SHSelfHostIndex

Flink vs Polr

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted url shorteners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FL Flink Create QR Codes, embeddable link previews for your website and VS PO Polr Quick, modern and open-source link shortener
FeatureFlinkPolr
CategoryURL ShortenersURL Shorteners
LicenseMITGPL-2.0
LanguageDockerPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars—★ 5,097
First released20202014
Replaces—Bitly

Why pick each one

Choose Flink if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Docker
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Flink details

Choose Polr if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
  • Written in PHP
Polr details

Frequently asked questions

Is Flink or Polr better?

Neither is universally better. Polr has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Flink and Polr free and open-source?

Yes. Flink is licensed under MIT and Polr under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Flink and Polr with Docker?

Flink: yes. Polr: yes.

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