Is Bitly Free? Bitly Free Plan Limits in 2026 (and a Free Bitly Alternative)
Is Bitly free? Yes, there's a free plan, but it's smaller than most people remember. On the day this was recorded (1 October 2026) Bitly's own pricing page listed the free plan as 5 links and 2 QR codes a month, labelled "With ads". Here's what you get, what sits on the paid plans, and a free Bitly alternative for comparison.
Transcript
The full spoken transcript, split by chapter.
- 0:00Is Bitly free?
- Is Bitly free? Yes. There's a free plan, and for a couple of links it's fine. But it's a lot smaller than most people remember, and there's one thing on it that surprises people. Here's what you actually get.
- 0:12Bitly free plan limits
- This is Bitly's own pricing page, on the day I recorded this. The free plan is five links a month and two QR codes. Clicks aren't capped, which is fair. But look at the label up top. With ads. It's the only plan on the page that carries it.
- 0:26What sits on the paid plans
- Three more things sit on the paid plans. Changing where a link points after you've made it. Any history of who clicked, and from where. And putting your own domain on the link. If you only need a short link for a one off, none of that matters. If it's going on anything printed, it does.
- 0:43The same three things on Linkly's free plan
- Here are those three things in Linkly, on the free plan. Paste, name it, save, and the link comes with a QR code. I can change the destination whenever I like. I get the click report, by country. I can put it on my own domain. And there's nothing between the click and the page. It has monthly limits too, and they're on the pricing page.
- 1:02Should you switch?
- To be fair to Bitly, it's the name everybody recognises, and if you're already paying for it and it's working, stay put. But if you're on the free plan and you've hit the wall, Linkly's free plan covers all three. It's free to start, and everything you need is just below this video.
