🔗 Trimly
Your own branded link shortener with full click analytics.
Bitly charges $348/year just to use your own domain with your links — and your click data lives on their servers. Trimly runs on your $5 VPS (or right on your desktop), keeps every click in a local SQLite file you own, and never phones home.
Trimly, as it actually looks — a real screenshot, not a mockup.
Features
Branded short links
Auto-generated or custom slugs on your own domain.
Click analytics
Total + unique clicks, clicks-over-time chart, top referrers, devices, browsers, countries.
QR code for every link
Downloadable PNG and SVG.
301 / 302 per link
SEO-permanent or trackable-temporary — your call, editable any time.
UTM builder
Built into the create form — tag campaigns without a spreadsheet.
Bulk CSV import & export
Migrate off Bitly in one paste.
Country detection, zero paid APIs
Reads CF-IPCountry behind free Cloudflare; degrades gracefully otherwise.
100% local & private
SQLite storage, no telemetry, no tracking pixels, no external calls.
Trimly vs Bitly
Bitly at $29/mo runs roughly $348/year — $696 over two years. Trimly is $29, once.
| Trimly | Bitly | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29 once | $29/mo ($348/yr) for a custom domain |
| Your own domain | Included | Paid plans only |
| Links | Unlimited | Capped per plan |
| Click data ownership | Your SQLite file | Their servers |
| QR codes (PNG + SVG) | Included | Limited / paid tiers |
| Bulk CSV import/export | Yes | Paid tiers |
| Tracking pixels / telemetry | None | Their business model |
One month of Bitly's custom-domain plan costs the same as Trimly does once.
Three steps, no subscription
Buy once on Whop
One-time $29 — installer, updates and setup support included.
Point your domain
Deploy to a $5 VPS with Docker, point go.yourbrand.com at it, put free Cloudflare in front for country analytics.
Create links, watch clicks
Custom slugs, UTM builder, QR codes, and a full analytics dashboard you own.
Honest answers
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/link-shortener. The $29 buys the packaged 1-click installer, updates and setup support.
Do I need a server for public links?
Yes — public short links need a public host, so budget a $5/mo VPS. Desktop mode works fully offline for QR generation and campaign planning. Even VPS + Trimly year one costs less than 3 months of Bitly.
Can I migrate from Bitly?
Yes — bulk CSV import is built in. Export from Bitly, paste, done. Printed QR codes keep working because destinations stay editable.
How accurate is the geo data?
Country detection reads Cloudflare's free CF-IPCountry header — no paid geo API. Without Cloudflare in front, country data degrades gracefully to unknown.
Is there click fraud / bot filtering?
Uniques use a privacy-friendly daily IP+UA hash, which de-dupes repeat visitors. There's no enterprise-grade bot scoring — Bitly's bigger plans do more there.
Deep-dive comparisons:
Own Trimly forever
$29 once. Deploy on your own server — your data never leaves it. No renewal, no account with us, no meter. Or build it yourself from the MIT source — it's the same app.