Came for URL shortener, stayed for the Analytics Features
We use Bitly for nearly all URLs we put out publicly. As a real estate team, it is much easier to share a shortened bitly URL for our …
Starting at $35 per month
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What is Bitly?
Bitly (Bit.ly) is one of the most popular link shortening tools. The vendor says it shortens 1 billion links per month. The company is privately held, based in New York City, and was founded in 2008.
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Pricing
Basic
$35
Cloud
per month
Free
Free
Cloud
Customized
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Cloud
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
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- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
bitly project demo
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Bitly Video Demo
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bitly demo
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CMPE281 Bitly Demo
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CMPE281 Bitly Project Demo
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READ DESCRIPTION! -- Review & Demo Of Switchy.io Tutorial -- Bitly And Clickmagick Alternative
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Product Details
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What is Bitly?
Bitly Video
Creating and managing powerful branded links is easy. Check out our tips for using popular Bitly features, including custom domains, redirects and Campaigns.
Learn more at: bitly.is/resources
Check out the Bitly blog: bitly.is/blog
Bitly Integrations
Bitly Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Bitly (Bit.ly) is one of the most popular link shortening tools. The vendor says it shortens 1 billion links per month. The company is privately held, based in New York City, and was founded in 2008.
Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 9.5.
The most common users of Bitly are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
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Bitly has proven to be an invaluable tool for users across various industries and roles. By shrinking and customizing long URLs, Bitly makes it easier for users to remember and share links. Marketing and communications departments have found Bitly particularly useful in shortening lengthy URLs for social media posts, helping them meet character limits and build trust in their posts. The analytics provided by Bitly have enabled users to track outbound clicks and gather data on how their content is performing beyond social media platforms. In addition, Bitly has been used in email marketing campaigns to implement shortened links required for XML product data coding. Users have also found Bitly helpful in shortening URLs on product labels, allowing customers to easily access product information. Overall, Bitly's ease of use, ability to create user-friendly URLs, and comprehensive analytics have made it a preferred choice for managing tracking links, creating UTM codes for marketing campaigns, and tracking click rates on social media posts. With features like webhooks and QR codes, Bitly has further enhanced its usefulness in shortening long URLs for digital brochures, event materials, and even offline sharing.
- Customizable links: Many users have praised the ability to customize links in Bitly, as it allows them to easily manage and identify each link. This feature prevents their URLs from getting lost in a sea of indistinguishable links.
- Analytics insights: The analytics feature in Bitly is highly valued by users, as it provides valuable insights for each link created. Users appreciate being able to see the number of clicks, the source of visitors, and trends in traffic behavior, which helps them make data-driven decisions.
- Searchability: Users find Bitly's searchability feature beneficial, as it allows them to easily find links by using keywords. This saves users time and effort when retrieving links that were used months ago.
Confusing User Interface: Numerous users have reported encountering difficulties with the user interface of Bitly, stating that it is confusing and in need of improvement. This confusion hampers their ability to perform tasks effectively and diminishes their overall experience with the platform.
Limited Analytics: Many reviewers have expressed dissatisfaction with the analytics provided by Bitly, as they are limited in scope. Specifically, Bitly only offers 30 days of reports and does not track specific sources of traffic. As a result, users feel constrained in their ability to gather comprehensive data and make informed decisions based on it.
Lack of Customization Options: A significant number of users have highlighted the lack of customization options for Bitly links, particularly in the free version. The absence of robust customization features restricts users' ability to personalize and tailor their shortened URLs according to their preferences, limiting its usefulness for branding purposes.
Users commonly recommend the following when using Bitly:
- Prioritize starting with the free version of Bitly before subscribing to assess its suitability and benefits.
- Consider upgrading to a custom domain for a superior experience and a more professional appearance in social media posts and other online content.
- Utilize Bitly for effective URL shortening, comprehensive analytics tracking, and valuable insights into external website links. This allows users to enhance their marketing efforts and effectively monitor link performance.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-25 of 35)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Bitly has more features and automatically links to Linkinbio. Redirects are better. Analytics tool is unbeatable.
March 29, 2022
Use Bitly for Reliable Linking!
We have always only used Bitly as it serves our needs perfectly.
March 29, 2022
Bitly gets the job done
Bitly is the most fully featured and intuitive of the (albeit limited) options we have evaluated. Bitly is also the link shortener that our staff and our user base have had the most interaction with, so it was the choice with the least friction/switching costs up front. In this category, where the software provided has been more or less commoditized (at our level of usage) those were the most important considerations. The price point was and continues to be reasonable enough to not cause issues.
March 27, 2022
The go-to URL shortner
Bitly is the brand most associate with URL shortening. It's incredibly easy to use, non technical users can see instantly how it works and pick it up without issue. The features are increasing all the time, though now mostly locked behind the paid tiers - if you ever need to downgrade, you'll likely miss out on a lot of the best features.
