Free URL Shortener API for Developers

Need to shorten URLs programmatically? Whether you're building a marketing dashboard, creating trackable links for campaigns, or adding link shortening to your SaaS product — you need a URL shortener API that's fast, flexible, and developer-friendly.

Most URL shortener APIs lock analytics behind $29-99/month plans. We built a free URL shortener API that gives you 50 credits with no signup, supports custom slugs, click analytics with referrer tracking, bulk shortening (50 URLs at once), tags, and link expiration.

Quick Start: 3 Steps

1. Get a free API key

curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/keys/create

{
  "key": "su_abc123...",
  "credits": 100,
  "note": "100 free credits. Top up with USDC on Base.",
  "check_balance": "GET /api/keys/balance with Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"
}

2. Shorten a URL

curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/very/long/path?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email"}'

{
  "slug": "Mm7iaj",
  "shortUrl": "https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/Mm7iaj",
  "url": "https://example.com/very/long/path?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email",
  "tags": [],
  "expiresAt": null,
  "created": "2026-03-03T19:47:22.843Z"
}

3. Track clicks

Check analytics for any shortened URL — see total clicks, daily breakdown, top referrers, and user agents:

curl https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/urls/Mm7iaj/stats

{
  "slug": "Mm7iaj",
  "totalClicks": 142,
  "clicksByDay": [
    {"date": "2026-03-03", "clicks": 89},
    {"date": "2026-03-02", "clicks": 53}
  ],
  "topReferrers": [
    {"referrer": "twitter.com", "clicks": 67},
    {"referrer": "linkedin.com", "clicks": 41}
  ],
  "topUserAgents": [
    {"ua": "Chrome/125", "clicks": 98},
    {"ua": "Safari/17", "clicks": 44}
  ]
}

Features

API Reference

Shorten Request Parameters

Code Examples

# Shorten a URL (free tier, no key needed)
curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/long-path"}'

# Custom slug + tags
curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/promo", "slug": "spring-sale", "tags": ["marketing", "q1"]}'

# Bulk shorten (requires API key)
curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten/bulk \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"urls": ["https://google.com", "https://github.com", "https://reddit.com"]}'

# Get click analytics
curl https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/urls/spring-sale/stats

# Update destination URL
curl -X PUT https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/urls/spring-sale \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/summer-sale"}'

# Delete a link
curl -X DELETE https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/urls/spring-sale \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

import requests

API = "https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl"

# Step 1: Get free API key
key_resp = requests.post(f"{API}/api/keys/create")
api_key = key_resp.json()["key"]
print(f"API Key: {api_key}")

headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"}

# Step 2: Shorten a URL with custom slug
resp = requests.post(
    f"{API}/api/shorten",
    headers=headers,
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com/my-long-blog-post-title",
        "slug": "my-blog",
        "tags": ["blog", "content"]
    }
)
short = resp.json()
print(f"Short URL: {short['shortUrl']}")

# Step 3: Check analytics later
stats = requests.get(
    f"{API}/api/urls/my-blog/stats",
    headers=headers
)
data = stats.json()
print(f"Total clicks: {data['totalClicks']}")
for ref in data.get("topReferrers", []):
    print(f"  {ref['referrer']}: {ref['clicks']} clicks")

# Bulk shorten for a campaign
campaign_urls = [
    "https://example.com/product-a",
    "https://example.com/product-b",
    "https://example.com/product-c",
    "https://example.com/pricing",
    "https://example.com/signup",
]
bulk_resp = requests.post(
    f"{API}/api/shorten/bulk",
    headers=headers,
    json={"urls": campaign_urls}
)
for link in bulk_resp.json().get("results", []):
    print(f"{link['url']} -> {link['shortUrl']}")

const API = 'https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl';

async function shortenLinks() {
  // Step 1: Get free API key
  const keyResp = await fetch(`${API}/api/keys/create`, { method: 'POST' });
  const { key } = await keyResp.json();
  console.log(`API Key: ${key}`);

  const headers = {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${key}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  };

