Free URL shortener with click tracking
Paste a long, unwieldy link and get a short one you can actually share. Add your own custom back-half, change the destination later, and see exactly how many people clicked.
- No sign-up required
- Links never expire
- Custom back-halves
Features
What you get, at no cost
The shortener is the part of Uitly people use most, so it is the part we sweat over.
Custom back-halves
Replace random characters with something people can read and remember, like uitly.io/spring-sale.
Editable destinations
Point a link somewhere new without reprinting anything. The short URL stays exactly the same.
Click analytics
Clicks over time plus a breakdown by device, browser, operating system and referring site.
Safety checks
Only http and https destinations are accepted, and internal or loopback addresses are rejected outright.
How to
Shorten a link in three steps
- 1
Paste your long URL
Drop any http or https address into the box above. There is no length limit and no sign-up required.
- 2
Pick a custom back-half
Optional, but worth it. A readable link gets clicked more often than a string of random characters.
- 3
Share it and watch the clicks
Copy the short link anywhere. With a free account you can see how it performs and change where it points.
When a short link is the right tool
A shortened URL is not just about saving characters. It gives you a stable, readable address that you control, which matters far more than length once a link leaves your hands and starts being copied, printed and forwarded.
Social posts and bios
Long tracking URLs with campaign parameters look untrustworthy in a post and get truncated in previews. A short link keeps the post clean while your parameters stay intact on the destination.
Print, packaging and signage
Anything printed is permanent, but the page behind it rarely is. Point printed material at a short link and you can move the destination later, a new landing page, a seasonal offer, an archived page, without reprinting. Pair it with the QR code generator and one address covers both scanning and typing.
Email and newsletters
Some email clients mangle very long URLs across line breaks, which quietly breaks them. Short links survive that, and the click data tells you which sections of a newsletter people actually read.
Anywhere you need to measure
If you want to know whether the link in your podcast description or your conference slide worked, a dedicated short link per placement is the simplest possible answer. Create one for each and compare the click counts in your dashboard.
What makes a good custom back-half
- Keep it short. Two or three words is plenty. The point is that someone can type it from memory.
- Use hyphens, not underscores. Hyphens are easier to read aloud and harder to lose in an underlined link.
- Avoid ambiguity. Skip characters that look alike when read aloud or printed small.
- Match the context. A back-half that names the campaign or the placement makes your own analytics readable months later.
A note on privacy
Every redirect records the time, a coarse device type, the browser and operating system family, and the referring domain. That is enough to be useful and little enough to be responsible, we never store raw IP addresses or build profiles of the people who click. Our privacy policy spells out exactly what is kept.
FAQ
URL shortener questions
How do I shorten a URL for free?
Paste your long URL into the box at the top of this page and select Shorten. Your short link is created immediately and you can copy it with one click. No account is required.
Can I choose my own short link?
Yes. Open the custom options and enter a back-half of at least three characters using letters, numbers and hyphens. If it is available it is yours; if not, you will be told straight away.
Do Uitly short links expire?
No. Short links stay live indefinitely. If you created the link while signed in you can pause or delete it yourself from the dashboard.
Can I change where a short link points after sharing it?
Yes, as long as you were signed in when you created it. Open the link in your dashboard and edit the destination, the short URL itself never changes, so printed materials keep working.
How many links can I create?
There is no published limit. Uitly is free to use for personal and commercial projects alike.
Are shortened links good or bad for SEO?
Short links issue a redirect to your destination, so they are best used for sharing in social posts, emails, print and chat rather than for internal site navigation. For links inside your own website, link directly to the destination URL.
What statistics can I see?
Total clicks, a daily click chart, and breakdowns by device type, browser, operating system and referring domain. We deliberately do not store raw IP addresses.
Track every link you share
A free account saves your short links and shows you who clicked, from where, and on what.