NEW 2026.10 RELEASE 45 Commercial SaaS Tools mapped to 71 Self-Hosted & Local AI Alternatives with instant Caddy Auto-SSL Docker configs.
OPEN-SOURCE MIGRATION BENCHMARK License: MIT ★ 3.8k GitHub Stars

Replace Bitly / Dub.co Pro with Self-Hosted Shlink

Definitive self-hosted URL shortener with REST API, QR codes, and real-time geo/device click analytics Stop paying Growth ($35–$99/mo custom domains & QR codes) ($35/mo for a 10-person team) and run Shlink on a $4.50/mo Linux VPS with full data sovereignty.

10-Seat Annual Savings
+$366 / yr
vs Bitly / Dub.co Pro standard plan
Container RAM & vCPU
128 MB RAM
0.25 vCPU • Migration: Instant
Recommended Cloud Box
$4.50/mo VPS
Hetzner CX22 (4GB RAM / 2 vCPU)

1-to-100 Seat Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Table

Comparing Bitly / Dub.co Pro (Growth ($35–$99/mo custom domains & QR codes)) vs Shlink on Hetzner CX22 (4GB RAM / 2 vCPU).

Team Size Bitly / Dub.co Pro Cost Shlink VPS Net Annual Savings
1 Seat (Solo) $35.00/mo ($420/yr) $4.50/mo (CX22) +$366 / year
5 Seats $35.00/mo ($420/yr) $4.50/mo (CX22) +$366 / year
10 Seats $35.00/mo ($420/yr) $4.50/mo (CX22) +$366 / year
25 Seats $35.00/mo ($420/yr) $4.50/mo (CX22) +$366 / year
50 Seats $35.00/mo ($420/yr) $4.50/mo (CX22) +$366 / year
100 Seats $35.00/mo ($420/yr) $4.50/mo (CX22) +$366 / year

Production Docker Compose + Caddy Auto-SSL

Copy and run docker compose up -d on any Ubuntu 24.04 server.

Open in Multi-Tool Builder →
# Production Docker Compose: Shlink (Replaces Bitly / Dub.co Pro)
services:
  caddy:
    image: caddy:2-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
      - caddy_data:/data
    networks:
      - stack_net

  shlink:
    image: shlinkio/shlink:stable
    container_name: stack-shlink
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - "DEFAULT_DOMAIN=go.${DOMAIN:-yourdomain.com}"
      - "IS_HTTPS_ENABLED=true"
      - "DB_DRIVER=postgres"
      - "DB_USER=postgres"
      - "DB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-strongpassword}"
      - "DB_HOST=postgres"
    volumes:
      - shlink_data:/data
    networks:
      - stack_net

  postgres:
    image: pgvector/pgvector:pg16
    container_name: stack-postgres
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - "POSTGRES_USER=postgres"
      - "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-strongpassword}"
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - stack_net

networks:
  stack_net:
    driver: bridge

volumes:
  caddy_data:
  shlink_data:
  postgres_data:
Caddyfile (Automatic HTTPS Reverse Proxy):
# Automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS for Shlink
shlink.{$DOMAIN:yourdomain.com} {
  encode zstd gzip
  reverse_proxy shlink:8080
}

Why Teams Switch to Shlink

  • ✓Uses <80MB RAM
  • ✓Dynamic device/OS routing & UTM builder
  • ✓Automatic GeoLite2 country/city click tracking
GitHub Repository shlinkio/shlink
Official Website shlink.io
Docker Image shlinkio/shlink:stable
Database Needed PostgreSQL 16
PRODUCTION BOILERPLATE ZIP

Get All 16 Pre-Built Production Stacks + Encrypted S3 Backups

Includes pre-tuned docker-compose.yml, Caddy Auto-SSL, AES-256 encrypted nightly S3/R2 Postgres backups, and Ubuntu 24.04 UFW/Fail2ban hardening scripts.

Other Open-Source Alternatives to Bitly / Dub.co Pro: