Dub.co — Competitor Profile
Category: URL Shortener + Link Attribution Platform (open-source)
Website: dub.co
Founded: 2022 (side project); incorporated ~2024 | HQ: San Francisco, CA (fully remote)
Funding: ~$2M raised (OSS Capital, Guillermo Rauch, Balaji Srinivasan, angel investors)
Status: Active, privately held
Positioning
Dub.co is an open-source link attribution platform combining branded short links, real-time click analytics, conversion tracking, and affiliate/partner program management into a single tool. It targets modern marketing and growth teams at startups and mid-market companies, positioning itself as a developer-friendly, transparent alternative to Bitly. Deep linking is available but is one feature among many — not the core product focus. Dub serves 1,000+ paying companies including Twilio, Vercel, Perplexity, TripAdvisor, and Framer.
Features
Deep Linking & Link Management
| Feature | Details |
|---|
| Standard Deep Links | ✅ — iOS Universal Links + Android App Links via native mobile SDKs |
| Deferred Deep Links | ✅ Android (full support); iOS status uncertain (some docs mentioned "coming soon") |
| Custom Branded Domains | Core feature — 3 custom domains (Free); 100 (Business); 250 (Advanced); unlimited (Enterprise). Free .link domain included on paid plans. |
| QR Code Generation | ✅ — custom QR codes on all plans |
| Link Expiration | ✅ — set expiration dates/times with optional expiration URL |
| UTM Builder | ✅ — dedicated builder with templates and keyboard shortcut |
| Link Cloaking | ✅ |
| Password Protection | ✅ |
| Device Targeting | ✅ — route users by device type |
| Geo Targeting | ✅ — route users by geography |
| A/B Testing | ✅ — traffic splitting with configurable percentages |
| Bulk Link Creation | Supported via API |
| Workspaces / Folders | Workspaces (orgs), folders (20-50 depending on plan), tags (unlimited) |
Attribution & Measurement
| Feature | Details |
|---|
| Click Tracking | ✅ — real-time click tracking (core feature) |
| Device / Geo Data | ✅ — device/browser and geographic tracking (country, city, region, continent) |
| Referrer Data | ✅ — referring domain + UTM parameter tracking |
| Conversion Tracking | ✅ — but Business plan ($90/mo) or higher required; ties link clicks to signups/sales |
| A/B Testing | ✅ — traffic splitting between multiple destination URLs |
| Real-Time Analytics | ✅ — real-time analytics dashboard and event streaming on all plans |
| Custom Events Tracking | ✅ — client-side conversion tracking with custom events and timestamps |
| Revenue Attribution | ✅ — revenue tracking tied to links (Business+) |
| Customer Insights | ✅ — (Business+) |
| Partner Analytics | ✅ — real-time partner program dashboard (Business+) |
| Data Export | ✅ — (Business+) |
| Analytics Retention | 30 days (Free), 1 year (Pro), 3 years (Business), 5 years (Advanced), unlimited (Enterprise) |
| Feature | Details |
|---|
| SDK Platforms | iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), React Native, JavaScript/Web |
| REST API | Full API — 1,200 req/min (Business), 3,000 req/min (Advanced), custom (Enterprise) |
| Webhooks | ✅ — real-time webhooks for link.created, link.updated, link.clicked, lead.created, sale.created, partner.enrolled |
| Third-Party Integrations | Zapier (7,000+ apps), Make.com, Stripe, Shopify, Segment, WordPress, Raycast, Slack |
| Open-Source Self-Hosting | ✅ — fully self-hostable under AGPL-3.0; Docker deployment; Railway template available |
| Browser Extension | ❌ — not available |
| Flutter SDK | ❌ — not available |
| GitHub Stars | ~24,200+ |
| License | AGPL-3.0 (open-core; enterprise features under commercial license) |
Pricing & Plans
Dub prices by tracked events (clicks and conversions). 14-day free trial on all paid plans.
