includes a complimentary custom domain from the Growth plan, URLR lists its first branded domain on Starter, and Geniuslink bills a custom domain as a separate monthly line.
Short.io and Replug go the other way and give five and three custom domains on the free plan. Where the domain sits matters when you leave: links on your own domain can move to another service by changing DNS, while links on the vendor's domain cannot. That follows from how redirects work and is worth settling in the first week.
Register your own short domain before choosing a plan.
Find which plan lists the first branded domain, not the first QR code.
Confirm DNS control stays with you, so you can repoint the domain.
Self-hosting trades invoices for upkeep
Four options here need no subscription at all. Shlink, YOURLS and Kutt are MIT-licensed and run on your own server, and Dub publishes most of its code under AGPLv3 with self-hosting documented. The click log, the link table and the domain all stay with you, which is the cleanest exit of any entry on this page.
The cost is hours: installation, a database, backups, updates, and nobody to call when a release breaks. Shlink's project page names one maintainer and offers no hosted service, and YOURLS has no operating company. Pretty Links sits halfway, running inside WordPress on your own domain but under an annual licence. Choose self-hosting when an engineer owns it, not when marketing wants it.
Name the person who will apply updates and restore backups.
Check the licence: MIT is permissive, AGPLv3 carries obligations if you modify and expose it.
Test a restore of the link database before launching anything.
What the invoice is actually measuring
The headline plan price hides the unit being metered. Geniuslink bills a base subscription plus a charge per extra thousand organic clicks, so a viral post changes the bill. Dub meters new links and tracked events and caps users, and its entry tier includes partner payout limits you may never use.
Short.io caps tracked clicks per month, URLR caps tracked visits, and Replug caps monthly clicks on its paid tiers. Cuttly instead limits links per month and the length of analytics history, 30 days on the entry plans. Each is reasonable on its own terms, but the cheapest plan for a steady publisher is not the cheapest for a campaign, so model a spike as well as an average month.
Ask which unit is billed: links, clicks, tracked events or seats.
Model one month at three times your normal traffic.
Check how long click history is kept on the plan you would buy.
What goes wrong most often when buying link shorteners and QR codes software
Buying on the entry price without checking whether branded domains and QR codes sit on that plan.
Putting campaign links on the vendor's shared domain, which leaves them stranded when you switch tools.
Treating a self-hosted shortener as free and forgetting the hours for updates, backups and uptime.
Choosing a plan for the average month when one spike in clicks or links sets the invoice.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best link shorteners and QR codes in 2026?
URLR leads our ranking of 12. A single-product French company whose pricing page lists every tier, from a free plan to a team plan with single sign-on.
Branded domains start on the first paid plan, so the free tier is for testing rather than for branded campaigns. Ten new links a month is a hard ceiling, and the larger plans cap tracked visits rather than clicks, which matters once a campaign goes viral.
Which link shorteners and QR codes tools publish their pricing?
12 of the 12, with the pricing model each one publishes:
URLR: Free tier; per month per plan, published; Enterprise quoted.
Cuttly: Free tier; per month per plan, published; custom plan billed annually.
Short.io: Free tier; per month per plan, published; 7-day trial on paid plans.
Dub: Per month per plan, published; 14-day trial only; Enterprise annual.
Replug: Free tier; per month per plan, published; 14-day trial on paid plans.
Shlink: Free and open source; self-hosted, no vendor subscription.
YOURLS: Free and open source; self-hosted, no vendor subscription.
Kutt: Free and open source; self-hosted or hosted instance.
Geniuslink: Published monthly base plus click overage; 14-day trial.
Rebrandly: Free tier; per month per plan, published; Enterprise quoted.
Pretty Links: Annual licence by number of sites, published; 14-day money-back guarantee.
Bitly: Free tier; per month per plan, published; Enterprise quoted.
The other 0 quote per organisation.
Is there a free link shorteners and QR codes tool?
URLR, Cuttly, Short.io, Replug, Shlink, YOURLS, Kutt, Rebrandly, Bitly offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these link shorteners and QR codes vendors established?
In 5 countries across 3 regions: Elsewhere 6, North America 3, Europe 3.
URLR: France.
Cuttly: Poland.
Short.io: United States.
Dub: Not stated by the vendor.
Replug: Not stated by the vendor.
Shlink: Not stated by the vendor.
YOURLS: Not stated by the vendor.
Kutt: Not stated by the vendor.
Geniuslink: United States.
Rebrandly: Ireland.
Pretty Links: Not stated by the vendor.
Bitly: United States.
Which link shorteners and QR codes tools are open source?
Dub, Shlink, YOURLS, Kutt.
Which link shorteners and QR codes tools can you host yourself?
Dub, Shlink, YOURLS, Kutt. The other 8 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of URLR?
Cuttly and Short.io are the next two on this page. Cuttly is for Freelancers and small teams wanting a published ladder of plans; Short.io is for teams running several branded domains who want a free starting point.
Who should not buy URLR?
Anyone needing unlimited links on a free plan. The free plan allows only 10 new links a month.
If your link shorteners and QR codes product belongs among these 12, tell us what it does and who it is for. Inclusion is an editorial call; what a listing is and is not is set out under software advice.
