"Just give me a short link" sounds simple, but the three tools people reach for — Bitly, TinyURL and lynkily — make very different trade-offs once you care about analytics, QR codes, or a link-in-bio page. Here's an honest comparison.
The quick verdict
- TinyURL — fastest for a throwaway link, but thin analytics.
- Bitly — polished and well known, but the useful features are paid.
- lynkily — free and full-featured: unlimited links, QR codes, analytics and link-in-bio in one place.
Feature comparison
Price & limits
TinyURL and Bitly both have free tiers with caps and upsells. lynkily is free with no artificial link or QR limits — see the pricing page.
Analytics
TinyURL's free analytics are basic. Bitly reserves richer data for paid plans. lynkily shows clicks, devices, browsers, locations and referrers in real time for every link.
QR codes
A QR code should come standard with a short link. lynkily generates a trackable QR for every link automatically, at no cost.
Link-in-bio
Only lynkily includes a built-in link-in-bio page — one tidy URL for all your socials, like a free Linktree, with no extra tool to manage.
So which should you pick?
If you only ever need one disposable link, any of them works. If you want short links plus QR codes, analytics, and a link-in-bio page without paying — lynkily is the most complete free option.
Create a free short link → and compare it yourself in 30 seconds.