Short URL: Simple, secure, anonymous
Transparent URL shortening without surveillance. Our process is straightforward: you provide a URL, we create a short link, visitors get redirected. No tracking, no data harvesting, no hidden agenda.
Creating a Short Link
1. Submit your long URL
Enter the destination URL through our web interface.
2. Validation and security check
We screen the url against known phishing and malware databases.
3. Short code generation
A unique 6-character code is generated, or you provide a custom alias.
4. QR code creation
We automatically generate a QR code for your short link, making it easy to share in print or physical materials or just scan it on our site to share it.
5. Database storage
We store the mapping between short code and destination URL in our database. This data is only linked to your anonymous account.
6. Receive your short link
You get a clean short URL: frly.eu/abc123 and the QR code
When Someone Clicks Your Link
1. Request received
Our server receives the request for your short URL.
2. Database lookup
We retrieve the destination URL associated with the short code.
3. Direct redirect
An HTTP 301 redirect sends the visitor directly to the original URL.
4. Last clicked date update
We record the timestamp of this redirect. Unmanaged links that remain unclicked for one year are automatically expired and removed for users without an anonymous account.
The entire redirect process contains zero tracking scripts, no intermediate pages, and no third-party requests. Your visitors go directly from our domain to the forwarded domain.
Our Shortlink Preview Tool
Don't click blindly. Before visiting any frly.eu link, check what's behind it by adding a plus (+) sign to the URL or using our unshortener page. You'll instantly see the full destination, whether it uses HTTPS encryption, and if we've flagged it in our malware and phishing database.
What We Don't Do
No tracking scripts. We don't inject analytics code, pixels, or surveillance tools into your redirects. The link is clean.
No visitor profiling. Free and anonymous links collect only total click counts. No individual visitor data is recorded.
No data sales. We don't build advertising profiles. We don't sell data. We don't monetize your visitors.
No third parties. Everything runs on our EU-hosted infrastructure. No external analytics, CDNs, or tracking services.
No forced expiration. 'Premium' and 'Anonymous account' links never expire. The 'account-free' links expiration is based on actual inactivity, not arbitrary time limits.
Why This Matters
A lot of URL shorteners operate as surveillance infrastructure. They track every click, analyze visitor behavior, build demographic profiles, and monetize this data through advertising networks. Services claiming "privacy" often still deploy Google Analytics or Facebook Pixel.
We're different by design. Our business model is straightforward: you pay for premium features (custom domains, extended analytics, API access), not with your visitors' or your own privacy.
Privacy isn't a marketing claim: it's an architectural decision. We prove it through transparent technical implementation: inspect our HTTP headers, check for third-party requests, verify our EU hosting. The infrastructure matches the promise.