Short.io vs T.LY Comparison 2026
Short.io meters by clicks, not links: 50,000 tracked clicks a month free, then $5 for 100,000, with custom domains included even on the free plan. T.LY meters by links created instead, with unlimited clicks on every plan, but no free tier at all, starting at $10 a month for a thousand links plus the full API and a OneLink bio page. A handful of links that go viral cost nothing extra on T.LY and can push Short.io into a paid tier. A large batch of quiet links does the opposite.
At a glance
- Short.io starts cheaper, at $5.
- Only Short.io has a free tier.
Side by side
Short.io | T.LY | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $5 | From $10 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Paid subscription |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial (they differ) | None | 5 days |
Short.io
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
- Covers analytics
T.LY
Short links with an API on every plan
T.LY shortens links behind your own domain and reports on the clicks, with the API available on the cheapest paid tier rather than held back for enterprise. Plans are metered by links created a month, so the traffic those links carry never changes the bill. A OneLink page collects several destinations behind one address, which is the link in bio case handled without a second product.
Why people weigh these two
- T.LY instead of Short.io
- T.LY puts the API on every plan including the cheapest, starting at $10 with no free tier, for somebody building the shortener into their own tool rather than reading a dashboard.
- Short.io instead of T.LY
- Short.io starts at $5 with a free tier T.LY does not offer, analytics bundled into the same plan as the shortening itself.
Which one should you pick
Choose Short.io if traffic through the links matters more than how many you create: the free plan alone covers 50,000 tracked clicks a month with custom domains included, and Hobby at $5 a month doubles that to 100,000. It is the cheaper option for anybody creating a modest number of links that a lot of people click.
Choose T.LY if you create a lot of links and traffic through them is unpredictable: $10 a month covers a thousand links with unlimited clicks on every one, plus the full API on the cheapest plan rather than reserved for an enterprise tier. There is no free plan, only a five-day trial with no card, so budget for the $10 from the start if the link count is the number that matters.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper, Short.io or T.LY?
- Short.io, for most people, since its free plan alone covers 50,000 tracked clicks a month with no cost at all. T.LY has no free tier, charging $10 a month minimum, though that price includes unlimited clicks regardless of how popular a link becomes.
- Do these two meter usage the same way?
- No, and that is the real difference. Short.io counts clicks, so a link that goes unexpectedly viral can push you into a paid tier. T.LY counts links created instead, with unlimited clicks on every plan, so a link's popularity never changes the bill.
- Is the API included on the cheapest plan for both?
- T.LY includes the full API on every plan, including its $10 entry tier, with no enterprise gate. Short.io also lists API access as a feature, without the same explicit every-tier guarantee stated.
- Which one has a bio-page-style feature for several links?
- T.LY calls it OneLink, one page collecting several destinations, included from the cheapest paid plan. Short.io does not list a comparable bio-page feature; its strength is the click data and the export, not a page of links.
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.