Polr vs rs-short
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?
Polr
Quick, modern and open-source link shortener
VS
rs-short
Lightweight link shortener written in Rust, with features such as
| Feature | Polr | rs-short |
|---|---|---|
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,097 | — |
| First released | 2014 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Bitly | — |
Why pick each one
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
Choose rs-short if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Polr or rs-short 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 Polr and rs-short free and open-source?
Yes. Polr is licensed under GPL-2.0 and rs-short under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Polr and rs-short with Docker?
Polr: yes. rs-short: check the project docs for container support.