March 26, 2022
Bitly: Please try an amazing link shortener!
March 25, 2022
Bitly helps with the shortening of URLs
We use Pretty Links for custom URLs from our Word Press website. When that is not possible because the URL doesn't originate from the website, we use Bitly. It definitely has a purpose in our day-to-day operations. We also appreciate the information you receive like total clicks, top referrer and top location.
March 25, 2022
Bitly makes easy to generate custom and short links
Bitly is easy to use and budget-friendly. Bitly is also specifically error-free. Being a responsible brand, we have to choose a trusted brand in which this service comes true. It is easily used by even less experienced team members and saves time. The advanced analytics feature is also making a difference.
We used Google for a long time until Google decided to remove that product (and replace it with another that did not exactly serve our use case, at least not in the most comfortable way) so we had to find an alternative and we tried Bitly, which actually worked very well for us from the first moment, even better than how we had been using it with goo.gl.
March 24, 2022
Good tool for social media teams tracking canpaigns
I didn’t use rebrand my for long. Possibly because the UX wasn’t as clean as bitly.
March 24, 2022
Bitly is Worth the Subscription
March 23, 2022
Bitly helps test
Other products on the market are limited and don't have good interface/dashboard
March 23, 2022
Bitly Review
Simplicity of the tool is Bitly’s competitive advantage. It is is easy to use, create links and measure and report analytics. Though Hootsuite had other use cases such as social sharing, scheduling, etc. Bitly is great if you have to shorten links or give the links their own branding/personality.
April 24, 2021
Its great at what it does but you pay a premium for it.
Bitly is a better product overall however it does cost more.
April 22, 2020
Bitly does what it says.
Bitly integrates better with the other social media software we use and gives us better insights.
February 11, 2020
Using Bitly is a pleasure
The functionality is very similar - but I find Bitly UI is more clear.
January 24, 2020
Bitly: The Perfect Free Link Shortener for Social Media
I use Hootsuite for scheduling social media posts, but it also offers a link shortener, which serves the same purpose as Bitly but with additional features like scheduling posts and monitoring your brand. If you're looking for something a bit more complex than Bitly, I would recommend Hootsuite as a great alternative.
December 12, 2019
Branded Bitly Links Best for URL Shortening
Long ago we used tinyurl.com to create all our short links. The service is rudimentary at best. We immediately switched to Bitly once we discovered the many features it has to offer. We were most excited to switch upon discovering we could assign our own branded short links using Bitly.
November 13, 2019
Makes sense if you feel like you're in the dark with link tracking
We looked at other platforms such as Google link shortener, but then they discontinued that. We haven't looked at alternatives in a little while because we have found good success and are comfortable with the platform that Bitly offers.
October 25, 2019
Does More Than Just Shorten Links
Since recognizing that Bitly is not accepted on all social media sites I tried to look for an alternative, specifically just for those platforms and was only able to find a tool called Pretty links that offered similar features that worked for what I needed.
Both Pretty Links and Bitly help with tracking and shortening URLs. The great thing about Pretty Links is that you are able to customize your links using your very own business domain via a WordPress website.
One of the key reasons I continue to use Bitly a lot more than Pretty Links is due to Bitly having a mobile app version. This way I am able to work on the go and not be restricted to only being able to shorten links via my laptop or desktop.
Both Pretty Links and Bitly help with tracking and shortening URLs. The great thing about Pretty Links is that you are able to customize your links using your very own business domain via a WordPress website.
One of the key reasons I continue to use Bitly a lot more than Pretty Links is due to Bitly having a mobile app version. This way I am able to work on the go and not be restricted to only being able to shorten links via my laptop or desktop.
July 18, 2019
Making Link Shortening Easy
Bitly overall is a simple tool to use to generate short links. Google had the goo.gl URL shortener, but it is no longer available. I do hate that Bitly requires premium in order to modify the URL. This would be good for presentations at conferences that are shared to make the name/link connect to me.
July 17, 2019
Here's a bit About Bitly
Bitly is the only link shortening service I've used.
June 06, 2019
Bitly is a must have tool for any digital marketer
- Hootsuite, Buffer and Google Analytics
It's the easiest tool to use, it is free, and it has the most capabilities. I like how it tracks the link's performance among campaigns. You can customize the link and make it easier for your audience to type in and remember. Bitly is well designed and easy to use without much training.
May 30, 2019
Bitly is my Most Used URL Shrinking Service
I prefer Bitly to TinyURL or any other URL shortening service by far. Simplicity, less known for having bogus/phishing links and higher integrity. Plus better reporting.
May 30, 2019
Great affiliate link shortener
It’s better than to.click because it preserves eBay in the link name