The Bitly alternative
built for smart routing.
A feature-by-feature dossier, not a pitch: what routes better here, what Bitly still does best, and the sourced math in between. Every claim below is dated and checkable — including the ones we lose.
Both columns are true at once.
No winner declared. Match your constraints to a column and stop reading — the rest of the page is the evidence.
EIGHT DECISIVE BULLETS, NO WINNER DECLARED — MATCH YOUR CONSTRAINTS AND GO
Three differences that survive scrutiny.
Routing is the product
On Premium, every link takes conditional rules — country, device, language, time of day. Bitly links have one destination; here one link decides per visitor.
rule types: 4 · from PremiumUnlimited means unmetered
To be precise: Bitly’s caps are monthly quotas — they reset every month, they’re not lifetime totals. Ours isn’t a bigger quota. There is no meter to reset.
links counted per month: 0 · quota re-buys: nonePrivacy-minded, with memory
EU-first — visitor IPs anonymised before storage, and the entry paid plan keeps a year of click history — not 30 days. The dashboard charts the last 30; the API returns any range for links you create there.
retention, entry paid: 1 year vs 30 daysThe table. Every row says why it matters.
Checkmarks go where they’re earned — both columns. Bracketed numbers are sources; the full list is in the appendix.
ALL BITLY CELLS REFLECT PUBLIC PRICING & DOCS AT THE TIME OF WRITING — SOURCES [1]–[5], APPENDIX
Same page. Same preview. One different pixel.
Two unfurls of the same URL, as a chat app renders them. The title, image and description come from the page’s own OG tags — identical twice. The only thing that changes is the domain, and it’s the line people check before they tap.
Two link previews with identical images, titles and descriptions; the first shows the default short domain rii.link/x8f2, the second shows a branded domain go.acme.com/launch — the domain is the only visible difference.
To be fair: Bitly does branded domains too — this section isn’t a scoreboard row. It’s the argument for using one anywhere: the domain is the only credential a link carries.
Bring your domain → /custom-domainsSAME OG TAGS, RENDERED TWICE — THE CHANGED LINE IS MARKED LIKE A DIFF, BECAUSE IT IS ONE
On Bitly, each link costs more as you grow.
Not a rounding artifact — the published price divided by the published monthly quota rises with tier. It’s the one piece of math their pricing page leaves to you.
Paid plans don’t meter links at all, and Free’s 100-link cap is a standing shelf, not a monthly quota — so there is no per-link price to compute, and no quota to buy back the month a campaign actually lands.
One export. Three steps. Two honest caveats.
Export from Bitly
Settings → Export data. Bitly emails you a CSV of your links — back-halves, destinations, titles. That file is all you need.
their tooling · ~minutes [2]Recreate at rii
Create the links that still matter through the REST API or MCP — a short script walks the CSV — keeping each slug where it’s free on your domain. Routing rules can be layered on after.
api / mcp · importer Q4 2026Re-point your surfaces
Bios, ads, docs, QR artwork — swap them to the new links as you touch them. Your old bit.ly links stay Bitly’s and keep working on their terms; traffic simply drains as surfaces move.
no flag day · run both in parallelBitly’s export carries links, not click history — your analytics start fresh here (and Premium keeps a year of them). And bit.ly-domain links can’t 301 to us; Bitly owns that domain. Today there’s no self-serve importer: links move through the REST API or MCP. The CSV importer with collision review is on the roadmap for Q4 2026. Naming the friction is cheaper than you discovering it.
Where Bitly is the stronger choice.
Printed in the heaviest ink on the page, on purpose. If these are your constraints, Bitly is the right call — and this page will still be here if they change.
Brand recognition
Stakeholders and procurement already know the name. If sign-off speed depends on it, that’s worth something real.
Native mobile apps
Real iOS and Android apps, and good ones [4]. rii is web-only today. If you shorten from your phone all day, weigh this heavily.
Integrations marketplace
Years of marketplace coverage we don’t match. We offer a REST API, an MCP server and a click stream, no marketplace — if your stack lives in theirs, start there.
MCP server, longer in production
Theirs has been live since 2025 [3]; ours went GA in August 2026. The head start is real — if years-in-production matters for your agents, they’re ahead.
FOUR CONCESSIONS, ZERO ASTERISKS — IT’S WHAT MAKES THE REST OF THE DOSSIER WORTH READING
The questions people actually ask mid-switch.
No. They’re Bitly’s links on Bitly’s domain and keep working under your Bitly plan’s terms. Switching means new surfaces point at your domain here; the old links simply matter less every week.
Yes, wherever the slug is free on your domain — recreate them as-is through the REST API or MCP. A CSV importer that flags collisions for review is on the roadmap for Q4 2026.
No — and you should hear that from us: Bitly’s export carries links, not analytics. Your history here starts on day one, and the entry paid plan keeps a year of it, so the gap closes fast.
No — rii.link slugs work on the free tier. Section 04 is the argument for bringing your own domain eventually; it applies whichever vendor you pick.
That there is no meter — not a bigger quota. Nothing counts your links per month, so nothing resets, and no campaign month ends with a quota purchase.
Not fully. For links, domains and stats we offer REST plus an MCP server, and a live click stream for links you create over the API; outbound webhooks are on the roadmap (Q1 2027). On Premium our links can answer JSON, HTML or XML directly. The honest gap is the integrations marketplace; if your stack depends on theirs, read section 07 first.
Reread section 01; both columns stay true. If the marketplace, the native apps or the name are your constraint, pick Bitly with our blessing. For links that need to decide: rii.link.
This dossier has siblings.
Same format, same sources discipline, same concessions section — different competitor.
Switching is a feature.
Script the import tonight through the API, run both side by side, re-point surfaces as you touch them. The first hundred links ride free — no card, no clock; Premium has no link cap.
How to migrate 50,000 links without losing a click → /learn/migrating-50k-linksAll Bitly figures reflect public pricing and documentation at the time of writing (August 12, 2026) and can change without notice. Bitly is a trademark of Bitly, Inc.; rii.link is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bitly. Found something out of date? Tell us — corrections ship within a week, dated.