Tr.im is gone – Who Will Be Your Next URL Shortener In The Sea of Fishes

Posted by 5x5 on August 10, 2009 under Geek Talk | 3 Comments to Read

What is your favorite URL shortener? Mine was tr.im. So, Tr.im is gone. Now what? Well, you have until December 31, 2009 to update tr.im URLs you might have used in blog posts or other items of importance. Now is also a good time to re-evaluate how you use URL shortening. If size does not matter, it is probably in your best interest to use the full URL. Websites practicing good hierarchy will not only have more memorable URLs, but better SEO standings. This is not to say, the website you are linking to will be there in another ten years either.

The recent tr.im news was definitely sad news. I really enjoyed the functionality of tr.im and would like to thank everyone who worked on it for the very nice experience it created. It was well thought out and easy to use. As with any relationship, it is a two-sided deal. Fellow tr.im users and myself are left finding another fish in the sea. I’ll start by watching “500 Days of Summer” again.

When I started writing this blog post, I thought there might be 25 or so other options. I was wrong. There are 100s. Frankly, I’d be willing to pay $25/year membership for one really good one. If this list is a bit overwhelming, Firefox users can use the Shorten URL Add-on for over 100 different options right at your finger tips. While some of the sites the Shorten URL add-on has are listed below, many of its 100 options are in addition to this list.

Other URL shortener fishes of the sea and features of interest:

1. 1iny.com

2. 1 link.in

• Allows you to enter multiple links and converts them to on link you can share.

3. 2 Short.Url

4. 3.ly

• Custom URL
• Statistics
• API available

5. 9MP

• Most popular URLs
• Branded URL available
• API available

6. A.NF Short URL Service

• Custom URL
• Custom title
• Bulk submission
• Multi-link creation
• Statistics
• Password protect download links
• API available

7. arm.in

• Recent URLs
• Statistics
• API available

8. bäm.org

9. Bit.ly

• Custom URL
• History
• Statistics
• Search twitter for bit.ly links to see click through rates

10. Bitty It

• Custom URL
• Custom expiration date

11. Bloat.me

12. buk.me

• Custom URL
• API available

13. BurnURL

• API Available

14. Cli.gs

• Statistics
• API available
• Cutom URL via edit option

15. clk.my

• Custom URL
• Expiration settings

16. Doiop.com

• Custom URL

17. dwarfURL

• Created by Swift Blue
• What is popular now.
• History of your URLs
• Statistics

18. FlatURL.com

• API available

19. Forit.org

20. kissa.be

• Text shortener – enter the text you want and it creates a link and a text file.
• Shorten image urls from the web or upload your own
• API available

21. Klik.us

• It is forsale if you have $11,476.00

22. Idek.net – now Argyle Social

• Created by Adam Covati (@covati) of Durham, NC
• Statistics
• View top idek URL
• View recent idek URLs
• API available

23. irclnx.com

• Statistics
• Recent posts
• Random spin, see what URL it serves you
• Cloud tag
• Pastebin
• Postings for personals, for sale, housing, jobs, etc.

24. is.gd

25. Leenk.org

26. URL masking

• Custom URL
• Custom title

27. LilURL

• API available

28. memurl

• Custom URL
• Filters out spam sites
• Most popular
• Focused on making short URLs memorable

29. mzk

• API available

30. nn.nf

• API available

31. NotLong.com

• Custom URL
• Statistics
• API available

32. PunyURL

33. QiCute

• Not sure, I was afraid to register. I got a feeling it involved selling my soul to spam. If someone has used this, please post and let everyone know your thoughts. (See comment #3 with information straight from QiCute. Thank you Jay, for setting the record straight.)

34. rde.me

• API available

35. rnk.Me

• Most retweeted
• Most popular
• Most Recent
• Statistics

36. short.la

37. Shrten

• API available

38. Short Links-

39. Short.to

• Created by Thomas Marban of Linz, Austria

41. Short URL Service – Also gone now.

• Custom URL
• Custom title
• Bulk submission
• Multi-link creation
• Statistics
• Password protect download links
• Spam reporter to let them know if someone is missusing their service
• API available

42. SnipURL

• Custom URL
• Custom title
• API available
• Mutiple url shortening at once
• Statistics
• Edit options
• History

43. Squeeze Your URL

• API available

44. tcp3

• Custom URL
• Recent URLs
• Most popular URLs
• Featured URLs

45. TeenyweenyURL.com

• Long base name, for big tiny URL shortening

46. Tini.Us

• Cutom URL
• Domain options
• Allow people to post reviews on your link

47. Tiny2Go.com

• Custom URL
• API available
• Statistics

48. Tiny.cc

• Custom URL
• Statistics
• View recent Tiny.cc URLs

49. TinyURL.com

• Created by Gilby Productions
• Custom URL
• URL “never” expires

50. to.ly

• Created by Jonas Lejon of Sweden
• API available

51. Twi.bz: The Transparent URL Shortener

• Keeps part of URL entered, so link not obscured

52. URL4Jobs

• Designed to be used for job posting URLs

53. URL9.com

54. URLite

• Custom URL

55. urlXP

• Custom URL
• Statistics

56. URLY.AT

57. urlzen

• Recent URLs

58. way.com

• Coming soon

59. wowURL.com

60. YAUS – Yet Another URL Shortener

• A Ohloh project of Sn0opy.

61. Zi.pe Text shortener – enter the text you want and it creates a link and a text file. Shorten image urls from the web or upload your own API available Zyl.me Custom URL Password protection API available

I am going to stop there.  I think you get the point.

Update: Since this was originally posted Tr.im became a community owned URL shortener. You can read all about it on Tr.im’s blog.