# Bitly Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Bitly the right URL Shortener solution for you? Explore 1295 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/172575/Bitly/reviews --- Bitly 4.8 (1295) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/172575/Bitly/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated April 24th, 2026 # Reviews of Bitly Ease of use 4.8 Customer Service 4.4 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews cb caleb b CTOReal Estate, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “i like how in their free version, you can make custom links, track em, and customize details about the display.“ June 2, 2025 BL Brandon L Sales ManagerInformation Technology and Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Dealing with a lot of URLs could be a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, since every link needs to be changed according to every campaign or piece of material.“ June 3, 2025 Doyel N graphic designerDesign, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “I liked Bitly's intuitive interface and comprehensive analytics, making link management and tracking effortless and insightful, a true game-changer for online marketing.“ June 4, 2024 Gina K Marketing ManagerNon-Profit Organization Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Sometimes there is a bug where if you change the title with the initial link input - it doesn't always keep the title change and you have to go back and edit the link title. If you're creating a custom back-half without branding - a lot of times the custom back-half is already taken and you're not able to use it.“ June 30, 2023 BL Brandon L Sales ManagerInformation Technology and Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Bitly has become a necessary part of our company's success by greatly improving the monitoring, management, and efficacy of our digital marketing initiatives.“ June 3, 2025 BL Brandon L Sales ManagerInformation Technology and Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Dealing with several URLs at once can quickly make this activity boring.“ June 3, 2025 DS David S OwnerInformation Technology and Services, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I like how functional Bitly is in terms of being able to easily create short URLs and also to customise the end part of the URL to make it easy to type in or relay to someone else.“ February 24, 2025 ma malak a social servicesHuman Resources, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “What I saw of the negatives is that it also remains a link shortening site, which seems bad for communication sites such as Facebook and reddit, so from my personal point of view the most negative point is that it is not good to use in all sites, but this does not prevent it from being one of the best link shortening sites on the Internet“ July 4, 2023 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 1295 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Charles A. Creative Director Cosmetics Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Really good, does more than just link shortening" February 27, 2025 5.0 Very happy. Everything was working nothing to complain about. Althought I did find a lifetime deal elsewhere and switched. It's still really good software. Pros It's simple. Reliable. Useful all in one. Cons There's so much competition now in this area. That there's not really much of a differentiating factor between them. Alternatives considered [SQR](https://www.capterra.com/p/265463/SQR/) Reason for choosing Bitly It's a trusted name. A known entity still has a good reputation. Remembered it from Twitter days. Review Source WK Walter K. Cyber security Officer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Extremely fast and accurate performance. Recommended." November 20, 2024 5.0 Remarkable experience. Everyone is appreciating the services. Pros We've never made a better choice. I focused on issues like ease of use, ease of integration. Bitly has all this key values. It is also flexible, accurate and most importantly cost effective. Cons This user friendly solution is great. It has not shown any major challenges in operation. I am left contented. Switched from [TLinky](https://www.capterra.com/p/10013154/TLinky/) I experience more flexibility and intuitiveness with Bitly. Review Source Nikita R. Founder Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Misleading ads/website say “free,” but after ~14 days you must pay" August 12, 2025 1.0 I found Bitly’s qr-code-generator.com via a Google ad promising a free QR code generator. I signed up on July 30 and created a dynamic QR for the non profit event. At no point in the ad, landing page, or creation flow did I see a clear, prominent notice that the dynamic code would stop working after ~14 days unless I paid. Everything looked polished, worked fine, and I printed and distributed the QR on physical materials. About two weeks later, scans stopped resolving and a paywall appeared telling me to upgrade to “reactivate” the exact same code. There was no fallback redirect, so all printed materials became useless overnight. Support said I couldn’t convert that dynamic code to a free static one because it’s “technically different,” which feels like lock-in by design. Getting help from a human was difficult - I mostly received generic AI replies that acknowledged my disappointment but offered no solution. The countdown warning email (“Oh no! Your Dynamic QR Codes will expire in 3 days”) arriving from a “Head of Happiness” was especially ironic. Overall, my experience felt misleading: the product appears free until after you’ve committed to using the QR in the real world, then it’s pay or break. Bitly should clearly label dynamic codes as a time-limited trial up front, provide an obvious free-static option, and allow one-time conversion for already printed codes. Pros Clean, straightforward design - setup was easy and the QR worked fine during the initial period, right up until I printed everything (see cons). Cons Misleading ads/website say “free,” but after ~14 days you must pay; printed materials became useless with no fallback redirect. No way to convert an existing dynamic QR to a free static one - feels like lock-in by design. No human support - AI replies say they “understand the