Bitly vs Milkshake Comparison 2026
Bitly is link infrastructure with a bio page attached: branded short links, QR codes that stay editable after printing, and UTM tracking, priced by links created from a free tier of five a month up to Core at $10 a month. Milkshake is a bio page built as a phone app, thumb-sized cards instead of a link list, free forever for hosting and unlimited links, with Lite at $2.99 a month removing its branding and Pro at $59.99 a year adding a full year of analytics with export. Bitly wants a desktop and a campaign report behind it. Milkshake never leaves the phone.
At a glance
- Milkshake starts cheaper, at $2.99.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Bitly | Milkshake | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $10 | From $2.99 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | None | None |
| API |
Bitly
Short links, QR codes and a bio page
Bitly shortens and brands links, makes QR codes that stay editable after they have been printed, and builds a link-in-bio page from the same account, with click data under all three. The free plan is five links a month and carries advertising. What the money buys is the branded domain and the reporting behind it.
Our note
For a bio link alone this is expensive next to Linktree or Zaap. It earns the money when the same links are going onto packaging and into a campaign report, which is the job the cheaper ones do not do.
Only on this side
- Covers analytics
Milkshake
A link in bio site you build on your phone
Milkshake is built as a phone app rather than a website with a mobile view, so the whole thing is thumb-sized cards you swipe between while sitting on a bus. Hosting is free forever and the free plan carries unlimited links. Everything happens on the phone, which means there is no desktop editor when you want to write anything long.
Why people weigh these two
- Milkshake instead of Bitly
- Milkshake builds a link in bio site on a phone, from $3 with a free tier, designed for people who will never open a desktop to edit it.
- Bitly instead of Milkshake
- Bitly leads with short links and QR codes and treats the bio page as an extra, useful for someone who wants click tracking more than a designed card stack.
Which one should you pick
Pick Bitly when the same link needs to work on a flyer, in a video description and in a bio, with branded domains and click data tying them together. The free plan is five links a month with ads, so Core at $10 a month, or $120 a year, is the real starting price, far more than Milkshake charges for a bio page alone.
Pick Milkshake if the whole page gets built on a phone and the format is closer to a story than a list of links. Hosting and unlimited links are free forever, no card required, and Lite at $2.99 a month or Pro at $59.99 a year stay a fraction of Bitly's price while adding digital file sales through Stripe. Anybody wanting a desktop editor or serious campaign tracking should look at Bitly instead.
Common questions
- Is Milkshake cheaper than Bitly?
- Yes, at every tier. Milkshake's free plan already includes hosting and unlimited links, and Lite is $2.99 a month, about $35.88 a year. Bitly's cheapest paid tier, Core, is $10 a month or $120 a year, more than three times Milkshake Lite.
- Does Milkshake have a desktop editor like Bitly's dashboard?
- No. Milkshake is built entirely as a phone app, so the page gets made on the phone rather than at a desk. Bitly runs as a web dashboard with an API for generating links in bulk, a different kind of tool aimed at more than a bio page.
- Can I sell anything directly from either page?
- Milkshake can: the free plan already allows selling digital files through Stripe, and Pro at $59.99 a year lowers the selling fees further. Bitly is built around links, QR codes and the analytics behind them, not a storefront.
- Why is Bitly so much more expensive than Milkshake?
- Because it is priced for more than a bio link: branded short domains, QR codes that stay editable after printing, and UTM parameters that label traffic in a campaign report. Milkshake only needs to be a link page that looks good on a phone, which is why it can charge a fraction of the price.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.