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Plenty of short link tools cap how many clicks get recorded once traffic grows past a small number. A free link shortener that tracks every click, with no ceiling in sight, changes that calculation considerably. LinkShortener.io (UK) builds its free plan around that idea, pairing short links with QR codes and unlimited tracking across the whole range it offers.
What LinkShortener.io Free Plan Includes
The free plan from LinkShortener.io (UK) gives a working account without a payment card at signup. It includes 20 short links or QR codes a month, and that allowance covers both link types combined rather than 20 of each separately. Links created on the free plan sit on a shared tli.sh domain, and no adverts or holding pages get attached to them.
Setting one up takes three steps inside the dashboard. A long web address gets pasted in, an optional name or UTM tag gets added, and the resulting short link or QR code is then ready to copy or download. There is no trial that quietly expires, since the free link shortener account simply renews its monthly allowance each month.
Unlimited Click Tracking Across All Plans
LinkShortener.io (UK) counts every click and every QR scan with no cap, and this applies on the free plan and on every paid plan above it. That is a meaningful distinction for a shortener, since many rival services throttle or hide analytics once volume builds up. A small business running a single flyer and a larger account running thousands of codes both get the same unlimited counting.
A click study published by the brand, drawn from over two million logged clicks and scans, shows some of what that tracking can reveal. Mobile devices accounted for 75% of all clicks. More than half of clicks, 50.4%, landed more than 7 days after a link was first created, and 19.2% arrived after 30 days had passed. QR codes held attention even longer, with 62.0% of scans happening more than 30 days after a code was generated, and 36.1% after 90 days.
QR Code Generation and Custom Branding
QR codes sit alongside short links as a core part of the free plan, sharing the same 20-a-month allowance. A free account can download a generated code as a PNG or an SVG file, which suits printing on packaging, labels, or flyers. A code made on the free plan carries a small credit line beneath it noting that it was created by LinkShortener.io (UK), and that line stays visible until the account moves onto a paid plan.
Upgrading removes that credit line from any code downloaded after the change, while a custom branded domain becomes available for links as well as codes. For print runs, that matters because a code on packaging or a product label often stays in circulation for months without a reprint. A box run of ten thousand units, for example, is tracked in full even while the account sits on the free tier, since every scan is still counted.
Comparison with Bitly and Other Shorteners
Many shortening services advertise a free link shortener option but quietly limit how much click data gets reported once a link passes a certain volume. Some stop counting clicks after a threshold, others only show rolling data for a recent window and discard the rest. LinkShortener.io (UK) does not apply either restriction, since tracking stays unlimited on every plan it offers, free or paid.
The free allowance of 20 short links or QR codes a month is also worth weighing against competitors that offer fewer free links, or that split allowances so narrowly between link types that a QR-heavy campaign runs out quickly. Here, links and QR codes draw from one shared pool, which gives some flexibility in how the allowance gets used. No advert is ever inserted into a redirect, a detail not every free-tier shortener can claim.
Upgrading to Paid Plans: Basic, Pro, and Elite
Three paid plans sit above the free tier: Basic, Pro, and Elite. Basic adds a custom branded domain and unlocks the link-in-bio page builder, letting a profile link lead to a single branded page listing a shop, a newsletter, or a donation link. Each button on that page can itself be a short link, so taps get counted the same way clicks are.
Pro and Elite raise the monthly allowance of links and QR codes considerably, and both add bulk CSV import, where a list of destinations gets turned into individual short links and reports in one pass. Elite raises that allowance further still, suited to organisations managing many separate links or codes across departments or locations. None of the plans change how click or scan counting works, since that stays unlimited throughout the whole range.
Broken Link Checker and Link Maintenance
A short link rarely breaks on its own. More often the page behind it moves, gets taken down, or expires when a sale ends or an event passes. The Broken Link Checker, included on Pro and Elite, requests the destination page once a day and flags any link that fails twice in a row with an error or no reply within 15 seconds.
Flagged links appear on a dedicated Broken Links page inside the dashboard, where a destination can be edited or rechecked on demand. This matters most for printed QR codes, since a code on a poster or menu cannot be reprinted once it is already in circulation. LinkShortener.io (UK) designed the checker specifically with that kind of long-lived printed link in mind.
- The free plan includes 20 short links or QR codes a month, shared between both formats, with no card required at signup.
- Click and scan tracking has no cap on the free plan, a feature some competitors reserve for paid tiers.
- QR codes can be downloaded as PNG or SVG files directly from a free account.
- No adverts or holding pages are ever inserted into a free link shortener redirect on this platform.
- A daily broken link check, covering both short links and QR codes, is available once an account moves onto Pro or Elite.
Closing Thoughts
A free link shortener built around unlimited tracking gives a clearer view of real engagement, no matter how small the campaign starts out.
