Top 5 Dub.co Alternatives: Free and Paid [2026]

Dub.co has become one of the most talked-about link management tools since its launch in late 2023. It’s open-source, the API is clean, the UI is fast, and its clean interface offers a modern, streamlined, and user-friendly design that appeals to users seeking a sleek experience.

The team ships updates at a pace most competitors can’t match. Around 27,000 customers use it, including Vercel, Prisma, Cal.com, and Perplexity.

But popularity isn’t the same as fit. Many teams reach Dub, hit a wall, and start searching for dub.co alternatives that match their actual use case.

The wall is usually one of four things: the 25-new-links-per-month cap on Free, conversion tracking gated behind the $75/month Business plan, the 3x price jump between tiers, or the discovery that Dub’s “deep links” don’t open links inside YouTube or TikTok the way most marketers expect.

If any of that sounds familiar, this article is for you.

We’ve picked 5 of the best Dub.co alternatives worth evaluating. Each one solves a specific Dub friction point.

Why look for an alternative to Dub.co?

Dub still does most things well. But the reasons people search for an alternative tend to be specific and repeatable, often driven by the risk of relying on a platform that may have limitations in reliability, transparency, or data security. Here are the four most common.

The 25 new links per month cap on the Free plan

Dub's Free plan limits you to 25 new links per month. For a developer testing the API or a creator with a handful of social posts, that's enough. For anyone running real campaigns, it's not.

A simple paid acquisition campaign with two creatives, two audiences, and two landing pages already produces eight links. Add a newsletter, a podcast episode, and a few social posts, and you're past 25 before mid-month.

For comparison, ShortPen's free plan lets you create unlimited links. Short.io's free plan gives you 1,000 links. TinyURL's free tier is technically unlimited.

Conversion tracking is locked behind the $75/month Business plan

This is the friction point that pushes most marketers to alternatives.

Dub Free: no conversion tracking. Dub Pro ($25/month): no conversion tracking. Dub Business ($75/month) is the first tier at which conversion tracking, Stripe integration, Shopify integration, server-side tracking, A/B testing, and event webhooks are enabled.

For most teams, "what happened after the click" is the whole reason to use a link platform. Paying $75/month as the entry point to that question is heavy, especially when ShortPen and PIMMS both include conversion tracking on their free plans (with capped event volumes).

The Pro → Business price jump is steep

Dub’s tier structure goes $0 → $25 → $75 → $250. The Pro to Business jump is 3x. The Business to Advanced jump is another 3.3x. Moreover, Dub Partners charges 3–5% in payout fees on affiliate commissions, layered on top of the monthly subscription.

For a creator who just wants branded links and basic analytics, Pro at $25/month is fair. For a growing SaaS that needs conversion tracking and partner features, the math compounds quickly.

Some Dub co alternatives offer more affordable pricing plans, making them especially attractive to budget-conscious users, small businesses, and non-profits seeking cost-effective solutions.

"Deep links" don't mean what most marketers think they mean

This one trips up nearly everyone evaluating Dub.

Dub's deep links (available from the Pro plan) redirect users to a specific screen inside an iOS or Android app you already own. They route through the App Store or Google Play. Useful if you're a SaaS with your own native app.

What Dub deep links do not do: open shared links directly inside YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Amazon when someone taps them on a phone.

That's called social-media native deep linking, a different feature entirely.

Most marketers searching for "deep links" want the second thing.

Given those four points, the right alternative depends on which one is your actual problem.

5 best Dub.co alternatives

1. ShortPen (the #1 recommendation)

ShortPen is the strongest all-around alternative to Dub.co for marketers, creators, agencies, and small SaaS teams.

With robust account management features, ShortPen lets users manage their account, track link history, and organize campaigns efficiently.

It removes the caps Dub leans on, includes conversion tracking starting from the Free plan, and prices Plus at $23/month, $2 less than Dub Pro, with unlimited links, unlimited tracked clicks, and full API access.

