Bitly alternative
The Bitly Alternative Built for Developers
Rift gives you everything Bitly does — custom domains, analytics, branded short URLs — and then actually opens your iOS and Android apps on tap, attributes installs, and exposes the whole thing as an MCP server for AI agents.
Rift vs Bitly: side by side
| Feature | Rift | Bitly |
|---|---|---|
| Short URLs on custom domain | ||
| Click analytics dashboard | ||
| Branded short domains on free tier | ||
| QR code generation | API only | |
| iOS Universal Links / App Links (auto-hosted AASA) | ||
| Deferred deep linking | ||
| Click + install + conversion attribution | Clicks only | |
| Conversion webhooks | Enterprise tier | |
| MCP server for AI agents | ||
| Pay-per-request pricing | ||
| Self-hostable | ||
| Free tier | 100 links, 1k clicks/mo | 10 links/mo |
Why teams switch from Bitly
- Bitly's free tier gives you 10 branded links per month. Rift's gives you 100, with a custom domain, no card required.
- Bitly tracks clicks only. If a user taps a link on their phone and installs your app, Bitly sees a click and nothing else. Rift follows the full funnel.
- Bitly has no SDK, no AASA hosting, and no native mobile support. For a developer building a mobile product, that means writing all of the deep-linking plumbing yourself.
- Bitly's pricing is per-link and scales aggressively past the free tier. Rift's is per-request and stays predictable for API workloads.
Where Bitly is still the better pick
- QR code generation with design customization is built in and more polished.
- Non-technical users get a richer dashboard — Bitly optimizes for marketers, which matters if the person managing links is not in engineering.
- Mature integrations with mainstream marketing tools (HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack) for non-mobile link distribution.
Pricing at three scales
| Scale | Rift | Bitly |
|---|---|---|
| Individual / indie (100 links/mo) | Free tier covers it | $35/mo (Starter) for 500 links |
| Small team (5k links/mo, 50k clicks) | $49/mo flat | $199/mo (Premium) |
| High volume (100k links, 1M clicks) | Volume contract or ~$10k at per-request | Enterprise — quote only |
Migrating from Bitly to Rift
- 1Export all Bitly links via their API. The response includes the slug, destination, created_at, and custom domain.
- 2POST each link to Rift's `/v1/links` endpoint with `custom_slug` set to preserve the short URL. Batch 100 at a time to stay under rate limits.
- 3Point your Bitly custom domain's CNAME at Rift. TLS re-provisions via Let's Encrypt; AASA auto-serves if you also register an iOS app.
- 4Update any scheduled exports or integrations that read Bitly's click data to consume Rift's analytics API instead.
- 5For mobile apps, add the Rift iOS or Android SDK. This is a new capability — Bitly did not offer it — so you are gaining, not replacing.
- 6Run a short overlap period to confirm click counts match, then sunset the Bitly account.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Rift open source like some Bitly alternatives?
- Yes. Rift's server is open source and self-hostable — built in Rust on top of MongoDB. You can run it on your own infrastructure for internal use or as a managed service. Bitly is closed-source SaaS. If you need to self-host for compliance, data-residency, or cost reasons, Rift is the only one of the two that supports it.
- Can Rift replace Bitly for a marketing team?
- Yes for short links, QR codes, and click analytics. The API and dashboard do what Bitly does for those use cases. Where Bitly still has an edge is in polish for non-technical users — the marketing UI is more mature. If your team is developer-led, Rift will feel natural. If it is marketing-led and nobody will touch an API, Bitly's dashboard may be worth the price.
- What is the cheapest Bitly alternative with a custom domain?
- Rift's free tier. You get 100 branded links per month on your own domain, with TLS auto-provisioned via Let's Encrypt, no credit card required. Bitly charges $35/month minimum to get branded domains at all.
- Does Rift do everything Bitly does?
- Rift covers short URLs, custom domains, click analytics, and API access — the core Bitly feature set. Rift's QR code support is API-only and less polished than Bitly's. Rift adds native mobile deep linking, install attribution, conversion webhooks, and MCP support — features Bitly does not offer at any tier.
- Can I migrate my Bitly links without losing the short URLs?
- Yes. Rift's POST /v1/links endpoint accepts a `custom_slug` parameter. Export your Bitly links, script a bulk import with each slug preserved, and update your domain's CNAME to point at Rift. Existing short URLs keep working; nothing breaks in production.
Related reading
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