disappointment” but don’t help. Review Source AR Abhishek R. Digital Marketing Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "The best and Powerful URL Shortener I ever used." December 12, 2024 5.0 I can say that Bitly is the best URL Shortener in terms of all features and integrations and easy to use. Pros Bitly is the best and popular URL Shortener I ever used, It have best features, analytics, and other Integrations that make URL shortening very easy. And It is very user friendly and It allows to change the custom Alias (slug) for free that other not allow. And Its cutomer support is very good. Cons All things are very good but pricing may affect the individuals and other low budget users. Switched from [TinyURL](https://www.capterra.com/p/228765/TinyURL/) TinyURL have no fetaures and other integrations that bitly have and charge almost same. That's why I have to switch. Review Source BL Brandon L. Sales Manager Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "It is a required element for the links' and our company's success" June 3, 2025 5.0 The better URL distribution thanks to email marketing and social media advertising helps explain many of the successes of our projects. Real-time link activity enables us to find the traffic source and change our plans depending on their analytical power. Customized URLs help users to click through and remember our brand, so strengthening both. Bitly has become a necessary part of our company's success by greatly improving the monitoring, management, and efficacy of our digital marketing initiatives. Pros Thanks to Bitly that maximizes, personalizes, and simplifies all of our URLs, we can now show them in a neat and professional way instead of sending long and complicated links. Every one of our digital ads, blog entries, social media campaigns, emails has short links abound. Moreover, regardless of their level of technical expertise, every team member can easily and quickly create their own original URLs. Matching every link to fit particular content or promotions will help us to improve brand image even more and win users' confidence. Every time we have needed assistance, the prompt responses and sensible ideas we have acquired have helped us to remain active free from interruptions. Cons Dealing with a lot of URLs could be a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, since every link needs to be changed according to every campaign or piece of material. Dealing with several URLs at once can quickly make this activity boring. Review Source CN Chae N. Digital Marketing Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Bitly WAS great. Not any more." October 13, 2025 1.0 Overall, I would not recommend Bitly at this point. Until they start helping their customers again. Pros They are very easy to use and very straight forward. We used their short link for SMS and QR code for sales sheets. Cons Lately, they pretty much stopped with customer service. I tried to modify by paid account and I could not. The only customer service is that AI chat. We asked for help and Bitly said they would get back to us, but never did. Probably around July 2025 we didn't have any of these issues. Review Source SP Sian P. Consultant Public Relations and Communications Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Short codes are a blessing and so is Bitly! " May 21, 2025 5.0 I am very happy with Bitly and look forward to watching them develop further on the AI side of software development. Pros I have a paid version so I can integrate the company short url. I like this feature. I like how Bitly offers QR codes as part of the link creation. It has an app too - for work on the move! Cons Not much to dislike. There are other products that are similar and probably not as powerful. Bitly has been around a long time and has adapted to customers needs. Review Source DS David S. Owner Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Fantastic tool for making short pretty URLs" February 24, 2025 5.0 I have used Bitly for many years and I am a premium user of the service. I often use it to make links more easy to save, remember, type in or relay to my clients. I really like the ability to customise the end part of the link so that I can make links easy to remember and relay to clients. Pros I like how functional Bitly is in terms of being able to easily create short URLs and also to customise the end part of the URL to make it easy to type in or relay to someone else. Cons I sometimes find it is slightly too complicated to create short URLs. Even though it only takes 10-15 seconds I wish they made the dashboard even more intuitive so links could be created in a shorter amount of time. Review Source Olalekan O. Production Manager Entertainment Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Bitly is your go-to link shortener, manager, and tracker" April 4, 2025 5.0 Pros Bitly allows me to make my links presentable, manage and track the links for success. Cons Bitly sometimes glitch in operation but asides this it is perfect. Review Source Priya J. Freelancer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Secure and best software for shortening and customising links!" February 28, 2025 4.0 My overall experience with this software is amazing. It has helped me the most in my projects. Pros It is a very good and safe platform for shortening the links. I can shorten, share and manage any links using Bitly effortlessly. It also offers features like customisation of links. It has eased my work alot by removing the unnecessary symbols and letters from the links. Cons There is some difficulty while contacting the customer support team. Moreover, they respond very slowly which was very challenging issue for me. They took many days to resolve my problem. Review Source cB caleb B. CTO Real Estate Used the software for: 2+ years ### "a wonderful free plan imo" June 2, 2025 4.0 generally great. the links work that you set up. i've always had decent visibility to actions and traffic on them. Pros i like how in their free version, you can make custom links, track em, and customize details about the display. Cons editing links in a certain way, under the free plan, is limited.. between that and no QR code generation, that's it.. