Bitly Reviews 688

They changed my short links to redirect to their landing pages with Ads which makes it look so cheap and unprofessional. Now I have to change all of my links to another company. What a joke!

Messed up my entire business funnel without letting me know. They are placing ads in front of my clients without letting me know

I would give Bitly less than 1-star if that was possible. I have used the free version to make lots of short URLs in the past. So I tried making QR codes only to find that they now direct to ads and allow little to no customization. I "upgraded" to a paid plan and tried hard to take advantage of the design options for QR codes. Each time I tried, I got the message "Code could not be created". All the while, credits were being deducted from my monthly allotment even though I did not get any usable codes. I tried contacting Bitly Support, but they took more than a day to respond only and outside business hours to say they needed more information. I provided the information but never got any actual support. I have also asked repeatedly for a refund, but they insist that they do not offer refunds. My advice is to stay as far away from these fraudsters as you can.

I used Bitly to create a QR code for my novel’s launch and printed 800 cards with it. Only after distribution did I find out that Bitly adds ads and a 10-second delay on redirects for free plans — something that was never clearly communicated upfront. It made my promo look unprofessional.

I upgraded to remove the ads, then asked for a refund since I only upgraded to fix this surprise issue. Bitly refused unless I downgrade, which would break my campaign mid-launch. Their support was dismissive and robotic, showing zero flexibility even after escalation.

This left me stuck: pay to avoid ads I never agreed to, or take a refund and ruin my promotion. Bitly’s system traps you with bad defaults and limited options. I won’t be using them again — and I recommend anyone doing professional promotion look elsewhere for a reliable, ad-free experience.

OK. I get it if you want to start adding ads to generate income. I do. But to do it to existing links generated a long time ago, links that have been published all over the place. That is so not cool.

You should have said "all links starting on this date and going forward will have an ad or you need to pay". That would have been fine and fair.

The way it was done - it stinks. Major tone-deaf brand destruction on the part of Bitly.

How are the people in charge so mentally handicapped to do something like this and cause such damage to their name?? OMG

We've used Bitly to generate simple, free, QR codes that help our clients scan our printed materials and make their purchase.
Recently, Bitly had the brilliant idea of directing all of our existing QR codes to their advertising page, which looks like spam, before sending the query to the actual page the QR code is for.
What a lame, sleazy, and bottom-feeder attempt to generate revenue.

We're changing all of our QR codes using third party solutions that don't sneak their advertising in, and bid you farewell.

I honestly hope you find yourself in a class action lawsuit, which we'd be happy to join.

Great platform for short urls! The best!

The price for a yearly QR code starter plan has almost doubled from last year. Why??? I was not made aware of this price increase so was not able to cancel and I was charged. There is no way of speaking to a human so no chance of complaining or attempting to get a refund.

I was a little mad when my link got blocked, but customer support resolved the issue quickly. I'm doing affiliate marketing and using many tools, but I have to say the customer support really did their job—so it's a 5-star from me!

Awful experience! The frontend has a bug that fails to display all the options. I had to pay 35 euros merely to contact support and open a case (which was automatically marked as resolved) since they don't have a cheap monthly plan. The chat is just a bot and is not helpful at all.
Stay away for this platform!

They are starting to charge for their service, so now unless you pay them the links go to a paid sponsorship page. What a waste of time, I now need to change all my website links. Never again with Bitly!

As others before me I have a terrible experience. QR codes cant be redirected as the whole service is unstable. I work for a big company, so we are using paid account - no real support, just bullshit. We have campaigns running now and there is no way to fix it as the QR codes are already printed on goods. We will probably even go as far as to sue them.

They are scammers never join or pay they just robbing people, beware of these organised scamers

I had a terrible experience with this product. It did not perform as advertised and broke within a week of use. Customer service was unhelpful and refused to issue a refund. Overall, I am very disappointed and would not recommend this to anyone. Save your money and look elsewhere.

they charge for a year worth of service, but their product doesn't work at all. if you choose to get a dynamic QR code from them, you won't be able to redirect the link, and whatever you have used the QR code on will also not work. It will cost you a lot of time and money to use them. They also do not respond to emails. You will have to contact your bank to initiate a refund. total scammers

No easy way to unsubscribe. Terrible value for the price, you have to pay an arm and a leg to get any decent functionnality

CAVEAT EMPTOR (Even if you don't intend to be a buyer).

They have a great business model (for them not you). Seems great to use, set up a QR code no issue. Advertised as dynamic link but it's a paid feature.

Also, they lock down so you cannot take their core service on a monthly basis. Forcing you to use a premium service for a month.

TBF to them, I'm sure they tell you all this somewhere (who reads- one should); so all my fault, I'm sure.

They have done me for $35 fair and square- well done Bitly.

Do not make the same mistake if you think you are using a nice friedly QR maker (that allows dynamic codes- it doesn't).

This is a very professional and experienced physical therapy group which is part of our regional hospital. My husband and I have been patients here for over 24 years. I have most recently had extended therapy for a hip replacement and I feel very confident in the treatment I have received. I have progressed well and I felt well cared for -- I see Tom and he is caring and patient and tries different things with me to accomplish goals. I always understand the home assignments he gives and know the purpose of all the work with him. I recommend him and the whole therapy program highly.

I recently had a great experience at Dental Art Implant Clinic. Dr Eamon is one of the best dentist I have ever had. Dr Eamon expertise and gentle approach made me feel comfortable throughout the treatment.i would never change my dentist. All the rest of the staff are friendly, I highly recommend Dental Art Implant Clinic to everyone
David Zalait

I should have come here before I got this. i sign up for a free trial last year and end up being charged over two hundred dollars after the trial was over. now i haven't used for months and completely forgot about when i was just hit for a charge on my PayPal for over 200. i called PayPal thinking that someone got into my account because i didn't remember those charges. only to find out that i have an automatically charge. i am trying to contact the company to see if it can be cancel and get my money back but there are no contact information anywhere to be found.