The link shortener that respects the people clicking your links
Know who clicked — not just how many.
ShortLynx is a privacy-first URL shortener with per-recipient click attribution — the only one that tells you which contact clicked, without a CRM. Self-host it free, or let us run it.
Open-source · Privacy-first · No credit card
Per-recipient attribution, without a CRM
Most shorteners tell you a link got 400 clicks. ShortLynx can tell you which recipient clicked — mint a unique code per person, so email and sales tracking work without a login at click time. The closest tools that do this are CRM-locked enterprise suites (Outreach, Salesloft, HubSpot). ShortLynx does it self-hosted, for free.
Built to respect the clicker
Privacy isn't a bolt-on here — it's the design.
IPs are never stored raw
Every IP is HMAC-hashed with a secret server key, with the current hour folded in — so the same visitor hashes to a different value each hour. The raw address never touches disk.
DNT & GPC honored
Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control are respected: the click still counts, every dimension is dropped.
k-anonymity (k=10)
Any breakdown value seen fewer than 10 times folds into “Other” — in the dashboard, the API, and exports.
No sub-country geography
Country and timezone only. Never region, city, or coordinates — that's fingerprinting in low-traffic contexts.
Aggregate-only exports
Never a row-per-click list that could deanonymize a small campaign. Exports mirror the dashboard.
Enforced disclosure
Send tracked links without a privacy policy and recipients see a disclosure screen — and can opt out.
Everything you'd expect — and the things you wouldn't
Per-recipient attribution
Mint a unique code per contact so you can see exactly who clicked — no CRM, no login at click time.
Custom vanity codes
Choose your own memorable short code (shrtlynx.com/c/your-code) instead of a random one.
Custom domains
Bring your own domain, DNS-verified, with per-link domain pinning.
Campaigns & UTM
Group links for roll-up reporting with a shared UTM template applied at redirect time.
Social publishing
Post a link to Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, or Reddit with exact per-post click attribution.
QR codes
Generate a PNG or SVG QR code for any link or recipient code.
Privacy-preserving analytics
Clicks, unique clickers, sources, devices, timeline, hour-of-day, UTM, country + timezone.
Full REST API
Scoped API keys for automation — create links, provision codes, pull analytics.
Self-hostable
Source-available under ELv2. Run the whole product on your own infrastructure, free.
Simple, usage-based pricing
Self-host any tier for free, forever. Hosted plans coming soon.
Free
$0 /forever
- · 25 links
- · 10k redirects/mo
- · 30-day retention
- · Aggregate analytics
Starter
$9 /mo
- · 500 links
- · 100k redirects/mo
- · 1-year retention
- · 1 custom domain
- · 10 custom codes
Pro
$24 /mo
- · 5,000 links
- · 1M redirects/mo
- · Unlimited retention
- · 5 custom domains
- · Per-recipient attribution
Teams
$79 /mo
- · 25,000 links
- · 10M redirects/mo
- · Unlimited retention
- · 15 custom domains
- · Team seats & roles
Mode-2 per-recipient attribution is a Pro+ capability. Overages billed per-use. Prices in USD.
ShortLynx vs. Bitly & TinyURL
| ShortLynx | Bitly | TinyURL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-recipient click attribution | Yes | No | No |
| Privacy-first (hashed IPs, DNT/GPC) | Yes | No | Limited |
| Self-hostable / open source | Yes (ELv2) | No | No |
| Custom domains | Yes | Paid | Paid |
| Custom vanity codes | Yes | Paid | Yes |
| Free tier | Generous | Limited | Yes |
Prefer to run it yourself?
ShortLynx is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0. Self-hosting is free and unrestricted — every feature, every tier, on your own infrastructure and your own database. No lock-in, ever.
View the source on GitHub →Frequently asked questions
Is ShortLynx a Bitly or TinyURL alternative?
Yes. ShortLynx does everything you'd expect from a URL shortener — custom domains, branded/vanity links, QR codes, click analytics — plus per-recipient attribution and a privacy-first design neither Bitly nor TinyURL offers, and you can self-host it for free.
What is per-recipient attribution?
A unique short code minted per contact per destination. When someone clicks, you see that specific recipient clicked — ideal for email and sales outreach — without requiring them to log in and without a CRM.
How is ShortLynx privacy-first?
IP addresses are never stored raw — each is HMAC-hashed with a secret server-side key, with the current hour folded in so the same visitor hashes differently each hour. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control are honored, breakdowns use k-anonymity, no sub-country geography is stored, and exports are aggregate-only.
Can I self-host ShortLynx?
Yes — it's source-available under the Elastic License 2.0. Self-hosting is free and unrestricted at every tier, on your own infrastructure and database.
When is the hosted service available?
The hosted service is coming soon. In the meantime you can run the full product yourself today.
Hosted ShortLynx is coming soon
We're putting the finishing touches on the hosted service. In the meantime, you can self-host the full product today.