spoo.me 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 | spoo.me | YOURLS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 76 · Good | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | URL Shorteners | URL Shorteners |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 251 | ★ 12,243 |
| First released | 2023 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Bitly, Cuttly | Bitly |
What are spoo.me and YOURLS?
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
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
spoo.me vs YOURLS: key differences
Spoo.me is written in Python, while YOURLS is built with PHP. YOURLS is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for spoo.me. YOURLS is the more established project (first released 2009), while spoo.me arrived in 2023. YOURLS has the considerably larger community, at 12,243 GitHub stars versus 251.
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 YOURLS if…
- Mature and stable
- Rich plugin ecosystem
Watch out for
- Dated admin interface
Frequently asked questions
Is spoo.me or YOURLS better?
Neither is universally better. YOURLS has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are spoo.me and YOURLS free and open-source?
Yes. spoo.me is licensed under MIT and YOURLS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run spoo.me and YOURLS with Docker?
spoo.me: yes. YOURLS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, spoo.me or YOURLS?
YOURLS 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.