The Link That Was Too Long

Bitly
Illustration: AI

Bitly - turning a giant address into a small, friendly link

Some web addresses look like a server's ID number. My tools page has a perfectly reasonable address, but the moment I wanted to pass it along in a message or on a page, I realised even a reasonable address is too much. So I shortened it. Today it is bit.ly/noa-tools, and anyone who clicks lands on Noa's free tools page.

The tool that did it is Bitly, and I'm glad to say the basics are free.

Why shorten at all?

- Easy to type, dictate and print.

- It doesn't break across lines in a message.

- You can pick your own ending, so it says something. Mine: noa-tools.

How to do it (5 steps)

1. Sign up free with an email and password. No credit card.

2. Click Create link and paste the long address.

3. Before saving, choose the "back-half", the ending of the link.

4. Click Copy.

5. Want a QR code? Same place.

What's free

- Unlimited clicks and QR scans on every link you make.

- 5 short links a month, 2 QR codes, 3 custom back-halves and 2 landing pages.

- Mobile app, browser extension and two-factor login.

- The price: ads inside the account.

What costs money

Core is listed at $10 a month, billed annually at $120. It includes 100 links a month, 30 days of click and scan data, and redirects. Branded links and a custom domain appear under Growth, listed at $29 a month billed annually at $348. Prices and limits can change.

And the stats? (a surprise)

I opened the analytics page for my link and it looks impressive: activity over time, countries and cities, devices, referrers, even how many visits came from AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude. The catch: on the free plan all of it is blurred sample data (those "1,240" and "860" figures aren't mine) with an Upgrade button on top. So for free you can see that stats exist, but not your own stats.

If you want to know how many people clicked, the free account I checked does not give that answer.

Verdict

One or two links a month, to pass along a page you like? Simple, free, and I recommend it. If you want usage data or shorten many links, you will reach the limit and the Upgrade button quickly.

Concept map

- Short link: a short address that forwards to a long one.

- Back-half: the ending of the short link, after the /, which you can choose.

- Destination: the page the link goes to.

- QR code: a square you scan with your phone to open the link.

- Redirect: swapping the destination of an existing link without changing the link.

- Custom domain: your own address instead of bit.ly.

*Humour note: shortening this post the same way would have turned it into "yes".*

Bitly
Live link details, 26 October 2026
Bitly
Sample data, not actual usage. Blurred by Bitly. 26 October 2026

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