Cuttly vs Rebrandly (2026): Which Is Better for Branded Short Links?

Rebrandly has been one of the most recognized names in branded link management since it launched in 2015. It built a clear identity: a platform specifically designed for branded short links, with a clean interface and strong positioning around the professional value of links that use your own domain. Cuttly has evolved in a different direction — broader platform coverage with more tools, lower price points, and several capabilities that Rebrandly does not offer at any price. In 2026, the comparison between these two platforms is directly relevant for any marketer, brand, or team deciding where to invest their link management budget. This guide compares them across every dimension that matters: pricing structure, branded domain capability, analytics depth, QR Codes, Link in Bio, A/B testing, API, team features, and the features only one platform provides.

You can explore Cuttly's branded link capabilities directly through the URL Shortener tool — free plan available, no credit card required.

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The Context: What Each Platform Was Built to Do

Rebrandly was founded in 2015 with a specific thesis: that branded short links — links using your own domain rather than a platform-owned shortener domain — were a significantly undervalued marketing asset. The platform was designed around this idea, with a clean interface, easy custom domain setup, and positioning around the trust and CTR benefits of branded links. For several years, Rebrandly occupied a clear position as the branded links specialist.

Cuttly was developed as a broader link management platform from the outset — integrating URL shortening, branded domains, QR Code generation, link analytics, Link in Bio, Surveys, Action Pages, and campaign tools in one system. Where Rebrandly specialized, Cuttly consolidated. The strategic difference is platform breadth: Rebrandly is a focused branded links tool with some additional features; Cuttly is a link management platform that includes branded links as one component of a wider stack.

This distinction matters when choosing between them. If your only requirement is branded short links with clean analytics, both platforms address it. When your requirements expand — to QR Codes with scan tracking, Link in Bio on a branded domain, A/B testing, surveys distributed via short links, or TRAI SMS compliance — the comparison shifts decisively.

Pricing and Plan Structure

Rebrandly Pricing

Rebrandly operates on a Free tier and three paid tiers. The Free plan provides a limited number of links and tracks up to 1,000 visits/month but does not include a branded domain — custom domains require a paid plan. The Starter plan ($19/month) provides 300 links/month, 10,000 tracked visits/month, 1 branded domain, and supports 2 users. The Pro plan ($39/month) provides 2,000 links/month, 100,000 tracked visits/month, 2 branded domains, 3 users, and adds Dynamic Routing (geo- and device-based routing rules). The Team plan ($99/month) provides 10,000 links/month, 500,000 tracked visits/month, 5 branded domains, 5 users, SSO, and App Links (BETA at this tier). Enterprise pricing is custom.

A key structural feature of Rebrandly's analytics model is the "tracked visits" cap. Each plan has a monthly ceiling on the number of click events tracked. Once the cap is reached, additional clicks during that month may not be fully tracked. This is a meaningful constraint for high-volume campaigns or brands with large audiences. The 100,000 tracked visits/month on the $39/month Pro plan is sufficient for many use cases, but it is a hard ceiling rather than a soft threshold.

Cuttly Pricing

Cuttly operates on five tiers. The Free plan ($0) includes 30 short links/month, 1 branded domain, QR code generation, UTM builder, link analytics (last 30 days), and bot filtering — with no credit card required and no tracked visit cap.

The Starter plan ($12/month) provides 300 links/month, 1 branded domain, and adds template editing for Link in Bio, link title editing, and Starter API access.

The Single plan ($25/month) is where the platform opens substantially: 5,000 links/month, up to 5 branded domains, 1 year of analytics history (no tracked visit cap), full QR customization (colors, shapes, logo, SVG export), global QR Code presets, A/B link rotation (50/50), password-protected links, deep link support, social posting, bulk CSV import (100/month), 3 Action Pages, and Link in Bio on cutt.bio or a custom branded domain. SSL via Let's Encrypt is included automatically.

The Team plan ($99/month) adds multi-user workspace, up to 10 branded domains, 20,000 links/month, 2 years of analytics history, A/B rotation with percentage control, A/B/C rotation on Enterprise, full deep links with Android deferred deep linking (Install Referrer), Team API, Cuttly Campaigns (aggregated tag analytics), unlimited surveys with custom domains, 10 Action Pages, and Team Communicator.

