Polr vs YOURLS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted url shorteners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
YOURLS
Your own URL shortener with stats and plugins
| Feature | Polr | YOURLS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 21 · At risk | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,096 | ★ 12,243 |
| First released | 2014 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Bitly | Bitly |
What are Polr and YOURLS?
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
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
Polr vs YOURLS: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Polr versus MIT for YOURLS. YOURLS is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Polr. YOURLS is the more established project (first released 2009), while Polr arrived in 2014. YOURLS has the considerably larger community, at 12,243 GitHub stars versus 5,096.
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 YOURLS if…
- Mature and stable
- Rich plugin ecosystem
Watch out for
- Dated admin interface
Frequently asked questions
Is Polr or YOURLS better?
YOURLS is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Polr if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Polr and YOURLS free and open-source?
Yes. Polr is licensed under GPL-2.0 and YOURLS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Polr and YOURLS with Docker?
Polr: yes. YOURLS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Polr or YOURLS?
YOURLS has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Polr. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.