ShortPen also supports link export for backup, ensuring your data is secure and easily retrievable.

The product is built around a simple idea: if you’re already paying for a link tool, you shouldn’t be billed for how many links you create or how many people click them. You should be billed by the conversion event volume your business actually generates.

Key features and benefits of ShortPen

• Unlimited links and unlimited tracked clicks on every plan, including Free. No monthly link cap. No click-volume billing. Create as many links and QR codes as you need and let traffic scale without watching a meter.

• Conversion tracking available from the Free plan. ShortPen's free plan includes 100 tracked conversions per month. Plus raises that to 10,000 per month. Scale takes it to 100,000. Dub requires the Business plan at $75/month before conversion tracking turns on at all.

• The ShortPen Pixel. Install a lightweight script on your site once, then create events (URL-triggered or code-triggered) directly from the dashboard. The Pixel ties signups, purchases, form submissions, or any custom event back to the originating ShortPen link. Native Shopify support auto-maps Add to Cart, Checkout, and Purchase.

• Branded short links and custom domains on every plan. 1 custom domain on Free, 3 on Plus, 10 on Scale. Edit destinations after publishing without breaking the link.

• Workspaces, folders, and tags built for agency workflows. Plus includes 4 workspaces and 2 users; Scale includes 10 workspaces and 5 users. Every plan gets unlimited folders and tags. Keep each client, brand, or campaign isolated with separate analytics and permissions. Dub gates folders behind Pro and caps them at 3 there.

• Full API access plus webhooks on paid plans. Plus and Scale include the full ShortPen API with no rate-limit gotchas, plus webhooks for real-time event streaming. Free comes with limited API access (200 calls/month).

• EU-hosted and GDPR-ready by default. All data stays in the EU. Analytics are cookie-less and no PII is stored. For European teams and regulated industries, this matters and most competitors can't claim it.

Pricing

• Free: $0 forever. Unlimited links, unlimited tracked clicks, 100 conversions/month, 1 domain, 1 workspace, 30-day analytics history, limited API access. No credit card.

• Plus: $23/month (annual billing). 4 workspaces, 2 users, 10K conversions/month, 3 domains, unlimited analytics history, full API access, advanced analytics.

• Scale: $55/month. 10 workspaces, 5 users, 100K conversions/month, 10 domains, full API access.

• Enterprise: Custom pricing for higher limits and tailored features.

Every paid plan ships with a 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

If you've already evaluated Dub.co and want to see exactly where the two products diverge, the ShortPen vs Dub comparison page lays out plan-by-plan differences and the direct Dub import process.

Get started for free with ShortPen

2. Bitly

Bitly is the most recognized name in link shortening. Founded in 2008, it grew up alongside Twitter (which adopted bit.ly as its default shortener in 2009) and now processes hundreds of millions of links per month.

Big publishers like The New York Times (nyti.ms) and Pepsi (pep.si) use Bitly infrastructure with their own branded domains.

If you need brand recognition and broad integrations, Bitly is still solid. If you need anything beyond click counts, the free plan won't cut it, and the paid plans climb quickly.

Key features

• Custom back-halves and branded domains on paid plans.

• Click analytics with geolocation, device, referrer, and time-series data.

• QR code generation on paid plans, with limits on Free.

• Link-in-bio pages for centralizing social links.

• Bulk API and webhooks on higher tiers.

• Wide native integrations with marketing tools, schedulers, and CRMs.

Pricing

• Free: 5 links/month, interstitial ads on free-tier links since 2025.

• Core: ~$10/month, 100 links/month, no custom domain.

• Growth: ~$35/month, 500 links/month, 1 custom domain.

• Premium: ~$300/month, 3,000 links/month with deeper analytics.

When Bitly makes sense

• You need the brand recognition. Bitly links are trusted by spam filters, SMS carriers, and the broader web in ways newer tools haven't earned yet.

• Your enterprise team already has a Bitly contract, and you want consistency across departments.

