rs-short vs Shlink
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?
rs-short
Lightweight link shortener written in Rust, with features such as
VS
Shlink
The definitive self-hosted URL shortener
| Feature | rs-short | Shlink |
|---|---|---|
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | — | ★ 5,192 |
| First released | 2020 | 2016 |
| Replaces | — | Bitly, Rebrandly |
Why pick each one
Choose rs-short if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is rs-short or Shlink better?
Neither is universally better. Shlink has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are rs-short and Shlink free and open-source?
Yes. rs-short is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Shlink under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run rs-short and Shlink with Docker?
rs-short: check the project docs for container support. Shlink: yes.