The Bitly alternative that runs on your own domain
Last updated: August 29, 2026 · Written by URLVIS — yes, we are one of the two products on this page. Sources and methodology are at the bottom.
If what you want from a Bitly alternative is a branded domain without a paid tier, editable destinations on every plan, and a fraud filter that inspects every link before it goes live, URLVIS was built for exactly that. If you want the biggest brand in link shortening with the largest integrations catalog, Bitly remains a solid choice — we compare both honestly below.
Start free with your own domainWalk through the live demo first
Why teams go looking for a Bitly alternative
Bitly popularized link shortening and still runs a huge share of the world’s short links. The teams that leave usually cite one of three structural issues — none of them is "Bitly is bad":
The domain you build on is not yours
On free and low tiers, links live on bit.ly or a shared domain. Shared domains are a shared fate: when a shortener domain gets blocked by a platform or a country, every customer’s links die together. It is not hypothetical — cutt.ly and t2m.io were blocked in Türkiye in May 2026 and their customers’ printed QR menus and SMS links went dark overnight. A link on your own domain cannot be taken down by someone else’s abuse.
The custom domain sits behind a paywall
Bitly includes a complimentary custom domain from its paid tiers onward (Starter at $8/mo billed annually, as of August 2026). URLVIS inverts that: your own domain is required and included on every plan — the free one too — because our architecture depends on it: every customer is isolated on their own domain.
Editing a destination is a paid feature
Bitly’s own free-plan guide states link editing is not included on Free (as of August 2026). On URLVIS every link — and every printed QR code — has an editable destination on every plan, because we deliberately use 302 redirects.
URLVIS vs Bitly, feature by feature
| Feature | URLVIS | Bitly |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domain on the FREE plan | Yes — required and included (1 domain) | No — from Starter ($8/mo, billed annually) |
| Free plan links | 5/month | 5/month (per Bitly’s free-plan guide) |
| Pro-tier price | $15/mo · 5 domains · 5,000 links/mo | $8–10/mo (Starter) · 1 domain · 50 links/mo |
| Pre-publication security scan of every destination | Yes — blocklists, Google Safe Browsing, domain age, brand-impersonation and AI content analysis, then periodic re-scans | Not offered as a listed plan feature |
| Edit destination after publishing (incl. printed QR) | Every plan, including Free | Paid plans (not on Free, per Bitly’s guide) |
| QR codes | Free: 5/mo · Pro & Business: unlimited | Free: 2/mo · more on paid tiers |
| Click analytics | Every plan (Free 7-day window · Pro 2 years · Business 3 years), bots counted separately | Not on Free; included on paid tiers |
| If the provider disappears | Your domain and DNS are already yours; export data, repoint the CNAME | bit.ly-hosted links depend on Bitly’s domain |
| Integrations catalog & mobile apps | API (Business), CSV import/export, WhatsApp templates — deliberately small surface | Large, mature integrations ecosystem and apps |
Bitly figures are taken from Bitly’s public pricing materials and its own free-plan guide, as of August 29, 2026, and are reviewed quarterly. Bitly also offers a Business tier ($29/user/mo billed annually, 10 domains) and custom Enterprise plans. Spot an error? Email [email protected] and we will fix it.
Which tool fits which job?
A comparison written by one of the two vendors owes you the honest split — and what each trade actually costs:
- Deep integrations and native mobile apps are the job: Bitly serves that today, no argument. Note what the catalog does not contain — a scan of a single destination. If the job is trusting where links land, breadth is not the feature.
- A household name is the job: Bitly is the category’s household name — and that recognition attaches to bit.ly, their brand on your links. URLVIS attaches the recognition to YOUR domain, which is the recognition that gets your links clicked.
- Enterprise procurement machinery (SSO, SLAs, negotiated volume) is the job: Bitly has it, URLVIS does not yet. If what you actually need is the security guarantee rather than the paperwork, you do not need enterprise pricing to get it here.
- Campaign tooling around the link is the job: Bitly’s marketing suite is broader. When the link itself has to be safe before anything else matters, the suite is decoration on an unscanned door.
Migrating from Bitly in an afternoon
- Export your links from Bitly (CSV).
- Add your domain in URLVIS and set one CNAME record — SSL is automatic, and the domain stays yours forever.
- Bulk-import the CSV (Pro and Business); your short names are recreated on your own domain.
- Old bit.ly short addresses cannot be moved — no provider can move them, the domain belongs to Bitly. New channels use your branded links; every destination is scanned before going live.
This honesty matters: any provider claiming it can "move" your bit.ly links is overselling. What migration actually buys you is that this is the last migration — from then on the address lives on a domain you own.
Start free with your own domain
Other Bitly alternatives worth considering
- Rebrandly — Strong custom-domain focus and integrations; security scanning of destinations is not its core pitch.
- Short.io — Generous domain support and developer-friendly API; analytics-first rather than security-first.
- TinyURL — The simplest option for casual, anonymous shortening; branded domains and team features sit on paid tiers.
Common questions when leaving Bitly
Can URLVIS redirect my existing bit.ly links?
No — and neither can anyone else, because bit.ly is Bitly’s domain. You recreate the same short names on your own domain via CSV import, and from that point the addresses are portable forever.
Is the free plan actually usable with a custom domain?
Yes. Free includes 1 custom domain, 5 links and 5 QR codes per month with the full security filter — deliberately small volume, nothing held back in capability. No credit card required.
What does the security filter actually check?
Every destination passes global blocklists, Google Safe Browsing, domain-age and brand-impersonation checks, plus an AI reading of the destination page in 7 languages — before the link goes live, and again afterwards to catch bait-and-switch. Try it free on our link checker.
Try the free link safety checker
More comparisons
- URLVIS vs Rebrandly
- URLVIS vs TinyURL
- URLVIS vs Short.io
- URLVIS vs Cutt.ly
- URLVIS vs Dub
- URLVIS vs BL.INK
- URLVIS vs T2M
- All comparisons
Methodology & disclosure
How this comparison was made: URLVIS figures come directly from our pricing engine (the same source that renders our pricing page). Bitly figures were compiled on August 29, 2026 from Bitly’s public pricing materials and its own free-plan guide, cross-checked against independent pricing breakdowns; where sources disagreed we used Bitly’s own published number. URLVIS wrote this page — treat it as a vendor comparison, verify anything load-bearing on bitly.com, and tell us at [email protected] if something is out of date.