BitlyBitly alternative that does not count
Five links a month, then Bitly asks for ten dollars. Za.gl runs no counter at all, works before you sign up, and shows you where every click came from.
What each one covers and misses
18 rows: Za.gl wins 11, Bitly wins 4, and 3 are a draw. A table that never loses is an advert.
| Feature | | Bitly | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short links on the free plan | Unlimited | 5 per month | How many links you can create before the plan asks for money |
| QR codes on the free plan | Unlimited, PNG | 2 per month | How many QR codes a free account may generate |
| Click history on the free plan | 7 days | Not included | Whether a free account can see where its clicks came from |
| Custom back-half on the free plan | Unlimited, 5+ characters | 3 per month | The part after the slash that you choose yourself |
| Password-protected links | Free, any link | Not offered | A link that asks for a password before it resolves |
| Link expiry date | 30 days free, 1 year on Pro | Not offered | A date after which the link stops resolving on its own |
| Click limit per link | 1 to 1,000,000 | Not offered | A count after which the link stops resolving on its own |
| Country and device routing | Included | Mobile deep links on paid plans | Sending visitors to different destinations by country or device |
| Shortens without an account | Yes | No | Whether the first link works before you sign up |
| Landing pages | Unlimited | 2 on free | A hosted page you build in the editor, no site needed |
| Pastebin | Unlimited | Not offered | A hosted snippet of text or code with syntax highlighting |
| Analytics retention on the cheapest paid plan | 90 days at $5 | 30 days at $10 | How long the click rows stay readable on the cheapest paid plan |
| Custom domain | Not offered | Growth plan and up | Links on a domain you own instead of the provider domainBitly wins. Za.gl links live on za.gl and cannot carry your own domain at any price. |
| Team seats and workspaces | Not offered | Paid plans | Other people working on the same links from their own loginBitly wins. One account per token here; there is no shared workspace. |
| Third-party integrations | API only | Slack, HubSpot, Canva and more | Ready-made connections to tools like Slack or HubSpotBitly wins. Anything you plug za.gl into, you wire up yourself from your own code. |
| Mobile app | Not offered | iOS and Android | An installable app rather than the site on a phoneBitly wins. The site works on a phone, but there is no app to install. |
| Public API | Yes, 10 requests a minute | Yes | Creating and reading links from your own code |
| Browser extension | Chrome | Chrome | Shortening the page you are on without leaving it |
Short links on the free plan
How many links you can create before the plan asks for money
Bitly
5 per month
Za.gl
Unlimited
QR codes on the free plan
How many QR codes a free account may generate
Bitly
2 per month
Za.gl
Unlimited, PNG
Click history on the free plan
Whether a free account can see where its clicks came from
Bitly
Not included
Za.gl
7 days
Custom back-half on the free plan
The part after the slash that you choose yourself
Bitly
3 per month
Za.gl
Unlimited, 5+ characters
Password-protected links
A link that asks for a password before it resolves
Bitly
Not offered
Za.gl
Free, any link
Link expiry date
A date after which the link stops resolving on its own
Bitly
Not offered
Za.gl
30 days free, 1 year on Pro
Click limit per link
A count after which the link stops resolving on its own
Bitly
Not offered
Za.gl
1 to 1,000,000
Country and device routing
Sending visitors to different destinations by country or device
Bitly
Mobile deep links on paid plans
Za.gl
Included
Shortens without an account
Whether the first link works before you sign up
Bitly
No
Za.gl
Yes
Landing pages
A hosted page you build in the editor, no site needed
Bitly
2 on free
Za.gl
Unlimited
Pastebin
A hosted snippet of text or code with syntax highlighting
Bitly
Not offered
Za.gl
Unlimited
Analytics retention on the cheapest paid plan
How long the click rows stay readable on the cheapest paid plan
Bitly
30 days at $10
Za.gl
90 days at $5
Custom domain
Links on a domain you own instead of the provider domain
Bitly
Growth plan and up
Za.gl
Not offered
Bitly wins. Za.gl links live on za.gl and cannot carry your own domain at any price.