  // Step 2: Shorten with custom slug
  const resp = await fetch(`${API}/api/shorten`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers,
    body: JSON.stringify({
      url: 'https://example.com/long-path',
      slug: 'demo',
      tags: ['test']
    })
  });
  const link = await resp.json();
  console.log(`Short URL: ${link.shortUrl}`);

  // Step 3: Get analytics
  const stats = await fetch(`${API}/api/urls/demo/stats`, { headers });
  const data = await stats.json();
  console.log(`Clicks: ${data.totalClicks}`);
  data.topReferrers?.forEach(r =>
    console.log(`  ${r.referrer}: ${r.clicks}`)
  );
}

shortenLinks();

Use Cases

Marketing Campaign Tracking

Create unique short links for each marketing channel — email, social media, ads, influencers — and track which channels drive the most clicks. Use tags to group links by campaign and metadata to store attribution data.

# Create channel-specific links for a product launch
curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://myapp.com/launch", "slug": "launch-twitter", "tags": ["launch", "twitter"]}'

curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://myapp.com/launch", "slug": "launch-email", "tags": ["launch", "email"]}'

curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://myapp.com/launch", "slug": "launch-reddit", "tags": ["launch", "reddit"]}'

SaaS In-App Link Shortening

Add link shortening directly to your application. Let users create shareable links for dashboards, reports, or documents. The API handles generation, tracking, and expiration — you just display the results.

AI Agent Tool Use

Give your AI agent the ability to create and manage short links. When your agent generates a report, schedules a meeting, or shares a resource — it can create a trackable short link automatically.

# AI agent creates a short link for a generated report
curl -X POST https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl/api/shorten \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://app.com/reports/q1-2026.pdf", "slug": "q1-report", "expiresIn": "30d", "metadata": {"generated_by": "ai-agent", "report_type": "quarterly"}}'

Temporary & Expiring Links

Share links that automatically expire. Perfect for time-limited promotions, one-time download links, or temporary access to resources. Set expiration with the expiresIn parameter.

Comparison: URL Shortener APIs in 2026

* TinyURL offers unlimited free shortening but with no analytics, no custom slugs, and no API management. Agent Short URL provides the full feature set — custom slugs, analytics, bulk operations, expiration — with no signup and a generous free tier.

Build a Link Analytics Dashboard

Here's a complete Python script that creates campaign links and generates a daily click report:

import requests
from datetime import datetime

API = "https://agent-gateway-kappa.vercel.app/v1/agent-shorturl"

# Setup: get API key (save for reuse)
def get_key():
    resp = requests.post(f"{API}/api/keys/create")
    return resp.json()["key"]

# Create campaign links
def create_campaign(api_key, base_url, campaign_name, channels):
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"}
    links = []
    for channel in channels:
        slug = f"{campaign_name}-{channel}"
        resp = requests.post(
            f"{API}/api/shorten",
            headers=headers,
            json={
                "url": f"{base_url}?utm_source={channel}&utm_campaign={campaign_name}",
                "slug": slug,
                "tags": [campaign_name, channel]
            }
        )
        links.append(resp.json())
        print(f"[{channel}] {resp.json()['shortUrl']}")
    return links

# Generate click report
def report(api_key, slugs):
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"}
    print(f"\n--- Click Report ({datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d')}) ---")
    total = 0
    for slug in slugs:
        stats = requests.get(f"{API}/api/urls/{slug}/stats", headers=headers).json()
        clicks = stats.get("totalClicks", 0)
        total += clicks
        print(f"  {slug}: {clicks} clicks")
        for ref in stats.get("topReferrers", [])[:3]:
            print(f"    <- {ref['referrer']}: {ref['clicks']}")
    print(f"  Total: {total} clicks")

# Usage
key = get_key()
channels = ["twitter", "linkedin", "email", "reddit"]
links = create_campaign(key, "https://myapp.com/launch", "spring26", channels)
slugs = [l["slug"] for l in links]
report(key, slugs)

Frequently Asked Questions

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