Short.io
API-first branded short links with a free tier generous enough to run a real project on.
About
Short.io is a developer-friendly URL shortener built around custom domains, with more than a decade in the market and provider-stated figures of 13B+ links created, 100B+ clicks tracked, and 1.2M+ active users. The free-forever plan stands out: 1,000 branded links, a custom domain, basic analytics, QR codes, and API access, no credit card required. Paid plans start around $5 a month (Hobby) and add more domains, links, and deeper analytics. The feature set covers geotargeting and device-based redirects, deep links for iOS and Android apps, password-protected and expiring links, a REST API, webhooks, Zapier and Make integrations, and team workspaces. The one structural catch is that it requires your own domain; there is no free shared short domain to fall back on.
Pricing details vary slightly across third-party roundups, so treat exact plan figures as provider-stated. Short.io is the pragmatic choice for developers and small teams who want branded links without enterprise sales calls, though it lacks the link-in-bio and landing-page extras of Bitly. No published independent benchmarks for uptime or redirect speed.
What it can do
- Branded short links on your own custom domain, including on the free plan
- 1,000 free branded links with basic analytics and API access
- Geotargeting and device-based redirects
- Deep links for iOS and Android apps
- Password protection and link expiration dates
- Real-time click analytics with geo, device, referrer, and OS data
- QR code generation
- REST API with webhooks
- Zapier, Make, and Slack integrations
- Team workspaces with roles
Setup
Sign up free at short.io, point a domain you own at their DNS, and create links from the dashboard or REST API.
Prerequisites
A domain you own (required even on the free plan); API key for programmatic access.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 7/10
Scored 7/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: short.io's FAQ documents the free tier (1,000 branded links, custom domain, QR, API) and the custom-domain requirement; third-party comparisons confirm the API-first feature set and ~$5 entry price. Strengths: the most generous free tier among branded-link tools and a clean developer API. Docked for: (1) requires your own domain with no shared short-domain fallback; (2) proprietary with no self-host option; (3) usage figures (13B links, 100B clicks) are provider-stated and plan details drift across third-party roundups. License: proprietary.
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 7.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 8.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 3.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 7.0/10
- · Developer-focused shortener, 10+ years on the market
- · Free tier: 1,000 branded links, custom domain, basic analytics, QR, API
- · Requires your own domain even on the free plan (no shared short domain)
- · Geotargeting and device-based redirects
- · iOS/Android deep links
- · Password protection and link expiration
- · REST API, webhooks, Zapier/Make integrations
- · 13B+ links, 100B+ clicks, 1.2M+ active users (provider-stated)