The Enterprise plan ($149/month) scales to 50,000 links/month, up to 99 branded domains, A/B/C link rotation, SSO, 20 Action Pages, and highest API rate limits.

Head-to-Head: What You Get Per Dollar

The contrast at comparable price points is significant. Cuttly's Single plan at $25/month provides 16x more links per month, 5x more branded domains, unlimited analytics tracking with 1 year of history versus a 10,000 visit cap, and a substantially broader feature set — including capabilities Rebrandly does not offer at any price.

Free Plan Comparison

The free plan comparison is revealing about each platform's approach to customer acquisition.

Rebrandly's free plan provides limited link creation and 1,000 tracked visits/month but does not include a branded domain. For a marketer evaluating whether branded links are worth the investment, Rebrandly's free plan does not let them actually test the branded link experience — they would need to pay to access the feature that defines Rebrandly's value proposition.

Cuttly's free plan includes 1 branded domain at no cost, with no credit card required. A marketer can connect their own domain, create branded short links, generate QR Codes, and view analytics — all on the free plan. The free plan is a genuine preview of what the platform does, not a restricted teaser of the primary feature.

For professionals evaluating branded links before committing to a paid subscription, Cuttly's free plan is the more useful testing ground.

Branded Domains: Volume, DNS, SSL and Root Redirects

Branded domains are the core capability both platforms are built around. The differences in implementation and volume are worth examining in detail.

Branded Domains in Cuttly

Cuttly supports branded domains on all plans including Free (1 domain). DNS configuration uses an A record pointing to Cuttly's IP address and a TXT record for domain ownership verification. No CNAME is required — an important practical advantage for apex domain configuration (e.g. yourbrand.link rather than go.yourbrand.com), since apex domains cannot use CNAMEs in standard DNS implementations.

From the Single plan, Let's Encrypt SSL is provisioned automatically when the domain is verified — no separate CDN or SSL configuration required. On Free and Starter plans, you configure SSL through your own provider (Cloudflare's free SSL being the most common approach).

Domain volume scales significantly: 1 on Free/Starter, 5 on Single, 10 on Team, up to 99 on Enterprise. Branded domain root page redirect (so yourbrand.link/ redirects somewhere useful rather than a 404) and custom 404 redirect are both available from the Single plan — small but professionally important details.

Branded Domains in Rebrandly

Rebrandly also supports branded domains with clean DNS configuration and SSL. The platform is well-regarded for its domain setup experience — the interface for connecting and managing custom domains is clear and well-documented. Domain volume is 1 on Starter, 2 on Pro, and 5 on Team. The branded domain experience in Rebrandly is polished and reliable; the limitation is that it requires a paid plan (starting at $19/month) and the volume caps at each tier are lower than Cuttly's.

For teams managing a single brand with one primary short domain, Rebrandly's domain management is adequate. For agencies managing multiple client domains, or brands with multiple product lines on distinct short domains, Cuttly's higher domain volumes per tier are more appropriate.

Analytics: The Tracked Visit Cap vs Unlimited History

This is arguably the most consequential structural difference between the two platforms for marketing-intensive use cases.

Rebrandly's Tracked Visit Model

Rebrandly measures analytics engagement through "tracked visits" — a monthly cap on the number of click events the platform records and makes available for analysis. Free plan: 1,000 tracked visits/month. Starter: 10,000/month. Pro: 100,000/month. Team: 500,000/month.

Once the monthly cap is reached, additional clicks in that period are not tracked in full. For campaigns with moderate traffic, the caps are sufficient. For high-volume campaigns — a product launch, a viral social post, a large email send — the cap can be exhausted early in the month, leaving a portion of campaign traffic without analytics coverage.

The tracked visit model is also a ceiling on analytics data retention in terms of queryable history. Rebrandly provides analytics history, but the combination of monthly caps and plan-level history limits means the full click record may not be preserved in the way a marketing team performing historical campaign analysis would need.

Cuttly's Unlimited Tracking with History Retention

Cuttly does not apply a tracked visit cap. Every click on every short link is recorded and included in analytics regardless of monthly volume. A campaign that generates 500,000 clicks on the Single plan ($25/month) has all 500,000 clicks visible in analytics. There is no ceiling on click volume analytics coverage.

The constraint in Cuttly's model is history retention rather than volume: the free plan retains the last 30 days of data, the Single plan retains 1 year, the Team plan retains 2 years. For most use cases, a year of analytics history is more useful than a tracked visit cap with longer nominal retention — a campaign from 8 months ago should be fully analyzable, not partially visible because a monthly cap was hit.

