Do Short Links Expire? 15 Shorteners' Policies (2026)

Most short links do not expire. Bitly, TinyURL, Rebrandly, Cuttly, T.LY and FattyURL all state in writing that their links never expire. But short links still stop working every day, and when they do, it is rarely because of a date. They die because of inactivity rules, click caps on free plans, a service shutting down, a domain changing hands, or the page they point to disappearing.

We read the written policies of fifteen shorteners, checked on 26 September 2026, so you can see which risks apply to the links you already have.

Short answer: A link from a major shortener normally keeps working indefinitely. The exceptions are specific and written down: shorturl.at disables links with no clicks in a month, Linkly's free links stop redirecting at a monthly click cap, tiny.cc links made without an account can expire, and Google switched off inactive goo.gl links in August 2025.

Expiry policies of 15 URL shorteners

Service	What the policy says	What can still stop a link
FattyURL	Links never expire and working links are never deactivated (written promise)	A link that breaks the terms of service
Bitly	"Bitly Links never expire," and they "continue to work after you downgrade"	An expiry date you set; after a downgrade, links on a complimentary Bitly domain stop when its registration expires
TinyURL	"Links created on TinyURL never expire"	Not stated
Rebrandly	Links "don't expire unless you explicitly set an expiration date or delete them"	An expiry date you set; data deleted under its terms for unpaid renewals
T.LY	"Free shortened links do not expire"	Not stated
Cuttly	"The short link in cutt.ly does not expire"	Not stated
is.gd	"We expect them to last forever"	Not stated
Dub	Links keep redirecting past the free plan's event cap	Fair-use breaches, which Dub says may get links disabled
Short.io	No public expiry statement found	Not stated
tiny.cc	Registering an account is how you "prevent them from expiring"	Links made without an account
shorturl.at	"Short URLs that do not have at least one click per month are disabled"	Inactivity, and the slug "may become available for use by other users"
Linkly (free plan)	"At 100% of your click cap, your links will show an over-limit page rather than redirecting"	500 tracked clicks a month on the free plan
spoo.me	Its terms do not guarantee "permanent storage of any particular shortened URL"	Anything, in principle
goo.gl (Google)	Links with no activity in late 2024 stopped working on 25 August 2025	Already happened to inactive links
Firebase Dynamic Links (Google)	Shut down on 25 August 2025: "All links clicked will return a HTTP 404"	Already happened to every link

The pattern is clear. The big shorteners promise permanence, and the risks sit in free-plan mechanics and in services that no longer exist.

The five ways a short link dies

1. Inactivity rules

Some shorteners reclaim links nobody uses. shorturl.at disables any link that does not get at least one click a month, and a disabled slug can be handed to someone else. That second part is the dangerous one: a link on an old flyer could one day send people to a stranger's page.

2. Usage caps on free plans

A cap that hides your analytics is an inconvenience. A cap that stops the link is a failure. Linkly's free plan tracks 500 clicks a month, and at the cap links show an over-limit page instead of redirecting until the monthly reset. So the more successful a link is, the sooner it breaks. Dub handles the same situation the other way: past its free event limit, links keep working and only the analytics are hidden.

3. The service shuts down or changes its mind

In 2018 Google stopped new users creating goo.gl links, closed it to everyone in March 2019, and promised that "all links will continue to redirect to the intended destination." In July 2024 it announced that goo.gl links would stop working in August 2025, except those generated by Google apps such as Maps. On 1 August 2025 it narrowed that again: only links that "showed no activity in late 2024" were switched off, and "all other goo.gl links will be preserved." Firebase Dynamic Links, the service Google had pointed developers to instead, shut down completely on 25 August 2025, the day the inactive goo.gl links were switched off.

Two lessons from that. Even Google changed its written commitment twice. And the links that survived were the ones still being used. We cover the full story in what happened to the Google URL shortener.

4. The domain changes hands

A short link is only as permanent as the domain in front of it. The kutt.it domain, once the home of the open-source Kutt shortener, was sold at auction, and in May 2026 the project's maintainers warned that it "could be a phishing site." Every kutt.it link ever shared now depends on whoever bought the domain.

