Bitly alternatives: 7 open-source picks
Bitly costs $35/mo — $420 a year. These 7 alternatives replace it for $0, led by Dub, Sink and Shlink. All 7 are open source. License, stars and last commit checked by hand on 2026-08-29. No trials, no crippled tiers.
Bitly with deeper attribution; self-hosting means recreating half a startup's infrastructure.
licenseAGPL-3.0
runsyour machine or their cloud
installHosted signup, or a source deployment assembled across Vercel, MySQL/PlanetScale, Tinybird, Upstash and Cloudflare R2/AWS
dataDub Cloud stores links, users and analytics in Dub's infrastructure; the documented self-hosted stack keeps link/user metadata in PlanetScale-compatible MySQL, click events in Tinybird/ClickHouse, redirect cache and jobs in Upstash Redis/QStash, and assets in Cloudflare R2 or AWS.
the catch vs BitlyDub has richer attribution, but self-hosting depends on several external databases, queues, analytics, storage, email, and deployment services and still lacks Bitly's enterprise support and governance.
setupSelf-hosting is not one Compose file: the official guide requires accounts, credentials and configuration across GitHub, Tinybird, Upstash, MySQL/PlanetScale, Vercel and Cloudflare or AWS.
facts verified 2026-08-10
A polished Bitly clone on Cloudflare; free hosting, several bindings, and no server to patch.
licenseAGPL-3.0
runsyour server
installFork the repository and deploy a Cloudflare Worker with D1 and KV bindings; Analytics Engine, R2 and Workers AI are optional
enginesOptional Cloudflare Workers AI for slug and OpenGraph suggestions
dataThe user's Cloudflare account holds links in D1, redirect cache in Workers KV, visit events in Analytics Engine and optional JSON snapshots or social images in R2; the public demo uses the maintainer's Cloudflare account.
the catch vs BitlySink is elegant on Cloudflare, but it lacks Bitly's mature QR campaign management, team permissions, branded-link governance, integrations, and vendor support.
setupA non-expert must create and wire several Cloudflare resources, copy binding IDs, set a stable site token and understand build-time versus runtime secrets.
facts verified 2026-08-10
Branded links, routing rules and serious click stats in one container; the QR endpoint is living on borrowed time.
licenseMIT
runsyour server
installRun the official Docker image, or unpack the PHP distribution and connect SQLite, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQL Server
dataShort links, domains, tags, visits and geolocation records live in the configured relational database; cache files live in Shlink's writable `data` directory, and the separate web client talks to the server through an API key.
the catch vs BitlyShlink supplies the shortening API and analytics, but the user must host a separate web client, operate the server, and accept that its built-in QR endpoint is being deprecated.
setupThe first hurdle is operating two pieces, a Shlink API plus its web client, and supplying a public domain, HTTPS, database persistence and an API key; built-in QR generation is deprecated.
facts verified 2026-08-10
All-in-one product analytics with session replay, feature flags, experiments, and surveys
licenseMIT (+EE)
runsyour server
setupnot verified by us yet — check the repo README
facts verified 2026-08-29
Simple privacy-focused web analytics on Node.js with Postgres/MySQL and a clean dashboard
licenseMIT
runsyour server
setupnot verified by us yet — check the repo README
facts verified 2026-08-29
Lightweight, privacy-friendly, cookieless web analytics in a single Docker deployment
licenseAGPL-3.0
runsyour server
setupnot verified by us yet — check the repo README
facts verified 2026-08-29
The veteran GA alternative: full-fat web analytics, heatmaps, no data sampling, and the data stays on your server.
licenseGPL-3.0
runsyour server
setupnot verified by us yet — check the repo README
facts verified 2026-08-29
What each one is, in full: Dub · Shlink · PostHog · Umami · Plausible
last updated 2026-08-29 · no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
how to choose a Bitly alternative
Easiest to get running
Umami — a one-click install, no server to maintain.
Most proven
PostHog, with 30,000 GitHub stars — the largest community of the 7, which usually means more answers when something breaks.
Needs real ops to self-host
Dub, Sink and PostHog are capable but expect someone to run a server, updates and backups. Budget for that before choosing one.
what you give up by leaving Bitly
- links that outlive your own infrastructure · a domain you stop renewing takes every link with it
- bit.ly's recognition in the link itself, which cuts both ways now that shorteners get spam-filtered
- bundled QR code management, landing pages, and campaign grouping
- city-level and device-level analytics rollups without building them
- an SLA and someone to call
None of the picks above covers all of it. The full verdict says which gaps matter.
Bitly alternatives at a glance
| tool | license | running it | platforms | stars | active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dub | AGPL-3.0 | self-host, real ops | web, self-hosted | 24,200 | 2026-08 |
| Sink | AGPL-3.0 | self-host, real ops | web, self-hosted | 7,000 | 2026-07 |
| Shlink | MIT | docker to self-host | web, self-hosted | 5,171 | 2026-07 |
| PostHog | MIT (+EE) | self-host, real ops | self-hosted, web | 30,000 | 2026-08 |
| Umami | MIT | one-click install | self-hosted, web | 28,000 | 2026-08 |
| Plausible | AGPL-3.0 | one-click install | self-hosted, web | 23,000 | 2026-08 |
| Matomo | GPL-3.0 | docker to self-host | self-hosted, web | 20,000 | 2026-08 |
why people still pay for Bitly
Bitly's actual product is a promise about the future: that a link printed on a box in 2019 still resolves today. No amount of code buys that, only an institution that intends to keep existing. Teams also pay for shared workspaces, SSO, and the audit trail, and marketing departments pay because the alternative is asking engineering for a redirect and waiting two weeks. If none of that applies to you, any pick above saves $420 a year.
questions about switching from Bitly
Is there an open-source alternative to Bitly?
Yes: Dub, Sink, Shlink and 4 more. Every tool on this page is open source: no trials, no crippled tiers.
Can open source really replace Bitly?
Our verdict is YES. PostHog (30k stars), Umami (28k stars), Dub (24k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Bitly — self-host with real ops work and stop paying $35/mo. The full verdict, and what you give up by switching, is at caniopensourceit.online/bitly.
What is the easiest open-source Bitly alternative to set up?
Umami — a one-click install, no server to maintain.
What is the most popular open-source Bitly alternative?
By GitHub stars, PostHog (30,000). Umami is next with 28,000.
