Shortlen vs Bitly: which is right for you?
A plain, fact-based comparison of Bitly's free plan and paid pricing tiers against Shortlen's own plans, so you can see which one actually fits your team.
Shortlen Editorial · · 3 min read
The short answer
Bitly is the market leader, with a free plan (5 links/month) and paid tiers from $10 to $199/month, plus extras like AI link creation and link-in-bio pages. Shortlen keeps things simpler with three straightforward plans (Free, Pro $7/month, Team $19/month). Bitly fits buyers who want the extra tools; Shortlen fits those who just want a shortener without the add-ons.
Key points
- Bitly's free plan includes 5 links, 2 QR codes and 3 custom back-halves a month, with unlimited clicks.
- Bitly's paid plans run from Core at $10/month (billed annually) up to Premium at $199/month, plus a custom-priced Enterprise tier.
- Shortlen has three plans — Free, Pro at $7/month, and Team at $19/month — each with a flat, published price instead of an enterprise-style custom quote.
- Bitly makes more sense if you want AI-assisted link creation, link-in-bio pages or digital business cards alongside the shortener.
- Shortlen makes more sense for an individual or small team that wants a straightforward branded-link tool without paying for features they won't use.
On this page
Bitly is the biggest name in link shortening, and its size shows: a wide free plan, five pricing tiers, and extras like AI-assisted link creation, link-in-bio pages and digital business cards that go well beyond a plain shortener. Shortlen takes the opposite approach — three plans (Free, Pro and Team), each priced plainly, with no bundle of extra products to pay for. If you want those extras, Bitly is the better fit. If you want a straightforward branded-link tool at a lower price, Shortlen is worth a look.
What does Bitly’s free plan include?
Bitly’s free plan gives you 5 links a month, 2 QR codes a month and 3 custom back-halves a month, with unlimited clicks and scans included. It also comes with 2 custom landing pages. That’s enough to try the product, but the monthly caps on links and QR codes mean anyone shortening more than a handful of links a month will need to upgrade quickly.
What do Bitly’s paid plans cost?
Bitly’s paid plans scale from a few hundred links a month up to thousands, with pricing to match:
| Plan | Price/month | Links/month | QR codes/month | Custom back-halves/month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Unlimited clicks/scans, 2 custom landing pages |
| Core | $10 (billed annually, $120/yr) | 100 | 5 | 30 | 30 days of click/scan data |
| Growth | $29 | 500 | 10 | — | Complimentary custom domain, 4 months of data |
| Premium | $199 | 3,000 | 200 | — | 1 year of data, city-level tracking, mobile deep linking |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | — | SSO, 99.99% uptime, dedicated success manager |
By comparison, Shortlen’s pricing is just three plans: Free, Pro at $7/month, and Team at $19/month. Free gets you started, Pro adds your own domain and full analytics, and Team adds seats for a small team — no tier-by-tier menu of link caps and feature add-ons to work through.
When does Bitly make more sense than Shortlen?
Bitly makes sense if you want more than a shortener. It’s been pushing AI-powered link creation, link-in-bio pages and digital business cards as part of the same product, and its Enterprise tier adds SSO and a dedicated success manager — the kind of thing a larger organization with its own security and support requirements will value. If your team already needs those extras, or you want one vendor covering a wider set of marketing tools, Bitly is a reasonable and well-established choice.
When does Shortlen make more sense than Bitly?
Shortlen makes sense if you just want a branded shortener — your own domain, click analytics and QR codes — without paying for a bundle of tools you won’t use. The pricing is plain: three plans, each with a flat monthly price, instead of a ladder of link/QR/back-half caps that changes at every tier. That’s a better fit for an individual, a freelancer, or a small team that wants predictable pricing and a simpler product to manage.
Next step
If Bitly’s extra products (AI tools, link-in-bio, business cards) matter to you, their pricing page has the full breakdown. If you’d rather keep things simple, see Shortlen’s pricing or contact us and we’ll help you pick the right plan.
Questions people ask
Does Bitly have a free plan?
Yes. Bitly's free plan includes 5 links, 2 QR codes and 3 custom back-halves a month, with unlimited clicks. It's useful for testing the product, but the monthly limits mean most regular users move to a paid tier fairly quickly.
Is Bitly more expensive than Shortlen?
At the entry level, yes — Bitly's cheapest paid plan is Core at $10/month, compared to Shortlen's Pro at $7/month. Bitly's higher tiers (Growth at $29/month, Premium at $199/month) cost more because they bundle extra features like custom domains, longer data retention and mobile deep linking.
Sources
- Bitly pricing, Bitly, 2026-10 (checked 2026-10-18)