Answers
Best, shortest, free: straight answers about URL shorteners
One page per question people actually type into a search box, answered with counted characters and the limits this product really has.
| Host | Service | Characters | With the slash | Registry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| t.ly | T.LY | 4 | 5 | .ly, Libya |
| v.gd | v.gd | 4 | 5 | .gd, Grenada |
| gc.mw | gc.mw | 5 | 6 | .mw, Malawi |
| is.gd | is.gd | 5 | 6 | .gd, Grenada |
| bit.ly | Bitly | 6 | 7 | .ly, Libya |
| cutt.ly | Cutt.ly | 7 | 8 | .ly, Libya |
| rebrand.ly | Rebrandly | 10 | 11 | .ly, Libya |
| tinyurl.com | TinyURL | 11 | 12 | .com |
- best url shortenerBest URL shortener: what actually decides itThere is no single best URL shortener. It comes down to link length, whether links expire, whether you can change the destination later, and what the analytics answer.
- branded link shortenerBranded link shortener: when a name beats four charactersA branded link trades characters for recognition. Here is when that trade pays, what it costs in DNS and length, and the two protections that stop the namespace being abused.
- custom url shortenerCustom URL shortener: aliases, subdomains and your own domainThree ways to make a short link say something: a custom alias, a claimed subdomain, or your own domain on a CNAME. What each one costs in characters and in money.
- digital business card makerDigital business card maker: a card, a QR and a .vcf fileA digital business card is three things working together: a page someone can open, a QR code that opens it, and a contact file their phone can save. All three, from one form.
- free digital business cardFree digital business card: what you can make without an accountA contact file, a QR code that saves it, and a short link to hand out. Three free tools that run in your browser and upload nothing, plus where the free version stops.
- free url shortenerFree URL shortener: what free means, in days and featuresShorten with no account and the link lasts 30 days. A free account raises it to 365 days with analytics. Here is exactly where the free tier stops and why.
- link shortenerLink shortener: what it does, and the four things worth checkingA link shortener stores a destination behind a short code and redirects to it. Everything useful about one comes from that indirection, and so does everything risky.
- link shortener with analyticsLink shortener with analytics: what the numbers can honestly tell youClicks, uniques, country, referrer and device, rolled up by UTC day. What each one answers, what it cannot, and why the dashboard reads rollups instead of raw events.
- short url builderShort URL builder: assemble the link before you shorten itA short URL is usually built twice: campaign parameters go on the long link first, then the whole thing is shortened. Doing it in that order is what keeps the tracking intact.
- shortest url shortenerShortest URL shortener: the arithmetic, with our own lossesTwo well-known hosts are shorter than gc.mw and one ties. Here is the full character count, why the code matters more than the host, and where length actually changes an outcome.
- url shortener that never expiresURL shortener that never expires: read the policy, not the promisePermanent is a word shorteners use loosely. Here are the three lifetimes this product actually has, what happens on the day one runs out, and what to use for print.
- url shortener with qr codeURL shortener with QR code: why the short link makes a better codeEvery link here has a QR at its own URL, PNG or SVG. Shorter links produce fewer modules, which is the difference between a code that scans off a poster and one that does not.
The same questions, country by country
Character budgets are not the same everywhere. A message in a language the GSM alphabet does not cover holds 70 characters instead of 160, and a local domain starts from a different floor. There are 110 country pages.
Try it with your own link
Paste a long link and get a 10-character gc.mw link with a QR code. No account needed for 30 days; free forever with one.