If you have shipped an app, you know the two-links problem. The app is live on the App Store and live on Google Play, two listings, two URLs, and everywhere you want to share it there is room for one link. Send everyone to the App Store and every Android user lands on a page they cannot install from. Send everyone to Google Play and iPhone users get nothing.
OneLink.to is the tool a lot of people reach for here, and for good reason. It has been around since 2011, it has served billions of clicks, and it does the core job well: one link that reads the visitor's device and forwards iPhone users to the App Store and Android users to Google Play, with a QR code on top. If that is the entire thing you need and you never need anything else, it is a fine choice and you can stop reading.
This post is for the case where the store link is not the only thing you need. Because for most people shipping an app in 2026, it isn't.
What OneLink.to actually is
OneLink.to is a smart app-store link, and that is the whole product. You give it your store URLs, it hands you a short link and a QR code, and it routes each visitor to the right store based on their device. Analytics and a custom domain sit on the paid Team Plus plan. It has a free tier for basic use.
Nothing wrong with any of that. The thing to notice is the shape of it: it solves one problem. The moment your job grows past "get people to the right store," you are back to opening a second account somewhere.
And the job usually does grow. You launch the app, and then you also want a plain short link for the newsletter that does not point at a store at all. You want an Instagram bio that holds the app link plus your website plus the pre-order form. You want to see not just how many people clicked, but which country and which browser and whether they came from the QR on the poster or the link in the tweet. None of that is exotic. It is just the normal set of things you end up needing a week after launch.
Where an alternative helps
The reason to look past a single-purpose app-link tool is bundling. If the store redirect, the URL shortener, and the bio-link page live in three different products on three different plans, you are stitching tools together and paying for each one. If they live in the same account, you set up once and share from one place.
That is the difference with Linxly. It does the same device-based routing OneLink.to does, and it puts a real URL shortener and a bio-link page on every plan, not behind a higher tier and not as a separate purchase. Same account, same dashboard, same analytics across all of it.
Here is the concrete split:
- The smart app link. Create a deep link, paste your App Store URL, your Google Play URL, and a Huawei AppGallery URL if you have one, set a desktop fallback, and you get one short link that sorts every visitor to the right store. This is the direct OneLink.to replacement, and the app download link page walks through it. If you want the mechanics of how the device detection works under the hood, this post breaks it down.
- The URL shortener. Any link, not just app stores. Branded back-half, so
linx.ly/get-appinstead of a random string. Covered on the URL shortener page. - The bio link page. One URL for the Instagram or TikTok bio that holds the app link, your site, and whatever else, each destination tracked on its own. See the bio link page.
You do not have to use all three. The point is that they are there without a second signup.
Still no code
Worth saying plainly, because "app link" makes people brace for an SDK: there is nothing to install in your app for any of this. You are not touching Xcode or Gradle, you are not shipping an app update, you are not asking a developer for an afternoon. You paste your store URLs into a form and you get a link back. Setup is a couple of minutes.
That matters more since Firebase Dynamic Links shut down on August 25, 2025 (Firebase). A lot of developers who lost it went looking for a replacement and assumed they needed another heavy deep-linking platform with an SDK. Most of them only ever used it for the store redirect, and a no-code smart link covers that without any of the maintenance.
How to set it up
- Start a Linxly trial and open the dashboard.
- Go to Deep Links and create a deep link.
- Paste your App Store URL, your Google Play URL, and a Huawei AppGallery URL if you have one.
- Set a desktop fallback, usually your website or a landing page with both store buttons.
- Save. You get one short link and its QR code. That is the link you hand out everywhere from now on.
- Open the link's analytics whenever you want to see how many people it forwarded, to which store, and where they came from.
Make the link before you announce anything. The worst time to find out your launch tweet sent half your audience to a dead store page is after a few hundred people already tapped it.
OneLink.to vs Linxly, side by side
I am not going to paste a full table into a blog post. We keep the feature-by-feature breakdown on its own page so you can scan it: OneLink.to vs Linxly. The short version is that both do the smart app-store link and the QR code. Linxly adds the bio link page, QR customization, UTM building, password protection, link expiry, and deeper analytics (browser, device brand, click-versus-scan), all in the same account.
The bottom line
OneLink.to does one thing and does it well: one link to the right app store. If that is genuinely all you need, use it. But the store link is rarely the only link you end up needing, and once you are also shortening URLs and running a bio page, three separate tools is friction you can skip. Linxly does the same store routing with no code, and the shortener and bio page come with every plan instead of a second subscription.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best OneLink.to alternative?
Linxly is a strong alternative if you want the smart app-store link plus a URL shortener and a bio-link page in one account. It does the same device-based routing (iPhone to the App Store, Android to Google Play) with no code, and bundles the shortener and bio page on every plan. See the full OneLink.to vs Linxly comparison.
Does it need any code or an SDK?
No. You paste your App Store and Google Play URLs into a form and get a short link back. There is nothing to install in your app, no app update to ship, and no developer time needed.
Can one link really send iPhone and Android users to different stores?
Yes. The link reads each visitor's device and forwards iOS users to the App Store, Android users to Google Play, Huawei devices to AppGallery, and desktop visitors to a fallback page you choose. The app download link page shows the setup.
Is it a good Firebase Dynamic Links replacement?
For the store-redirect use case, yes. Firebase Dynamic Links shut down on August 25, 2025, and most people used it to send visitors to the right store. A no-code smart link does that without an SDK. In-app screen routing is a separate, more complex tool.
How is this different from OneLink.to?
OneLink.to is a smart app-store link, and that is its whole product. Linxly does the same store routing and also includes a URL shortener and a bio-link page on every plan, with analytics by browser, device brand, country, and whether a visit was a click or a QR scan.
Is it free?
OneLink.to has a free tier for basic use. Linxly gives you full access for 7 days, then plans start at $0.99 a month, billed monthly, cancel anytime.