A Rebrandly alternative with nothing to ration.
Rebrandly is a good product with a well-earned name for branded links. What its plans ration is how many links you make each month, how many domains you use and even how many times you may change where a link points. Kortli runs on your own server, costs one payment, and rations none of them.
What Rebrandly counts
Essentials is $8 a month paid yearly ($96), or $11 month to month: 250 links a month, two custom domains and 10 destination edits a month. Professional is $22 a month paid yearly ($264), or $32: 1,500 links, three domains, 50 destination edits and up to 50 password-protected links. Growth is $69 a month paid yearly ($828), or $99: 3,500 links, ten domains, 150 destination edits and up to 150 password-protected links.
The edit allowance is the one to notice. A printed QR code, or a link in an email already sent, can only be fixed by changing where it points, and on Rebrandly that is a monthly ration.
Side by side
| Rebrandly Essentials | Rebrandly Professional | Rebrandly Growth | Kortli | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $96 a year | $264 a year | $828 a year | $199 once |
| New links | 250 a month | 1,500 a month | 3,500 a month | No limit |
| Your own domains | 2 | 3 | 10 | As many as you like |
| Changing where a link points | 10 a month | 50 a month | 150 a month | No limit |
| Password-protected links | No | Up to 50 | Up to 150 | No limit |
| QR codes | 250 a month | 1,500 a month | 3,500 a month | No limit, as vector artwork |
| Splitting traffic between destinations | No | Yes | Yes | Yes, A/B tests across up to four |
| Where links and data live | Rebrandly’s servers | Rebrandly’s servers | Rebrandly’s servers | Your server |
| Source code | No | No | No | All of it |
| Setup | None — sign up and go | None | None | One command on a Linux server |
The maths, over five years
Kortli plus a small server at about $6 a month comes to roughly $559 over five years. Rebrandly Essentials comes to $480 paid yearly. That is cheaper than Kortli, and we would rather say so. Professional comes to $1,320 and Growth to $4,140. The moment you need a third domain, more than 10 changes a month or a single password-protected link, you are on Professional or above.
When Rebrandly is the better buy
Stay with Rebrandly if you make a few dozen links a month on one or two domains, rarely change a destination, and nobody wants to look after a server. Essentials is cheap and asks nothing of you. Rebrandly also has things Kortli does not, such as link galleries, workspaces for larger teams and, on its Enterprise plan, formal compliance commitments. Kortli makes sense when you want no caps, more domains, unlimited edits and passwords, or the click data on your own machine.
Kortli is built on Shlink, an open-source shortener under the MIT licence that you could download for nothing tomorrow. What Shlink has not got is password-protected links, A/B testing or styled QR codes. Those, the interface, the one-command install and the support are what you are paying for. See how the free options compare on our open-source URL shortener page.
Questions people ask
Can I keep my existing Rebrandly links working?
Links on Rebrandly’s own rebrand.ly domain stay with Rebrandly. If your links are on a domain you own, which is the usual reason to use Rebrandly, point that domain at Kortli and import your list as a CSV file, and the same links keep working.
Is Kortli cheaper than Rebrandly?
Not against Essentials: over five years that is about $480, against roughly $559 for Kortli including a small server. Against Professional ($1,320) or Growth ($4,140) it is much cheaper, and it has no caps on links, domains, edits or password-protected links.
Does Kortli limit how often I change where a link points?
No. Change it as often as you like. Every printed QR code and every link already sent follows the new destination straight away.
What do I need to run it?
Any Linux server with Docker — a $6-a-month box is plenty — and a short domain of your own. The install is one command, and HTTPS sets itself up. If you would rather not, we will install it for you for $199 + $499 — licence and setup together, paid once — or host it for you for $199 once and then $79 a month.
Your links. No allowance.
One payment. Full source code. Your server, your data. Also comparing others? See our Bitly alternative and TinyURL alternative pages.