Free
| Quota / Feature | Limit |
|---|
| New links per month | 25 |
| Tracked events per month | 1,000 |
| Users | 1 |
| Custom domains | 3 |
| Analytics retention | 30 days |
| Conversion tracking | ❌ |
| Partner program | ❌ |
| API access | ✅ |
| Deep links | ✅ |
| A/B testing | ✅ |
| Price | $0/month |
Pro
| Quota / Feature | Limit |
|---|
| New links per month | 1,000 |
| Tracked events per month | 50,000 |
| Users | TBD |
| Analytics retention | 1 year |
| Conversion tracking | ❌ |
| Partner program | ❌ |
| Price | ~$25/month |
Business
| Quota / Feature | Limit |
|---|
| New links per month | 10,000 |
| Tracked events per month | 250,000 |
| Users | 10 |
| Custom domains | 100 |
| Partners | 500 |
| Partner payouts | $2,500/month (5% fee) |
| Analytics retention | 3 years |
| Conversion tracking | ✅ |
| AI landing page generator | ✅ |
| Event webhooks | ✅ |
| Role-based access control | ✅ |
| Stripe + Shopify integration | ✅ |
| Price | $90/month ($81/month annual) |
Advanced
| Quota / Feature | Limit |
|---|
| New links per month | 50,000 |
| Tracked events per month | 1,000,000 |
| Users | 20 |
| Custom domains | 250 |
| Partners | Unlimited |
| Partner payouts | $15,000/month (5% fee) |
| Analytics retention | 5 years |
| Email campaigns | ✅ |
| Messaging center | ✅ |
| Risk monitoring | ✅ |
| Embedded referral dashboard | ✅ |
| Partners API | ✅ |
| Priority email support | ✅ |
| Price | $300/month ($270/month annual) |
Enterprise
| Quota / Feature | Limit |
|---|
| New links per month | Unlimited |
| Tracked events per month | Unlimited |
| Users | Unlimited |
| Custom domains | Unlimited |
| Partner payouts | Unlimited (3% fee) |
| Analytics retention | Unlimited |
| SSO / SAML | ✅ |
| Audit logs | ✅ |
| Custom SLA | ✅ |
| Dedicated Slack support + success manager | ✅ |
| Volume discounts | ✅ |
| Partner network access | ✅ |
| Price | Custom (annual billing) |
Pricing at Specific Volumes
Dub bills by tracked events (clicks + conversions). Below shows cost at various event volumes.
| Monthly Tracked Events | Plan | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|
| 1,000 | Free | $0 | $0 |
| 50,000 | Pro | $25 | ~$228 ($19/mo) |
| 250,000 | Business | $90 | $972 ($81/mo) |
| 1,000,000 | Advanced | $300 | $3,240 ($270/mo) |
| Unlimited | Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
Strengths
- Open-source and self-hostable — AGPL-3.0 license, full code access, 24K+ GitHub stars, strong community trust
- Modern, fast infrastructure — sub-150ms latency; 100M+ clicks processed
- Comprehensive feature set — links, analytics, conversion tracking, A/B testing, QR codes, geo/device targeting, affiliate programs in one platform
- Developer-friendly — API-first, SDKs for web and mobile, webhooks, Zapier/Segment/Stripe integrations
- Modern UI — consistently rated more modern and intuitive than legacy competitors like Bitly
- Partner/affiliate program management — unique differentiator combining link management with payout automation and tax compliance
- SOC 2 Type II certified — enterprise-ready security posture
- Conversion tracking at $90/mo — lower entry point than most MMPs for downstream attribution
- No vendor lock-in — can self-host with full data control
Weaknesses
- Conversion tracking gated behind Business ($90/mo) — Free and Pro plans lack revenue attribution
- Deferred deep linking iOS support uncertain — documented as "coming soon" for iOS in some references; Android only confirmed
- No Flutter SDK — only React Native, iOS, and Android mobile SDKs; notable gap for Flutter-based apps
- No browser extension — unlike Bitly which offers Chrome/Edge/Firefox extensions
- Small team — ~13-17 employees. Risk of limited support capacity and slower feature delivery
- Limited funding — $2M raised is very small for a competitive SaaS market
- Deep linking is not the core product — one feature among many in a broader link management platform; mobile SDKs are newer and less mature than Branch or AppsFlyer
- Pricing scales on tracked events — high-traffic scenarios can get expensive quickly ($300/mo for Advanced)
How It Compares to OptoLink
| Dimension | Dub.co | OptoLink |
|---|
| Core Focus | Link management + analytics + affiliate programs | Deep linking + click tracking + billing |
| Deep Linking | Available (one feature among many) | Core product |
| Deferred Deep Linking | Android ✅ / iOS uncertain | ✅ Core capability |
| Attribution | Link-level conversion tracking (not MMP) | Link-level + click tracking |
| Pricing Model | Event-based (tracked clicks + conversions) | Usage-based (MAU/clicks) |
| Target Market | Marketing teams, growth teams, startups | Mid-market SaaS; developers; indie apps |
| Open Source | ✅ AGPL-3.0 (self-hostable) | ❌ |
| Flutter SDK | ❌ | ✅ (planned) |
| REST API | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free Tier | 25 links/mo, 1K events/mo | TBD |
| Affiliate/Partner Program | ✅ Built-in | ❌ |
Sources
Profile created: 2026-07-30 | See glossary.md for term definitions