# 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 May 12th, 2026 # Reviews of Bitly Ease of use 4.8 Customer Service 4.4 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews 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 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 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 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 DS David S OwnerInformation Technology and Services, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “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.“ 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 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 ## 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 JC John C. Video Editor Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Huge time-saver" February 6, 2025 5.0 Been using it since day one of home base work. positive experience; it's a huge time-saver for sharing links! Pros Bitly is super easy to use, making link shortening quick and convenient. Everthing is 1 tap away! Cons The free version has limited analytics and customization options for users. 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 LM Lindsey M. Owner Arts and Crafts Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Very useful" March 8, 2025 5.0 It’s very useful. I’ve been using bitly for 5 years and couldn’t live without it. Pros Very helpful for making long tracking links shorter. You can also customize the end of the link with the free plan. Cons I wish that I could create more than 5 custom links per month with the free plan Review Source GG Gianna G. Contract Acquisition Specialist Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "We love Bitly!" January 23, 2025 5.0 My experience was fantastic! I learned how to navigate through quickly! Pros Bitly is extremely easy to use and navigate through. It is a very straight to the point app! Cons The sites processing time was longer than I expected. Review Source NT Naouel T. frelancer Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Bitly review" July 2, 2024 5.0 My overall experience with Bitly has been positive due to its effective URL shortening capabilities and robust analytics tools. It's convenient for managing and tracking links, although pricing for advanced features can be a consideration. Pros Bitly stands out for its simplicity in shortening URLs and providing powerful analytics. It offers customization options for branded domains and integrates seamlessly with various platforms, making it a preferred choice for efficiently managing and tracking link performance. Cons Bitly's main drawbacks typically revolve around its pricing structure for advanced analytics and branded domains, which can be costly for some users. Additionally, there are occasional concerns about link reliability and dependency on third-party services for link redirection. Review Source Doyel N. graphic designer Design Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A Must-Have Tool for Everyone" June 4, 2024 5.0 Pros I liked Bitly's intuitive interface and comprehensive analytics, making link management and tracking effortless and insightful, a true game-changer for online marketing. Cons I wish Bitly offered more customization options for branded links, and occasionally, the interface could be more intuitive for new users. Review Source Caelon H. Digital Marketer Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Bitly Review" February 5, 2022 5.0 My overall experience with Bitly is good since I use Bitly with my online business and affiliate links all the time. Bitly has made a huge difference in what I do and I will continue to use Bitly for all my link shortening and link tracking needs. Pros What I like most about this software is that it allows you to track the links that you shorten to better give you an idea of how well your link is being discovered by others. Many other programs or software would charge you extra for this feature when with Bitly you can get it for free simply by signing up for free, shortening links, and tracking them on Bitly. Cons What I like least about this software is that you have to pay extra in order to run campaigns or use all of the analytics available to make even more of a difference after posting the links all over the internet. Review Source Laura G. Photographer Photography Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy to use for shortening links" May 14, 2022 5.0 Overall realistic experience is that bit.ly is just okay. Something that is useful for one thing - shortening links - and I would not personally pay for anything further with this software. Pros I like that you can make your links short and sweet. On the free plan you can customize the backend of your link, but you still have to use bit.ly as the front end. Cons The free plan does the basic thing of shortening links and customizing the backend of a link. For ANYTHING else, you have to pay and it's quite pricey for software with the purpose of not doing much else but handling links. I would pay maybe a tenth of what it costs now per month and I'd be okay with a tenth of the amount of links offered. Maybe a tiered plan wouldn't be the worst idea. More is not more sometimes. The worst part is that once you shorten and create a link, you can never delete it, you can only hide it, which is beyond crazy and inane to me. Maybe you'd want to completely disable that link and have it cease to exist, not just hide it. There is just no way to delete a shortened link... this blows my mind, and not in a good way. Review Source DN Debbie N. Manager Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Bitly from a Person who is not techie" January 31, 2023 5.0 Facilitates the sharing of long or complex links in a more user-friendly formatProvides valuable data on link engagement, enabling businesses to measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaignsEnhances brand recognition by allowing for customization of shortened linksIncreases the efficiency of link management for businesses with multiple campaigns or projects.BenefitsDifficulty in managing and organizing PDF files in a centralized and efficient mannerInability to easily convert PDF files to other file formats or extract text from PDFsHigh costs associated with specialized PDF software Pros I love this product use it all the timeShortens long URLs into a more manageable and shareable formatOffers tracking and analytics for clicks on shortened linksIntegrates with various social media and marketing toolsOffers a free plan with basic features and affordable paid plans with advanced features Cons Some features require a paid subscriptionLimited customization options for link appearanceCan be blocked by some browsers or security software 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 Nico P. CEO Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Brilliant Product" September 14, 2022 5.0 Pros I use bitly now for maybe four or even five years and i would never ever switch. It's extremely easy to use, Analytics are very deep going and setting up custom domains is super easy with just a CNAME-Record. Also the Tracking of Link Clicks is extremely fast; usually any click will be visible within seconds. Cons There is actually nothing i don't like about bitly. I never switched to a paid plan, because their free tier is completely fulfilling and enough for my needs, including custom domain. 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/)