spoo.me vs Sink
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted url shorteners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | spoo.me | Sink |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 76 · Good | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source, one-click |
| GitHub stars | ★ 251 | ★ 7,155 |
| First released | 2023 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Bitly, Cuttly | Bitly |
What are spoo.me and Sink?
spoo.me
spoo.me is an open-source, self-hostable URL shortener that produces short links with detailed click statistics and optional password protection. It can be deployed quickly with a Python web stack.
- Detailed click stats
- Password-protected links
- Emoji short codes
- REST API
Sink
Sink is a fast and minimal URL shortener built to run on Cloudflare Workers and KV but also self-hostable. It includes link analytics powered by an analytics engine.
- Built-in link analytics
- Minimal fast redirects
- Edge deployment
- Clean dashboard
spoo.me vs Sink: key differences
Spoo.me is written in Python, while Sink is built with Vue. Sink is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for spoo.me. Sink has the considerably larger community, at 7,155 GitHub stars versus 251. Spoo.me lists first-class Docker deployment; Sink does not.
Why pick each one
Choose spoo.me if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Choose Sink if…
- Released under the MIT license
- One-click install on common self-host platforms
- Mature project with 7.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Vue
Frequently asked questions
Is spoo.me or Sink better?
Neither is universally better. Sink has the larger community, while spoo.me is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are spoo.me and Sink free and open-source?
Yes. spoo.me is licensed under MIT and Sink under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run spoo.me and Sink with Docker?
spoo.me: yes. Sink: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, spoo.me or Sink?
Sink has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for spoo.me. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.