How we rank: URL shorteners and link management
The Score (0–100) is a weighted sum of the factors below. Each factor is the weighted average of its metrics; each metric is calculated from one published fact. Missing facts score zero, and a service is ranked only when enough of its Score is backed by facts.
A service is ranked only when at least 70% of its Score is backed by verified facts.
Price and free plan 30%
Monthly list price in USD of the cheapest paid plan with monthly billing: $0 scores 100, $50 or more scores 0 (weight 3). Annual-billing prices and promotions are ignored. If the official pricing page shows the monthly price only after a script runs, only in hidden page data, only as an annual price, or in a currency chosen by our visitor location, the fact stays empty. A single euro price list of a European vendor is converted at the ECB rate. Also a permanent free plan (weight 1) and whether the free plan lets you use your own custom domain (weight 1); a free trial does not count.
| Metric | Rule |
|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing | Linear from 0 (100) to 50 (0) — lower is better |
| Free plan | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| Own custom domain on the free plan | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
Link features 30%
Changing a link's destination after it is shared (weight 1), link expiry by date or click count (weight 1), password-protected links (weight 1), a UTM builder or UTM templates (weight 1), QR codes for short links (weight 1), a link-in-bio page (weight 1), bulk shortening from a file or through a bulk API call (weight 1) and a documented public API (weight 1). A fact shows that the feature exists on some plan, not that the cheapest plan has it.
| Metric | Rule |
|---|---|
| Edit the destination after sharing | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| Link expiry | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| Password-protected links | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| UTM builder | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| QR codes | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| Link-in-bio page | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| Bulk shortening | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| Public API | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
Security and privacy 25%
An independent security certification, SOC 2 or ISO/IEC 27001, stated on the vendor's site (weight 1); a published GDPR compliance statement or processor commitments (weight 1); single sign-on through SAML or another identity provider (weight 1). Two-factor authentication is shown on the service page but not scored, because most vendors do not say whether they offer it.
| Metric | Rule |
|---|---|
| SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| GDPR commitment published | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
| Single sign-on (SSO) | Yes = 100, No = 0 |
Track record 15%
How long the service has been running: 15 years or more scores 100 (weight 2), and a public status page with the current state of the service (weight 1). A short link keeps working only as long as the service does, so age and openness about outages matter.
| Metric | Rule |
|---|---|
| Founded | Full score at 15+ years |
| Public status page | Yes = 100, No = 0 |