The Cutt.ly alternative that a domain block can’t kill
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.
Cutt.ly is a popular, full-featured shortener. This page exists because of a structural risk that hit its users directly: in May 2026, access to cutt.ly (and t2m.io) was blocked in Türkiye, and links on those shared domains stopped resolving there — printed QR menus and SMS campaigns included. That is not a Cutt.ly quality problem; it is what shared domains do. URLVIS’s answer is architectural: every link lives on the customer’s own domain, so no third party’s abuse — and no blanket block of a shortener domain — can take your links down.
Start free with your own domainWalk through the live demo first
Why shared-domain shorteners carry shared fate
Three structural facts drive this comparison — none of them unique to Cutt.ly:
One domain, thousands of tenants, one fate
When abuse flows through a shared shortener domain, platforms and regulators block the DOMAIN, not the abuser. Every innocent customer on it goes dark at once. The May 2026 Türkiye blocks made this concrete: businesses lost working printed links overnight through no fault of their own. (Block decisions are queryable on the local regulator’s public lookup; if you are reading this from Türkiye you can verify directly.)
Your links, their domain
A cutt.ly address can never be moved to another provider — the domain belongs to Cutt.ly. Links on link.yourbrand.com belong to you: if URLVIS ever disappoints you, export the data, repoint the CNAME, and the same addresses keep working elsewhere.
Blocking is reactive; scanning is preventive
Shared shorteners fight abuse after it happens, because anyone can sign up and shorten anything. URLVIS requires domain ownership (scammers do not configure DNS) and scans every destination BEFORE the link goes live — the abuse that gets domains blocked never gets published.
URLVIS vs Cutt.ly, structurally
| Feature | URLVIS | Cutt.ly |
|---|---|---|
| Where links live | Your own domain, every plan — required by design | Shared cutt.ly domain by default; branded domains on paid tiers |
| Exposure to a shortener-domain block | None — there is no shared domain to block | Full — demonstrated by the May 2026 Türkiye block |
| Portability if you leave the provider | Domain and DNS are yours; export and repoint | cutt.ly addresses cannot move |
| Pre-publication security scan of every destination | Yes — multi-layer, then periodic re-scans | Not documented as a plan feature in public materials we could verify |
| Pricing | Free $0 · Pro $15/mo · Business $49/mo | Not verifiable from our environment — see cutt.ly |
| Anonymous quick shortening | No — account + domain ownership is the anti-abuse model | Yes, on the shared domain |
Cutt.ly was unreachable from our verification environment on August 29, 2026, so this table compares architecture and publicly documented positioning rather than tier-by-tier pricing — where a figure is not publicly verifiable by us we say so. Reviewed quarterly. Corrections: [email protected].
Which tool fits which job?
The honest split — for a product we could not fully re-verify this quarter:
- Instant, anonymous shortening with no domain setup is the job: a shared-domain service is by definition faster to start with. The head start comes from the exact property that failed in May 2026 — the shared domain.
- A broad feature set at competitive prices is the job: public reviews describe Cutt.ly that way (verify current details on cutt.ly). Features on a domain you do not control are features you can lose overnight, all at once.
- Genuinely low-stakes links to an audience nowhere near any blocking jurisdiction is the job: the shared-fate risk may truly never bite you. Brands rarely get to assume that — and the ones in Türkiye that did are why this page exists.
If your links just went dark: recovery path
- Inventory the destinations behind your dead short links (from your Cutt.ly dashboard if reachable, or your campaign records).
- Add your own domain to URLVIS — one CNAME record, SSL automatic. If you do not own a domain yet, a subdomain of your existing website (link.yourbrand.com) is enough.
- Recreate the links (bulk CSV on Pro/Business); every destination is scanned as it lands.
- Reprint/update channels once. This is the last time — from now on the addresses live on a domain nobody can block out from under you.
We will not pretend the dead cutt.ly addresses can be revived — no provider can move them. What you can do is make sure this never happens twice.
Start free with your own domain
Other alternatives worth considering
- Bitly — Biggest brand in the category; custom domain from paid tiers.
- Rebrandly — Branded-link specialist with a free custom domain tier.
- Short.io — Generous free tier with multiple custom domains.
Common questions after a shortener block
Can URLVIS restore my cutt.ly links?
No — nobody can; the domain is Cutt.ly’s. What we restore is the DESTINATIONS: recreate the same short names on your own domain and update your channels one final time.
Could urlvis.com itself get blocked and kill my links?
Your links do not run on urlvis.com — that is the whole design. They run on YOUR domain. Even in the worst case for us as a company, your domain, DNS and exported data remain yours, and the addresses can be repointed to any provider.
Why does URLVIS require my own domain even on the free plan?
Because it is the anti-abuse mechanism that prevents the shared-fate problem this page is about: scammers do not set up DNS, every customer is isolated, and nobody inherits anybody else’s reputation.
Try the free link safety checker
More comparisons
- URLVIS vs Bitly
- URLVIS vs Rebrandly
- URLVIS vs TinyURL
- URLVIS vs Short.io
- URLVIS vs Dub
- URLVIS vs BL.INK
- URLVIS vs T2M
- All comparisons
Methodology & disclosure
How this comparison was made: URLVIS figures come from our pricing engine. Cutt.ly could not be reached from our verification environment on August 29, 2026 (which is itself a small illustration of the shared-domain problem — security layers block shortener domains wholesale), so we compared architecture and avoided asserting tier pricing we could not verify. The May 2026 Türkiye access block is stated as reported to us by affected users and is verifiable via the local regulator’s public block-decision lookup. URLVIS wrote this page; corrections to [email protected].