Dub
URL ShortenersOpen-source link management platform
Replaces Bitly, Rebrandly
Best API URL Shorteners for self-hosting
The 12 best API url shorteners you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
YOURLS
URL ShortenersYour own URL shortener with stats and plugins
Replaces Bitly
Kutt
URL ShortenersModern open-source URL shortener with analytics
Replaces Bitly, TinyURL
Sink
URL ShortenersServerless URL shortener with built-in analytics
Replaces Bitly
Shlink
URL ShortenersThe definitive self-hosted URL shortener
Replaces Bitly, Rebrandly
Polr
URL ShortenersQuick, modern and open-source link shortener
Replaces Bitly
Slash
URL ShortenersOpen-source, self-hosted bookmarks and link shortener
Replaces Bitly, go links
Chhoto URL
URL ShortenersFast, lightweight and FOSS URL shortener in Rust
Replaces TinyURL, Bitly
Shlink Web Client
URL ShortenersWeb dashboard for managing Shlink instances
Replaces Bitly
spoo.me
URL ShortenersOpen-source URL shortener with click stats
Replaces Bitly, Cuttly
Lstu
URL ShortenersLet's shorten that URL, simple and ephemeral
Replaces TinyURL, Bitly
Simply Shorten
URL ShortenersSlimline self-hosted URL shortener with no bloat
Replaces TinyURL
No apps match these filters.
At a glance
| App | Deploy effort | Difficulty | Min. RAM | License | ★ Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dub | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 1,024 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 24,879 |
| YOURLS | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 128 MB | MIT | 12,260 |
| Kutt | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 512 MB | MIT | 11,153 |
| Sink | ≈5-minute setup | Medium | 128 MB | MIT | 7,209 |
| Shlink | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 256 MB | MIT | 5,338 |
| Polr | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 256 MB | GPL-2.0 | 5,092 |
| Slash | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 256 MB | MIT | 3,183 |
| Chhoto URL | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 64 MB | MIT | 987 |
| Shlink Web Client | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 128 MB | MIT | 398 |
| spoo.me | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 256 MB | MIT | 257 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: Dub (24,879 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: Chhoto URL (from 64 MB RAM, against 1,024 MB for the heaviest here).
- Fastest to deploy: Sink (one-click platform packages).
- Licensing: 8 of 12 use MIT; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged API within the url shorteners category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.