Column 5 of 5
Track record scores
Ten points for years in operation. A short link is a promise that a redirect will still work later, and a vendor that has kept that promise for two decades has earned something a new entrant cannot buy.
The rule
One part. Years of operation are counted from the launch year to 2026.
- 15 years or more: 10
- 10 to 14 years: 8
- 6 to 9 years: 6
- 4 to 5 years: 4
- 2 to 3 years: 2
- Under 2 years: 1
Launch years are taken from each company's own history page or earliest public record and are listed in the tool reviews on the hub.
Track record scores, ranked
| Rank | Tool | Track record score | How it was reached |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TinyURL | 10.0 / 10 | Launched 2002, 24 years of operation: 10 of 10 |
| 2 | Bitly | 10.0 / 10 | Launched 2008, 18 years of operation: 10 of 10 |
| 3 | Short.io | 8.0 / 10 | Launched 2015, 11 years of operation: 8 of 10 |
| 4 | Rebrandly | 8.0 / 10 | Launched 2015, 11 years of operation: 8 of 10 |
| 5 | Cuttly | 6.0 / 10 | Launched 2018, 8 years of operation: 6 of 10 |
| 6 | Linkly | 6.0 / 10 | Launched 2017, 9 years of operation: 6 of 10 |
| 7 | T.LY | 6.0 / 10 | Launched 2019, 7 years of operation: 6 of 10 |
| 8 | Switchy | 6.0 / 10 | Launched 2019, 7 years of operation: 6 of 10 |
| 9 | Dub | 4.0 / 10 | Launched 2022, 4 years of operation: 4 of 10 |
| 10 | ReSlug | 1.0 / 10 | Launched 2026, 0 years of operation: 1 of 10 |
What the column shows
The weight is deliberately small. Age correlates with reliability but says nothing about whether a plan includes a custom domain or filters bot clicks, and a high weight would simply reward whoever started first. Ten points is enough to separate two tools that tie on everything else.
ReSlug takes the hardest hit in this column. It launched in 2026, so it scores 1 out of 10 and gives up nine points of the hundred to the oldest tools. If longevity matters more to you than the default weight allows, the worksheet lets you raise it and see how the order changes.
One caution about age: a long record is a record of the company, not of your links. Bitly and TinyURL have both changed their free plans substantially in recent years. A link created on a free plan a decade ago still resolves, but the plan that created it no longer exists.
Questions & answers
Why not weight track record higher?
Because it would rank tools by founding date rather than by what they offer. Ten points rewards longevity without letting it override the free plan, value and feature columns.
Do acquisitions reset the clock?
No. The launch year of the service is used regardless of ownership changes.
How can a new tool make up the lost points?
By scoring well on the other ninety. A strong free plan and good value can outweigh a weak track record, as the scorecard shows.
Sources for this entry
- ReSlug pricing reslug.com/pricing
- Bitly pricing bitly.com/pages/pricing
- Dub pricing dub.co/pricing/links
- Short.io pricing short.io/pricing
- Rebrandly pricing www.rebrandly.com/pricing
- TinyURL pricing tinyurl.com/app/pricing
- T.LY pricing t.ly/pricing
- Cuttly pricing cutt.ly/pro-pricing
- Linkly pricing linklyhq.com/pricing
- Switchy pricing www.switchy.io/pricing
Checked 8 November 2026. Vendor pages change; the date is the claim.
Cite this entry
Top URL Shorteners. "Track record scores". Reviewed 8 November 2026. https://topurlshorteners.com/track-record-scores/