Bitly and TinyURL answer different questions. Bitly is a paid link platform with a small free plan: on its pricing page (accessed 2026-10-25) the Free plan is $0 and allows 5 links and 2 QR codes a month, and paid plans run from $10 to $199 a month. TinyURL is the better-known name for quick, simple shortening. We tried to read its pricing page on 2026-10-25 and the page returned no plan data, so this post states no TinyURL prices or limits. Check its page yourself.
That gap shapes the comparison. Bitly has verified numbers. TinyURL has a positioning, not a spec sheet. Practical advice splits in two. Need clicks and a custom domain? Bitly's tiers are readable and you can price them today. If you only need a throwaway link, either tool does the job and the decision is a five-minute look at TinyURL's live plans.
This post sits in the comparison cluster. For the wider field see Bitly alternatives - the feature gap and the best EU URL shorteners.
Bitly vs TinyURL at a Glance
The table only holds what we could check. A dash means we could not verify it, not that the feature is missing.
| Dimension | Bitly (pricing page, accessed 2026-10-25) | TinyURL |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0, 5 links and 2 QR codes a month, 1,000 API requests | Not verified (pricing page did not load) |
| Cheapest paid plan | Core, $10 a month billed annually, 100 links, 5 QR codes | Not verified |
| Mid plan | Growth, $29 a month, 500 links, 10 QR codes | Not verified |
| Top listed plan | Premium, $199 a month, 3,000 links, 200 QR codes | Not verified |
| Analytics history | 30 days (Core), 120 days (Growth), 1 year (Premium), 2 years (Enterprise) | Not verified |
| Custom domain | 1 complimentary on Growth and Premium | Not verified |
Bitly's links-per-month caps are the number to notice. The Core plan allows 100 links a month and Growth 500, so a team that publishes links at volume reaches the ceiling before it reaches the feature list. Bitly's API quota scales the same way: 1,000 requests a month on Free, 5,000 on Core, 25,000 on Growth and 50,000 on Premium.
Ease of Use and the Free Tier
Bitly's free plan is small by design. Five links and two QR codes a month tests the product. It won't run a campaign calendar. No analytics retention is listed on Free at all, so don't plan on measuring anything from it.
TinyURL's free plan is where we have nothing to report. Its homepage loaded, but the pricing page returned no plan data on 2026-10-25, and we won't repeat a limit from memory. If "free, no signup" is your whole requirement, open tinyurl.com and read the current terms. Our ranking of free URL shorteners covers what free tiers usually withhold.
Analytics and QR Codes
Analytics is where Bitly's plan ladder is easiest to read. History is 30 days on Core, 120 days on Growth, one year on Premium and two on Enterprise. That matters more than the feature list. A 30-day window leaves a quarterly campaign review with no data for its first two months.
QR codes are rationed the same way. Two a month on Free, five on Core, ten on Growth, 200 on Premium. If QR codes are central to your work, a designer without a monthly cap is worth pricing separately; Elido's designer exports PNG and SVG with colours, module and eye styles, a logo and a frame, though it doesn't separate scans from ordinary clicks yet.
Branded Domains and Pricing
Bitly lists one complimentary custom domain on Growth and Premium, and none on Free or Core. So the cheapest route to a branded link on Bitly is the $29 a month Growth plan ($348 a year), by its pricing page. We couldn't confirm what TinyURL charges for a branded domain or which tier includes it.
If a branded domain is the goal, setting up branded short links shows what the setup involves, and vanity URLs explained covers readable slugs. Prices change, so treat every number here as a dated reading from 2026-10-25, not a quote. If you want to compare against an alternative, start a free Elido workspace and add a domain to see the flow.
Where Both Fall Short
Neither pricing page we read states where click data is stored. Solo creators can ignore this. A company selling into Europe can't: it's often the first question in a security review, and "we use Bitly" isn't an answer.
An EU-first tool changes part of that answer, not all of it. Elido's primary data store is in the EU, but its redirect servers in the EU, the US and Singapore process visitor IPs, the click record keeps the full IP with city and coordinates, and you can't pin a workspace to a region. It isn't ISO 27001 certified, SOC 2 is in preparation with no report yet, and a DPA is available on request. Those are the facts a reviewer will want, and they're why we'd tell you to ask every vendor, us included, in writing. The longer comparisons are Elido vs Bitly and Elido vs TinyURL.
What We Could and Couldn't Check
I'd rather show the gaps than fill them. The Bitly numbers come from one fetch of its pricing page on 2026-10-25, and the plan cards were clearer than its comparison table, which shows no clear custom-domain counts. I read "1 complimentary" from the Growth and Premium plan cards, so confirm the domain count before you buy. The TinyURL pricing page returned only a page title and a logo. We didn't fall back on older posts or memory, because a stale limit is worse than a blank cell. If you can see the live TinyURL plans, you already know more than this table does.
How to Pick
Choose by the job. Need analytics history and a custom domain, price Bitly's Growth plan against alternatives. If you need one casual link, read TinyURL's live terms and move on. If residency or a certificate matters, get written answers first and treat any comparison post, including this one, as a starting point.
Related on the Blog
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Bitly and TinyURL?
Bitly sells a link-management platform with analytics, QR codes, a custom domain on paid plans and team features, and meters all of it by plan. TinyURL is positioned around fast, simple shortening. We could not load TinyURL's pricing page on 2026-10-25, so we don't state its limits or prices here. Read its live page before you decide.
How much does Bitly cost?
On Bitly's pricing page (accessed 2026-10-25) the Free plan is $0 with 5 links and 2 QR codes a month. Core is $10 a month billed annually ($120 a year), Growth is $29 a month ($348 a year), Premium is $199 a month ($2,388 a year), and Enterprise is custom. Bitly changes tiers often, so confirm on the page.
Which has better analytics, Bitly or TinyURL?
For Bitly we have numbers: analytics history is 30 days on Core, 120 days on Growth, 1 year on Premium and 2 years on Enterprise, and the Free plan lists none (pricing page, accessed 2026-10-25). TinyURL's analytics limits could not be verified because its pricing page didn't load for us, so we won't rank it on depth.
Do Bitly and TinyURL support branded domains?
Bitly's pricing page lists one complimentary custom domain on Growth and Premium, and none on Free or Core (accessed 2026-10-25). TinyURL advertises branded short links on its homepage, but its plan details didn't load for us, so we can't say which tier includes a domain or how many. Compare the tier prices before assuming a domain is included.
Does either tool keep click data in the EU?
Neither vendor's pricing page states a data-residency option, and we haven't seen one in the plans we read. If a legal or procurement review will ask where click data lives, ask each vendor in writing. Elido keeps its primary data in the EU, though edge servers outside the EU still see visitor IPs while serving a redirect.
Is there an alternative to both Bitly and TinyURL?
Yes. Elido is one, with custom domains on Pro (1) and Business (5), a QR designer, a geo and device routing engine and an EU primary data store. It isn't certified to ISO 27001 and SOC 2 is still in preparation, so if a certificate is a hard requirement today, check that before you shortlist it.
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