The 8 Best Alternatives to Google URL Shortener

URL shortening service goo.gl is being discontinued. Here are the best URL shortener alternatives

If you've ever relied on goo.gl to tighten up links for you, it's time to start thinking about an alternative URL shortener. Google ended support for its URL Shortener at the end of March 2018 and will pull the plug entirely on March 30, 2019 (links will continue to direct traffic appropriately after that date). If you're in need of a replacement, you might be asking yourself, "What are the best URL shorteners and how they differ from one another?"

URL shorteners make sharing written-out links more manageable. Say you want to provide a link on a business card, in an advertisement, or in an email where hyperlinking isn't ideal. A shortened URL takes up less space and keeps your text tidy. For example, you can convert

https://hgonet01.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-8-best-alternatives-to-google-url.html

to

https://hgonet01.blogspot.com/

The second version is much shorter and easier for someone to copy and paste or type.

Another use case for shortened URLs is to create variations on one link so that you can easily track the source of traffic to it. For example, you might spin out one URL to use on Twitter, a different one for Facebook, and a third to be used in an email newsletter.

In looking for a new URL shortener, it's helpful to know that some do little more than turn long links into short ones, while others let you customize the text of the new URLs, track click-through rates on a dashboard, and analyze other information about who's clicking your links. Most URL shorteners have a free tier of service, but you often have to pay for added features, such as data and analysis. The eight URL shortening services that made the cut for this list are reliable and easy to use, and each one stands out for one special reason, noted as "best for" below.
Here are the best URL shorteners to replace goo.gl, listed in alphabetical order

The 8 Best URL Shortener Services