Alternative to Bitly in 2026: Honest Comparison

Five links per month. That's what the bitly free plan gives in 2026, according to their pricing page. five. If you publish three times a week, you spent the share on Monday of the second week.

This article compares Bitly with Kortilink with the numbers of each on the table. Warning now: Kortilink is ours, and you'll notice. But a comparison that only praises the product itself doesn't convince anyone — so there's an entire section about what Bitly does better than we do, and it's honest.

What Bitly gives in every plan

The values are those of Bitly price page, in the version billed annually. Prices in dollars, because that's how they charge.

Two things stand out when looking at this table instead of at the sales page.

A primeira: o domínio próprio só aparece a partir dos 29 dólares por mês. Não é uma funcionalidade avançada — é pôr o teu nome no link em vez do bit.ly. E é o degrau que separa dez dólares de vinte e nove.

The second: The click history disappears. In the core plane, the data of a link is 30 days old. A campaign running a quarter is not comparable with that of the previous quarter, because the previous quarter does not exist.

Where does it hurt in practice?

A concrete example, of those that appear every day. You manage the networks of a restaurant: one publication per day, each with its own link to be able to see what works. There are about 30 links per month.

• In Bitly's free plan, it doesn't — the quota ends with the fifth.
• At the core, at 10 dollars, it does. But the links continue to be bit.ly, and after 30 days you can't compare months.
• For the link to have the name of the restaurant, go up to the growth: 29 dollars a month, about 350 per year.

For many small businesses, $350 a year in shortening links is difficult to justify from what you get. This is the account that leads most people to look for an alternative — not a Bitly technical flaw, which is solid, but the relationship between price and what is included.

What Bitly does better than us

This section exists because without it the rest is worthless.

• Recognition. A link bit.ly does not raise eyebrows to anyone. It has existed since 2008, and in contexts where the recipient is suspicious of short links — cold emails, business customers, messages to strangers — that counts. A domain that a person has never seen has always a cost of trust.
• Mature API. Bitly has a public API documented for years, with libraries in all languages. We at this time do not have a public API — we turned it off in August 2026 by security decision and only come back when it is well done. If your flow depends on creating links per program, Bitly wins, and there's no way to gild it.
• Integrations. HubSpot, Salesforce, Network Management Tools — Bitly is already there. If your team lives within one of these, the ready-made integration saves real work.
• Company requirements. Single session login, audit records, service level contracts, management of permissions by team. If your computer department demands these things, the conversation ends there.

If you recognize yourself in any of these four points, it's on Bitly. seriously. Switching tools to get worse is the worst way to save money.

Kortilink numbers, next to

same table, so you can compare without having to open two pages.

The point that matters in this table is just one: the own domain. No Bitly costs $29 per month; In Kortilink is included from 4.99 euros. It's not a difference of ten or twenty percent — it's the same result by about one-sixth of the price. All other values are in prices, without asterisks.

The bio page is the second point, and it is a difference in nature, not a degree: Bitly does not have it. If you use a shortener and a link in bio separately, here are the same subscription.

How to change without breaking anything

The question that catches everyone is the same: «What about the links that are already around?»

1. Do not delete the Bitly account. As long as it exists, the already published links continue to work. Deleting the account is the only gesture that kills them, and there is no reason to do so.
2. starts to create the new ones in the new site. The change is made forward, not backward.
3. If you have your own domain, point it to the new service when Bitly stops serving it — then the old links migrate with the domain.
4. Save the data before cancers. Exports the click history while you still have access; After canceling, it's over.

If what you're considering is the bio page and not the shortener, the process is different and is explained in change from Linktree without losing anything.

When Bitly remains the right choice

To close the matter without selling smoke, cases where you should not change:

• You need API to create links by program.
• Your company requires a single login or audit records.
• You already paid the Enterprise and the contract covers what you need.
• You work mainly in contexts where an unknown link is not open.

In other cases — which are the majority of those who create content, manage small business networks or campaigns with their own budget — the account does not close in favor of the 29 dollars.

Frequently asked questions

My old bit.ly links stop working if I change?

No. As long as the Bitly account exists, the already created links continue to redirect. What changes is where you create the next ones. He leaves the old ones where they are and creates the new ones in the new service — so nothing breaks and there is no rush.

How many links does Bitly's free plan even give?

Five per month, plus two QR codes, according to their pricing page in 2026. The clicks are unlimited; The number of links you can create is not.

Do I really need my own domain in the links?

If you're building a brand, yes. A link with your name is clicked more times than a shared domain, and yours continues if you ever change your tool. We explain why in the article about Increase the CTR of links.

Is it worth paying for a shortener?

It depends on two things: if you need your own domain, and how much time you want to store the data. For occasional use, any free plan arrives. From the moment the links enter paid campaigns or printed material, their own domain and history are no longer luxury — and then the price difference between services starts to weigh every month.