Bitly vs Short.io
Bitly and Short.io are both URL shortener software. Bitly is a commercial product from Bitly. Short.io is a commercial product from Short.io.
Which to pick
- Pick Bitly when
- Marketing teams need branded short links and QR codes with click analytics across campaigns.
- Pick Short.io when
- A small business wants branded short links on its own domain at low or no cost.
Side by side
Creates short links and QR codes with click tracking, custom domains and campaign reporting.
A link shortener with custom branded domains, analytics, QR codes and an API, free for up to 1,000 links.
The free plan is now tight, and links or QR codes can stop working if a paid plan lapses.
A small vendor, and analytics are simpler than on the larger marketing platforms.
Production-ready (both)
Cloud service (both)
Not published (both)
Closed source, sold by Bitly
Closed source, sold by Short.io
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code. (both)
16k Wikipedia readers a month on phones
No Wikipedia article of its own
Other comparisons
More URL shorteners
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.