# Bitly Alternatives: Free Short Links, QR Codes and Your Own Domain Source: https://lots.link/blog/bitly-alternatives Published: 2026-10-22T00:30:52.259283+00:00 Bitly's free plan gives you 5 links and 2 QR codes a month, and your own domain starts on Growth at $29 a month billed yearly. If you want short links, QR codes and click data without a monthly count, LotsLink makes all three free and unlimited and charges $4 a month only when you add your own domain. Five more alternatives are below. I opened Bitly's pricing page and each alternative's own pricing and MCP pages on 21 October 2026. I compared the three things in the title: how many free short links you get, whether QR codes come free and stay editable, and what it costs to put your own domain on your links. Then click data and whether ChatGPT or Claude can run it for you. ## Bitly alternatives at a glance | Tool | Free short links | QR codes | Your own domain: from | Change where a link goes | Click data on free | MCP and API | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | **LotsLink** | **Unlimited** | **Unlimited, free** | **$4 a month per domain**, or $9 a month for 3 | **Any time, no monthly count, free included** | Country, city, device, referrer, click records, export | MCP and REST API on every account, free included | | **Bitly** | 5 a month (with ads) | 2 a month free | Growth: $29 a month billed yearly ($35 monthly), 1 domain | From Core: 5 a month, 20 on Growth | No data history on Free; 30 days on Core | MCP on every plan; API 1,000 requests a month free | | **Short.io** | 1,000 branded links in total | Listed as a feature | Free: 5 domains | Listed as a feature | 50,000 tracked clicks a month | MCP with an API key (can't edit or delete links); API on every plan | | **Rebrandly** | 10 a month | 10 a month free (watermarked) | Free: 1 domain. Essentials $11 a month billed yearly ($16 monthly) for 2 | From Essentials: 10 a month, 50 on Professional | Country, detail on 100 clicks a month | MCP on every plan; API 100 calls a minute free | | **Dub** | 25 new links a month | On every plan | Free: 3 domains | Not stated on the pricing page | 1,000 tracked events a month, 30 days | Links MCP (plan not stated); API on every plan | | **Linkly** | 100 a month | Custom QR codes from Starter | Free: 1 domain. Pro $32 a month billed yearly for 3 | Not stated on the pricing page | 500 clicks a month, country; free links pause past it | MCP with OAuth (plan not stated); full API free | | **T.LY** | No free plan (5-day trial) | 500 a month on Hobby | Hobby: $55 a year, billed yearly only, 1 domain | Every plan | 25,000 tracked stats a month on Hobby | API on every plan | Checked on 21 October 2026 on each vendor's own pages; T.LY checked on 22 October 2026. Prices in US dollars. ## What Bitly gives you today Here's what Bitly's own pricing page showed on 21 October 2026, since it's the baseline you're comparing against: - **Free ($0, with ads):** 5 links and 2 QR codes a month, 3 custom back-halves a month, 2 landing pages, unlimited clicks and QR code scans. The comparison table shows no data history, country or referrer data on Free, and no destination changes. - **Core ($10 a month, annual only, $120 a year):** 100 links and 5 QR codes a month, 30 days of click and scan data, the UTM builder, and 5 link or QR code redirects a month (changing where a link or code points). - **Growth ($29 a month billed yearly, $348 a year, or $35 month to month):** 500 links and 10 QR codes a month, branded links, one complimentary custom domain (Bitly registers it for you), 120 days of data and 20 redirects a month. - **Premium ($199 a month billed yearly, or $300 month to month):** 3,000 links and 200 QR codes a month, a year of data, city and device data, mobile deep linking, 110 redirects a month. - **Enterprise (custom):** multiple custom domains, multiple users with group permissions, SSO. - **AI:** the Bitly MCP server (`https://api-ssl.bitly.com/v4/mcp`, OAuth or an API token) is listed on every plan, and Free includes 1,000 API requests a month. So the pressure points are the monthly link and QR counts, your own domain starting at $29, a second domain or a teammate needing Enterprise, and each destination change counting against a monthly allowance. That's where the alternatives differ. ## 1. LotsLink: free short links and QR codes, pay only for your domain I built LotsLink so the things you use every day are free. Short links, clicks, QR codes, analytics, workspaces and team members are unlimited on every account. The one thing you pay for is your own domain. - **Free short links:** unlimited on lots.link, with custom slugs (7 to 40 characters), UTM fields, expiry dates and projects. Every person also gets one free lots.link subdomain, ready at once. The only guardrail is speed: up to 1,000 new links per person in any rolling 24 hours. - **QR codes:** unlimited and free. Every code opens its short link, so scans show up in that link's analytics. - **Change where a link goes:** any time, with no monthly count, in the dashboard (Edit Link) or from your agent. The slug, short URL and QR code stay the same, so a printed code keeps working and keeps its click history, and the change