Where it falls short vs Dub

Bitly's free plan is heavily capped and displays advertisements on free-tier links before redirecting, which hurts trust on every campaign. Conversion tracking isn't part of the standard product. Pricing climbs faster than Dub for equivalent link volume.

3. Rebrandly

Rebrandly is the branded-link specialist. Marketers' and agencies' choice for years, with more than 300 G2 reviews averaging 4.6 stars. The platform is built around custom domains, link retargeting, and team-based management for agencies running campaigns for multiple clients.

Key features

• Custom domains for branded short links on every plan. Connect multiple domains and route different campaigns through different brands.

• Link retargeting. Add a Facebook, LinkedIn, or X retargeting pixel to a shortened URL so anyone who clicks enters your retargeting audience. A genuine differentiator. Dub doesn't offer it.

• UTM builder with saved campaigns for consistent tagging.

• Mobile deep linking for routing users to specific app screens.

• Workspaces with role-based access control for agency teams.

• API and bulk operations.

• Open Graph and social share preview control for higher click-through rates.

Pricing

• Free: 500 links/month, 1 domain.

• Starter: ~$13/month (annual), 5,000 links, 1 domain.

• Professional: ~$69/month (annual), 25K links, 3 domains.

• Premium: ~$499/month and up for enterprise volume.

When Rebrandly makes sense

• You run paid acquisition campaigns and want retargeting from clicks on shortened links.

• You're an agency managing many client brands and need workspace separation with clean reporting per brand.

Where it falls short vs Dub

Rebrandly tracks clicks but doesn't offer real post-click attribution to events like signups or purchases on its standard plans. Pricing escalates faster than Dub once you need multiple custom domains: the Professional plan at $69/month covers 3 domains, whereas Dub Pro at $25/month covers 10.

4. Short.io

Short.io is the branded-link tool with a generous free domain allowance. It sits between Bitly's simplicity and Rebrandly's depth.

The free plan stands out: 5 custom domains and 1,000 short links at $0. Most competitors give you a single domain for free, if any.

Key features

• 5 custom domains on the free plan. Unusual generosity for users running multiple brand projects.

• 1,000 short links on the free plan, with detailed analytics on the first 50,000 clicks.

• Real-time analytics with clicks over time, geolocation, device and browser breakdowns, top referrers, and a live clickstream view.

• Geo-targeting and device-targeting on paid plans.

• Folders, tags, and link expiration for organization.

• Native integrations with Zapier, Slack, Google Analytics, and browser extensions.

• Password-protected links and SSL on every link.

• Team collaboration with multi-user roles (Admin, User, Read-only).

Pricing

• Free: 1,000 links, 5 domains, detailed stats for 50K clicks.

• Personal: ~$19/month, 10,000 links/year, 10 custom domains.

• Team: ~$299/month for higher-volume team usage.

• Enterprise: custom pricing.

When Short.io makes sense

• You need 3 or more custom domains and don't want to pay $69/month for Rebrandly Professional to get them.

• Branded short links are your primary use case, not deep conversion tracking.

Where it falls short vs Dub

Short.io is a click-tracking tool. It doesn't offer event-level conversion tracking, partner program management, or the kind of revenue attribution Dub Business unlocks. Team plan pricing also jumps quickly from $19/month Personal to $299/month Team, with limited middle ground.

5. BL.INK

BL.INK is the enterprise-grade alternative. It's where governance, audit logs, SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, and SLA-backed uptime matter more than free plans or affordability. If you're a regulated organization or you're managing 100K+ links across departments, BL.INK belongs on your shortlist.

Key features

• Dynamic links and smart redirects at scale, with rule-based routing for personalized destinations.

• Branded custom domains across departments and brands, with vanity URLs per business unit.

• Long-term analytics retention of 2 years or more, with exportable reports.

• Role-based access control, audit logs, and SSO/SAML built in.

• Compliance certifications. SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, HIPAA support.

• Enterprise integrations with Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, HubSpot, and major CRMs.

