blrb.ai vs Bitly: Feature-by-Feature Comparison for 2026
Published on by blrb.ai Team
Bitly is the most recognized URL shortener in the world. It’s been the default since 2008, and for a lot of marketers, “Bitly link” is synonymous with “short link.” But recognition isn’t the same as value — and when you compare what Bitly actually gives you at each price tier against what newer platforms deliver, the gap between brand reputation and analytical capability becomes hard to ignore.
This is a direct, feature-by-feature comparison of blrb.ai and Bitly. No vague claims. Specific features, specific prices, specific differences.
The Core Difference: Click Counts vs. Audience Intelligence
Bitly answers one question well: how many people clicked this link? It adds geographic context at the city level, device breakdown, and referrer data. For basic campaign tracking — “did people click the link I put in my email?” — that’s sufficient.
blrb.ai answers a different question: who clicks your links? Every click is geolocated to a specific zip code, then cross-referenced against U.S. Census data to reveal the demographic profile of the neighborhoods engaging with your content. Median household income. Education attainment. Homeownership rates. Employment data. All visualized on an interactive heatmap that dynamically adjusts based on your actual click density.
This isn’t a marginal upgrade. It’s a fundamentally different category of data. Bitly tells you that 200 people in Dallas clicked your link. blrb.ai tells you that 47 of those clicks came from zip code 75205 (median income $85,000, 65% homeowners, 72% bachelor’s degree or higher) and 38 came from 75212 (median income $32,000, 78% renters). If you’re marketing a premium product or service, that distinction determines whether your ad spend is reaching buyers or browsers.
Analytics Depth: What Each Platform Actually Shows You
Geographic Data
Bitly provides geographic breakdown by country and city on all plans. Their Growth plan ($35/month) and Premium plan ($300/month) show the same city-level granularity — paying more gets you more links and longer data retention, not deeper geographic insight.
blrb.ai Pro ($5/month) provides geographic click tracking down to the zip code. Every click is plotted on an interactive Google Map with pin-level detail. You can click any data point to see the timestamp, referrer, device, city, region, country, and zip code. Zoom into a metro area and see exactly which neighborhoods are engaging.
Demographic Insights
Bitly provides no demographic data at any price tier. Their analytics stop at “who clicked” meaning “which device from which city.” There’s no income data, no education data, no housing data.
blrb.ai matches each click’s zip code against Census data from data.census.gov to provide zip code level click analytics including median household income, percentage with bachelor’s degrees or higher, homeownership vs. renter rates, median home values, urban/suburban/rural classification, and employment rates. This data is aggregate and privacy-compliant — it describes neighborhoods, not individuals.
Heatmap Visualization
Bitly does not offer heatmap visualization on any plan.
blrb.ai Pro includes interactive link click heatmaps powered by Google Maps. Hotspots use kernel density estimation to dynamically adjust based on the actual distribution of your click data. Whether you have 50 clicks concentrated in one metro area or 5,000 spread across the country, the visualization reveals real concentration patterns rather than arbitrary fixed-radius circles.
Data Export
Bitly restricts CSV export to their Premium plan ($300/month). Growth plan users ($35/month) cannot export raw click data.
blrb.ai Pro ($5/month) includes full CSV export with every data field: timestamp, city, region, country, zip code, latitude/longitude coordinates, ISP, referrer, device/browser, and destination URL. One click to download. No restrictions.
Pricing: Side by Side
| Feature | blrb.ai Free | blrb.ai Pro | Bitly Free | Bitly Growth | Bitly Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0 | $5 | $0 | $35 | $300 |
| Links/month | 10 | 1,000 | 10 | 500 | 3,000 |
| Custom link slugs | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| QR codes | ✓ | ✓ | Limited | Extra $ | Extra $ |
| Geographic detail | Country | Zip code | Country | City | City |
| Census demographics | — | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Interactive heatmap | — | ✓ | — | — | — |
| CSV data export | — | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| ISP/Org identification | — | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Historical data | Unlimited | Unlimited | 30 days | 4 months | 1 year |
| Annual cost | $0 | $60 | $0 | $420 | $3,600 |
The math is straightforward. blrb.ai Pro costs $60/year. Bitly Premium costs $3,600/year. The $3,540 difference doesn’t buy you deeper analytics — it buys you a larger link volume (3,000 vs. 1,000) and a recognized domain. For the features that actually help you make better marketing decisions — zip code precision, demographic data, heatmaps, unlimited historical data, CSV export — blrb.ai Pro includes all of them. Bitly Premium includes one (CSV export).
Where Bitly Still Wins
Being honest about this: Bitly has advantages in specific use cases.
Brand trust. The bit.ly domain is universally recognized. Recipients know what a Bitly link is and generally trust it. For cold outreach or situations where link trust matters, this has real value.
Link volume. If you’re generating thousands of short links per month — enterprise-scale marketing operations, large-volume SMS campaigns — Bitly’s Premium plan supports higher volumes. blrb.ai Pro caps at 1,000 links/month.
Custom branded domains. Bitly’s branded short domains (yourbrand.co/link) are polished and well-supported. blrb.ai’s custom domain feature is coming soon but isn’t available yet.
Team management. Bitly’s paid plans include team collaboration features, permissions, and shared link libraries. blrb.ai is currently built for individual users and small teams.
Where blrb.ai Wins — And It’s Not Close
Analytics depth. Zip code tracking vs. city-level. Census demographics vs. none. Interactive heatmaps vs. none. ISP identification vs. none. This isn’t a marginal difference — it’s an entirely different tier of audience intelligence.
Data access. Full CSV export on the $5 plan. Bitly locks that behind their $300 plan. If you believe your click data belongs to you, this matters.
Historical data. Unlimited on both blrb.ai plans. Bitly caps at 30 days (free), 4 months (Growth), or 1 year (Premium). If you run seasonal campaigns and need to compare year-over-year performance, Bitly deletes your data before you can.
Price-to-value ratio. $5/month for features Bitly doesn’t offer at $300/month. This isn’t a “cheaper alternative” positioning — blrb.ai provides capabilities that don’t exist in Bitly’s feature set at any price point.
Who Should Switch (And Who Shouldn’t)
Switch to blrb.ai if: You care about who’s clicking, not just how many. You’re in a business where the income, education, or location profile of your audience directly impacts your strategy — real estate, home services, agencies, political campaigns, e-commerce brands targeting specific demographics, content creators proving audience value to sponsors.
Stay with Bitly if: You generate 3,000+ links per month, need enterprise team management, or specifically need the bit.ly domain for link trust. If your analytics needs genuinely stop at “how many people clicked from which city,” Bitly handles that fine.
The decision framework is simple: If you’re paying Bitly $35-$300/month and you’ve never thought “I wish I could see the demographics of the people clicking my links,” Bitly is probably fine for you. But if you’ve ever wondered whether your clicks are coming from the right neighborhoods, the right income brackets, or the right audience — you’re paying for analytics that don’t answer your actual question.
Ready to see who’s really clicking? Start free with blrb.ai — upgrade to Pro for $5/month for zip code demographics, interactive heatmaps, and full data export.