Operational ownership
You staff your own SSL renewals, scale-up under traffic, security patches and database backups.
vs. YOURLS (self-hosted)
Shorten.REST vs. YOURLS (self-hosted)
YOURLS is a popular open source self-hosted shortener. It's free to install — but "free" stops being free fast once you have to staff up the operations side.
What YOURLS (self-hosted) customers tell us they came looking for.
DDoS and bot defense
There is no built-in defense — you bring or build your own.
No managed click pipeline
Click event capture, retention, export and dashboarding is on you.
The headline numbers, side by side.
Where YOURLS (self-hosted) publishes equivalent numbers we list them; otherwise we mark "Varies" and recommend you ask them directly.
| Capability | Shorten.REST | YOURLS (self-hosted) |
|---|---|---|
| Branded custom domain | Included on every plan | Varies |
| Free SSL on every domain | Included | Varies |
| Unlimited URLs / clicks | All plans | Varies |
| API rate (Business plan) | 100 / sec | Varies |
| API rate (top plan) | 1,000 / sec | Varies |
| Per-link retargeting pixels | 9 networks | Varies |
| OS-based redirect routing | Included | Varies |
| Geo-based redirect routing | Included | Varies |
| Raw click event export | Included | Varies |
| Editable destination after publish | Included | Varies |
| Uptime SLA | 99.99% | Varies |
We don't post moving-target competitor numbers. If you have an active YOURLS (self-hosted) contract, send us your plan terms and we'll line them up against the equivalent Shorten.REST plan.
Plans you'd be comparing against.
If your team is on a non-enterprise tier with the competitor, this is what the move usually looks like.
$295 / month
Production workloads with branded domains and predictable monthly billing.
$995 / month
Higher throughput for growing platforms, agencies and SaaS embedded use.
$4,995 / month
High-volume programs with dedicated capacity and procurement-friendly terms.
Pilot
Move one workload off YOURLS (self-hosted) for a week.
Start a 7-day free trial. The contract stays month-to-month. The migration is just a CNAME and a bulk import.