Polr vs Chhoto URL
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted url shorteners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Chhoto URL
Fast, lightweight and FOSS URL shortener in Rust
| Feature | Polr | Chhoto URL |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 21 · At risk | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,096 | ★ 978 |
| First released | 2014 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Bitly | TinyURL, Bitly |
What are Polr and Chhoto URL?
Polr
Polr is a self-hosted link shortener built with Laravel that offers a minimalist interface, an API, and basic analytics. It is designed to be quick to deploy and easy to use.
- Minimalist link shortener
- Developer API
- Basic click analytics
- Laravel-based
Chhoto URL
Chhoto URL is a simple, fast, and lightweight self-hosted URL shortener written in Rust, forked from Simply Shorten. It uses minimal resources and offers an optional public mode.
- Tiny Rust binary
- SQLite storage
- Optional public mode
- Simple REST API
Polr vs Chhoto URL: key differences
Polr is written in PHP, while Chhoto URL is built with Rust. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Polr versus MIT for Chhoto URL. Chhoto URL is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Polr. Polr is the more established project (first released 2014), while Chhoto URL arrived in 2023. Polr has the considerably larger community, at 5,096 GitHub stars versus 978.
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 Chhoto URL if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Polr or Chhoto URL better?
Neither is universally better. Polr has the larger community, while Chhoto URL is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Polr and Chhoto URL free and open-source?
Yes. Polr is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Chhoto URL under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Polr and Chhoto URL with Docker?
Polr: yes. Chhoto URL: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Polr or Chhoto URL?
Chhoto URL has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Polr. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.