URL shorteners
linkutm vs Short.io compared on 14 fields
- linkutm score
- 79/100 (8 of 8 criteria)
- Short.io score
- 97/100 (8 of 8 criteria)
- Fields won by linkutm
- 0 of 10
- Fields won by Short.io
- 2 of 10
linkutm
Short.io
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
linkutm and Short.io are both URL shorteners. We compared them on 14 fields read from each vendor's own pages.
On the URL shorteners scorecard linkutm scores 79/100 (8 of 8 criteria) and Short.io 97/100 (8 of 8 criteria) (ranks 10 and 3 in the category).
Of the 10 fields with a clear rule (lower price, higher count, yes over no), linkutm wins 0, Short.io wins 2 and 8 are ties.
linkutm scores clearly higher on cost per user (team of 3).
Short.io scores clearly higher on free plan limits, entry price and links on paid plans.
Side by side
| Field | linkutm | Short.io | Winner and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly) | $9/month | ✓ $5/month | Short.io |
| Same plan, per month billed annually | $7/month | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Free trial | No | ✓ Yes | Short.io |
| Platforms supported | 2 | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Data export | Links and click data as CSV | daily export of raw click data to an AWS S3 bucket | No winner: no rule for this field |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| QR codes | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Click analytics | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| UTM builder | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Link-in-bio page | – | Yes | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Bulk shortening | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Team access | Yes | Yes | Tie |
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Sources: linkutm pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026; Short.io pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026. Each feature value links its own source on the tool's page.
Scorecard, criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Weight | linkutm | Short.io |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 67$9/month billed monthly on Personal; $7/month billed annually on Personal (scored on the monthly price) | 100$5/month billed monthly on Hobby (scored on the monthly price) |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | 100Free plan (Free) | 100Free plan (Free) |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 844 of 5 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales") | 1005 of 5 plans have a public price |
| Verified features | 15% | 1006 of 7 tracked features verified: custom domain, qr codes, click analytics, utm builder, bulk shortening, team access | 1007 of 7 tracked features verified: custom domain, qr codes, click analytics, utm builder, link-in-bio page, bulk shortening, team access |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | 100public API, documented data export | 100public API, documented data export |
| Free plan limits | 10% | 25Free plan: 25 links | 100Free plan: 1,000 links |
| Links on paid plans | 10% | 80250 links on Personal ($9/month) | 1002,500 links on Hobby ($5/month) |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 5% | 75$9.67 per user per month on Growth (team of 3, billed monthly) | 42$16 per user per month on Team (team of 3, billed monthly) |
| Total score | 100% | 79/100 (8 of 8 criteria) | 97/100 (8 of 8 criteria) |
linkutm plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | per workspace |
|
| Personal | $9 | $7 | per workspace |
|
| Growth | $29 | $23 | per workspace |
|
| Agency | $79 | $63 | per workspace |
|
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales | Not stated |
|
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
Short.io plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | per workspace |
|
| Hobby | $5 | Not stated | per workspace |
|
| Pro | $18 | Not stated | per workspace |
|
| Team | $48 | Not stated | per workspace |
|
| Enterprise | $148 | Not stated | per workspace |
|
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
How we picked
Every one of these URL shorteners is scored by the same 8 criteria (scorecard v1). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to URL shorteners. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other URL shorteners on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $5/month or less = 100, $29 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $4/month or less = 100, $24.92 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 7 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (custom domain, qr codes, click analytics, utm builder, link-in-bio page, bulk shortening, team access). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 4 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (100 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Free plan limits | 10% | Category | What the free plan allows: links (full marks at 100).Each stated limit linear up to its full mark (unlimited = 100), averaged. Tools without a free plan, or whose free plan states none of these limits, are not scored here. |
| Links on paid plans | 10% | Category | Links included on the cheapest paid plan that states a limit.Log scale: 1,000 or more (or unlimited) = 100. No stated limit = not scored. |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 5% | Category | Monthly price per user for a team of 3, on the cheapest paid plan that is priced per seat or states room for at least 3 users.Log scale: $6.67 per user or less = 100, $30 or more = 0. Plans that do not state a user limit are not used. No such plan = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Is linkutm cheaper than Short.io?
Short.io starts lower: $5 per month billed monthly on the Hobby plan, against $9 per month billed monthly ($7 billed yearly) on the Personal plan for linkutm. Check the unit: per-user and per-account prices scale differently.
Do linkutm and Short.io have free plans?
Both have a free plan.
Which is better, linkutm or Short.io?
On our scorecard Short.io scores higher (97/100 (8 of 8 criteria) vs 79/100 (8 of 8 criteria)). The score weighs every criterion the same way for every tool; check the rows above for the ones that matter to you.