Short.io Alternatives for Branded Links on Your Own Domain

Short.io is a branded link shortener from Short.cm Inc. that lets you put short links on a domain you own, with an API, QR codes and A/B tests on every plan. It works normally in November 2026, and the Short.io homepage claims more than 13 billion links created and 1.2 million active users.

The reasons to look elsewhere sit in the plan table. The free plan's 1,000 links are a lifetime total. Pro at $18 a month removes that cap but stays at one user and 10 domains. Team at $48 a month is the first plan with unlimited users, mobile deep links and a 99.9% uptime SLA. Yearly billing saves 17%.

The seven picks below are ordered for people who want branded links on their own domain, starting with the closest like-for-like replacement. For a list built around free links without a domain, see our TinyURL alternatives.

Prices below are as of November 6, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

Rebrandly

Rebrandly sells the same idea as Short.io, a short link on a domain you own, and it is the nearest match feature for feature. Where it differs is seats. Professional costs $22 a month on yearly billing or $32 monthly and includes teammates, 1,500 links, 25,000 tracked clicks and 3 domains, per the Rebrandly pricing page. On Short.io a second user means Team at $48.

Its free tier is far smaller than Short.io's. You get 10 links a month, engagement data on 100 clicks and 1 custom domain next to rebrand.ly. Essentials at $8 a month yearly or $11 monthly lifts that to 250 links and 2 domains.

Best for: A small marketing team that needs two or three people on one branded domain.

Pricing:

• Free: 10 links/month, 1 custom domain, 10 QR codes/month.
• Essentials $8/month yearly or $11 monthly. Professional $22 or $32. Growth $104 or $149.

Watch out for:

• Professional caps tracked clicks at 25,000 a month, while Short.io Pro lists unlimited tracked clicks.
• Yearly billing saves up to 31%, so month-to-month plans cost noticeably more than the headline price.

Official site: Rebrandly.

Dub

Dub Pro gives 3 users and 10 custom domains for $27 a month billed yearly, or $30 monthly. That is $9 more than Short.io Pro and buys two more seats, according to Dub Links pricing. Analytics are kept for a year on Pro.

The other draw is the code. About 99% of Dub is AGPLv3, with a commercial /ee folder, so a team can inspect it or run its own copy. Free is tighter than Short.io: 25 new links a month, 1,000 tracked events and 3 custom domains.

Best for: Startups that build links through an API and want a few seats without a Team plan.

Pricing:

• Free: 25 new links/month, 1,000 tracked events/month, 3 custom domains, 1 user.
• Pro $27/month billed yearly ($30 monthly). Business $81 yearly ($90 monthly). Advanced $270 yearly ($300 monthly).

Watch out for:

• Yearly and monthly Pro have different quotas: monthly gets 1,000 new links a month, yearly gets 12,000 links and 600,000 events at the start of the year.
• The self-host stack in the README names Vercel, PlanetScale, Tinybird and Upstash, so it is not a single install.

Official site: Dub.

Cuttly

Cuttly puts link-in-bio pages, surveys and Action Pages next to its shortener, which Short.io does not offer. The free plan has 30 links a month, 1 branded domain and one bio page with five URLs, per the Cuttly pricing table.

For branded volume it costs more than Short.io. Single at $25 a month or $275 a year allows 5,000 links, 5 domains and 365 days of history. Team features begin on Team at $99 a month, double Short.io Team.

Best for: Creators and small shops that want links, a bio page and a short survey in one account.

Pricing:

• Free: 30 links/month, 1 branded domain, 30 days of analytics.
• Starter $12/month or $132/year. Single $25/month or $275/year. Team $99/month or $1,089/year. Team Enterprise $149/month or $1,639/year.

Watch out for:

• Free and Starter keep only 30 days of analytics.
• Cuttly's Trustpilot page has several reviews from people who received scam texts carrying cutt.ly links, which can make recipients wary of the default domain.

Official site: Cuttly.

Bitly

Bitly packages links, QR codes and landing pages in one plan and is the integration most marketing stacks already have. Growth at $29 a month billed yearly ($348 a year) includes one complimentary custom domain, 500 links and 120 days of data, per the Bitly pricing page.

It is a weak free option. The free plan allows 5 links and 2 QR codes a month and shows an ad page before the destination. Core at $10 a month is sold on yearly billing only and has no custom domain, so it does not replace Short.io's free branded links.

Best for: Teams that print many QR codes and want them in the same account as their links.

Pricing:

• Free: 5 links/month, 2 QR codes/month, ads on links.
• Core $10/month billed yearly ($120). Growth $29/month billed yearly ($348/year). Premium $199/month billed yearly ($2,388/year). Enterprise by quote.

Watch out for:

• Bitly's help center says free links open an interstitial with a destination preview and an ad.
• Premium at $199 a month is the first tier with a full year of analytics.

Official site: Bitly.

TinyURL

TinyURL Pro is half the price of Short.io Pro: $9 a month billed yearly or $11 monthly, per the TinyURL plan table. It includes 3 branded domains and keeps two years of analytics on referrers, locations, devices and browsers.

The trade is volume. Pro allows 125 links a month, and each extra 10 costs $1.50. The free account makes 30 links a month on tinyurl.com only, with unlimited tracked clicks and no ads.

Best for: Light users who want a few branded links a month and long click history for little money.

Pricing:

• Free: 30 links/month, no custom domains.
• Pro $9/month yearly ($108) or $11 monthly. Bulk 50K $69/month yearly or $83 monthly. Enterprise from $3,999/year.

Watch out for:

• Free accounts cannot use a custom domain at all.
• The link allowance on Pro is low for campaigns that generate links in bulk.

Official site: TinyURL.

YOURLS

YOURLS has no plan table at all. It is an MIT-licensed PHP and MySQL script you install on your short domain, with click history, referrers, visitor location, an API and plugins, so links, users and domains are limited only by your server.

It is maintained. The YOURLS releases page shows 1.10.6 on August 30, 2026 and a security-focused 1.10.5 two days earlier. PHP 8.1 or newer is required from 1.10.0.

Best for: Teams with a server who want Short.io-style branded links with no seat or link fees.

Pricing:

• Free and open source (MIT). Hosting and domain costs are yours.

Watch out for:

• Deep links, A/B tests and QR codes, all standard on Short.io, are not in the YOURLS core feature list.
• You apply security fixes yourself; 1.10.4 in May 2026 patched an XSS bug in the stats pages.

Official site: YOURLS.

Kutt

Kutt's public instance at kutt.to lets you attach custom domains for free and set a password, an expiry and a description on each link. On Short.io, passwords and expiry start at Pro.

The same code is on GitHub under MIT with about 11.1k stars, and runs on Node with SQLite, Postgres or MySQL. That is a lighter self-host than Dub.

Best for: Individuals who want free branded links with expiry and passwords and no server.

Pricing:

• kutt.to: free; Premium is linked with no public price.
• Self-hosted: free, open source (MIT).

Watch out for:

• The README warns that kutt.it is not owned by the project and could be phishing; the real hosted site is kutt.to.
• Analytics and team features are basic next to Short.io.

Official site: Kutt.

How to choose

When to stay with Short.io

Stay with Short.io if one person runs your links. Its free plan is still the most generous in this list for branded links, and Hobby at $5 a month adds 1,500 more links, two more domains and country targeting. Teams that need mobile deep links get them on Team at $48 a month with unlimited users, half the price of Cuttly Team.

Frequently asked questions