Dub's free plan gives you 25 new links and 1,000 tracked clicks a month, and its Pro plan is $30 a month for 1,000 new links. LotsLink gives you unlimited short links, QR codes and click analytics for free, and charges only for your own domain: $4 a month, or $9 a month for three. Both have an MCP server for ChatGPT and Claude.
If you share a lot of links for work, want every click in your reports and want to bring teammates or clients in without paying per seat, LotsLink fits. If you need conversion tracking for leads and sales, A/B tests, mobile deep links or an affiliate program, Dub is built for that and worth its price.
Everything about Dub below comes from its own pricing page, help center, API docs and MCP pages, checked on 19 October 2026, with links at the end.
LotsLink vs Dub at a glance
| LotsLink | Dub | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Unlimited short links, QR codes, clicks and analytics on lots.link, plus one free lots.link subdomain | 25 new links and 1,000 tracked events a month, 3 custom domains, 1 user, 30-day analytics retention |
| New links | Unlimited (up to 1,000 new links per person in any 24 hours) | 25, 1K, 10K or 50K a month on Free, Pro, Business and Advanced. Past the limit you can't create links until the next billing period |
| Click analytics | Every recorded click: country, city, device, referrer, daily timeline, individual click records, CSV or JSON export | 1K, 50K, 250K or 1M tracked events a month. Past the limit links keep working and clicks are still tracked, but you upgrade to view them |
| Analytics history | All-time click totals, reports for any period up to 365 days | 30 days (Free), 1 year (Pro), 3 years (Business), 5 years (Advanced) |
| Custom domains | Free lots.link subdomain. Your own domain: $4 a month each (pay as you go), or Starter $9 a month for 3, Pro $24 for 10, Business $59 for 30 | 3 on Free, 10 on Pro, 100 on Business, 250 on Advanced. A free .link domain on paid plans |
| Teammates | Unlimited and free, with owner, admin, member and viewer roles | 1, 3, 10 or 20 users on Free, Pro, Business and Advanced. Role-based access from Business |
| AI agent access | MCP server (https://api.lots.link/mcp, OAuth) and REST API on every account. 40 tools in tools.json, checked 19 October 2026 | Dub Links MCP server (https://mcp.dub.sh/mcp/dub-links), 32 tools listed on that page, checked 19 October 2026. API on every plan; analytics endpoints need Pro |
| QR codes | Unlimited, PNG of the short link, made by you or your agent, scans counted as clicks | QR codes on Free, custom QR codes on paid plans |
| Conversions and A/B tests | Not offered: LotsLink counts clicks | Conversion tracking, A/B testing and event webhooks from Business |
| Paid plans | $9, $24 or $59 a month (yearly: 10 monthly payments) | Pro $30 a month ($27 billed yearly), Business $90 ($81), Advanced $300 ($270), Enterprise custom. 14-day trial on paid plans |
Where LotsLink is the better choice
Unlimited links instead of 25 a month
Dub calls its free plan generous, and on domains it is. On links it's sized for trying Dub: 25 new links a month on Free, 1,000 on Pro at $30 a month, 10,000 on Business at $90. When you hit the limit on any plan below Enterprise, you can't create new links until the next billing period, and deleting links doesn't give quota back.
On LotsLink, short links, QR codes, clicks and analytics are free and unlimited. The one guardrail is speed: up to 1,000 new links per person in any 24 hours. So if you make a link for every post, newsletter, client report and printed flyer, you never plan around a monthly count.
Every click stays in your reports
Dub separates clicks it redirects from clicks you can see. Its free plan includes 1,000 tracked events a month, and its pricing FAQ says that past the limit your links keep working and Dub keeps tracking clicks, but you need to upgrade to view their analytics. Retention is 30 days on Free and 1 year on Pro.
On LotsLink there's no tracked-click quota. Every account sees country, city, device and referrer for every link, a daily timeline, individual click records, and CSV or JSON export. You can pull any period up to 365 days plus the all-time total. Bots, link previews and prefetches aren't counted, so the numbers are real opens of your link.
