Dub
The open-source link management platform modern marketing teams self-describe as Bitly done properly.
About
Dub started in October 2022 as founder Steven Tey's side project and grew into an open-source link management platform under the AGPL-3.0 license, now with about 23,400 GitHub stars (third-party count, October 2026). The hosted version has a free tier of 25 links a month with 1,000 tracked events and 3 free custom domains, while paid plans start at $30 a month ($27 billed yearly). It covers the full workflow: branded short links, advanced analytics with geolocation, device, browser, and referrer breakdowns, QR code generation, personalized links, team collaboration, and referral links with conversion-event tracking for signups and purchases. A TypeScript SDK and REST API let you build link creation into your own product, and named users include Vercel, Raycast, and Perplexity (provider-stated). Self-hosting is supported for teams that want full data control.
Dub's momentum is real, but the AGPL license gives some companies pause for embedded use, and the entry paid price sits above Bitly's. No published independent benchmarks for redirect performance; the 553K links and 70M tracked clicks figures are provider-stated.
What it can do
- Branded short links on custom domains
- Advanced analytics with geo, device, browser, and referrer data
- QR code generation for every link
- Referral links with lead and sale conversion tracking
- Team workspaces and collaboration
- Bulk link creation and management
- REST API plus official TypeScript SDK
- Custom link personalization and tagging
- Self-hostable under AGPL-3.0
Setup
Sign up free at dub.co for the hosted version, or self-host the open-source repo with Docker and connect your own domain.
Prerequisites
None for hosted free tier; a domain for branded links; Docker and a database for self-hosting.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 8/10
Scored 8/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: the AGPL-3.0 license and ~23,400 GitHub stars are confirmed by third-party repo trackers; dub.co documents the free tier (25 links, 1,000 events, 3 domains), the $30/mo entry price, and the analytics, QR, and referral feature set. Strengths: genuinely open-source Bitly-class platform with a clean developer story and real traction. Docked for: (1) AGPL copyleft limits embedded commercial use; (2) the hosted entry price is the steepest of the mainstream options; (3) named-customer and usage figures are provider-stated. License: AGPL-3.0.
★ 23,420 GitHub stars
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 8.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 9.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 9.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 8.0/10
- · Founded by Steven Tey; started October 2022 as a side project at Vercel
- · ~23,400 GitHub stars (third-party count, October 2026)
- · Free hosted: 25 links/month, 1,000 tracked events, 3 custom domains
- · Advanced analytics: geo, device, browser, referrer
- · QR code generation; referral links with lead/sale conversion tracking
- · REST API + official TypeScript SDK
- · Named users: Vercel, Raycast, Perplexity (provider-stated)
- · Self-hostable for full data control
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.