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Communications Project Manager Wholesale Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Short links made easy" January 6, 2025 5.0 Very positive. No platform makes link shortening easier than Bitly. Pros Bit.ly makes it simple and easy to make condensed links and QR codes for situations where character counts are critical. The process is as easy as a few clicks. Cons The QR codes/month on the basic plan are a bit restrictive, would love to see looser limits on generation. Review Source MK Madhura K. Strategist Apparel & Fashion Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Efficient tool that allows you to track link activities in depth" July 10, 2024 5.0 Pros Bitly has been a boon for our small business. We can now track customer movement on links and conversion rates which would have been impossible to do with plain landing page links. The in-depth analytics is a game changer when it comes to optimizing links for conversion. We also appreciate the highly customizable link format that not only allows us to get creative but strategize conversions. Cons Nothing unlikeable about Bitly. We clearly love it Review Source AP Andy P. Director Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Reliable link shortener " June 14, 2024 4.0 Pros Bit.ly was the first link shortener that I used. It helped make popular the concept of link shorteners and it has good analytics. It has been reliable during my time using it (since 2017). Cons Over the years they have changed the layout of the area you goto once you are logged in which makes doing basic tasks eg taking a url and then getting a short version of it more time consuming. Also they now have lots of options like landing pages and qr codes which can be useful for some people but it my case I just want to make short links quickly and easily and then see some analytics for the links. Review Source Oscar R. Researcher E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "They need a intermediate plan!" August 7, 2021 5.0 In the Free and Basic Bitly outstands every alternative, but the Premium Plan is just to High. Pros Bitly is a useful tool. It shortens your own url, but also help you shorten any other url. If you don't have any place to host a database, bitly can do it for you. Also they give you from basic to advanced analytics, that help you track your own links, this is great for many purposes. Cons It needs definitely an intermediate plan. The Basic plan ($29usd/month) is great for almost everyone that really needs a powerfull Bitly. But Some features on the Premium are not as important for many of us, but they charge the full plan. For example, we do not need QR Codes or Advanced analytics and Campaings, but we really want to use the UTM Builder , but we just won't suscribe to the Premium plan ($199usd/month) just for that. Alternatives considered [Linkly](https://www.capterra.com/p/187554/Linkly/) Reason for choosing Bitly Bitly is more reliable. Review Source RF Robert F. Free Lancer E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Bitly makes your life easier." March 5, 2022 5.0 Easy to use. I started out as a free user, and you can too. Pros I can use it without having to be a software engineer. It works. I do not end up with any issues that require me to contact platform support. Cons I just don't have anything I can be critical about in a meaningful way. I have tried some other link shortening platforms, but I always ended up coming back to Bitly. Review Source Dayna T. Owner/Opeator Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Bitly makes web address more attractive and easier to trend!" July 7, 2022 5.0 Using Bitly has been a great experience! Pros I love how this software condenses a long web address into a much more convenient link. The shorter the better and the easier to publicize. I love that the software is free, easy to use, and keeps track of all of my created Bitly links. I can reuse links instead of recreating them, bettering the analytical data. Cons I dislike that sometimes the link drops off and you have to recreate or reattach it in order for it to work. However, I think that glitch will be solve and doesn't occur that often. Reason for choosing Bitly I chose Bitly because it was free, innovative, and marketing user-friendly. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Marketing Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Amazing! Worth paying for the upgraded plan." June 30, 2023 5.0 Overall, great experience with Bit.ly! Will continue to use it and haven't found a worthy competitor. It's very affordable with great features. A few bugs sometimes but nothing detrimental. I've used them for a few years now and they continue to add features and grow their business. It's great to see and use! Very easy and user-friendly. Pros I've used Bitly for a very long time for multiple companies. It's worth being able to have a short link that clients and consumers can use. I LOVE that you're able to create trackable QR Codes now. I love that you're able to track the analytics thoroughly now. It used to be where you can only see link clicks but now you can see the sources of the link clicks including sites and countries. It's very easy to use. I use Bit.ly daily! Cons Sometimes there is a bug where if you change the title with the initial link input - it doesn't always keep the title change and you have to go back and edit the link title. If you're creating a custom back-half without branding - a lot of times the custom back-half is already taken and you're not able to use it. It's worth paying for the upgrade for the branding aspect. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Campus Instructional coach Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Bitly for Education" March 4, 2022 5.0 I use bitly for sharing shortened links for students and other educator professionals at work.. It is also especially useful for getting everyone to a certain link fast or checking in students with online forms, research and provides great ways to keep organized with the click of a link. Pros I love using Bitly because it gives amazing service in creating a usable and simplistic link that anyone can use, regardless of age or technological savvy. Bitly services create short URL's with tracking feature to know how it has been performed and where it has been clicked mostly. Cons The free version has limitations. The starter pack is a bit pricey - the price could be a bit less for individuals. Reason for choosing Bitly Bitly saves time and brings everyone to the link faster. It is a great resource to use, as time is crucial. