TinyURL has been shortening links since 2002, and the free version still does the job it was built for: paste a long URL, get a short one, and it does not expire. The reason people start looking for an alternative shows up later, usually on the day the link needs to do something more than redirect. Two limits come up more often than the rest. The free plan records no click data, and a link cannot be edited or deleted after you create it.
This guide covers what the free plan includes according to TinyURL's own documentation, what Pro adds and where it caps, and the four things worth checking before you move anything. In numbers: Linxly starts at $0.99 a month, and the Pro plan is $7.99.
What the free TinyURL plan covers
TinyURL is clear about the free tier in its own breakdown. You get:
- Shortening on the
tinyurl.comdomain - A QR code generated automatically for every link
- A custom alias, so
tinyurl.com/spring-saleinstead of a random string - Link history inside your account
- Links that never expire
What the free tier does not include is just as clearly stated: no analytics or click tracking, and no editing or deleting a link after creation.
For a link you paste into one message and forget about, that set is enough. The trouble starts when the link outlives the moment it was made for.
The link you cannot edit
A short link has two halves. The one people see, and the destination behind it. On the free TinyURL plan the second half is frozen the second you hit shorten. On a URL shortener that keeps links editable, the destination stays yours long after the link is published.
Consider what that means for anything printed. The QR code TinyURL generates points at the short link, and the short link points at a fixed URL, so the code on a menu, a flyer or a package is locked to a destination you can no longer change. The landing page moves, the campaign ends, the product goes out of stock, and the code keeps sending people to a dead page. That is the exact problem dynamic QR codes exist to solve, and on the free plan you do not have that option. You cannot even delete the link, so a typo in the destination is permanent.
An editable destination is not a premium extra. It is the reason to use a short link instead of the raw URL in the first place.
No click data until you pay
The free plan tracks nothing. Not the click count, not the country, not where the click came from. You can publish a link in four places and have no way to tell which one worked.
On Linxly, every plan reports the same breakdown: country, city, device type, device brand, operating system, browser and referrer, with QR scans counted separately from clicks. That last split matters more than it sounds, because a printed code and a posted link usually perform nothing alike. A shortener that hides the numbers behind a tier turns every campaign into a guess, which is the whole argument for a URL shortener with analytics.
What TinyURL Pro costs and what it caps
Prices below are from TinyURL's pricing page at the time of writing.
| Plan | Price | Click analytics | Edit links | Active links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | No | No | Unlimited |
| Pro | $12.99/mo, or $9.99/mo billed yearly | Yes | Yes | 500 |
| Bulk 100K | $99/mo | Yes | Yes | 100,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Yes | Yes | Custom |
Pro is the plan almost everyone lands on, and the number to read carefully is 500 active links. It is a ceiling on live links rather than a monthly allowance, and API calls are metered separately at 10,000 a month. For one marketer running campaigns, 500 is generous. For a team that generates a link per product, per city or per UTM variant, it arrives faster than expected.
The jump after that is steep. Bulk 100K at $99 a month is a different budget, and there is nothing between it and Pro.
Where TinyURL stops
Two jobs sit outside what TinyURL does at any price.
The first is the profile link. TinyURL shortens one URL to one destination, so an Instagram or TikTok bio that needs a shop, a booking form, the latest video and a newsletter signup has nowhere to send people. A link in bio page on Linxly holds product cards, video, maps and text blocks, with theming, and it reports into the same dashboard as the short links.
The second is app routing. Sending an iPhone user to the App Store and an Android user to Google Play from one link is a job TinyURL does not do. Linxly handles it with deep links that route by device to the App Store, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery or your website, with no SDK and no mobile developer involved.
Four things to check before you switch
Your old TinyURL links keep working. They do not expire, so nothing breaks on the day you stop using the service. There is no deadline forcing a rushed migration.
Nothing imports. Neither tool bulk-imports the other's links, so the practical move is to rebuild the links you actually use with the same slugs and leave the rest where they are.
Anything already printed stays where it points. If a QR from the free plan is on a package or a sign, the destination behind it cannot be changed. Reprint it against an editable link, or accept the dead end.
Where the reporting lives. Short links, QR scans and the bio page belong in one dashboard. Split across two accounts, the numbers never line up and nobody reads them twice.
If you are on a paid TinyURL plan, export your click history before you cancel. Links take an afternoon to rebuild. Reports do not transfer between tools, and once the subscription ends the history goes with it.
Linxly as a TinyURL alternative: what you get
Compared at the tiers people actually buy, Linxly Pro is $7.99 a month against TinyURL Pro at $12.99, or $9.99 billed yearly. In Linxly Pro:
- Short links with a slug you choose, in
linx.ly/spring-saleformat, editable after creation, so the destination can change without reprinting anything - A QR code generated automatically for every link, with your colors and logo on paid plans
- Bio pages with product cards, video, maps and theming, in the same account as the links
- Device-based deep links to the App Store, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery or your site, without an SDK
- Meta tag editing, so the title, description and preview image are yours when the link gets pasted into a chat
- Time-based redirects, password protection and link expiration
- Analytics by country, city, device type, device brand, operating system, browser and referrer, with QR scans reported separately from clicks
Entry is $0.99 a month on Starter, and every plan opens with a 7-day trial that unlocks the full feature set. The row-by-row version is on the TinyURL vs Linxly page.
Frequently asked questions
Is TinyURL really free?
Yes, for shortening. The free tier gives unlimited links on tinyurl.com, a custom alias, an automatic QR code and links that never expire. Analytics and link editing are not part of it.
Can I edit a TinyURL after creating it?
Only on a paid plan. On the free tier the destination is fixed permanently, and the link cannot be deleted either.
Does TinyURL track clicks?
Not on the free plan, which records no click data at all. Click analytics start on Pro at $12.99 a month, or $9.99 billed yearly.
Can I move my TinyURL links to Linxly?
You recreate them. There is no bulk import, so rebuild the links still in use with the same slugs and update destinations from there. Old TinyURL links keep redirecting, so nothing goes dark while you do it.
Is Linxly cheaper than TinyURL?
At the working tiers, yes. Linxly Pro is $7.99 a month against TinyURL Pro at $12.99, and entry is $0.99 on Starter. Bio pages, device-based deep links and QR customization are included rather than absent, so one account covers what would otherwise take two.
Do you allow gambling or illegal redirects?
No. Linxly blocks this kind of content automatically through filters, and anything that gets past automation goes through manual review or abuse reporting. The account is suspended. This policy is part of why Linxly stays reachable in markets where other shorteners get blocked, including Turkey, where a court blocked Cuttly, T2M and Bitly on May 5, 2026 on illegal gambling grounds.
The short version
TinyURL free is a redirect and nothing else: no numbers, no edits, no second chance at the destination. Pro fixes the first two at $12.99 a month and caps you at 500 active links.
If what you need is a link you can repoint after it is printed, click data on the plan you actually buy, and a bio page for the profile that sends the traffic, that is a cheaper problem to solve elsewhere. Related reading: Bitly alternatives for marketers, Cuttly alternative, and a closer look at link click tracking.