What is Kutt used for?

Kutt is a self-hostable URL shortener with custom domains, password-protected and expiring links, private statistics and a REST API. It is a good fit for branded short links for a team and running a private link shortener.

Yes. Kutt is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at thedevs-network/kutt and is written mainly in JavaScript.

Yes. Kutt is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Kutt?

Yes. Kutt can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Kutt an alternative to?

Kutt is an open-source alternative to Bitly, Rebrandly and Short.io. Other open-source alternatives to Bitly include Polr, YOURLS and Pygmy.

Is Kutt actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Kutt was on 3 September 2026, and the latest release is v3.2.6, published on 5 July 2026. The project has 11k stars on GitHub.

Kutt: open-source alternative to Bitly, Rebrandly, Short.io

About Kutt

Kutt is a modern URL shortener that supports custom domains. Users can create and edit links, view statistics and manage their accounts, while administrators get a page for managing users and links. It is built with self-hosting in mind and needs no configuration to get started.

Individual links can have a custom address, a password, a description and an expiration time, and the click statistics for shortened URLs are private. The app supports SQLite, Postgres and MySQL, with Redis available as an optional cache. Registration and anonymous link creation can be turned off, OpenID Connect login is supported, and a RESTful API plus themes and customization options are included.

Kutt runs on Node.js 20 or above with no build step, and it can also be started with Docker. The code is JavaScript under the MIT license, with browser extensions and integrations listed in the README. The maintainers warn that the kutt.it domain is no longer theirs, so the official hosted site is kutt.to.

Key features

Custom domain support for short links
Passwords and expiry dates on links
Private statistics for shortened URLs
Admin page for users and links
OpenID Connect login and REST API
SQLite, Postgres or MySQL storage

Good fit for

→Branded short links for a team
→Running a private link shortener

Built with: JavaScript
Tags: url-shortener; link-management; self-hosted; custom-domain; api; nodejs; analytics

Kutt: questions and answers

What is Kutt used for?: Kutt is a self-hostable URL shortener with custom domains, password-protected and expiring links, private statistics and a REST API. It is a good fit for branded short links for a team and running a private link shortener.
Is Kutt open source?: Yes. Kutt is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at thedevs-network/kutt and is written mainly in JavaScript.
Is Kutt free?: Yes. Kutt is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Kutt?: Yes. Kutt can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Kutt an alternative to?: Kutt is an open-source alternative to Bitly, Rebrandly and Short.io. Other open-source alternatives to Bitly include Polr, YOURLS and Pygmy.
Is Kutt actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Kutt was on 3 September 2026, and the latest release is v3.2.6, published on 5 July 2026. The project has 11k stars on GitHub.