Pxl.to URL Shortener: Best Bitly Alternative?

Pxl.to is a URL shortener built with server-less technology to effortlessly create and track short links for any URL. 

URLs are the most important part of your website. They represent a link to another page on your site, and they’re also used by search engines as a way for them to index your site. The most basic job of URL shortener is to turn your long, unwieldy links, which are difficult to type and remember into shorter one’s. As the technology has evolved  the importance and usecases of URL shortener’s are rapidly growing.

URL shorteners are useful because they can help to make long URLs more manageable and easier to share. Additionally, they can also be used to track clicks and traffic, which can be helpful for marketing and advertising purposes. There are many usecases and resasons why one should take into account the use of URL shorteners as described below.

1. Long URLs looks suspicious and decreases click-through rates.

Lengthy URLs with so many letters, slashes, numbers and question marks can look suspicious for users and they might hesitate to click on it. Shortened URLs tend to have higher click-through rates than long URLs. This is because they are easier to remember and are more aesthetically pleasing.

2. Helps to brand your links

Your URLs reflects your brand. Whether you run surveys, event registrations, marketing campaigns and even any advertisements, if they contains links which reflects your brand , it will improve your brand identity.

3. Performance Tracking

Determining your audience’s demographics will help you better understand how to interact with them and serve their needs. You can track this data through URL shorteners, which not only reduce the length of your address, but also provide information on where your visitors are located, how they found your page, and what device they were using when they accessed the link. This insights can be valuable in determining the best way to market your product or service and understanding your audience.

4. Deep linking to apps

Deep linking to apps is an essential feature for any marketer. This method redirects links from opening in the browser to the app. The ability to link to specific content inside your app gives users a seamless experience, improves your app’s discoverability, and can even help you drive conversions and in-app purchases. Most of the brand also use this feature for App Download Link as link redirects to App Store to download mobile app. Deep link is most demanded feature from Youtubers and affiliate marketers.

5. Other advantages of using link shorteners

You can make the most out of character limits on social media platforms by using short URLs. This is especially useful for Twitter, where every character counts, and also for Instagram bio links to build your online presence.

There are many popular URL shortener softwares in the market like Bitly, Rebrandly, TinyURL,  Linkjoy, Switchy, Pxl.to. In this article we will see a short walkthrough and a small review of pxl.to with Pros and Cons.

1. Quick Link Shortening

With pxl you can shorten your individual links just by entering your desired route (link custom slug) and destination URL. It also supports bulk URL creation, customize your link appearance and add title, description and tags.

2. Serverless and Decentralised

• Robust and reliable links with unparalleled uptime as every link is served by Amazon CloudFront’s global edge network.
• Protection against network and application layer attacks.
• Low latency, no matter where your visitors are in the world

3. Detailed Analytics

You can use pxl.to to track which channels, countries, devices, and platforms are driving the most traffic to your links. You can also see clicks per link, clicks per month in analytics dashboard.

4. Retargeting Features

Serve ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and other platforms to anyone who clicks your link or scans your QR code. Embed multiple pixels in every link to retarget your audience. Grow your custom audience long after your link was first shared.

5. Custom Branded links

Secure your custom domain with pxl.to to create branded, trustworthy links. Branded links inspire confidence in your audience and increase clicks and conversion rate. Every domain or subdomain connected is assigned an SSL certificate for added security over HTTPS.

6. QR Codes

QR codes are like digital shortcuts that can be placed anywhere. With  Auto-Generated QR codes, you can reach your audience outside of the digital world and update the destination anytime without needing to reprint or reshare.

7. Pxl.to Chrome Extension

With Chrome Extension you can shorten the link of any website simply by clicking the extension icon. Alternatively you can right-click on any link and click Shorten and Copy to shorten that URL and save it to your clipboard.

8. Features in Roadmap

1. Micro landing page builder
2. Integrations with Zapier, WordPress, SocialBee etc.
3. Customizable, branded Qr codes
4. API

Bitly

Rebrandly

TinyURL

Switchy

Linkjoy

Bitly

Bitly is one of the most popular link shortening tool that can be used to create and share links. Its pricing plans starts from $29/month for basic and $199/month for premium plans.

$29/ month

Learn More

Rebrandly

As the name suggests, it’s one of the URL shortening and link management tool which comes with custom domains in its free plan as well.

$24/ month

Learn More

TinyURL

TinyURL is in the game since 2002 and comes with a starting price of $9/month.

$9/month

Learn More

Switchy

Switchy is popular amongst lifetime deal communities because it is feature rich option and also comes with Deep links and link in bio page builder at one time cost.

$47/ month

Learn More

Linkjoy

Linjoy is another well-known link shortener platform because of its attractive instagram bio landing page builder and easy to use URL shortening service.

$79/month

Learn More

I have been user of Linkjoy but concerned due to their frequent issues with links and downtimes as well as slow development. Even though it is a feature rich solution compared to pxl.to I was looking forward to good bitly alternative which will be easier to use and will get my job done without spending a lot in the meantime. That’s where I found pxl.to with a good early adopter pricing. Here’s my experience and overall thoughts.

The user Interface is very clean. Adding custom domain is very easy. We can organize short links with tags and also customize the appearance with title, description and image. Pxl.to comprehensive reports shows active links with link traffic, links per month, location analytics, top performing links and device used to access them. Features like bulk link creation of thousands of links, google chrome extension, device targeting, dynamic QR code generator, use of Amazon Cloud Front’s global edge network enhances this product to be the best bitly alternative to some extent but still the sustainability in the long run with this limits is a thing to be considered if you are buying this considering as a lifetime deal. Even if you are looking forward to use it for next one or two years, you will indeed save hundreds of dollars spent on URL shorteners and it’s an excellent choice looking at the price point.

Bitly at the moment is feature rich and well established also expensive compared to pixl. But If you don’t have any other URL shorteners or looking for something which you are going to put in use for the next 1-2 years without putting stress on your pockets then pxl.to can be the perfect choice.