Bitly vs Kutt

Bitly is one of the oldest and most widely used link-management platforms, shortening URLs to bit.ly links and tracking clicks, geography, referrers, and campaigns. Its v4 REST API authenticates with an OAuth 2.0 access token and covers link creation, custom back-halves, QR codes, and analytics, returning JSON. A limited free tier exists, with paid Core and Enterprise plans unlocking higher volumes, branded domains, and deeper metrics.

Kutt is a free, open-source, self-hostable URL shortener supporting custom domains, link expiration, password protection, and per-link statistics. The public instance and REST API live at kutt.to (authenticated with an X-API-Key header), and the AGPL-licensed codebase can be self-hosted for full control. Note that the old kutt.it domain is no longer operated by the project — its maintainers warn it may now be a phishing site — so integrations should target kutt.to.