Dub vs YOURLS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted url shorteners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Dub | YOURLS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 24,803 | ★ 12,242 |
| First released | 2022 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Bitly, Rebrandly | Bitly |
What are Dub and YOURLS?
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
YOURLS
YOURLS is a small set of PHP scripts that lets you run your own URL shortening service with click statistics, a plugin system, and a developer API. It is one of the most popular self-hosted shorteners.
- Custom and random short URLs
- Click statistics
- Plugin architecture
- Developer API
Dub vs YOURLS: key differences
Dub is written in TypeScript, while YOURLS is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Dub versus MIT for YOURLS. YOURLS is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Dub. YOURLS is the more established project (first released 2009), while Dub arrived in 2022. Dub has the considerably larger community, at 24,803 GitHub stars versus 12,242.
Why pick each one
Choose Dub if…
- Polished modern UI
- Powerful analytics
Watch out for
- Complex self-hosting setup
Choose YOURLS if…
- Mature and stable
- Rich plugin ecosystem
Watch out for
- Dated admin interface
Frequently asked questions
Is Dub or YOURLS better?
Neither is universally better. Dub has the larger community, while YOURLS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dub and YOURLS free and open-source?
Yes. Dub is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YOURLS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dub and YOURLS with Docker?
Dub: yes. YOURLS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dub or YOURLS?
YOURLS has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Dub. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.