Bot filtering is available on all Cuttly plans including free, running automatically. This means the analytics data reflects genuine human clicks rather than bot and crawler noise. Rebrandly does not prominently document automatic bot filtering — an important detail for any analytics comparison, since uncleaned click data overstates campaign performance.

Both platforms capture the standard analytics dimensions: total and unique clicks, geographic breakdown (country and city), device type, operating system, browser, referrer source, and time patterns. All Cuttly analytics data is aggregated and anonymized. Link analytics pages can be set to public for sharing performance with clients or stakeholders without granting dashboard access.

QR Codes: Generation, Customization and Scan Tracking

QR Codes in Cuttly

Cuttly generates a dynamic QR Code for every short link automatically, on all plans including free. Free and Starter plans provide a basic QR Code in PNG, JPG, and WEBP formats. From the Single plan, full customization is available: six dot styles (Square, Dots, Rounded, Extra Rounded, Classy, Classy Rounded), custom dot color, corner styles and colors, background color, logo/image overlay with size and margin control, quality level (L/M/Q/H), and SVG export for professional print production.

Global QR Code presets (Single plan+) allow you to define a brand-standard configuration that applies to every new QR Code generated in the account. Team-level QR presets (Team plan) allow separate default configurations per workspace. QR Codes are dynamic — the destination can be updated after printing without creating a new code or reprinting materials.

QR Code scan data flows directly into the short link's analytics. Total scans, unique scans, device breakdown, geographic distribution, OS split, and time patterns are all visible in the same dashboard as link click analytics. For campaigns running across both physical (QR Code on print) and digital (shared link) channels, this unified view is operationally significant.

QR Codes in Rebrandly

Rebrandly provides QR Code generation as part of its platform. The feature exists and is functional, but the customization depth — particularly for color, style, logo overlay, and SVG export — has been more limited compared to Cuttly's implementation. For teams that need basic QR Code generation alongside branded links, Rebrandly's QR feature is adequate. For brands that need fully customized, on-brand QR Codes with SVG export for professional print production and per-scan analytics, Cuttly's QR implementation is more complete.

Link in Bio

Rebrandly does not offer a Link in Bio feature. This is one of the most consequential gaps in its platform for creators, brands, and professionals who manage social media presence alongside their branded link strategy.

Cuttly's Link in Bio is available on all plans including free (on the cutt.ly domain). From the Single plan, it is available on cutt.bio (Cuttly's dedicated Link in Bio domain) or on a custom branded domain — meaning the Link in Bio page URL reflects your brand rather than any platform. Analytics track page visits, per-button click-through rate, referrer sources, and time patterns. Customization covers background (gradient, color, image), template (link shape, fill style, header alignment, font family), profile image, title, description, video (YouTube or Vimeo from Single plan), and icon-only social buttons.

For professionals and brands who currently use Linktree or a similar tool for their bio page alongside Rebrandly for branded links, migrating entirely to Cuttly would consolidate both functions — plus QR Codes, analytics, and short links — into one platform, eliminating a separate subscription.

A/B Link Rotation

Rebrandly does not offer A/B link rotation. Cuttly supports link rotation — distributing traffic from a single short link across multiple destination URLs — from the Single plan ($25/month). On Single, the split is a fixed 50/50 between two destinations. On Team, the split is fully configurable by percentage (any distribution between two URLs). On Enterprise, a third destination is added for A/B/C rotation with percentage control.

A/B link rotation is a meaningful CRO (conversion rate optimization) capability. Testing two landing page variants through a single branded short link eliminates the need for separate tools or URL structures for each test condition. Analytics per variant are tracked in Cuttly's dashboard. The absence of this feature in Rebrandly requires Rebrandly users to create separate short links per variant and manually compare analytics — a more cumbersome approach that does not provide the clean A/B reporting that link rotation enables.

API Access

Cuttly API

Cuttly provides API access on all plans including free. The free plan allows 3 calls per 60 seconds and 30 links/month via the cutt.ly domain. Starter: 6 calls/60s, 300 links/month. Single: 60 calls/60s, 5,000 links/month, with 1,000 branded domain links/month via API. Team: 180 calls/60s, 20,000 links/month, 20,000 branded domain links/month, and Team API — workspace-level authentication that operates independently of individual user tokens.

