Since the popularity of Twitter started to rise and the 140 characters mania began, there has been an outburst of Url shortening services which allow you to sqeeze a long url in the given limited space. There are many url shortening services out there which are both free and easy to use. There is no doubt, that till services like Twitter are there, these url shortening services are no where to go.
Moreover, mechanisms like these let us turn ugly long urls into shorter ones which are easy to manage and are rememberable also. Â On the other hand, there are several scripts available which let you shorten urls when installed on a server that you manage. So you own the service and it can be used for either personal, public or commercial use. Many popular websites like friendfeed, gigaom, digg etc already use such methods to easily distribute their content in digital as well as print format.
If you are looking to create a similar service for yourself, check out these scripts that we have compiled together.
Kissa.Be
Kissa.be is a relatively new url shortening script that is based on php and mysql. When you install it on your server and get it running, you can not only shorten urls but also create text notes, upload images and create shortened email links that redirect to email addresses when opened. You also get an API to work with so developers can create 3rd party applications for it.  A ‘-‘ after any shortened url gets you its stats and number of page views. You can check out a demo. Download Kissa.be here
Shorty
Shorty needs PHP 4+, MySQL 3.23+, and Apache 1.2+ to run on a server. With Shorty, you’ll get a full blown admin panel from where you can control all your shortened links. When shortening links, you can either create a random url or provide custom keywords for the url. Within the admin panel, you can orgranize, edit short urls and also get a rss feed for them. You can test a demo of Shorty here and Download Shorty here.
Linx
Linx is a tiny (5kb) script based on  php. You’ll also need a mysql database to run it. It is created by @harry_jerry and he uses it on his site to create brandable shortened urls. You can see how it works on the Linx site and Download Linx here.
Phurl
Phurl runs on Php and is very flexible when it comes to extendibility. It comes with a very easy installation process and a simple administration panel. Unlike many on the list, it can handle urls without the http:// prefix, so it makes shortening even more quick. It is captcha enabled so users will have to pass a test before creating urls, but this is optional. You can checkout a demo here. Download Phurl.
PhpUrl
As the name implies, PhpUrl is built on Php and needs a mysql database to run. PhpUrl includes a simplistic admin backend that lets you monitor hits and IPs. Custom keywords may be affixed to the url. You can check out PhpUrl in live on this demo. Download PhpUrl.
Url Management
Url Management script is a lot more than just url shortening. You can create a site with features like domain whois, ip pinging, video download options and a lot more of webmaster tools. Easy ad placements are present and the process of installation is not difficult. Have a look at them demo here. Download Url Management.
BrokenScript
BrokenScript as again, is based on php and mysql. Unlike other scripts on the list, the shortened url will not be prefixed with any random characters, but a user defined custom keyword (seed). the script’s size is not big, only 45kb. You can check out a site using this script here and Download Broken Script here.
Tiny Tiny Url
Tiny Tiny Url is a script built on ruby by Leah Culver. If you are familiar with Ruby, you can customize it as you wish. Tiny Tiny Url is available for download from Github, Download here. And also read the release post here.
Url Shrink
Url Shrink is a simple, easy to use and deploy php script for shortening links. It comes with several design templates and you can create one of your own too. One shortcoming of Url shrink is that the user has to enter his email address before shortening links. Bu for people who are ok with this, Url Shrink should be all good for them. Url Shrink Demo. Download Url Shrink.
URL Shortening Script by Kiviniar
Kiviniar.com has brought up a url shortening script which the developer is giving away for free. It’s built on php and needs a mysql database to run. The installation is very easy to follow and you can easily edit the site’s design with css. Download it here.
And That’s All! As previously stated, there are many url shortening scripts but a majority of them are paid ones. Looking for scripts which are free is a difficult task. So if you liked this post, please do give it a digg or stumble, we really appreciate it!
Decent scripts, but is there a free one that can use my domain url???
Hi Caleb,
When you install any of the above scripts on your server, it will automatically use the domain name you’ve registered. So all of them can use your domain url. Just get a short sweet domain and get going! 🙂
It looks like you missed this one that runs on WordPress. I use it and it works great.
One I like is
It’s free and has some nice features.
I really appreciate the time you put into compiling this list. Great work!!!
Really good list. Getting ready to try phpurl. sounds like what i need.
Thank you for including in your blog about my script PHPurl. 🙂
Where it is possible to buy the,
Hi,
I’ve written a very simplistic script myself.
Check out my site in the link above.
Thanks
Oliver
http://5pl.us is a great free url shortening service as well! It’s only 5 characters + your alias (custom or auto-generated). It’s still a new site so you can get one or two letter aliases no problem eg. http://5pl.us/c
Can you please change your PHPurl link to my main domain instead of the direct page to PHPurl. As much as I really love that people enjoy my script, I find that people need to learn to look into my site, rather than my traffic be split up to one page or another.
I appreciate it if you can. I am sure if you were in my situation, you would realize why I am asking you to change the URL. Thanks.
That is a really great list,this one that we use its free to use and ultra fast and reliable.
The domain of kissa.be recently is parked domain.
Ah bro.. But what if I want to buy a domain with .ma or .ka .pa extension or anything like that? Reply, thanks 🙂
There is another script is called YOURLS , It’s f******k awesome .
If you decice to use a shortening script will it effect your old URLS. I am worried about all of my internal and external links becoming broken. Am I right in thinking it would mess it up.