Any good URL shortening service besides bitly?

[born2run]

Hi so it seems bitly keeps going down many times. It's a good service but is there any other link shortening service which is as good as bitly and more reliable? Thanks!

[DavidB52]

born2run (OP) said,

Hi so it seems bitly keeps going down many times. It's a good service but is there any other link shortening service which is as good as bitly and more reliable? Thanks!

In addition to the ones that have already been suggested, there is a relatively new one which I have heard good things about: T2M (t2mio.com)
It allows users to customize the slug. So, instead of a random URL + slug, you can create one that is intuitive. And it provides QR codes, handy for mobile users.

sem4u said,

Google have their own service here [goo.gl]

Google terminated that service a while ago (as well as Google Plus).
Unfortunate. I was a happy customer. The service was rock solid and was one of the shortest URLs around: 6 characters plus the 6-character slug that was created. When goo.gl was terminated, bit.ly was one of the most popular services people recommended going to. I am surprised to hear it is flaky.

I happen to like URL shorteners and use one frequently.
Mostly in Twitter, even though they have their own built-in service (t.co.)
But also to create shorter, more intuitive, links.

I have no problem using a third-party service; I have no brand to promote, so basing something on my own URL is irrelevant to my purposes. Anybody with a WordPress blog could use the "Pretty Link" plug-in to serve such a purpose. Or they could try to write their own, or create redirects. But it seems like a lot of work. Perhaps it's worth it for some people. But not for me, so I will continue to use third-party URL shorteners.

[martinibuster]

Google have their own service here...

No they don't.

It's been discontinued.

[born2run]

Now bitly allows only 1000 links per month which is not good as I need about 3500 links shortened per month. Is there any good shortening service with IOS app to view statistics?

[born2run]

BTW anyone used Rebrandly? Any review?

[lucy24]

Do you mean 3500/month, as in 42000/year, or 3500 active at any given time? Are they short-lived by nature, or does each one need to remain valid forever? Either way, it seems as if it would be worth it to hammer out a simple substitution formula of your own and let it all happen locally.

[tangor]

and let it all happen locally

Logical, and always under one's control. Dependence on third parties can lead to trouble down the line.

[mack]

As a project (some time ago) I ended up creating my own URL shortener and it really isn't all that difficult. I would say if you want to use short links grab a domain that would work as a short URL for your business and either create or purchase a script to manage it. You can have it password protected to ensure only you can create links.

Mack.

[ronin]

@lucy24 asked:

The question I haven’t seen answered is: what is the advantage to using a third-part service instead of shortening the URL internally using your own rules?

I think the original idea was to enable website visitors (who might have no other available means of doing so) to share more easily long and complex URLs via email and social media.

[Dimitri]

I think the original idea was to enable website visitors (who might have no other available means of doing so) to share more easily long and complex URLs via email and social media.

Indeed, but it's not incompatible with what lucy24 said. You can do your own url shortening.

For example, if your site is dynamic, it means that all your pages / articles , have a unique ID number within your database.

so you can create short URL like

example.com/<id>

which redirects to

example.com/keywords-rich-url-because-it-rocks-<id>.html

and you can make it shorter again more the id by using hexadecimal, or again more by using base36 ( [a-z][0-9] ) , you can even use a base62 ( which includes upper and lower case letters ).

also, if your domain name is too long, you can register a short domain name and use it instead.

[JessieCaturan]

Bl.ink.
Polr.
Rebrandly.
just a recommendation.

Shorter URL can produce curiosity in fact when you click it you are merely hesitating but if its from a familiar short url creator you just aware theres a skip button for the ads.

^_^