Free URL Shortener With Analytics: 7 Tools Compared by What They Track

Quick answer: For full analytics on a free plan, use Url Jetz: clicks, unique visitors, countries, cities, devices, browsers, operating systems and referrers, with bots filtered out and no cap on tracked clicks. Short.io shows up to 50,000 clicks a month for free, and Dub and Cuttly keep 30 days of history. Bitly and TinyURL show no click analytics on their free plans.

The main reason to use a short link instead of the original is to know whether it worked. But "free URL shortener with analytics" can mean anything from a single click counter to a full dashboard, and many free plans stop showing data after a limit or after 30 days.

We compared the free plans of 7 popular URL shorteners on what they actually let you see, without paying.

Disclosure: Url Jetz is our own product. We've used each provider's published pricing and help pages as of November 2026 and described every tool as fairly as we can. Free plans change often, so check before you commit.

What link analytics should show you

A useful analytics dashboard answers five questions:

• How many? Total clicks and unique visitors.
• Where? Countries, and ideally cities.
• On what? Device type, browser and operating system.
• From where? Referrers: the site or app that sent the click, such as Instagram, Facebook or Google.
• When? Clicks over time, by hour and by day.

Two more things decide whether the numbers are trustworthy: bot filtering (link previews and crawlers also "click" links) and history (how long the data is kept).

The comparison

1. Url Jetz: full analytics, no click cap

Url Jetz has no paid tiers, so the full analytics dashboard is part of the free plan.

What you can see for free:

• Total and unique clicks, updated in real time, plus a live feed of recent clicks
• Countries and cities, devices, browsers, operating systems and referrers
• Hourly and daily charts, per link and across your account
• Every click classified, so search crawlers, social previews and suspicious automation are kept out of your human click count
• Exports to CSV and PDF for reports

Privacy: raw IP addresses are never stored; a one-way hash is used to tell unique visitors apart.

Best for: anyone who wants complete click data on many links without paying.

2. Short.io: 50,000 tracked clicks a month

Short.io's free plan shows detailed statistics (countries, devices, languages and a time chart) for up to 50,000 clicks a month. After that, links keep working, but you need to upgrade to see the extra data. Short.io keeps aggregated statistics for 26 months.

Watch out for: the 1,000 free links are a lifetime total, not a monthly allowance.

Best for: branded-domain users with a moderate number of links.

3. Dub: detailed charts, short history

Dub's free plan includes 1,000 tracked events a month and 30 days of data, with breakdowns by country, city, device, browser, OS and referrer.

Watch out for: 25 new links a month, and anything older than 30 days is gone on the free plan. Analytics through Dub's API need a paid plan.

Best for: developers who create a few links a month.

4. Cuttly: detailed charts on few links

Cuttly's free plan has no cap on recorded clicks and shows referrer, device, OS, browser, country and language for 30 days.

Watch out for: 30 links and only 3 custom names a month, and bot filtering is a paid feature, so automated visits are counted.

5. Rebrandly: a branded domain, thin analytics

Rebrandly's free plan includes a custom domain and 10 links a month, but detailed click data stops at 100 clicks a month; after that you see totals and country.

6. Bitly: no analytics history on free

Bitly's free plan gives 5 links a month with unlimited clicks, but no analytics history. Click data starts on its Core plan at $10 a month (billed yearly).

7. TinyURL: no analytics on free

TinyURL's free plan is quick and its links never expire, but there are no analytics; you also can't edit or delete free links. See our TinyURL alternative guide for details.

What about is.gd? is.gd can record basic public statistics if you switch them on when you create the link. You can't add them later, and there's no account dashboard.

How to set up a tracked link (free)

1. Create a free Url Jetz account.
2. Paste your long URL, add a custom name like summer-sale and click Shorten.
3. Share the short link instead of the original: in your bio, post, email, ad, WhatsApp message or QR code.
4. Open Analytics to watch clicks arrive in real time.

For a deeper walkthrough, including UTM tags and Google Analytics, read how to track clicks on a link for free.

How to read your numbers

• Clicks vs unique visitors. One person who taps five times is five clicks but one unique visitor. Unique visitors tell you your real reach.
• "Direct" referrers. Apps like WhatsApp, email clients and QR scanners often don't pass a referrer. Use a separate short link for each place you share and the per-link totals tell you which channel worked.
• Bot clicks. When you post a link, Facebook, WhatsApp and others fetch it to build a preview. Without bot filtering these count as clicks. Check that your shortener separates them.
• Mobile share. If 80% of clicks are on phones, make sure the page you link to loads fast on mobile.

Three traps in "free" analytics

1. Caps on tracked clicks. Some plans keep redirecting but stop showing data after 100, 1,000 or 50,000 clicks a month. A viral post can push you over in a day.
2. Short history. 30 days is enough for a launch, but not for comparing this month with last quarter.
3. No bot filtering. Inflated numbers look good until you compare them with sales or sign-ups.

Frequently asked questions

Which free URL shortener has the best analytics?

On free plans, Url Jetz shows the most: every breakdown, real-time data, bot filtering and no cap on tracked clicks. Short.io and Dub also have good dashboards, with monthly limits on tracked clicks.

Does Bitly free show analytics?

Bitly's free plan shows no analytics history. You'll need a paid plan, or a free alternative such as Url Jetz, to see clicks by country, device or referrer.

Can I see who clicked my short link?

You can see how many people clicked, where they are and which device they used, but not their names or personal details. A privacy-friendly shortener shouldn't show personal data.

Can I track clicks on a link I've already shared?

Not on the original link. Create a tracked short link now and use it from here on. If the old post can be edited, swap in the short link.

Is click tracking legal?

Counting clicks, countries and devices without storing personal data is standard practice. Url Jetz never stores raw IP addresses and deletes raw click logs automatically. If you collect more data on your own website, follow your local privacy laws.