SHSelfHostIndex

Polr vs Simple-URL-Shortener

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?
PO Polr Quick, modern and open-source link shortener VS SI Simple-URL-Shortener KISS URL shortener, public or private (with account)
FeaturePolrSimple-URL-Shortener
CategoryURL ShortenersURL Shorteners
LicenseGPL-2.0MIT
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 5,097★ 59
First released20142015
ReplacesBitly—

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
Polr details

Choose Simple-URL-Shortener if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Written in PHP
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Simple-URL-Shortener details

Frequently asked questions

Is Polr or Simple-URL-Shortener 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 Simple-URL-Shortener free and open-source?

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

Can I run Polr and Simple-URL-Shortener with Docker?

Polr: yes. Simple-URL-Shortener: check the project docs for container support.

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