Shorten a Link Now, Keep It When You Sign Up

Most URL shorteners ask for an account before your first link. SendURL doesn't. The box on the home page makes a real, tracked short link on snu.to in one step, and if you decide to keep using SendURL, that link comes with you into your account, clicks and all.

What you get without an account

Paste a long URL into the box on sendurl.to and choose Shorten. You get:

• A short link with a random five-character slug, such as snu.to/x7Kp2
• Copy and Open buttons
• A live click counter that updates every 10 seconds
• A bar showing how much of the link's visit limit has been used
• A QR code under Create a QR, with PNG and SVG downloads

The link works for anyone, anywhere, straight away. Every click on it is recorded in full, with country, device, browser and referrer, even though the home page only shows you the count. The detail is waiting in the console once you claim the link.

The guest QR code carries a small SendURL mark in the middle. It scans like any other code, and once the link is in your account, the console gives you a plain version.

Your browser remembers the link

Without an account, the link is tied to the browser you made it in. SendURL keeps it there, so when you come back to the home page later, your link and its counter are still showing. If you clear your browser data, or open the home page on another device, the counter is gone from view. The link itself keeps working, but you can no longer see its clicks or claim it.

The home page remembers one link at a time. Choosing Shorten another link has the same effect as clearing your browser data: the earlier link keeps working, but you can no longer see or claim it. So if a link matters to you, claim it before you make the next one.

Claiming the link

Under the counter, choose Create free account, or Already have an account? Log in. Once you're signed in, the link moves into your account:

• It goes into the Default project of your workspace
• Its whole click history comes with it, from the very first click
• The console confirms that your link has been saved to your account
• Back on the home page, the box says the link is in your account now, with a link to the console

A claimed link counts toward your plan's link limit, 100 links on Free. If your workspace is already full, the claim can't go through and the link stays a guest link.

What guest links can't do

Guest links are deliberately simple:

• The slug is always random; custom slugs need an account
• No expiry, no password and no project
• No per-click detail on the home page, only the count

Once you've claimed the link, you can add an expiry or a password and see every click in the console. The slug never changes, so if you want a custom one, create a new link in the console; see Custom slugs or random slugs?.

Guest links have the Free plan's visit capacity: 100,000 visits per link.

Why it works this way

Signing up before you've seen a product work is a lot to ask. A guest link lets you try SendURL on something real: put the link in a post, a chat or an email, and watch the counter move. If the numbers are useful, signing up takes a minute and loses nothing. If they're not, you've spent ten seconds.

Step by step

1. 1.
   Go to sendurl.to and paste a long URL.
2. 2.
   Choose Shorten, then Copy to share the link.
3. 3.
   Watch the counter, and choose Create a QR if you need a code for print.
4. 4.
   When you want the details, choose Create free account and sign up. The link moves into your account.
5. 5.
   Open the link in the console to see every click.

More about it on the URL shortener with no sign-up page; the other ways to make a link, from the console to the API, are in how to shorten a URL for free.