Bitly is big in link management - but a pure business tool at enterprise prices. Pastely gives you shortlinks, link-in bio and digital business cards in one platform. For 4 €/month. Or for free.
Bitly is one of the oldest and best-known tools for URL shortening and link tracking. It’s reliable, widely used, and makes perfect sense for large marketing teams with campaign budgets. But if you run a small business, work as a freelancer, or are building a personal brand, you’ll end up paying for features you never use—and still miss out on things that should be standard.
Pastely thinks differently about links. Not as isolated marketing tools, but as what they really are: the link between you and the people who are supposed to find you. Short links, your link-in-bio page, your digital business card—all in one place, all coordinated, all in Europe.
Bitly's free plan allows just 10 links per month - after that, the cheapest paid plan starts at $10/month (monthly), and those who really want to work quickly end up at $29/month and more. Pastely Professional costs €4/month, with no quantity limits on shortlinks and no annual commitment.
Bitly is a shortlink tool that doesn't recognize link-in-bio and vCards. Pastely is a platform that brings together shortlinks, link-in bio pages and digital business cards - because for most people they simply belong together.
Bitly has a European company and GDPR processes - but data is also explicitly transferred to the USA and other countries. Pastely operates its entire infrastructure exclusively with European providers. No transfers, no gray areas.
This isn’t a criticism of Bitly—it’s simply the reality. Bitly is a mature tool designed to meet the needs of businesses with campaign budgets, multiple user accounts, and CRM integrations. If you want to connect to Salesforce, sync with HubSpot, and create 1,500 links per month, you’ll find a powerful tool there.
But if you run a café, work as a freelance designer, sell products on Instagram, or simply want to present yourself professionally—then Bitly is overkill, overpriced, and still incomplete. Because you manage your link-in-bio page elsewhere. Your business card, too. And Bitly’s link-in-bio feature is an add-on, not a core product.
Pastely is built from the ground up for people who want a strong digital presence without a team of marketing specialists behind them. Simple, comprehensive, and fairly priced.
Bitly and Pastely address some of the same issues—but with very different focuses and at very different price points. Here’s a direct comparison.
| Feature | Pastely | Bitly |
|---|---|---|
| Short links with QR codes | ||
| Short links on the Free plan | 10 links with unlimited validity | only 10 links/month |
| Unlimited short links | (Professional) | starting at $29/month |
| Link-in-bio page | full | limited add-on |
| Digital business cards (vCards) | ||
| Legal Notice & Privacy Policy Page | (Professional) | |
| Data Stored Exclusively in the EU | (Also US Transfer) | |
| Cheapest Payment Plan | €4/month | Starting at $10/month |
| Annual Commitment | Cheaper Only with Annual Plan | |
| CRM integrations | (Salesforce, HubSpot) | |
| Team features / multi-user | (Enterprise) | (starting with higher plans) |
| API access | (Enterprise) | (Enterprise) |
Your "Link in Bio" page isn't just an afterthought—it's your digital business card for anyone who only knows your link. Pastely turns it into a real website that reflects who you are.
Share your digital business card as a link or QR code—with everything your contacts need to save and find you. In Pastely. No Bitly feature you’d have to set up separately.
Design Lead
Stack Forge
People looking for a Bitly alternative usually fall into one of two categories: either the prices have become too high—Bitly has significantly scaled back its free plan in recent years and adjusted its paid plans several times—or there’s simply something missing that should be included.
Bitly is a professional link management tool with strengths that are relevant for marketing teams and larger companies: branded links with a custom domain, detailed campaign tracking, integrations with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zapier, and robust API access for automated workflows. Anyone who creates, manages, and analyzes links on a large scale will find Bitly to be a mature tool.
The problem starts with the price. The free plan is limited to 10 links per month—barely usable for anyone who shares links regularly. The first paid plan costs $10/month but offers only 50 links per month and no custom domain. Anyone who really wants to get to work will quickly end up paying $29/month or more. For individuals, small businesses, and creators, that’s simply too much for too little.
On top of that: Bitly is a shortlink tool. A real “link in bio” page as a core product? Not available. Digital business cards? Also not available. Anyone who needs both ends up paying for multiple services at once.
Bitly has a European GmbH and meets formal GDPR requirements via standard contractual clauses. But what’s clearly stated in the privacy policy: data is also transferred to the U.S. and other countries outside the EU. That’s legally possible—but it’s not the same as exclusively European infrastructure. For companies and freelancers in the DACH region who must be transparent in their privacy policy, this is a difference that matters. Pastely processes and stores data exclusively with European providers—no SCCs, no transfers, no gray areas.
Pastely isn’t built for large marketing teams with CRM stacks—we’ll be upfront about that. If you want to integrate Salesforce, use API access for automated campaigns, or create hundreds of links daily, Bitly is probably the better tool.
But if you run a small business, work as a freelancer, or are building a personal brand—and need short links, a professional link page, and a digital business card without paying for three different services—then Pastely is the clear choice. For €4/month, cancellable monthly, with everything you need, in Europe.
Get started for free - and decide for yourself whether you want more.