If you tag links by channel, I showed how that looks in practice in how to track link clicks by channel with UTM.
Your agent can read analytics on the free account
Both products give your AI agent a real MCP server. Dub's Links server covers links, domains, tags, folders, QR codes, analytics and conversion tracking. The catch is the plan: Dub's API docs say its analytics endpoints require Pro or higher, and its rate-limit page lists the analytics API as not available on Free. The Links MCP's analytics tool carries the same description as that endpoint.
LotsLink's MCP and REST API are on every account, free included, with the same unlimited allowance as the dashboard. Your agent can create links with custom slugs, UTM tags and expiry dates, make QR codes, add and verify your custom domain, run a workspace per client, invite teammates, and read or export analytics. It works as you, with your role, and everything it does shows up in the dashboard. Setup for Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex and Cursor is on lots.link/mcp, and I walked through a real session in how to create and track short links from Claude or ChatGPT.
Teammates and clients don't cost seats
Dub's workspaces hold 1 user on Free, 3 on Pro, 10 on Business and 20 on Advanced, with role-based access control from Business. On LotsLink, workspaces and team members are unlimited and free on every account, with owner, admin, member and viewer roles. An agency can keep one workspace per client, invite the client as a viewer to read the numbers, and let a freelancer create links as a member.
Your agent can do the inviting too: LotsLink's MCP includes tools to invite members, change roles and remove people. Dub's Links MCP tool list has no workspace-member tools.
What it costs for common setups
Dub's free plan includes 3 custom domains, which is more than LotsLink gives for free, so if you make fewer than 25 links a month Dub Free is a fine deal. Once you make more links or add people, the numbers change:
| You need | LotsLink | Dub |
|---|---|---|
| 200 new links a month on a free domain | Free | Pro, $30 a month ($27 billed yearly) |
| 200 new links a month on your own domain | $4 a month (pay as you go) | Pro, $30 a month ($27 billed yearly) |
| 3 own domains, 5 teammates, 2,000 links a month | Starter, $9 a month | Business, $90 a month ($81 billed yearly) |
| 10 own domains, 10 teammates, 5,000 links a month | Pro, $24 a month | Business, $90 a month ($81 billed yearly) |
You point a DNS-only CNAME at customers.lots.link, LotsLink verifies the hostname and the HTTPS certificate, and you keep the domain with your own registrar. The full breakdown is in LotsLink pricing explained, and current plans are on lots.link/pricing.
What Dub does well
Dub is a link attribution platform, not only a shortener, and much of what it offers LotsLink doesn't try to do:
- Conversion tracking. Track leads and sales back to the link that brought them, with customer insights and event webhooks, from Business.
- Link targeting and testing. A/B testing, geo and device targeting, deep links into mobile apps, password protection, link cloaking and custom link previews.
- Generous free domains. 3 custom domains on Free, a free .link domain on paid plans, and one-click DNS setup for domains on Vercel or Cloudflare.
- Affiliate programs. Dub Partners runs partner programs with payouts, and it has its own MCP server for that.
- Open source. You can self-host Dub on your own infrastructure.
- Security and scale. SOC 2 Type II, SAML/SSO and audit logs on Enterprise, and bulk API calls of up to 100 links.
If you need to know which link produced a sale, Dub is built for it. If you need lots of trackable links, QR codes and your own domain, run from the dashboard or your agent, LotsLink does that for free or a few dollars.
Which one should you choose?
Choose LotsLink if:
- You make more than 25 links a month and want them free and unlimited.
- You want every click in your reports without a tracked-events quota.
- You want your agent to read analytics without a paid plan.
- You run links for several clients or teammates and don't want to count seats.
- You want your own domain for $4 a month, or three for $9.
Choose Dub if:
- You need conversion tracking for leads and sales, or an affiliate program.
