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Kutt

New

The free alternative toDub

🟡 Intermediate⏱️ ~15 min to installYou save €24/mo

Kutt is an open source link shortener that replaces Dub: short links on your own domain, with their stats. You pick the end of the link, add a password, a description or an expiration date, and track each link's clicks privately. An admin page manages accounts and links, an API creates links from your tools, and sign-in can go through OIDC. It runs on your server with Docker or Node.js, on SQLite by default, under the MIT license, with every feature and no limits. The hosted version, kutt.to, is free up to 10 links a month. The limit: Kutt counts clicks, not sales, and HTTPS for your domains is set up by hand.

Screenshot of Kutt, the free open source alternative to Dub
GitHub stars11,207
View on GitHub ↗

Versus Dub: the match

  • Price

    Kutt

    €0 on your server

    Dub

    €24/month (Pro, billed yearly)

  • New links

    Kutt

    Unlimited

    Dub

    25 a month free, 12,000 a year on Pro

  • Domains

    Kutt

    Yours, with no plan limit

    Dub

    3 free, 10 on Pro

Dub ↗

How to install it (even from zero)

A single program, on your server with Docker, and an SQLite database by default. It needs a short domain name for your links. The prompt installs it from the official repo and secures it.

  1. 1

    Paste this prompt into Claude (Code or Desktop)

    It installs Kutt from the official repo, connects it to your domain over HTTPS and creates your admin account:

    Installe Kutt sur mon serveur : c'est le raccourcisseur de liens open source qui remplace Dub (dépôt GitHub thedevs-network/kutt). Vérifie d'abord que Docker et Docker Compose sont installés. Clone le dépôt, copie le fichier .example.env en .env, mets une longue valeur aléatoire dans JWT_SECRET et mon nom de domaine court dans DEFAULT_DOMAIN, puis lance Kutt avec le docker-compose.yml par défaut (base SQLite). Place-le derrière mon domaine en HTTPS avec un proxy inverse, et règle TRUST_PROXY en conséquence. Au premier lancement, aide-moi à créer le compte d'administration. Laisse les inscriptions et les liens anonymes désactivés, comme par défaut, pour que personne d'autre ne crée de liens chez moi. Montre-moi comment raccourcir mon premier lien, ajouter un domaine personnalisé et lire ses statistiques. Explique-moi aussi comment sauvegarder la base et mettre Kutt à jour. Attention : kutt.it n'appartient plus au projet, la seule adresse officielle est kutt.to. Explique chaque étape simplement, je débute.

Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.
  2. 2

    Keep your domain closed

    Keep sign-ups and anonymous links off: otherwise anyone can create booby trapped links under your name.

  3. 3

    Beware of kutt.it

    The project's old domain was taken over by someone else. The official hosted version is kutt.to.

What you actually do with it

Short links under your name

Share your links on your own domain, with the ending you choose: easier to read, and they inspire trust.

Track each link's clicks

Each link has its private stats: for the day, the week, the month or all time.

Protect a link or make it expire

A password for a private document, an expiration date for a limited offer.

Project health, at a glance

Before installing an open-source tool, one question matters: is the project alive? These scores are computed from public GitHub data. They are not made up.

55/100

Fair

Decent project, keep an eye on it over time.

Activity
5

Is the code moving? (commits in the last 30 days)

Maintenance
85

How fresh is the latest update? Fresher is better.

Community
76

Stars and contributors: people around means help and fixes.

Maturity
100

Project age. Old enough to be solid, still alive.

Momentum
7

Current pace versus its usual pace: speeding up or dozing off?

The repo in numbers

GitHub stars
11.2k
Forks
1.5k
Contributors
56
Commits
893
Project age
8.7 yrs
Last commit
25 d ago
Size
5.4 MB
License
MIT

Built with

  • JavaScript 46.1%
  • Handlebars 24.2%
  • HTML 16.2%
  • CSS 13.4%

Scores computed automatically from the GitHub API (last-30-days activity, update freshness, community size, project age). Refreshed daily.

Loucash’s take

8/10

Kutt does one thing and does it well: short links on your domain, with their stats. Password, expiration date, admin page, API: the core of Dub is there, with no link counter. What I like: everything is truly free on your server. Their pricing page says it plainly, the self-hosted version has every feature. It runs on a small server, with a simple SQLite database. The limit to know: Kutt counts clicks, not sales. If you track conversions or run an affiliate program, Dub keeps the edge. And HTTPS for your custom domains is set up by hand. My advice: for your bio, newsletter or campaign links, it is more than enough.

It’s for you if: You share a lot of links (bio, newsletter, campaigns) and want to shorten them on your domain, with their stats, without paying per link.

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