Click data without paying
Free URL shortener with analytics
Knowing who clicked is usually the reason to use a shortener at all. On some free plans you see everything for a month. On others you see nothing.
Free analytics compared
| Tool | History kept | Tracked clicks | Breakdowns | Bot filtering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ReSlug | 30 days | 1,000 tracked clicks/mo | Geo, device, referrer, real time | Yes, every plan |
| Dub | 30 days | 1,000 tracked events/mo | Geo, device, referrer | Not documented |
| Cuttly | 30 days | Not stated | Geo, device, referrer | Paid plans only |
| Short.io | Not documented | 50,000 tracked clicks/mo | Geo, device | Not documented |
| Linkly | Not stated | 500 clicks/mo | Country-level | Paid plans only |
| Rebrandly | Not documented | 100 engagement clicks/mo | Basic | Not documented |
| Bitly | None | — | — | Not documented |
| TinyURL | None | — | — | — |
From vendor pricing pages, 8 November 2026. Breakdown columns summarise what each dashboard shows on free.
Bot clicks inflate free analytics
Paste a link into Slack, WhatsApp, iMessage or a mailing list and something fetches it to build a preview. That fetch is recorded as a click unless the shortener removes it. On a busy channel a link can show dozens of clicks before a person has touched it.
ReSlug is the only free plan here that documents filtering those out. Cuttly adds a bot-click chart on its $25 Single plan. Linkly adds bot and crawler controls on its $15 Starter plan. The rest do not say.
Thirty days is the free ceiling
No free plan keeps more than 30 days of history. ReSlug, Dub and Cuttly sit at that figure. If you need to compare a campaign against the same month last year, you will be paying somewhere. On ReSlug that is $9 a month for 365 days. On Dub it is $27 for 1 year. On Bitly it is $10 a month, billed yearly, for 30 days.
The free plans with no analytics
TinyURL shows nothing on free, and you cannot edit a link's destination either. Click statistics arrive on Pro from about $9.99 a month. Bitly tracks clicks on free but keeps no history, so there is nothing to look back on. Both are fine for a link you will never check and wrong for anything you want to measure.
Questions & answers
Which free URL shortener has the best analytics?
ReSlug: 30 days of geo, device, referrer and real-time data with bot clicks filtered, on 500 active links.
Does TinyURL have free analytics?
No. Analytics require TinyURL Pro, from about $9.99 a month.
How long do free plans keep click history?
30 days at most, on ReSlug, Dub and Cuttly. Short.io and Linkly do not publish a figure. Bitly keeps none on free.
Why does my new link already show clicks?
Link previews from chat apps and email scanners register as clicks unless filtered. ReSlug filters them on every plan.
Sources for this entry
- ReSlug pricing page reslug.com/pricing
- Bitly pricing page bitly.com/pages/pricing
- Dub pricing page dub.co/pricing/links
- Short.io pricing page short.io/pricing
- Rebrandly pricing page www.rebrandly.com/pricing
- TinyURL pricing page tinyurl.com/app/pricing
- T.LY pricing page t.ly/pricing
- Cuttly pricing page cutt.ly/pro-pricing
- Linkly pricing page linklyhq.com/pricing
- Switchy pricing page www.switchy.io/pricing
Checked 8 November 2026. Vendor pages change; the date is the claim.
Cite this entry
Best Free URL Shortener. "Free URL shortener with analytics". Reviewed 8 November 2026. https://bestfreeurlshortener.com/free-url-shortener-with-analytics/