04 / 04 — Short links & analytics
Link
Everything Bitly charges $35 a month for — custom aliases, click analytics, QR codes, expiring links and a real API — rebuilt, open sourced and set free. Already live.
Links
+ New link| Short link | Destination | Clicks |
|---|---|---|
| zs.ai/launch | 4,812 | |
| zs.ai/github | 3,204 | |
| zs.ai/docs | 2,118 | |
| zs.ai/hola | 1,346 |
01 — Features
Everything you need.
Nothing you pay for.
Custom aliases
Pick your own slug: zs.ai/launch reads better than seven random characters. Brand it, remember it, share it.
Real analytics
Clicks by day, referrer, country, device, browser and OS. Cookie-less, fingerprint-less, honest.
QR codes
Every link gets an instant QR in SVG or PNG. Print it, project it, ship it.
Password protection
Lock a link with a password. Only the people you choose get through.
Expiration & limits
Set an expiry date or a maximum click count. The link retires itself.
Tags & search
Tag links by campaign, client or channel. Find anything in seconds.
UTM builder
Build campaign URLs without a spreadsheet. Source, medium, campaign — done.
Public API v1
Create and measure links from your code with a simple REST API and personal keys.
Your data, exportable
Everything is yours. Export it, back it up, take it home. No hostages.
02 — The math
Today you pay
With Zerosoft
$0Bitly Core costs $35 a month — $420 a year, every year. A 10-person team on per-seat pricing easily crosses $4,200 a year. Link costs $0. Forever.
03 — Two ways to have it
A
Self-host it
Download the code, run it on your server, change whatever you want. It is yours under an open license — today, tomorrow, and if we ever disappear.
$0 / forever
B
We run it for you
Login, backups, updates and uptime included. You pay exactly what the cloud costs us. Not a cent more, ever.
At cost / of the cloud
04 — FAQ
Fair questions.
Zero fine print.
Is it really free?
Yes. The code is open source and self-hosting costs nothing. If we host it for you, you pay only the cloud it consumes — at cost, no margin. Software was never the expensive part; the business model was.
Can I migrate my links from Bitly?
Yes. Export your links from Bitly as CSV and import them: destinations, aliases and tags come over. Point your old short domain to us and existing links keep working.
What happens if Zerosoft shuts down?
Nothing bad. The code is open source, so anyone can run it forever. You can export every link and every click at any time, and self-hosting takes one command. Your links can never be held hostage.
Can I self-host it?
That is the point. Clone the repo, run it on any server with Node and SQLite, point your short domain, done. No license key, no phone-home, no enterprise tier.
Do my links ever expire?
Only if you tell them to. Links never expire on their own and never get parked behind a paywall. Expiration is a feature you control, not a threat we use.
Link — 0.05
Shorten something.
Pay nothing.
Free, open, already live. Your first short link is ten seconds away.
Launch Link →