6 Best Bitly Alternatives in 2026: What Bitly Charges For vs What You Get

The most useful thing a link tool can tell you is which channel earns real Stripe revenue, and no Bitly tier answers that at any price — the jumps buy headroom, not revenue insight.

Bitly's paid tiers run from around ~$35/month (Growth) to roughly ~$199/month (Premium), and the jumps are driven mostly by custom domains, redirect volume, analytics retention, and seats — not by any new class of insight.

The useful way to shop for an alternative is to ask what Bitly charges for and what each alternative includes at a lower price or in a broader package.

This is a comparison of six Bitly alternatives for 2026 — TrackRev, Dub, Short.io, Rebrandly, Bl.ink, and Pretty Links — with a fair verdict, standout features, and approximate pricing for each, ranked by what actually matters: whether the tool tells you clicks, or clicks plus revenue.

Disclosure: TrackRev is one of the six, and we have listed it first. We should be upfront about that — so each competitor section names exactly when it beats TrackRev, and there is a comparison table to judge for yourself.

The honest read: no single Bitly alternative is right for everyone.

Dub is best for open-source and developer-first teams, Short.io for a generous free tier, Rebrandly for branded domains at scale, Bl.ink for enterprise link management, and Pretty Links for WordPress cloaking.

TrackRev is best if you need branded links plus revenue attribution. For the deeper Bitly read, see Bitly vs TrackRev.

Why this matters for your revenue

A cheaper shortener that still only counts clicks saves money on the wrong axis.

The median revenue per click across TrackRev workspaces is $3.80 and the median click-to-paid rate is 4.2% (TrackRev platform data, Q2 2026), and both vary enough by source that click counts rank channels wrong.

Swapping Bitly for a cheaper click-only tool leaves the real problem in place — you still cannot see which link produced paying customers — while swapping for a tool that ties clicks to revenue changes what you can decide, not just what you pay.

So the honest evaluation weighs two things: the line-item price versus Bitly, and whether the tool closes the click-to-revenue gap.

For a team on Stripe, Paddle, Polar, or Lemon Squeezy, the second matters more, because a fragmented stack — a shortener plus a spreadsheet joining clicks to the billing ledger — costs more in reconciliation time than the subscription saving.

The setup mechanics are in how to attribute Stripe revenue to marketing channels, and the full field in the 2026 link tracking software comparison.

What Bitly charges for — and what to look for instead

Three things Bitly gates or omits are worth checking in any alternative.

• Custom domains without a tier jump — Bitly gates branded domains and more of them behind higher tiers; many alternatives include them cheaper.
• Revenue attribution, not just clicks — Bitly has none at any price; only some alternatives close the click-to-revenue gap.
• First-party tracking that survives iOS — does the tool keep attributing on Apple devices after Safari ITP and iOS privacy changes?

Custom domains without a tier jump

Branded custom domains are the feature most teams climb Bitly's tiers for.

Several alternatives include a custom domain at their entry tier — Dub ships custom domains cheaply, Short.io and Rebrandly include them at low prices, and TrackRev supports custom tracking domains from its $39/month plan.

If a branded domain is your main reason for a paid Bitly plan, most alternatives deliver it for less, so it should not be the thing that anchors you to a premium tier.

Revenue attribution, not just clicks

This is the axis that separates a cheaper shortener from a better tool. Dub, Short.io, Rebrandly, and Bl.ink count clicks, like Bitly; Pretty Links cloaks and counts clicks inside WordPress. None connect a click to a payment.

TrackRev ties every branded-link click to a Stripe, Paddle, Polar, or Lemon Squeezy charge and offers first-touch, last-touch, and linear attribution models. If revenue is the question, this single criterion narrows the field to one.

First-party tracking that survives iOS

Safari ITP and iOS privacy changes cap or strip third-party cookies, so any tracker relying on them loses attribution on Apple devices — which skew toward higher-intent buyers. First-party tracking, where the cookie is set on your own domain, holds up.

Confirm this with any alternative before paying: a tool that counts clicks accurately but loses a third of conversions on iPhone produces the same wrong channel ranking as Bitly. The mechanics are in first-party link tracking after iOS privacy changes.

The six tools compared

The at-a-glance matrix. Confirm each vendor's current pricing and capabilities before committing — this moves.

The tools, one by one

A fair verdict on each: who it suits, what stands out, roughly what it costs, and when it beats TrackRev.

TrackRev — links plus revenue attribution

Best for: SaaS and subscription teams that want branded links and to know which link drove revenue.

Standout: branded short links on your own domain, first-party tracking that survives iOS, UTM management, QR codes, bulk creation — plus native revenue attribution across Stripe, Paddle, Polar, and Lemon Squeezy, selectable attribution models, and an optional affiliate programme.

Pricing: $39/month for the whole product with affiliates, free tier for 1,000 events.

When a competitor is the better pick: if you only need link management with no revenue side, a cheaper shortener like Short.io or Dub is enough; if you need open-source self-hosting or enterprise governance, Dub or Bl.ink respectively; if your billing is outside the four processors, the revenue side does not apply.

Dub — open-source, developer-first

Best for: developer-led teams that value an open-source guarantee or want to self-host. Standout: an open-source codebase, a clean and well-typed API, custom domains at the entry tier, and a genuinely usable free plan. Pricing: free tier, Pro from ~$24/month.

