URL BOT
URL BOT vs Bitly

URL BOT vs Bitly: the same essentials, with click-fraud protection built in

Bitly is a mature link-management platform built for large brands and teams. URL BOT covers the same short-link, analytics and QR essentials, then adds automatic Bot Shield so your numbers reflect real people — starting at $9/mo.

Free plan forever · No credit card · Bot Shield on every plan · Last updated September 15, 2026

URL BOT vs Bitly, feature by feature

A straight, honest comparison. The rows marked with a badge are where URL BOT is built differently: automatic click-fraud protection and clean, bot-filtered analytics at a plain price.

Feature URL BOT Bitly
Built-in Bot Shield click-fraud protectionWedge Automatic on every link, every plan Not a built-in feature
Bot-filtered analytics (bots removed before stats)Wedge Yes — verified human clicks Click counts include bot traffic
Free plan with click analytics + QR codesWedge Yes, free forever Free tier with limited links
Starting paid planWedge $9/mo (Pro) Paid plans priced higher, per tier
Advanced planWedge $29/mo (Business) Scales into enterprise pricing
Real-time click analytics Yes Yes
QR codes Free on every plan Paid on most plans
Custom branded domains Pro: 3 · Business: 10 Paid plans
REST API + webhooks Business plan Higher / enterprise tiers
Team workspaces Business plan Paid plans
Password-protected & expiring links Pro plan Varies by plan
Threat log + IP / range blocking Blocking on all plans · full log from Pro Not offered

Bitly details reflect publicly available information about their product and may change — please verify current features and pricing on their website. URL BOT plan details are drawn from our own pricing. Last updated September 15, 2026.

Where Bitly is a good fit

Bitly is a widely-adopted, enterprise-grade platform with a large integration ecosystem. If you need that scale it is a solid choice — but its analytics still count bot traffic, and bot filtering is not a built-in feature.

Bot Shield: short links with bot protection, built in

The difference between URL BOT and Bitly is what happens before the redirect. Every visit to a URL BOT link is scored, and requests that cross your threshold are blocked and logged; genuine visitors are redirected in milliseconds. Because filtering happens before analytics are recorded, your click counts reflect real people from the start.

Scored before redirect
User agent, IP reputation, request velocity and shared threat lists are weighed on every visit.
Blocked and logged
Suspicious traffic is stopped and recorded in the threat log, with IP and range blocking on hand.
Clean by default
Bot Shield is on for every link, on every plan — including the free one.

What clean, bot-filtered analytics look like

Bot Shield removes automated traffic before it is counted, so a noisy raw click number becomes a verified-human number you can trust.

How teams use URL BOT after switching

The same protected links serve the whole workflow — from the first share to the report.

One protected link per campaign

Create a branded short link for every offer, post or ad. Bot Shield protects it automatically — on every plan, including Free.

Judge results on verified clicks

Real-time analytics break clicks down by referrer, device and geography, with bots removed before anything is counted.

Tag every placement

Use the built-in UTM builder so each channel, post and creative is tagged — then see which placement drove verified clicks.

Move your links over

Bulk-import existing links by CSV, brand them on your own domain, and generate a QR code for any link for free.

Frequently asked questions

Is URL BOT a good Bitly alternative?

Yes. URL BOT gives you the Bitly essentials — short links, real-time analytics, QR codes and custom branded domains — and adds automatic Bot Shield click-fraud protection so your click data counts real people. Paid plans start at $9/mo and there is a free plan.

What does URL BOT do that Bitly does not?

Automatic bot and click-fraud filtering on every link and every plan, plus analytics that remove bots before they reach your stats, and a threat log with IP / range blocking. That built-in Bot Shield is the core wedge Bitly does not offer.

Is URL BOT cheaper than Bitly?

URL BOT keeps pricing simple: a free plan, Pro at $9/mo and Business at $29/mo, with QR codes and Bot Shield included on every plan. Bitly's paid tiers generally start higher and scale into enterprise pricing.

Can I move my existing Bitly links to URL BOT?

Yes. You can bulk-import links by CSV, then point them at your own custom domain on Pro (up to 3) or Business (up to 10) with DNS verification and free SSL handled for you.

Does URL BOT remove bots from my click analytics?

Yes. Filtering happens before analytics are recorded, so your click counts reflect real people from the start — you are not cleaning bots out of a report after the fact.

Keep reading

Go deeper

From how bot detection works to the audience playbooks and free tools — all on URL BOT.

How click-bot detection works

The signals a bot filter scores, and why raw click counts overstate real traffic.

URL shortener for affiliate marketing

Cloak, track and protect every offer link from click fraud.

URL BOT vs Rebrandly

Branded custom-domain links, plus analytics that ignore bots.

Free UTM builder

Assemble a tagged campaign URL in seconds — no signup required.

Short links that count real people

Create your first protected link free — Bot Shield included. Pro at $9/mo, Business at $29/mo.