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Manager - Marketing & Communications Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A great Link Management Tool that allows Custom Domain option" March 14, 2022 5.0 A good tool for wider use by the whole marketing & content creation team across diverse marketing products and collateral Pros It helps our business through the following ways: 1. Shortening URLs 2. Improving Click-Through Rate 3. Using Pillar Blogs & Posts Links across other digital marketing products repeatedly. 4. Getting Analytics that inform about the campaign success rate 5. Ease of use by just copying, shortening, and sharing the so obtained short links anywhere even through mobile device. Cons 1\. This must be available in both online & offline mode like other extensions 2. It does not work when there's a poor internet connectivity 3. It's not SPAM proof. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Associate Professor Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Under rated tool for academics -- it helps!" May 1, 2023 5.0 Does everything I need for me as an academic even with the free tier. Makes emails and slides look very clean. No ugly multi-line URLs. Pros It does exactly what it is meant to do which is primarily shorten URLs. For content creators and social media managers, it offers much more in their paid tiers. But for me, as an academic, I use Bitly all the time to shorten very long and ugly URLs pointing to journal articles, various items to purchase, among others. It keeps an email clean when you have a list of short URLs to share with your colleagues instead of links that spill over into several lines. This is also very important when sharing URLs on presentation slides. The QR code feature is also very handy for these reasons as well. Even in the free plan, you can get a count of how many clicks went through the URL. This is enough for me as an academic, it shows if any of the links I featured in my slides, etc. were actually visited by anyone. For content creators, you might need more than that and I believe their paid plans do just that. As far as I know, it also doesn't Cons I don't have anything bad to say about Bitly. For my purposes, it does the job and I don't really need much from it aside being an ad-free URL shortener and click count tracker. Review Source Zamruddin S. Consultant IT Trainer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best tool for URL Shortner" July 20, 2023 5.0 My overall experience with this tool is very easy to understand and very user-friendly. Best URL Shortener in the market this time. Pros If you are an IT guy or a simple working professional, And If you need to share a website link with users or provide awareness to lots of users with a link then you need to use this platform it is a very easy-to-use platform. That can help you to make short URLs and you can customize URLs also, It's make very easy to customize URLs with easy-to-understand words, Best part is that you can track How many users click on that URL. Cons I don't find any cons to this tool, You can easily use this tool. Review Source JG Jessica G. Real Estate Broker Real Estate Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Intuitive, Easy and Trustworthy" October 6, 2023 5.0 Overall I have had an extremely positive experience with Bitly. When I first started using Bitly the QR code generator wasn't available, I would use my bitly links to connect with a random QR code generator. When Bitly introduced the QR code feature, it was perfectly intuitive to use, and made my life so much easier. I love this software, and appreciate the trusted name. Pros I love that bit.ly is a trusted name. My two favorite features are that you can customize your short links and that you can download QR codes to your URL as well. This is incredibly helpful for our marketing and we can set our links up extremely quickly. The system is so intuitive, now that they've offered the QR codes, I can get everything I need for URL shortening and QR codes all in one place. Cons The features use Bitly for (link shortening, QR codes, click tracking) are easy, useful and wouldn't change anything. I haven't utilized some of their other features, so I can't speak to those at this time. Reason for choosing Bitly Trusted name, seamless features and easy click tracking Review Source CM Cynthia M. Community Manager Real Estate Used the software for: 2+ years ### "HIghlight Your Creativity with a Custom Link that Fits you Perfectly!" July 25, 2022 5.0 BITLY was a game changer early on, when it made custom links possible. Coming up with a short word or acronym means it's easy to remember, and makes engagement more likely. Pros The ability to come up with your own link is the main reason to use BITLY. It's not the ONLY reason, because sometimes the random link is just fine, but it you are planning an event, highlighting a fashion, music, or influencer link, the ability to share a link that uses your own words is priceless. Cons Our only complaint about BITLY is sometimes the obvious work you want to use is already taken. No biggie - just think a little more and come up with another one. Review Source Becky O. Freelancer Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "More than a link shortening tool." February 7, 2022 5.0 Bitly is a great platform whose free service platform is viable to cater to many link needs. Pros This has been a very convenient tool which has proven to be reliable over time. It has the ability to create custom URLs which have a uniqueness that gives them professional and presentable branding that is user-friendly. In addition to shortening links, it provides a tracking feature which tracks the number of clicks generated by the link. This has ultimately helped me improve customer experience. Cons Having used Bitly for over a year now, I find it difficult to delete links that are no longer needed. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [URL Shortener](https://www.capterra.com/url-shortener-software/)[Link Management Tools](https://www.capterra.com/link-management-tools-software/)