Why look for a Bitly alternative at all?

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.

Do my existing Bitly links stop working if I switch?

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.

Is za.gl actually free, or free until a limit?

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.

What does Bitly do better?

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.

Can I use it from my own code?

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.

Bitly

Mbadala wa Bitly usiohesabu

Viungo vitano kwa mwezi, kisha Bitly anaomba dola kumi. Za.gl haina kihesabu chochote, inafanya kazi kabla hujajisajili, na inaonyesha kila bofyo lilitoka wapi.

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.

Za.gl compared with Bitly, feature by feature, verified 2026-09-07
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 2026-09-07 on Bei za Bitly. 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

Ten dollars against five

Core costs $10 a month, billed a year ahead, and moves the ceiling from 5 links to 100 with 30 days of click data behind them. Pro costs $5 a month or $50 a year, removes the ceiling instead of raising it, and keeps 90 days of clicks with a CSV export. Per link the gap is wide, and that is the number most people came here to check.

See both plans

Bitly: 30 days at $10
Za.gl: 90 days at $5

A password on the link itself

No Bitly tier offers a password on a link, so a private file behind a short link is private only for as long as nobody forwards it. On za.gl the password is a field in the same form that makes the link, 4 to 100 characters, and the visitor meets it before the redirect. The same form holds an expiry date and a click cap, and after either one the link stops working and says so.

Put a password on a link

Bitly: Not offered
Za.gl: Free, any link

Three tools, one login

Bitly shortens links and builds a small bio page. Za.gl also runs a pastebin with syntax highlighting and full landing pages with a rich text editor, both unlimited on the free plan, and all three answer to the same access token, one code instead of a password. A config snippet and the short link pointing at it end up in the same account.

Open the pastebin

Bitly: Not offered
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

Bitly

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

Kuhama kunagharimu kiungo kimoja

Hakuna cha kuhamisha. Viungo vilivyo tayari kwenye bit.ly vinaendelea kufanya kazi; wewe unaunda kinachofuata hapa tu. Bandika anwani kwenye ukurasa wa mbele, ongeza jina bandia, nenosiri au tarehe ya mwisho ikiwa unahitaji, na nakili matokeo. Tokeni iliyo kwenye jibu ndiyo inayogeuza viungo hivyo kuwa akaunti baadaye, ikiwa unataka dashibodi.

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 seconds
Step 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 seconds
Step 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

Mpango wa bure wa Bitly unaruhusu viungo 5 kwa mwezi na hauwapi watumiaji wa bure historia yoyote ya mibofyo. Inatosha kwa kiungo cha mara moja na inaumiza kwa kazi ya kawaida. Za.gl haina kikomo cha kila mwezi kwa viungo, uelekezaji hauna matangazo, na takwimu za mibofyo zinaonekana pia kwenye mpango wa bure.

Hapana. Viungo uliyochapisha tayari kwenye bit.ly vinaendelea kupitia Bitly. Kuhama kunaathiri tu viungo unavyounda kuanzia sasa, kwa hivyo unaweza kuhama hatua kwa hatua badala ya uhamishaji mmoja.

Kufupisha, madokezo na kurasa za kutua ni bila kikomo kwenye mpango wa bure. Pro ni $5 kwa mwezi au $50 kwa mwaka na inaongeza usafirishaji wa CSV, kuhifadhi takwimu siku 90, kuhariri kila sehemu ya kiungo, majina bandia ya herufi tatu na tarehe ya mwisho ya mwaka mmoja.

Vikoa binafsi, viti vya timu na orodha ya miunganisho. Bitly inaunganishwa na Slack, HubSpot, Canva na wengine, ina programu za iOS na Android, na inaruhusu kampuni kuweka viungo kwenye kikoa chake kuanzia mpango wa Growth. Za.gl haina chochote kati ya hivyo.

Ndiyo. POST kwenda /api/shorten na kichwa cha Authorization: Bearer, imewekewa kikomo cha maombi 10 kwa dakika. Ombi linafanya kazi hata bila tokeni, na jibu linakurudishia moja kwa viungo ulivyounda punde.

Kinaacha kuelekeza na kinarudisha HTTP 410 Gone badala ya kumpeleka mgeni mahali popote. Unaweza kuweka kikomo cha kiungo kwa idadi ya mibofyo, kutoka 1 hadi 1,000,000, au kwa tarehe.

Hapana. Ukurasa wa hakikisho unaonyesha mahali pa kwenda na ukaguzi wa usalama, kisha unampeleka mgeni. Roboti zinaelekezwa mara moja ili hakikisho la viungo kwenye programu za mazungumzo libaki sawa.

Kila namba ya Bitly ilisomwa kutoka bitly.com/pages/pricing tarehe ${VERIFIED_ON}, chanzo kimeunganishwa chini. Pale ambapo mtoa huduma hasemi kitu hadharani, jedwali linaandika "Haijatajwa" badala ya kubahatisha.

Mbadala wa Bitly usiohesabu

What each one covers and misses

Pick a difference, read it

Counting stops here

Ten dollars against five

Where the clicks came from

A password on the link itself

A QR code per link, no quota

Three tools, one login

Plans and price, side by side

Kuhama kunagharimu kiungo kimoja

What people who used it rated it

Bitly questions

Kwa nini mtu atafute mbadala wa Bitly?

Je, viungo vyangu vya Bitly vitaacha kufanya kazi nikihama?

Je, za.gl ni bure kweli, au bure hadi kikomo fulani?

Bitly inafanya nini vizuri zaidi?

Je, naweza kuitumia kutoka kwenye msimbo wangu?

Nini hufanyika kwa kiungo kinapoisha muda au kufikia kikomo cha mibofyo?

Je, za.gl inaweka matangazo kwenye uelekezaji?

Namba za ukurasa huu ni za hivi karibuni kiasi gani?