Same links. None of the rent.
Bitly meters your clicks and bills you every month. Whooshly is one payment for the whole toolkit, short links, QR, UTM, and cards.
Yes, Whooshly is a strong Bitly alternative if you're tired of paying monthly for links. One payment covers thousands of campaign assets, clicks and scans that are never capped or charged, dynamic QR codes, a UTM builder, and digital cards. The honest caveat: Bitly has deeper enterprise reporting and a longer track record, so heavy analytics teams may still prefer it.
| Feature | Whooshly | Bitly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $35 once | $35/mo |
| Clicks never capped or charged | ||
| Dynamic QR codes | Paid tier | |
| UTM builder | ||
| Digital cards | ||
| Edit destination | ||
| No subscription |
Comparison based on the vendor's publicly listed plans, checked September 13, 2026. Prices and regional offers change often — verify against the linked official pricing page before deciding.
What Bitly costs to stand still.
At about $35/mo, Bitly runs roughly $420 a year and $1,260 over three years, and you still don't own it. Whooshly's Core is $35, paid once.
It's not just the price.
One payment, no renewal emails, no surprise price hikes.
Clicks and scans are never capped or charged on Core.
QR, UTM, and digital cards all included.
When Bitly is the better pick.
Bitly is the most recognized link shortener for a reason. Its analytics are deep, its redirect network is proven at massive scale, and it plugs into almost every marketing platform out of the box. For large enterprises with dedicated analytics teams, that maturity can be worth paying for.
Pick Bitly if you need enterprise-grade reporting, SSO and team governance, or deep integrations with an existing martech stack, and a recurring bill isn't a concern.
Whooshly's own research on Bitly
We re-resolved 2,765 short links that Common Crawl captured between 2014 and 2023. Of the 470 bit.ly links in that sample, 26% no longer resolved in 2026, marginally worse than the 25% average across all eight shorteners we measured, though far better than tinyurl.com at 36%. The sharper number is Bitly's other domain: j.mp came in at 10% of 325 links. Two domains, one company, a 16-point gap in survival. That is the whole argument for owning your redirect rather than renting it, because on a bit.ly link the decision was never yours to make.
Our link-rot study, 2,765 links re-resolvedHow to move from Bitly to Whooshly.
Download your link list, destinations, slugs, and tags, from Bitly as a CSV.
Paste your destinations and claim the same custom endings where they're free. Add QR codes and UTM tags in the same place.
Update the links in your posts and campaigns, or connect the custom domain included with Core so links keep the same host.
If that trade-off fits the way you work, explore Whooshly's editable short links, then see exactly what the $35 one-time plan includes.
Whooshly vs Bitly – FAQ
Is Whooshly a one-time payment or a subscription?
Whooshly's Core is a one-time $35 payment for links, dynamic QR codes, UTMs, cards, and white-label pages. Core also includes one custom domain and 120 days of analytics. Business ($99 once) adds 10 domains, smart routing and a year of history; optional Pro ($9/month) keeps your full analytics history.
Does Whooshly limit how many clicks I get?
No. No click or scan is ever capped or charged. Core includes full analytics for up to 1 million tracked scans and clicks a month; past that, totals keep counting and breakdowns pause until the next month. Core supports up to 10,000 campaign assets per account.
Can I edit a short link's destination after sharing it, like Bitly?
Yes. Every Whooshly short link and dynamic QR code can be re-pointed to a new destination at any time, the printed link or code never changes.
Can I import my Bitly links into Whooshly?
Yes. Export your Bitly links as a CSV and bulk-import them, keeping the same custom endings wherever they're still free, so a link you've already shared reads identically. Note what no tool can do: an existing bit.ly link keeps pointing at Bitly, because that domain isn't yours. Importing gets your list, your endings, and every new link onto a plan you own.
Is Whooshly cheaper than Bitly over time?
For almost everyone, yes. Bitly Growth is publicly listed at $35/mo, about $420 a year and $1,260 over three years, or $29/mo billed annually. Whooshly's Core is a single $35 and costs nothing after that.
Switch from Bitly. Pay once.
Bring your links, own your data, and never see a renewal email again.