For creators
Paste a link, get a short one
- Paste a link and get a short one, with no account needed to try
- A free account keeps your links, their QR codes and their clicks
- Your own domain, through an organization for your brand
Compare
A Bitly alternative with your own domain and an SDK
Bitly is one of the best-known link management platforms. frwd2 does the same core job, shortening links, making QR codes and counting clicks, and is built around two things: links on your own domain, and links your own product creates through an SDK.
What you get with frwd2
Your own domain
Connect a domain to an organization and share its links as yourbrand.com/abc123. They keep working on frwd2.in too.
An SDK for your product
Your website or app creates short links with one call to the TypeScript SDK or the REST API.
Click analytics
Clicks and visitors per day, with countries, referrers, devices, browsers and operating systems.
A QR code with every link
Download it as PNG or SVG. Change the destination later without reprinting.
Links you stay in control of
Change where a link points, add a password, schedule it, let it expire, pause it or delete it.
Built for AI agents too
An MCP server gives Claude, Cursor and other agents the tools to create and manage links.
For businesses
Short links made by your product
- Short links created by your website or app through the SDK or API
- Served on frwd2.in or on your own domain
- Click analytics per link and across the organization, plus CSV and JSON export
The details, so you can compare
What frwd2 does on the points people usually check. For Bitly's side, see its own site: plans and features change.
- Price to start
- Free, with no credit card. Plans are on the pricing page.
- Shorten without an account
- Yes. Those links last 3 days.
- Links from an account
- Don't expire unless you set an expiry date.
- Your own domain
- Yes, one per organization, where your plan includes it.
- Custom short IDs
- Yes: 6 to 8 lowercase letters and digits.
- QR codes
- For every link, as PNG or SVG.
- Change a link after sharing it
- Yes: destination, password, schedule, expiry, pause.
- Click analytics
- Clicks and visitors per day, countries, referrers, devices, browsers and operating systems, over 7, 30 or 90 days.
- Visitor IP addresses
- Never stored.
- API and SDK
- REST API and the @frwd2/sdk package for TypeScript.
- AI agents
- MCP server (@frwd2/mcp) for Claude, Cursor and other clients.
- Export
- Every link as CSV or JSON.
Switching from Bitly
- 1
Create a free frwd2 account, or try the shortener on the home page without one.
- 2
Make your links in frwd2: paste them in the dashboard, or have your product create them with the SDK or API.
- 3
To use your own domain, create an organization and connect a domain or subdomain that nothing else runs on.
- 4
Leave your Bitly links where they are. frwd2 can't import links from another service or take over their addresses, so links you have already shared keep working with Bitly. Use frwd2 for everything new.
Questions
Is frwd2 a free alternative to Bitly?
frwd2 is free to start: you can shorten a link without an account, and a free account keeps your links with their QR codes. The plans on offer and what each includes are on the pricing page.
Can I use my own domain with frwd2?
Yes. Create an organization, add your domain in its settings and add the two DNS records it shows you. The organization's links are then shared on your domain and keep working on frwd2.in. Whether a custom domain is included depends on your plan.
Can I move my Bitly links to frwd2?
No. frwd2 can't import links from Bitly or take over their addresses. Links you have already shared keep working with Bitly, and you create new links in frwd2.
Can my website or app create short links?
Yes. An organization gets API keys for the REST API, and the @frwd2/sdk package wraps it for TypeScript, so one call from your backend returns a short link.
Bitly is a trademark of its owner. frwd2 is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bitly.