The Team API distinction matters architecturally. Personal API tokens are tied to individual user accounts — if the account holder leaves the organization, the token breaks. Team API tokens authenticate at the workspace level, providing shared ownership and auditability. For teams building integrations into CRMs, marketing automation platforms, or internal tooling, the Team API is the appropriate foundation.

Rebrandly API

Rebrandly has a well-documented API available from the free plan, which is one of its genuine competitive advantages. API access at the free tier — including branded domain link creation — gives developers a lower barrier to entry for building integrations. Rebrandly's API documentation and the developer experience around it have been well-regarded.

For pure developer use cases where API access at zero cost is the primary requirement, Rebrandly's free-tier API has historically been more capable than most competitors. Cuttly's API is available on the free plan but with lower rate limits — meaningful API usage for integration purposes is more appropriate from the Single plan.

Team Features

Both platforms offer multi-user workspace functionality on their higher-tier plans. The relevant comparison is what team features are available at each price point.

Rebrandly's Team plan ($99/month) supports 5 users and 5 branded domains, with SSO and App Links (BETA). Cuttly's Team plan ($99/month) supports up to 10 branded domains, 20,000 links/month, Team API, Campaigns (aggregated tag analytics), deep links with Android deferred deep linking and iOS App Store routing, unlimited surveys with custom domains, 10 Action Pages, and 2 years of analytics history.

At the same $99/month price point, Cuttly provides more branded domains, more links per month, longer analytics history, and a wider feature set — including capabilities (Surveys, Action Pages, Campaigns, deferred deep linking) that Rebrandly's Team plan does not include.

Rebrandly's Team plan offers Dynamic Routing (geo- and device-based routing rules) from the Pro tier ($39/month). This feature — directing users to different destinations based on their location or device — is a capability worth noting; Cuttly offers A/B rotation but not the same geo/device-conditional routing that Rebrandly calls Dynamic Routing. If geo-based link routing is a primary requirement, this is a genuine differentiator in Rebrandly's favor.

Features Cuttly Has That Rebrandly Does Not

Surveys

Cuttly includes a full survey builder on all plans. Surveys support multiple question types, custom branding, password protection, custom start and finish pages, 256-bit encryption for open-answer responses, and export in PDF, XLS, and CSV. Custom domain surveys are available from the Team plan. Survey links can be shortened, QR-coded, and tracked within the same dashboard as all other links. Rebrandly has no native survey feature.

Action Pages

Action Pages are Cuttly's standalone CTA landing pages — accessible via a short link under the /c/ namespace. Each includes a title, description, background, logo, optional video, countdown timer, and a single CTA button. Available from the Single plan (3 pages), Team (10 pages), Enterprise (20 pages). They serve as quick-launch campaign landing pages without requiring a website or external landing page tool. Rebrandly has no equivalent feature.

Link in Bio

As covered above, Cuttly provides full Link in Bio functionality on all plans, including on branded custom domains from the Single plan. Rebrandly does not offer Link in Bio.

TRAI SMS Compliance

For businesses running SMS marketing campaigns in India, Cuttly supports TRAI-compliant link shortening through the 2s.ms domain (format: 2s.ms/{HEADER}/{alias}) and through Tracking Header support on custom domains. Available from the Single plan. Rebrandly has no TRAI compliance infrastructure.

Bot Filtering

Cuttly applies automatic bot filtering on all plans. Click counts reflect genuine human traffic — crawler, bot, and automated request traffic is excluded. Rebrandly does not prominently document automatic bot filtering across all plans. For analytics accuracy, automatic bot filtering is foundational — its absence means click data may overstate actual campaign performance.

Cuttly Campaigns

Available from the Team plan, Cuttly Campaigns aggregates analytics across tagged short links — providing a campaign-level performance view that shows total clicks, geographic breakdown, device split, and time patterns across all links associated with a given campaign tag. This is an operationally useful feature for marketing teams managing multi-link campaigns across multiple channels. Rebrandly provides link-level analytics but does not have an equivalent native campaign aggregation tool.

Android Deferred Deep Linking

From the Team plan, Cuttly supports Android deferred deep linking with Install Referrer — meaning a user who clicks a short link, does not have the app installed, is sent to the Play Store, installs the app, and opens it will have the referral context passed through to the app. Rebrandly's App Links feature is noted as BETA on the Team plan ($99/month) and does not document Android deferred deep linking with Install Referrer.

