BenchRank
#6 in Advertising & CampaignsUpdated 2026-08

Shlink

by Shlink · Self-hosted URL shortener with REST API, CLI and web app

39.8 — BenchRank score out of 100

Screenshots of Shlink

  • Homepage

Homepage · Shlink

Homepage of Shlink

Overview

Shlink is a self-hosted, PHP-based URL shortener that serves short links from your own domains. It installs from a dist file or a Docker image, and short codes can be generated automatically or set as custom slugs. It is managed via a REST API, a command line tool, or a progressive web app covering multiple instances, and it records anonymised visit stats with geolocation.

Best for
Teams that want to run their own URL shortener on their own domains, with API and CLI access.
Pricing
No prices are shown; the site presents Shlink as an MIT-licensed open source project that you host yourself.
Runs on
WebSelf-hostedCLI

Strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

  • Self-hosted, so short URLs run on your own domains
  • REST API, CLI and progressive web app for management
  • Open source under the MIT licence, hosted on GitHub
  • Records anonymised visit stats and geolocates visitors

Trade-offs

  • Self-hosting only; no managed or hosted option is mentioned
  • Needs a PHP stack or container infrastructure to run
  • Homepage shows no pricing, support or version details

How this score is made up

Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.

MCP support
0 out of 100
API quality
20 out of 100
Documentation
80 out of 100
Agent friendliness
61 out of 100
Changelog
80 out of 100
Marketing site structure
50 out of 100
Operational trust
0 out of 100

Measured, but not part of the score

Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.

Openness
85 out of 100
Maintenance
100 out of 100

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