Bitly Alternative: Why Marketers Are Switching to RELURL in 2026

Bitly has been the dominant name in URL shortening for over a decade. It was the first platform many people used to shrink a link, and its brand recognition remains strong. But in 2026, a growing number of marketers and businesses are searching for a genuine Bitly alternative. The reasons range from restrictive free tiers and rising costs to a desire for better analytics and more user-friendly policies. This article examines why the exodus is happening and what platforms like RELURL offer instead.

What Happened to Bitly?

Bitly's free tier has eroded substantially over the years. As of 2026, free accounts are limited to 5 links per month. For context, an active social media manager might share that many links in a single afternoon. Exceeding the limit requires a paid plan starting at $8 per month for 100 links, but even that tier shows ads on your links. The ad experience forces users through an interstitial page before reaching the destination, which hurts click-through rates.

Beyond the free tier restrictions, Bitly has introduced mandatory account creation, phased out anonymous shortening, and moved advanced analytics behind higher paywalls. These changes make sense for Bitly's business model but frustrate users who remember when the platform was more accessible. For many, these frustrations are the tipping point to seek a Bitly alternative.

The Cost of Bitly vs. The Value You Get

Bitly's paid plans range from $8 per month for individuals to custom enterprise pricing that can exceed $1,000 per month. The core offering at each tier includes link shortening, basic analytics, and branded domains at the higher tiers. The pricing is not unreasonable for enterprise use, but it creates a gap in the market for users who need more than 5 free links but cannot justify a monthly subscription.

RELURL fills this gap as a compelling Bitly alternative by offering unlimited free shortening with no link limits. The free tier includes analytics that Bitly reserves for paying customers. For users who need branded domains or team features, RELURL's paid plans are competitively priced without the steep jumps that characterize Bitly's pricing structure.

Analytics Face-Off: Bitly vs. RELURL

Bitly's analytics are industry-standard, offering click tracking, geographic data, referrer information, and device breakdowns. These are genuinely useful tools for campaign analysis. However, most of these features are locked behind a paywall. Free users see only a basic click counter.

RELURL provides comparable analytics on every link, including on the free tier. You can see exactly how many clicks each link received, where visitors came from, what devices they used, and when clicks happened. This data parity makes RELURL a practical Bitly alternative for budget-conscious marketers who refuse to compromise on insights.

Ad Policies: A Major Differentiator

Perhaps the most significant difference between Bitly and RELURL is the ad policy. Bitly displays advertisements on links created by free and lower-tier paid accounts. These ads appear as interstitial pages that users must click through before reaching the intended content. Research in 2024 showed that interstitial ads reduce click-through rates by up to 12% because users drop off during the redirect.

RELURL never inserts ads on shortened links. The redirect is instant and clean, preserving the user experience and maximizing your click-through rates. For marketers who have built audiences on trust, this difference alone justifies switching to a Bitly alternative that respects the end user's time.

Branded Domains and Link Customization

Bitly offers branded domains only on its enterprise plan at $299 per month, putting custom domain support out of reach for most small businesses and individual marketers. RELURL offers branded domain support on mid-tier paid plans that cost a fraction of Bitly's enterprise pricing, making custom short links accessible to a much wider audience.

The impact of branded domains on CTR is well documented. A study by Rebrandly found that branded short links achieve 34% higher click-through rates than generic short links. By making branded domains affordable, RELURL helps smaller players access the same performance benefits that larger enterprises enjoy on Bitly.