reaches visitors within about a minute. LotsLink also keeps a record of each destination change, with the old and new address and when it changed. - **Your own domain:** $4 a month per domain on pay as you go, charged daily from credits. Or a plan with a block of domains: Starter $9 a month for 3, Pro $24 for 10, Business $59 for 30, and yearly is ten monthly payments. You keep the registration and point a CNAME at LotsLink, which verifies the hostname and the HTTPS certificate. Links on lots.link stay free whether you add a domain or not. - **Click data:** country, city, device and referrer when available, a daily timeline, individual click records, and CSV or JSON export, for any period up to 365 days. Known bots, link previews and prefetches aren't counted. - **Team:** unlimited workspaces and members, with owner, admin, member and viewer roles. - **From your AI agent:** LotsLink works with the AI agent you already use. Connect `https://api.lots.link/mcp` (OAuth, no key) or use the REST API, on every account, free included. Setup for each agent is on [lots.link/mcp](https://lots.link/mcp). Eligible new users get 4,000 free credits, valid 90 days, with no card, which covers one custom domain for about a month. Every number is on [the pricing page](https://lots.link/pricing), and [LotsLink pricing explained](https://lots.link/blog/lotslink-pricing-explained) goes through each case. **Bitly versus LotsLink, same job:** 3 branded domains and a teammate on Bitly means Enterprise. On LotsLink it's Starter at $9 a month, with unlimited links, QR codes and teammates. I compared the two side by side in [LotsLink vs Bitly](https://lots.link/blog/lotslink-vs-bitly). Choose LotsLink if you want free short links and QR codes without counting them, and your own domain for a few dollars a month. ## 2. Short.io: five free branded domains Short.io's free plan is the most generous on domains: 5 custom domains, 1,000 branded links over the life of the account (plus 1,000 through the API or bulk create), and 50,000 tracked clicks a month with countries, devices and languages. Its FAQ says that past 50,000 clicks it keeps collecting data but limits what you can view until you upgrade. Free has one user. Paid plans: Hobby $5 a month (7 domains, 2,500 links), Pro $18 (10 domains, unlimited branded links), Team $48 (50 domains, unlimited users), each with a 7-day trial. The API is on every plan, and QR codes with colours and logos are listed as a feature. Its MCP server at `https://ai-assistant.short.io/mcp` connects with an API key, and its help article says the MCP can't edit or delete existing links. Choose Short.io if you want several branded domains free and you'll create fewer than 1,000 links. ## 3. Rebrandly: a branded-link specialist Rebrandly's free plan has 10 links and 10 QR codes a month (the codes carry a watermark), one custom domain plus the rebrand.ly domain, and unlimited clicks and scans. Its plan card names the free domain as a yourbrand.bio address, so check which domain you'd get. Essentials is $11 a month billed yearly or $16 month to month, with 250 links a month, 2 custom domains and 10 destination edits a month. Professional ($32 billed yearly, $39 monthly) brings 1,500 links, 3 domains, 50 edits and teammates; Growth ($149 billed yearly) brings 10 domains. Rebrandly lists its MCP server on every plan, Free included, with sign-in from Claude's connector directory or an API key elsewhere, and its docs say the MCP can update destinations. Free API access is 100 calls a minute. Choose Rebrandly if branded links are the whole job and you want features like traffic routing and conversion tracking on Professional. More options are in [Rebrandly alternatives](https://lots.link/blog/rebrandly-alternatives). ## 4. Dub: three free domains, room to grow into conversions Dub's free Links plan has 25 new links a month, 3 custom domains, 1,000 tracked events a month with 30 days of retention, QR codes, UTM templates, API access and one user. Pro is $30 a month with 1,000 new links, 10 domains and a year of retention, and Business ($90) adds conversion tracking, A/B testing and event webhooks. Paid plans start with a 14-day trial. Dub's MCP docs page links a separate Links MCP server at `https://mcp.dub.sh/mcp/dub-links`, and Dub doesn't state which plan it needs. Choose Dub if you make a couple dozen links a month now and expect to need conversion tracking later. ## 5. Linkly: one free domain with a full API Linkly's free plan has 100 links and 500 clicks a month, custom back-halves, one custom domain, country-level analytics and full API access. Its pricing FAQ says free links pause until the next period once you pass the click quota; on paid plans links keep redirecting. Starter is $15 a month (billed annually only) and adds custom QR codes and device data; Pro is $32 a month billed yearly with 1,000 links, 10,000 clicks and 3 domains. Linkly runs a hosted MCP server at `https://mcp.linklyhq.com` with OAuth sign-in. Its MCP page doesn't state a plan requirement. Choose Linkly if you want a free branded domain and your traffic stays under 500 clicks a month. ## 6. T.LY: editable links and a domain from $55 a year T.LY has no free plan on its