By Marcus Flynn, tracking and attribution editor. Updated 22 October 2026.
Quick answer
Bitly is our top pick for most people. Bitly shortens a link, makes a QR code, and counts the clicks. For an affiliate placement, that means a clean URL in the post, while the purchase and the commission stay in the network dashboard. Keep it for a post, an email, or a QR code. Move a paid affiliate campaign to a tracker once the sale has to come back into your own report and on to the ad platform.
- Bitly. Best for social posts, email, and printable codes when counting clicks is the whole report. Has a free tier.
Where Bitly fits
Bitly shortens a link, makes a QR code, and counts the clicks. For an affiliate placement, that means a clean URL in the post, while the purchase and the commission stay in the network dashboard. Keep it for a post, an email, or a QR code. Move a paid affiliate campaign to a tracker once the sale has to come back into your own report and on to the ad platform.
It is at its best for social posts, email, and printable codes when counting clicks is the whole report. That is the lens the rest of this review uses: not whether it is the biggest tool on the market, but whether it is the right one for that operator.
If a paid affiliate campaign needs more than a click total, read ClickMagick vs Bitly.
Pros and cons
What works
- The free plan covers a small monthly batch of new links and QR codes.
- Growth adds branded links on a domain you own.
- You are billed for the links you create, so a link that gets heavy traffic stays on the same plan.
What to watch
- Your Bitly dashboard shows click counts. The commission report stays in the network you joined.
- Webhooks start on the Premium plan. Campaign postbacks and ad-platform conversion APIs belong to a tracker, and they sit outside this product.
- Operators use it for social posts. Once a paid affiliate campaign needs routing or sub-IDs, you need a tracker for that part of the job.
What it costs
The free plan shows ads and caps how many new links you can add. Paid plans raise that cap, and the Core plan is billed annually. The amounts are on the pricing page.
If an affiliate campaign needs the sale in the same report as the click, compare ClickMagick and Bitly.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Bitly cost?
Does Bitly offer a free trial?
How we reviewed this
We do not run paid campaigns through Bitly. We read its documentation and pricing, check every figure against the vendor, and weigh what operators report after spending real money on traffic through it. The full rubric is on the methodology page.
Related reading
- Best ad tracking and attribution software
- Bitly alternatives
- See Bitly pricing
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- SamCart review
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- Sticky.io review
- Unbounce review
- Vidalytics review
- Wistia review
- PaymentCloud review
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- PayKings review
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- ClickMagick vs Bitly
- Head-to-head comparisons
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Written by
Marcus Flynn
Tracking and attribution editor
Marcus Flynn runs OfferROAS's tracking and attribution desk. He covers direct-response paid media for this site, from the tracker to the merchant account. He reads operator threads, vendor changelogs and pricing pages, then writes what those sources support. He sets the methodology and puts his name on the commercial pages.
Last checked 2026-10-22
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