Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover link in bio. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Carrd | Short.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $19 | From $5 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Annual only | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 7 days | None |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Everything, in an open format |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Not stated | Web |
| Covers | Website Builders, Landing Pages & Funnels, Link in Bio | Link in Bio, Analytics |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | 1 | None right now |
One-page sites that cost less than lunch
Carrd builds the single page most people actually need: a bio, a link list, a launch page, a form that collects email addresses. Three sites are free and Pro is priced by the year rather than the month, which is why it keeps winning link-in-bio arguments on price alone. A site that wants a blog or a shop outgrows it fast.
Our note
The cheapest way to stop handing out a social profile as though it were a home page. If Linktree's monthly bill is the one you keep meaning to cancel, this is the version you own.
Only on this side
Link shortening with the analytics attached
Short.io is a link shortener for people who care what happened after the click: country targeting, deep links into apps, and click data you can pull out rather than only look at. Custom domains are on every plan including the free one. The pricing page also converts into about twenty currencies, which is rarer than it should be.
Our note
The free plan here does more than several paid plans elsewhere, which makes Short.io the sensible place to start. Move to Rebrandly if link galleries and brand polish matter more to you than the export.
Only on this side
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.