Dub vs spoo.me
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted url shorteners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Dub | spoo.me |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 76 · Good |
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 24,809 | ★ 251 |
| First released | 2022 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Bitly, Rebrandly | Bitly, Cuttly |
What are Dub and spoo.me?
Dub
Dub is a modern, open-source link management platform for creating branded short links with advanced analytics, QR codes, and team collaboration. It can be self-hosted with Docker.
- Branded short links
- Advanced click analytics
- QR code generation
- Team workspaces
spoo.me
spoo.me is an open-source, self-hostable URL shortener that produces short links with detailed click statistics and optional password protection. It can be deployed quickly with a Python web stack.
- Detailed click stats
- Password-protected links
- Emoji short codes
- REST API
Dub vs spoo.me: key differences
Dub is written in TypeScript, while spoo.me is built with Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Dub versus MIT for spoo.me. Spoo.me is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Dub. Dub has the considerably larger community, at 24,809 GitHub stars versus 251.
Why pick each one
Choose Dub if…
- Polished modern UI
- Powerful analytics
Watch out for
- Complex self-hosting setup
Choose spoo.me if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Dub or spoo.me better?
Neither is universally better. Dub has the larger community, while spoo.me is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dub and spoo.me free and open-source?
Yes. Dub is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and spoo.me under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dub and spoo.me with Docker?
Dub: yes. spoo.me: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dub or spoo.me?
spoo.me has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Dub. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.