Team seats and workspaces
Other people working on the same links from their own login
Bitly
Paid plans
Za.gl
Not offered
Bitly wins. One account per token here; there is no shared workspace.
Third-party integrations
Ready-made connections to tools like Slack or HubSpot
Bitly
Slack, HubSpot, Canva and more
Za.gl
API only
Bitly wins. Anything you plug za.gl into, you wire up yourself from your own code.
Mobile app
An installable app rather than the site on a phone
Bitly
iOS and Android
Za.gl
Not offered
Bitly wins. The site works on a phone, but there is no app to install.
Public API
Creating and reading links from your own code
Bitly
Yes
Za.gl
Yes, 10 requests a minute
Browser extension
Shortening the page you are on without leaving it
Bitly
Chrome
Za.gl
Chrome
Bitly figures verified on Bitly pricing. Ours come from the same place the payment page reads.
Pick a difference, read it
Six places where Za.gl and Bitly behave differently, with the number from the table beside each one.
Counting stops here
The fifth link of the month and the first one behave the same on Bitly until you hit the sixth, and then the same box asks for a plan whether the link is a campaign or a file you are sending to one colleague. Za.gl runs no monthly counter, so the only limits on a link are the ones you set on it: a password, a date, or a number of clicks.
Shorten a link- Bitly
- 5 per month
- Za.gl
- Unlimited
Plans and price, side by side
Pick one of Bitly’s tiers and the column on the left answers it.
$0forever
What you get
- Unlimited short links
- Unlimited pastes and landing pages
- Works without an account
- 7 days of click history
- Password and expiry on any link
- Custom alias, the bit after the slash, from 5 characters
- PNG QR code on every link
- No ads on the redirect
$0
What this tier allows
- 5 links per month
- 2 QR codes per month
- 3 custom back-halves per month
- No click history
Not on any tier
- Link expiry date
- Shortens without an account
- Pastebin
Nothing to migrate
Your bit.ly links keep resolving through Bitly, untouched. Switching means the next link is made here instead, which takes about half a minute and no import at all.
- Live instantly, no account
- Password and expiry, free
- 7 days of click history
Step 1
Paste the link
Any address, any length, on the homepage or in the box at the top of this page. No account, no email.
5 secondsStep 2
Add what the link needs
A chosen ending, a password, an expiry date or a click cap. Every one of them is on the free plan.
20 secondsStep 3
Copy it, keep the token
The response carries an access token. Paste it into the login box later and the links become an account with a dashboard.
5 seconds
What people who used it rated it
Left by visitors on the tool pages, one rating per person. No testimonials, and no review badges we do not have.
Bitly questions
Two things push people off the free plan: the counter stops at 5 links a month, and a free account never sees where its clicks came from. Za.gl removes both, keeps the redirect free of ads, and asks for no account before the first link.
No. Anything already published on bit.ly keeps resolving through Bitly exactly as before. This only changes where the next link is made, which is why there is no migration step and no import to schedule.
Links, pastes and landing pages are uncounted on the free plan, and the free plan has no expiry of its own. Pro at $5 a month or $50 a year buys the CSV export, 90 days of history instead of 7, editing every field of a live link, three-character endings, expiry up to a year, and QR in SVG or PDF.
Three things, and they are the reason the table above loses four rows. Bitly puts links on a domain you own from the Growth plan up, gives a team separate logins on one workspace, and connects to Slack, HubSpot and Canva without you writing anything. It also ships iOS and Android apps. If a branded domain is the point of your links, Bitly earns the money.
Yes. Post the long link to /api/shorten with your access key in the header, up to 10 calls a minute. It works without a key too, and the reply hands you one back for the links you just made.
It stops resolving and tells the browser the address is gone for good, so nobody lands anywhere unexpected. The cap can be a date, or a number of clicks anywhere from 1 to 1,000,000, and both are set in the form that made the link.
No. A visitor sees the destination and a safety check, then goes on. Crawlers skip that step and are redirected straight away, so a link pasted into a chat app still unfurls with the right title and image.
Every Bitly figure was read off bitly.com/pages/pricing on 2026-09-07, with the source linked at the bottom. Where a vendor does not state something publicly, the table says "Not listed" instead of guessing.