5. The destination disappears

Often the short link works fine and the page it points to is gone. Pew Research Center found in 2024 that 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer available, and that 54% of Wikipedia pages had at least one broken link in their references. No shortener can fix a deleted page, though one that lets you edit a link's destination can at least point it somewhere useful.

What happens to your links if you stop paying

Service	After you downgrade or stop paying
Bitly	bit.ly links keep working. Links on a complimentary Bitly domain stop when its registration expires, and your own domain loses SSL renewal, so move domains first
Rebrandly	"Even if you downgrade to a free account, all your links will continue to function"
Dub	Links keep redirecting. If Dub gave you a free .link domain, it reserves the right to reassign it to another paying user
Linkly	Free-plan links stop redirecting whenever you pass the monthly click cap
Dynamic QR code vendors	Can be deactivated. QR Code Generator, for example, says dynamic codes "point to a service page rather than the original destination" when a trial ends

QR codes are where this bites hardest, because they are printed and cannot be edited after the fact. Our guide to whether QR codes expire explains static versus dynamic codes and how to avoid the free-trial trap.

How to check whether a short link still works

Open it in a private browser window. You see what a first-time visitor sees, including any ad or warning page.
Look for the destination without clicking. Many shorteners have a preview. On Bitly, add a plus sign to the end of the link. On TinyURL, add "preview." before the domain.
Check the status code. If you are comfortable with a terminal, curl -I followed by the short link shows the redirect and its target without loading the page.
Audit in bulk. If your shortener lets you export links, check the destinations once a quarter and fix the ones that break.

How to make links that last

Pick a shortener with a written no-expiry policy, not a support reply. Read its terms for inactivity rules and click caps.
Avoid free plans where hitting a limit stops the redirect. Hidden analytics are fine. Broken links are not.
Keep your own list of important links. Whatever service you use, export or copy the destinations you rely on.
Use a shortener that lets you change destinations for anything printed, so a moved page does not mean a reprint.
For academic citations, use permanent identifiers such as DOIs or an archiving service, not a commercial shortener.

FattyURL was built around this problem. Links never expire and working links are never deactivated, which is written on our promise page rather than buried in a help article. The honest advice applies to us too, so with a free account you can export your links to CSV at any time. To try it, shorten a link with no account needed.

FAQ

Do Bitly links expire?

No, unless you set an expiry date yourself. Bitly says its links never expire, and bit.ly links keep working after you downgrade. If you use a branded domain on Bitly, move it before downgrading: Bitly stops renewing your own domain's SSL certificate and a complimentary domain's registration, and complimentary-domain links stop working when that registration expires.

Do TinyURL links expire?

No. TinyURL states that links created on TinyURL never expire. Links created without an account cannot be edited or tracked, but they do not expire.

Do goo.gl links still work?

Some do. Google switched off goo.gl links that showed no activity in late 2024 on 25 August 2025. Links that were still in use, and goo.gl links generated by Google apps such as Maps, keep working.

Why did my short link stop working?

The usual causes are an inactivity rule, a free-plan click cap, a link removed for breaking the service's terms, the shortener shutting down, or the destination page being deleted. Open the link in a private window to see which.

Can a short link be reassigned to someone else?

On some services, yes. shorturl.at's terms say disabled short URLs "may become available for use by other users." Bitly, by contrast, says back-halves "cannot be re-used," even after an account is deleted.

Is there a URL shortener that never expires?

Most major ones state their links never expire, including Bitly, TinyURL, Rebrandly, Cuttly, T.LY and FattyURL. Check the terms for inactivity rules and click caps, which are where exceptions hide.

Sources

Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal or security advice. It was researched and drafted with the help of AI, and its facts were checked against the sources linked above, mostly each provider's own pricing, help and policy pages. URL shorteners, QR code tools and social platforms change their plans, prices and rules often, so confirm the details on the provider's website before you choose a plan, move your links or print a QR code. FattyURL is our own product. Spotted something out of date, or a FattyURL link being misused? Tell us and we will act on it.

Do Short Links Expire? The Written Policies of 15 URL Shorteners, Compared