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Let's get back to talking about how to make long URLs smaller! We have already done this in the past when we presented the service to you unshort.link. In that case the site was very useful for finding out what was behind the so-called short urls. We then also talked about Anonymous URL Shortener, a very interesting site that allows us to shorten long URLs plus it also helps us make anonymous redirects.
So we decided to create a summary article to also add other sites to make long URLs shorter. In fact, we know that famous sites like bit.ly or t.co they track what we do 1. So how can we make a link smaller without giving away our data and activities to someone?
Attention: always remember that shortening URLs is not a very popular practice even from a security point of view: behind short URLs you can hide fake URLs, phishing and other methods to deceive people. Also keep in mind that if one of these services stops working (temporarily or permanently) you will no longer be able to access the saved URLs. Therefore, use them for various needs but always keeping these suggestions in mind.
ps: to "unroll" a long URL, the Telegram bot by Le Alternative. Check it out: @LeAlternativeBot.
How to make long URLs smaller
Lstu
Open source
As can often happen with little-known, free sites that shorten addresses, lstf.fr may not work for you if you have any malware site blockers. The site itself is clearly not dangerous but it could be used for less noble purposes and for this reason it is seen as potentially dangerous by some lists.
Let's Shorten That Url is a service Open source 2 For make long URLs smaller. It is a truly excellent service and also allows you to customize, completely free of charge, the URL that will be created. It will also automatically generate a QR code (how to read it?). You can also use extensions for Firefox and for Chrome/Brave.
Savmlr
Open source
A very interesting recent alternative with different options: no registration is required and it is also available via extension Chrome/Brave And Firefox. By clicking on Advanced you will activate the advanced settings: set a maximum number of times the link can be opened, set an expiration date for the link and the ability to enter a password to view the link. This last option allows you to encrypt the link so that not even the server manager can see it. Savmlr it is free software and is carried out by the Italian developer Saverio Morelli.
• •Anonymous URL Shortener
Open source
We have already talked about it with an ad hoc article, this project Open source 3 It allows you to create short URLs in a really simple and immediate way. Furthermore you can also use it for remove the referrer from your links. To do this, just put the anon.to URL in front of the link, for example: http://anon.to/?https://lealternative.net
MagLit
Open source
We recently discovered this interesting new project Open source. Completely free and usable by anyone, it allows you to make URLs smaller but also to do something more: you can in fact protect the URLs created with a password! Very interesting indeed.
da.gd
Open source
Another project to make long URLs smaller. It's definitely minimalist and even Open source. You can also customize the URLs to share.
There was reported that this redirect can generate false positives and some networks do not allow access, giving an error. As often happens, the problem is not so much with the service itself but with the fact that it can often be used to generate malicious URLs. However, keep this in mind if you plan to use it because the person receiving the short URL generated by this site may not be able to access it.
Dub
Open source
As can often happen with this type of site, Dub may not work if you have any malware site blocking. The site itself is clearly not dangerous but it could be used for less noble purposes and for this reason it is seen as potentially dangerous by some lists.
A recent and free project that allows you to create personalized shortlinks also using statistics and a possible personal domain. In its paid version (9$ the Pro version and 49$ the Enterprise version) it allows you to have more than one million clicks per month. In the free one, however, up to 1000 clicks per month are possible.
DuckDuckGo
Probably few people know it (and it also came to us via suggestion) but going up DuckDuckGo and writing shorten www.lealternative.net a shortened link will automatically be created for you through the service is.gd. A very useful tool especially if you are already a user of this Search engine.
•Chk Infomaniak
If you are already a customer Infomaniak know that there is the possibility for you to create up to 20 links per month for free complete with a QR code. The link will be shortened with the domain chk.me for example like this: https://chk.me/q43evy6 and it is possible to customize the QR code for example like this: https://www.lealternative.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/qrcode.png
•
Zero Width Shortener
Open source
This is probably the most bizarre of all. It's a project Open source 4 to make URLs smaller. Why do we say it's the most bizarre? Because it uses invisible characters (remember StegCloak?) so as not to take up space e pretend to be short. To use it you will necessarily have to copy and paste the URL that will be given to you.
Even if you don't see anything after creating one, try pasting it and you'll discover that it actually comes with invisible characters!
Kutt
Open source
This is another service Open source 5 truly remarkable. With a simple, but not mandatory, free registration you will have many options available. You can choose a custom domain, put a password to the URL you created or let it expire after a certain number of minutes/hours/days. You will also have a summary of the links you have created where you can also see how many people saw your link. All for free. The authors only ask for donations to keep the server online.
Attention: Kutt.it currently does not allow new registrations. 6.
tx0.org
Thanks to your report, we also suggest you use this very simple tool managed by SDF. They promise not to monetize access logs, not to sell the data to anyone, and to do nothing more than a simple URL shrinking service. You can shrink URLs with FTP, Gopher, HTTP, Telnet and Gemini protocols but not HTTPS 😱.
Should you make URLs smaller or longer?
AAAAAAAAAAA
We close the article with a brilliant little gem. This site is exactly the opposite of URL shorteners. By inserting your link in fact you will get a very long link. Exhilarating!
- Bitly Privacy Policy[↩]
- Lstu on Framagit[↩]
- Anon.to on GitHub[↩]
- ZWS on GitHub[↩]
- Kutt on GitHub[↩]
- Activation of subscriptions[↩]
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