- You want A/B tests, geo or device targeting, or mobile deep links.
- You make a handful of links a month and want 3 custom domains for free.
- You want to self-host, or need SAML/SSO and audit logs.
How to switch from your AI agent
Connect LotsLink to your agent first. The MCP server is https://api.lots.link/mcp, you sign in with OAuth and there's no key to paste. In Claude Code it's one command:
claude mcp add --transport http lots-link https://api.lots.link/mcp
Then give your agent something like this:
In LotsLink, list my workspaces and use my personal one. Add go.example.com as a custom domain and tell me the DNS records to set. When I say the records are in, verify the domain. Then recreate these links on it with the same slugs and UTM tags: [paste your links]. Make a QR code for the event link, invite sam@example.com as a viewer, and next week show me clicks by country, device and referrer for each link.
Behind that prompt the agent uses lotslink_list_workspaces, lotslink_add_custom_domain, lotslink_verify_custom_domain, lotslink_create_link, lotslink_create_qr_code, lotslink_invite_workspace_member and lotslink_get_link_analytics. If Dub's Links MCP is connected to the same agent, it can pull your Dub links first with its list-links tool.
Three things to know. Custom slugs on LotsLink are 7 to 40 characters (letters, numbers, dash and underscore), so a shorter Dub slug needs a longer name. Once you move a domain's DNS from Dub to LotsLink, its old links stop resolving at Dub, so recreate the ones that matter right after you verify, or start fresh on a new subdomain like go. and leave the old links where they are. And don't delete the domain inside Dub if you want its history: Dub's own tool description says deleting a domain also deletes all its links.
Eligible new accounts get 4,000 free credits, valid 90 days, no card, which covers a custom domain for about a month. Links on lots.link are free from the start.
Common questions
Is Dub free?
Yes. Dub's free plan includes 25 new links and 1,000 tracked events a month, 3 custom domains, 1 user, QR codes, API access and 30-day analytics retention. Paid plans start with Pro at $30 a month, or $27 billed yearly. LotsLink is free with unlimited links, QR codes and analytics.
What happens when I hit Dub's tracked clicks limit?
Dub's pricing FAQ says your existing links keep working and clicks are still tracked, but you need to upgrade to view their analytics. On the links limit, you can't create new links until the next billing period. LotsLink has no tracked-click limit.
How many users does Dub allow?
1 user on Free, 3 on Pro, 10 on Business, 20 on Advanced and unlimited on Enterprise, with role-based access control from Business. LotsLink includes unlimited team members on every account, with owner, admin, member and viewer roles.
Does Dub have an MCP server?
Yes, two. The Dub Links MCP server at https://mcp.dub.sh/mcp/dub-links manages links, domains, tags, folders, QR codes and analytics, and the Dub Partners server runs affiliate programs. Dub's API docs say analytics endpoints need Pro. LotsLink's MCP server at https://api.lots.link/mcp is free on every account.
What is a good free Dub alternative?
LotsLink, if you want unlimited free short links, QR codes and click analytics, free teammates, and your own domain for $4 a month. It has a full dashboard and an MCP server, so ChatGPT or Claude can create and track links for you.
Can I move my Dub links to LotsLink?
Yes. Your agent can recreate each link in LotsLink with the same destination, UTM tags and, on your own domain, the same slug if it's 7 to 40 characters long. Click history stays in Dub; new clicks are counted in LotsLink from the switch.
More comparisons are on lots.link/compare, including LotsLink vs Bitly and the best URL shorteners with MCP support.
Dub details checked on 19 October 2026 from dub.co/pricing/links (plan cards, monthly and yearly prices, the plan comparison and the FAQ), Dub's custom domain guide, Dub's API rate limits, Dub's analytics endpoint, the Dub Links MCP server page, the Dub MCP server docs and self-hosting Dub. LotsLink details from lots.link/pricing, lots.link/mcp and api.lots.link/docs.md. Prices and features change; check their pages for the latest.