URL shorteners without ads
A short link is ad-free when a click goes straight from the short link to your page, with nothing shown in between. By their own statements, Short.io, T.LY and Cutt.ly show no ad page before a free link's destination, and Bitly shows a preview page with an ad on links from free accounts. ktzr.io links work this way on the free plan: no ads and no page before the destination.
What "ads" means for a short link
Two different things get called ads, and only one of them reaches your visitors.
- A page before the destination. The visitor clicks your link and first lands on a page that belongs to the shortener, with an ad, a preview of the destination, or a countdown. They reach your page after it. This is the one that matters: it stands between you and the person you sent the link to.
- Ads on the shortener's own website. You see them while you create the link. Your visitors never do.
What each service states about its free links
These are the services' own statements, read on their own pages. A service whose pages say nothing on the subject is not listed.
| Service | What the service states | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bitly | Links on free accounts show a page with a preview of the destination and an ad before the visitor reaches the destination. Paid plans remove it. | support.bitly.com |
| TinyURL | Describes an ad and preview screen only on links made through its old, deprecated API endpoint. | tinyurl.com |
| Short.io | Says there is no intermediate page and no ad page before the redirect, also on the free plan. | blog.short.io |
| T.LY | Says it shows no ad page before redirecting. It may show a warning page on a link it has flagged for safety. | t.ly |
| Cutt.ly | Says free links redirect directly, with no ad page and no preview page. A visitor can switch on a preview for themselves. | cutt.ly |
| ktzr.io | No ads and no page before the destination, on every link. The link answers with a redirect straight to the destination. | ktzr.io FAQ |
Last verified: September 29, 2026. Each row links to the page it was read on. Services change their plans, so follow the link before you rely on a row.
A preview page is not only an ad
A page that shows where a link leads has a real benefit: the visitor sees the destination before going there. That is a fair reason to show one. The cost is one more click, a page that is not yours, and, when it carries an ad, somebody else's message in front of your own.
If you want to see where a link goes without anyone adding a page to it, you can check it yourself. The guide Are short links safe? shows how.
How to see what a shortener shows your visitors
- Create a link with the service you are considering, on the plan you would really use.
- Open it in a private browser window, where you are not signed in to the service. Visitors are not signed in either.
- Watch what happens between the click and your page. A straight redirect shows nothing. Repeat on a phone, since some pages appear only there.
On a computer with a terminal you can ask for the link's answer without opening it. Put the link you created in place of SHORT-LINK, inside the quotes:
curl -sI -- 'SHORT-LINK'A direct link answers with a redirect status and a location line that holds the destination. A link that goes through a page of the shortener answers with that page first. A few services answer this kind of request differently from a browser, so the private window is the real test.
What ktzr.io's free plan includes
- No ads and no page before the destination.
- Links never expire by themselves.
- Up to 100 active links. Deleting a link frees its place.
- A QR code for every link, and daily click statistics going back 90 days.
- You can change where a link points after it is printed.
- Creating links needs a free account. The people who click your links need nothing.
More guides: Do short links expire?, Bitly free plan limits, Are short links safe?