Link Tracking

    Google URL shortener alternatives

    goo.gl stopped making new links in 2019 and switched off inactive links in August 2025. What still works, how to check an old goo.gl link, and five replacements compared on free tiers, domains and analytics.

    LinkPilot Team · About LinkPilot

    Google's URL shortener, goo.gl, has been winding down since 2018. New links stopped in 2019; in July 2024 Google said every goo.gl link would stop responding after 25 August 2025, then narrowed that in August 2025 to links that had shown no activity in late 2024.[1] If you are here, you either have old goo.gl links to deal with or you need a shortener and found the Google one gone. This post covers both.

    Facts about each shortener below come from its own pricing page on 19 October 2026. Plans change; check before you commit.

    What happened to goo.gl

    • March 2018: Google announced the shutdown and pointed developers to Firebase Dynamic Links.
    • March 2019: No new goo.gl links could be created. Existing links kept redirecting.
    • July 2024: Google said goo.gl links "will no longer return a response after August 25th, 2025", with a warning interstitial on some links from August 2024.
    • August 2025: Google "adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links". Only links with no activity in late 2024 were deactivated; "all other goo.gl links will be preserved and will continue to function as normal".[1]

    Firebase Dynamic Links, the suggested replacement, has itself been retired, so there is no Google product to move to.

    Google's own test is simple: open the link. If it redirects without a message, it continues to work. If it showed "This link will no longer work in the near future", it was in the deactivation set.[1] For a batch, paste each one into the redirect checker: it shows the final destination and whether the link is still redirecting at all. Links that still work are safe to keep, but anything in print or in a long-lived document is worth moving, since the link's future depends on activity you do not control.

    What to use instead: five shorteners compared

    | Shortener | Free tier (own pricing page, 19 Oct 2026) | Custom domain | Click analytics | Change a link's destination | |---|---|---|---|---| | Bitly | 5 links a month; branded links and custom domain not included; no data history | Paid plans (Core $10, Growth $29, Premium $199 a month) | Clicks counted on free; history and country data on paid | Not on free | | TinyURL | Free links with no account; paid plans add analytics and branded domains | Paid | Paid | Paid | | Short.io | 1,000 branded links, 5 custom domains, 50,000 tracked clicks a month, 1 user | Included on free (5 domains) | Yes, first 50,000 clicks a month | Yes | | Dub | No free plan; 14-day trial on Business ($90 a month, 10K links) and Advanced ($300) | Business: 100 domains | Yes, 3-year retention on Business | Yes | | LinkPilot | 50 links, 1,000 clicks a month, 7 days of analytics, 3 team members; no-account tool with a public stats page | Pro ($29 a month): 5 custom domains, unlimited links | Yes on free (7 days); full history on Pro | Yes in a free account; no-account links are fixed unless claimed |

    Sources: Bitly pricing[2], Short.io pricing[3], Dub pricing[4], LinkPilot pricing[5]. TinyURL's pricing page did not load in a way we could quote on the check date; confirm its figures on tinyurl.com.

    How to choose

    • You need a link right now and nothing else. Any of them. The free URL shortener makes one without an account and gives you a public stats page.
    • You want your own domain on a free plan. Short.io is the only one in the table that includes custom domains at $0. LinkPilot and Bitly put them on paid plans.
    • You make links as a team. Look at roles, expiry rules and an audit log rather than the free tier. The link shortener for teams page covers LinkPilot's; Dub and Short.io sell team plans too.
    • You are replacing links in print. Pick the shortener you will still be using in five years and put the links on a domain you own, so a future shutdown is a DNS change rather than a reprint. The custom URL shortener page explains the setup.
    • Your links are created by code. Compare the APIs first; the URL shortener API comparison covers Bitly, Dub, Short.io, TinyURL and LinkPilot.
    1. List every goo.gl link you still rely on (email templates, documents, print, QR codes).
    2. Test each with the redirect checker and note the destination.
    3. Create the replacement links, on your own domain if you can.
    4. Update the places that use them. For QR codes already printed, a short link on your own domain is the last code you will ever need to print, because its destination can change.
    5. Keep a note of the old-to-new mapping. goo.gl offers no export, so this list is the only record.

    The LinkPilot vs Bitly comparison goes deeper on the two most common choices.

    References

    [1] Google Developers Blog. Google URL Shortener links will no longer be available [updated], 18 July 2024, updated 1 August 2025. https://developers.googleblog.com/en/google-url-shortener-links-will-no-longer-be-available/. Checked 19 October 2026.

    [2] Bitly. Pricing. https://bitly.com/pages/pricing. Checked 19 October 2026.

    [3] Short.io. Pricing. https://short.io/pricing. Checked 19 October 2026.

    [4] Dub. Pricing. https://dub.co/pricing. Checked 19 October 2026.

    [5] LinkPilot. Pricing. https://uselinkpilot.com/pricing. Checked 19 October 2026.

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