Shorten a long link
Paste a URL that's too long to share and get a clean one back — with your own alias if you want it, an expiry if you need one, and a QR code for anything that gets printed. Free, no ads, and no interstitial page between your link and where it goes.
Sign in to create links
A free account keeps the shortener from being used for automated spam. It takes a few seconds and there is no paywall behind it.
What you get
Choose your own alias
Let it generate one, or set your own — 5 to 30 letters and numbers. A link that reads like the thing it points at gets clicked more than a string of random characters.
Set an expiry
Links last forever by default, or you can have one stop working after 1, 5, 12 or 24 hours. Useful for a file drop or a signup window you don't want circulating next month.
Download a QR code
Every short link comes with a QR code you can download and drop straight onto a poster, a menu, an invoice or a slide.
Questions
- Why use a short link at all?
- Long URLs break when they wrap across lines in an email, they are impossible to read aloud or type from a printed page, and they look untrustworthy in a message. A short link is one clean string that survives being pasted anywhere, and it gives you a QR code for the printed world.
- Can I pick the ending myself?
- Yes. The custom alias field takes 5 to 30 characters, letters and numbers only. If the one you want is already taken you will be told immediately rather than after the fact. Leave it blank and a short code is generated for you.
- Do links expire?
- Only if you ask them to. The default is never. You can also choose 1, 5, 12 or 24 hours, after which the link stops resolving — handy for temporary access to something you would rather not leave open indefinitely.
- Is there a QR code?
- Yes, generated for every link and downloadable as an image. It encodes the short URL, so the same link works whether someone taps it or scans it.
- Does it cost anything, and are there limits?
- It is free, with no per-link charge and no monthly cap. A free ForgeMint account is required so the service is not open to automated abuse, and that is the only condition.
- Do you track people who click my links?
- No. The service resolves the short link to your destination and gets out of the way. There is no analytics pixel, no interstitial ad page, and no profile built of whoever clicks.