Features Rebrandly Has That Cuttly Does Not

Dynamic Routing (Geo / Device / Language)

Rebrandly's Pro plan ($39/month) and above offer Dynamic Routing — conditional redirect rules that send users to different destinations based on their geographic location, device type, or browser language. This is a distinct capability from A/B rotation: it is not random traffic splitting for testing, but deterministic routing based on user attributes. A single short link might send US visitors to a US-specific landing page, UK visitors to a UK-specific page, and mobile visitors to a mobile app install page.

Cuttly offers device-based alternative redirects (Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, fallback) from the Single plan through Mobile URLs and Deep Link features — which covers the most common device-routing use case. Geographic-based routing (sending different users to different pages based on their country) is not a native Cuttly feature. If geo-conditional routing at the link level is a primary requirement, this is a genuine differentiator in Rebrandly's favor.

API on Free Plan with Branded Domain

Rebrandly allows API calls that create branded domain links on the free plan (within free plan limits). Cuttly's free plan API is limited to the cutt.ly domain — API access for branded domain link creation requires the Starter plan or above. For developers building integrations who want to test branded domain link creation via API without a paid commitment, Rebrandly's free tier provides more API flexibility.

Established Enterprise Client Base

Rebrandly has documented enterprise client relationships with established brands. For procurement teams that require platform vendor validation through named enterprise references, Rebrandly's client list provides a level of social proof in enterprise buying processes that is worth acknowledging.

Data Privacy and EU Residency

Cuttly is operated by a company with servers in the EU (Poland). All link analytics data is aggregated and anonymized — individual user tracking is not performed. Cuttly is GDPR-compliant and CCPA-compliant. EU data residency is a material compliance advantage for organizations operating under GDPR, particularly in regulated industries where data processing chain documentation is required.

Rebrandly is an Irish-American company (founded in Ireland, with US operations). EU data residency considerations apply to both platforms differently depending on your organization's specific compliance requirements.

Which Platform Is Right for Which Use Case

Choose Cuttly if:

• You need the broadest feature set per dollar — branded links, QR Codes, Link in Bio, Surveys, Action Pages, A/B rotation, and campaign analytics in one platform.
• You want to test branded links without a credit card — Cuttly's free plan includes 1 branded domain and 30 links/month.
• Analytics volume is unpredictable or high — you need unlimited click tracking without monthly caps.
• You run SMS campaigns in India and need TRAI-compliant link infrastructure.
• You need Link in Bio on a branded domain — not available in Rebrandly.
• You need QR Codes with full brand customization, SVG export, and scan tracking integrated with link analytics.
• You want to consolidate multiple tools (link shortener, QR generator, bio page, survey tool) into one platform.
• EU data residency matters for your organization's compliance framework.
• You need 5 branded domains at $25/month with SSL included.

Choose Rebrandly if:

• Geo-based or language-based dynamic routing is a primary requirement — sending users to different destinations based on their country or browser language, rather than random A/B splitting.
• API access for branded domain link creation at zero cost (free tier) is the key requirement for a development use case.
• Your monthly tracked visit volume stays comfortably within plan caps and you have no need for the broader toolset Cuttly provides.
• You are in a formal enterprise procurement process that requires named enterprise vendor references for vendor qualification.

The Honest Summary

Rebrandly has genuine strengths: a clean, focused interface, solid branded link infrastructure, a well-documented API, and a clear market position. For a team whose requirements are narrowly scoped to branded links with analytics and does not need the broader platform features, Rebrandly addresses those requirements reliably.

But the comparison in 2026 is not close on value per dollar. Cuttly provides more links per month, more branded domains per tier, unlimited analytics tracking without volume caps, full QR customization with SVG export, Link in Bio on branded domains, A/B link rotation, Action Pages, Surveys, TRAI compliance, Android deferred deep linking, and EU data residency — at price points that are comparable to or lower than Rebrandly's. The features Rebrandly has that Cuttly does not — principally geo-conditional dynamic routing — are relevant for a specific subset of use cases, not for the majority of marketing teams.

Ready to compare directly? Create a free Cuttly account — no credit card required — and evaluate branded links, QR Codes, Link in Bio, and analytics in one place before upgrading. Registration required; free plan available immediately.