Best Free URL Shortener
With Links That Never Expire

Why link expiry matters more than you think

You share a short link in your Instagram bio. Six months later, Bitly's free plan has expired it and anyone who clicks gets a 404. You've printed 500 business cards with a short link on them. A year later, the free shortener you used has shut down or moved the link behind a paywall. These aren't edge cases — they happen constantly.

When you choose a URL shortener, the most important question to ask is: will this link still work in three years?

The best free URL shorteners with permanent links

1. yourshortsite.link — Best overall

yourshortsite.link is built around one core promise: your links never expire. Not after 30 days, not after a year, not ever. The free plan gives you 25 links per week with custom back-halves, QR code generation, UTM builder, and click tracking — all without a credit card.

The Pro plan at £3.99/month removes the weekly cap entirely and adds high-resolution QR codes (up to 1000px), an SEO page health analyser, and removes the 5-second ad interstitial from your redirects. For most individual users and small teams, the free plan is more than enough.

2. TinyURL — Free unlimited basic shortening

TinyURL has been around since 2002 and its free tier offers unlimited short links with no expiry. You don't need an account to shorten a URL, and custom aliases are available without signing up. The catch: no click analytics on the free plan. You get a short link, but you have no idea how many people clicked it or where they came from. For pure link shortening with no tracking needs, TinyURL is a solid backup option.

3. Short.io — Generous free tier but requires a domain

Short.io's free plan gives you 1,000 branded links and 50,000 tracked clicks — impressively generous. However, you must bring your own custom domain to use it. If you don't already have a domain and know how to configure DNS records, this isn't really a free option — you're paying for a domain (~$12/year) and spending time on setup. Links on the free plan are permanent once created.

4. Bitly — Limited free plan, links can expire

Bitly is the most recognisable name in URL shortening but its free plan is now genuinely poor: 10 links per month, no custom domains, and free links created before Bitly's terms change could be subject to future policy changes. Paid plans start at $8/month. If you need Bitly's analytics depth and brand recognition, the Core plan at $8/month is reasonable — but for most users the free tier is too restrictive to be practical.

5. Rebrandly — 10 links/month free

Rebrandly's free plan gives you 10 links per month and 100 tracked clicks. That's simply not enough for anyone who creates links regularly. The Essentials plan at $14/month is where Rebrandly becomes genuinely useful, but at that price point you should be comparing it against paid plans from competitors — not free tiers.

The verdict: which shortener should you choose?

For the best combination of a generous free plan, permanent links, and useful features, yourshortsite.link comes out on top. It's the only free shortener that gives you custom slugs, QR codes, a UTM builder, and click tracking — all on the free plan, with no expiry. If you outgrow the free plan, Pro is £3.99/month.

If you specifically need unlimited free links with zero tracking and don't want to create an account at all, TinyURL is the next best option — just be aware you won't be able to see how your links perform.

How to spot a URL shortener that will expire your links

Before committing to a URL shortener, check these things in their terms of service and pricing page:

• Does the free plan mention a link limit per month? If yes, what happens to older links when you exceed it?
• Does the service have a history of shutting down or changing terms? (Google's URL shortener shut down entirely in 2026.)
• Is the company VC-funded and growing fast? Fast-growing startups often change their free tier as they chase revenue.
• Does the pricing page explicitly say "links never expire" on the free plan? If not, ask support.

yourshortsite.link's Terms of Service explicitly states that all links are intended to be permanent. The service is independently operated with no VC funding and no plans to change the link permanence policy.