When it is the better pick than TrackRev: if you have a hard self-hosting or data-residency requirement, or you simply want the open-source option and only need link shortening and click analytics, Dub covers the link layer beautifully.

It has no native revenue attribution, so pair it with another tool if you need revenue per channel. The detail is in Dub vs TrackRev.

Short.io — generous free tier and routing

Best for: teams that have outgrown Bitly's free tier and want a cheaper equivalent with strong routing.

Standout: a genuinely usable free tier, geo, device, and time-based rotation links with analytics, a clean API, and multi-workspace structure for teams managing many product lines. Pricing: free tier, paid from ~$20/month.

When it is the better pick than TrackRev: if you need high-volume shortening and routing and never need revenue data, Short.io is a strong, well-priced shortener. It counts clicks only. The fuller read is in the Short.io alternative breakdown.

Rebrandly — branded domains at scale

Best for: multi-brand and multi-product teams managing branded links across many custom domains. Standout: deep custom-domain management, clean routing rules, a mature API, and low entry pricing for branded links. Pricing: from ~$13–$29/month, with a very limited free tier.

When it is the better pick than TrackRev: if your job is pure branded-link management across many domains and you report clicks, not revenue, Rebrandly is a cost-effective, focused fit.

Like the other shorteners, it has no revenue attribution and no affiliate programme.

Bl.ink — enterprise link management

Best for: mid-market and enterprise teams that need branded-link management with governance and detailed analytics. Standout: branded short links, custom domains, granular link analytics, and team and access controls aimed at larger organisations.

Pricing: from ~$48/month at the entry tier, rising for teams and enterprise.

When it is the better pick than TrackRev: if you need enterprise-grade link governance and analytics for a large link portfolio and do not need revenue attribution, Bl.ink is built for that world.

It is a click-layer tool — no payment-processor integration and no affiliate programme.

Pretty Links — WordPress link cloaking (niche)

Best for: WordPress publishers cloaking and shortening the affiliate links they promote. Standout: in-editor link cloaking, redirect management, and keyword auto-linking, all inside the WordPress admin, with a free plugin and a low-cost Pro licence.

Pricing: free plugin, Pro from ~$99/year. When it is the better pick than TrackRev: if you run a WordPress content site and your job is tidying outbound affiliate links, Pretty Links is purpose-built and TrackRev is not aimed at you.

It is WordPress-only and counts clicks in your site database, with no revenue attribution. The SaaS-side read is in the Pretty Links alternative for SaaS.

How to choose

Three questions decide it.

• Do you need clicks, or clicks tied to revenue? Clicks only → Dub, Short.io, Rebrandly, Bl.ink. Revenue → TrackRev.
• What is your platform? WordPress content site → Pretty Links. Self-hosting requirement → Dub. Enterprise governance → Bl.ink.
• Do you run, or plan to run, an affiliate programme? If yes, TrackRev consolidates links, attribution, and affiliates; the shorteners do not.

Pricing at a glance

The entry price and free-tier position for each tool in one place. Prices are approximate and change often, so treat this as a starting point and confirm before committing.

Migrating from Bitly to TrackRev

The active migration is a sub-two-hour job; only the bit.ly long tail is slow, and it runs in parallel.

Point your custom domain

Update one DNS CNAME record to point your branded domain — usually go.yourbrand.com — at TrackRev's redirect endpoint.

You control that domain, so those links come across cleanly; TTL propagation is the slowest part, after which every link on your domain serves through TrackRev.

Recreate your top slugs

Recreate your most-used custom-domain slugs inside TrackRev. The top 50 typically cover about 90% of inbound traffic, so prioritise those and let the long tail decay on the old system rather than porting everything by hand.

Align UTM templates

Set UTM templates in TrackRev to match your existing naming convention exactly, so old and new reports use the same channel labels and nothing splits into a duplicate bucket.

Then connect Stripe (and Paddle, Polar, or Lemon Squeezy) so revenue attribution populates from the migration date forward.

Let the bit.ly long tail decay

Links on the bit.ly domain itself cannot transfer — they belong to Bitly. Keep Bitly live for those legacy links and third-party citations until inbound traffic naturally moves to current material, typically over 6–18 months.

Running both systems in parallel is conflict-free.

When NOT to use TrackRev

If you only need link management with no revenue side, a cheaper shortener like Short.io, Dub, or Rebrandly is enough, and TrackRev's attribution would sit unused.

If you need open-source self-hosting, that is Dub; enterprise link governance, that is Bl.ink; WordPress cloaking, that is Pretty Links. And if your billing is outside Stripe, Paddle, Polar, and Lemon Squeezy, the revenue side does not apply.

TrackRev is for SaaS and subscription teams that want branded links tied to revenue, with affiliates optional on the same data.

The clearest reason to pick TrackRev over a cheaper shortener plus a separate revenue tool is not any single feature — it is that link tracking and affiliate management cost less together than apart.

A shortener plus a dedicated affiliate platform — say Bitly Growth (~$35/mo) plus Rewardful Starter (~$49/mo) — is $84 or more a month for two tools with two definitions of a conversion.

TrackRev is $39/month for branded links, revenue attribution, and a full affiliate programme on one data model, with one definition of a sale.