pricing page; each plan starts with a 5-day trial without a card. Hobby is $55 a year and billed yearly only, so it appears when you switch the pricing page to Yearly; it has 500 short links and 500 QR codes a month, 25,000 tracked stats a month and one custom domain. Personal is $10 a month or $110 a year (1,000 links, 2 domains), Basic $20 a month or $220 a year (4,000 links, 10 domains). Every plan includes editable destinations, unlimited clicks and API access, and links keep redirecting after the monthly tracking limit; extra clicks just aren't tracked. Team members start on Pro ($50 a month or $550 a year). Checked on 22 October 2026. Choose T.LY if you're fine paying a small yearly fee for one domain and editable links. ## Where Bitly still fits Bitly does things LotsLink doesn't. It's the short link people recognise, it registers your complimentary domain for you on Growth, and it adds landing pages, a link-in-bio page, digital business cards, mobile deep linking on Premium, browser extensions, a mobile app and many integrations. Enterprise brings SSO and group permissions. If those are the reason you use Bitly, stay. ## How to choose - **Free short links and QR codes without a count, your own domain for $4:** LotsLink. - **Several branded domains free, under 1,000 links:** Short.io. - **Branded links with routing and conversion tracking on paid plans:** Rebrandly. - **A few links now, conversion tracking later:** Dub. - **One free domain and a full API, low traffic:** Linkly. - **One domain and editable links for a small yearly fee:** T.LY. If QR codes are the main job, see [the best QR code generators with tracking](https://lots.link/blog/best-qr-code-generators-with-tracking). For agent access, see [the best URL shorteners with MCP support](https://lots.link/blog/best-url-shorteners-with-mcp-support). If your own domain on a free plan is the deciding factor, [free URL shorteners with a custom domain](https://lots.link/blog/free-url-shorteners-with-custom-domain) checks each free plan's domain, link and click limits. All comparisons are on [lots.link/compare](https://lots.link/compare). ## Move from Bitly with your AI agent You don't have to move your bit.ly links: they stay in your Bitly account. Start new links on LotsLink, and for links you want to keep editing, recreate them on LotsLink and point new posts and print at the new short URL. If you have a branded domain on Bitly, start on a new subdomain such as `go.yourbrand.com` so nothing breaks. Connect `https://api.lots.link/mcp` to your agent and sign in with your Lots account. In Claude Code that's: ``` claude mcp add --transport http lots-link https://api.lots.link/mcp ``` If you also connect Bitly's MCP server, the agent can read your existing links from it. Then ask: > List my 20 most-clicked Bitly links with their destinations. In LotsLink, add go.yourbrand.com as a custom domain in my workspace and show me the DNS record to add. After I add it, verify the domain, then recreate each link on it with the same destination and utm_source=bitly-move. Make a QR code for the top three, and send me the new short URLs in a table. Behind that prompt the agent uses `lotslink_add_custom_domain`, `lotslink_verify_custom_domain`, `lotslink_create_link` and `lotslink_create_qr_code`. Later, "point the spring menu link at the winter menu" is one `lotslink_update_link` call, and the printed code doesn't change. The full walkthrough is in [how to create and track short links from Claude or ChatGPT](https://lots.link/blog/create-track-short-links-claude-chatgpt). ## Common questions ### What is the best free alternative to Bitly? It depends on what you need free. LotsLink gives you unlimited short links, QR codes and click data free, and charges only for your own domain ($4 a month). Short.io gives you 5 free branded domains with 1,000 links in total. Dub's free plan has 3 domains and 25 new links a month. ### Is there a Bitly alternative with free QR codes? Yes. LotsLink's QR codes are free and unlimited, and each one opens a short link you can change later, so scans are counted and printed codes stay editable. Bitly's free plan has 2 QR codes a month, and Rebrandly's has 10 with a watermark (checked on 21 October 2026). ### How much does a custom domain cost on Bitly compared with LotsLink? On Bitly, branded links on your own domain start on Growth at $29 a month billed yearly ($35 month to month), with one domain; more domains are Enterprise. On LotsLink, one domain is $4 a month on pay as you go, or $9 a month for 3 on Starter, and links stay unlimited (checked on 21 October 2026). ### Can I change where a short link goes after I share it? On LotsLink, yes, any time and on every account: the short URL and QR code stay the same and the change reaches visitors within about a minute. On Bitly, changing a destination ("redirects") starts on Core with 5 a month, 20 on Growth and 110 on Premium. ### Can ChatGPT or Claude create my short links? Yes, with any tool here that has an MCP server. LotsLink's MCP server works on every account, free included, and the agent can create links, make QR codes, change destinations and read click data. Bitly and Rebrandly list MCP on every plan too.