• Powerful API with broken link alerts and link versioning.

• GS1 Digital Link validation for product passports and supply-chain use cases.

Pricing

BL.INK has no permanent free tier, only a 21-day free trial.

• Expert: ~$48/month, 1 domain, 10K links.

• SMB: ~$99/month, 5 users, multiple domains.

• Team: ~$299/month, 25 users.

• Business: ~$599/month, 250K links, 10+ domains.

• Enterprise: custom pricing with SLAs.

When BL.INK makes sense

• You're in a regulated industry (healthcare, financial services, pharma) and need HIPAA or SOC 2 from day one.

• You're managing tens or hundreds of thousands of links with strict governance.

• You need full audit logs, SSO/SAML, and IP whitelisting as table stakes.

Where it falls short vs Dub

BL.INK is overbuilt and overpriced for individual creators, solo founders, and small teams. The $48/month Expert plan is nearly twice Dub Pro for fewer links and a single domain. If you don't need the governance and compliance features, you're paying for capabilities you'll never touch.

Comparison table: top Dub.co alternatives at a glance

(💙 = ShortPen is our recommended choice for most users searching for a Dub.co alternative.)

Each tool has its lane.

ShortPen fits marketers and small teams who want conversion tracking without the $75/month Dub Business entry, agencies who need workspaces, and European teams who want EU hosting.

Bitly still makes sense if brand recognition or an existing enterprise contract weighs heavily.

Rebrandly is the right pick if link retargeting on shortened URLs is the feature you can't live without.

Short.io fits multi-brand operators who need several free domains.

BL.INK is reserved for regulated enterprises and governance-heavy operations.

What is Dub.co?

Quick recap for anyone who needs context.

Dub.co is a modern link management and attribution platform founded by Steven Tey (formerly of Vercel) and launched as a company in late 2023. The codebase is open-source and publicly available on GitHub, so developers can audit it or self-host.

Most users stay on the SaaS version because it handles redirect infrastructure, edge routing, and CDN delivery automatically.

The product splits into two parts:

• Dub Links covers link management, branded short links, custom domains, QR codes, A/B testing, real-time analytics, and device/geo targeting.

• Dub Partners covers affiliate and referral program management, including partner recruitment, commission structures, dual-sided incentives, automated payouts, and embedded referral dashboards. Gated behind the Business plan.

Dub launched its attribution product partly in response to the Honey browser extension scandal, where Honey was quietly overwriting affiliate attribution and claiming commissions that legitimately belonged to creators. Dub's pitch is transparent, with auditable attribution at every step.

The customer list reads strong: Vercel, Prisma, Cal.com, Perplexity, and around 27,000 others.

Cal.com creates over 200,000 links per month through Dub's API. The native SDKs (TypeScript, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP) make programmatic integration straightforward.

Where Dub shines: clean UX, real-time analytics, strong API, responsive support, and a product velocity legacy incumbents haven't matched in years.

Where Dub struggles: pricing tiers escalate steeply ($0 → $25 → $75 → $250), conversion tracking is gated behind the $75/month Business plan, affiliate payout processing fees of 3–5% stack on top of the monthly subscription, and the Trustpilot and G2 review pools are still small (~22 and ~13 reviews respectively) because the company is young.

How to choose the right Dub.co alternative for your team

Most "best alternative" lists treat every tool as if it solves the same problem. They don't. Match the alternative to the specific Dub friction you ran into:

• If Dub's 25-links/month cap is the problem: ShortPen (unlimited links on Free) or TinyURL (unlimited basic shortening).

• If you need conversion tracking without paying $75/month: ShortPen (conversion tracking on every plan including Free) or PIMMS (conversion tracking on Free with smaller volume).

• If you need retargeting pixels on shortened links: Rebrandly is the only mainstream option with this feature.

• If you need 5+ custom domains without jumping to a Pro plan: Short.io (5 domains on Free) or ShortPen Scale (10 domains at $55/month).

• If you're managing multiple clients as an agency: ShortPen (4 workspaces on Plus, 10 on Scale, with isolated analytics per client) or Rebrandly's enterprise plans.

• If you're a regulated enterprise (HIPAA, SOC 2): BL.INK or Bitly Enterprise.

• If you want EU-only hosting and strict GDPR posture: ShortPen (EU-hosted, cookie-less analytics, no PII stored).

• If you're a developer who wants open-source and self-hosting: Sink (Cloudflare Workers, free) or Kutt. Dub itself is also open-source if self-hosting is the only reason you're looking.

The goal is to pick the tool whose default settings already solve your problem, instead of paying for a Business plan to unlock something another tool gives you for free.

FAQ

Is Dub.co free to use?

Yes. Dub’s Free plan includes 25 new links per month, 1,000 tracked events per month, 30-day analytics retention, 3 custom domains, 1 user, API access, and QR codes. With a free account, you can manage your links, view basic analytics, and access your link history. However, features like conversion tracking, A/B testing, deep links, or event webhooks are not included in the free account, those start on the Business plan at $75/month, while the Pro plan at $25/month sits in between with more links and retention but no conversion tracking.

What’s the cheapest Dub.co alternative with conversion tracking?

ShortPen’s Free plan includes conversion tracking with 100 events per month at $0. Signing up for a ShortPen account unlocks additional features such as link analytics, branded domains, and workspace management. Plus at $23/month raises that to 10,000 events per month. Scale at $55/month lifts it to 100,000 per month. By comparison, Dub.co requires the Business plan at $75/month for conversion tracking, Stripe integration, and Shopify integration.

Can I migrate my Dub.co links to another tool?

Yes. Most modern link platforms support CSV import or direct migration. ShortPen has a direct Dub import that connects to your Dub workspace and brings your links over with their slugs, metadata, and folder structure intact. Before migrating, you can backup your links by exporting your data for added security and organization. After importing, you point your custom domain DNS records to the new platform and your links keep working without breaking.

Does Dub.co support social-media native deep linking?

No. Dub’s deep links, available from the Pro plan, redirect users to a specific screen inside an iOS or Android app you own, via the App Store or Google Play. They do not open shared links natively inside YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Amazon when someone taps them on a phone. That’s a separate feature called social-media deep linking, and tools like PIMMS and Taap.it offer it.

Is Dub.co really open-source?

Yes. The codebase is on GitHub under the dubinc/dub repository and you can self-host. However, most Dub users stay on the SaaS version because self-hosting requires real engineering investment, including managing edge routing, CDN delivery, and database scaling.

What’s the best Dub.co alternative for agencies?

ShortPen and Rebrandly are the strongest options for agencies. ShortPen’s Plus plan gives you 4 workspaces, 2 users, and isolated analytics per workspace at $23/month. Scale extends that to 10 workspaces and 5 users at $55/month. Folders and tags are unlimited across every plan. Rebrandly’s enterprise plans cater to agencies managing dozens of client brands but cost more.

Conclusion

Dub.co is a strong product. The reason people search for alternatives is that the pricing model gates the features most marketers actually want, like conversion tracking, more domains, higher quotas, and social-media deep linking, behind tiers that cost more than the $25/month Pro plan suggests.

For some teams, that math works. For most, it doesn’t.

ShortPen is the strongest all-around alternative because it removes the caps Dub leans on.

Unlimited links, unlimited tracked clicks, conversion tracking on the free plan, workspaces and folders for agency workflows, and a flat $23/month Plus price that already includes what other tools charge $75+/month for.

Bitly, Rebrandly, Short.io, and BL.INK each fit specific edge cases. The right tool depends on what specifically pushed you to look beyond Dub.

Make sure to choose the alternative with features most relevant to your specific use case, whether that's advanced analytics, social media sharing, or custom domain management.

Test the free tiers, the answer usually becomes obvious within a few hours.

Start with ShortPen’s free plan, no credit card required, and see how it handles your actual workflow.