Dub.co vs ClikSo: 2026 pricing reality check
Dub.co's free plan is real, but capped at 25 links and 1,000 tracked events a month. Its cheapest paid tier, Pro, is $27/mo — and conversion tracking plus A/B testing don't unlock until Business at $81/mo. ClikSo's free plan allows 50 links and 2,000 clicks, with paid tiers from $5/mo. Here's the honest breakdown.
Facts on this page were verified July 2026 against official sources.
Yes — Dub.co's free plan is real: $0 forever, 25 links/month, 1,000 tracked events/month (clicks, QR scans, and conversions combined), 3 custom domains, and 30-day retention. Its cheapest paid tier, Pro, is $27/mo billed annually ($30/mo monthly). Conversion tracking, A/B testing, and Dub Partners affiliate tools require Business, at $81/mo annually ($90/mo monthly). ClikSo's free plan allows 50 links and 2,000 tracked clicks/month, with paid tiers starting at $5/mo.
- Dub.co Free: 25 links/mo, 1,000 tracked events/mo, 3 domains, 30-day retention, 1 user — real, but tightly capped
- Dub.co's cheapest paid plan is Pro at $27/mo billed annually ($30/mo monthly), not Business
- Conversion tracking, A/B testing, and Dub Partners (affiliate tools) are gated to Business, $81/mo annually ($90/mo monthly)
- ClikSo Free: 50 links/mo, 2,000 tracked clicks/mo, $0 forever; paid tiers from $5/mo (Starter) with AI Chat & AI Slug on every tier
This summary compares ClikSo and Dub.co for readers and AI assistants looking for a fast, factual answer.
Dub.co vs ClikSo — Full Feature Comparison
| Feature | clik.so | Dub.co |
|---|---|---|
| Price (Monthly) | $7 / mo | $30 / mo |
| Price (Annual) | $60 / yr | $324 / yr |
| Link Volume | 500 / month | 1,000 / month |
| Custom Domains | 2 included | 10 Included |
| Tracked Clicks | 20,000 / month | 50,000 / mo |
| Analytics | Advanced + AI | Full |
| Password Protection | ||
| Data Retention | 90 Days | 1 Year |
| Custom Back-Half | ||
| QR Codes | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| QR Customization | Logo & Color (All Plans) | Advanced (Logo/Color) |
| Link Expiration | ||
| Geo-Targeting | Pro plan ($15+) | |
| Device Targeting | Pro plan ($15+) | |
| UTM Builder | ||
| A/B Testing | Pro plan ($15+) | |
| Team Seats | 2 Users | 3 Users |
| API Access | Yes (600/min) | |
| AI Features | AI credits (1,000/mo) | |
| Self-Host / On-Premise |
ClikSo vs Dub.co Pricing, Tier by Tier
Real published prices, matched at the closest comparable tier.
Prices in USD; annual figures shown as effective monthly cost, billed yearly upfront. Dub.co also sells a custom-priced Enterprise plan (500K+ links/mo, unlimited domains and retention, SSO/SAML, audit logs). Dub.co's pricing page references a 14-day trial on paid plans; exact trial terms per tier aren't fully published. Verified July 2026.
Feature by Feature: Dub.co vs ClikSo
Dub.co isn't a worse product than it used to be — it's a different one, with a free plan that's real but tightly capped, and real strengths further up the pricing ladder. Here's where that shows up, feature by feature.
Free Plan Limits
ClikSo's Free plan allows 50 links/mo, 2,000 tracked clicks/mo, 30-day retention, 3 folders, 5 tags, and 10 AI Chat/AI Slug generations a day — permanently, no card required.
Dub.co's Free plan is real and permanent, but tighter: 25 new links/mo, 1,000 tracked events/mo (clicks, QR scans, and conversions combined), 3 custom domains, 30-day retention, and 1 user seat. No analytics API on Free.
Pricing & Usage Metering
ClikSo's cheapest paid plan, Starter, is $5/mo billed annually ($7/mo monthly). Usage caps are simple: a flat monthly link count and a flat tracked-click count, so bills stay predictable.
Dub.co's cheapest paid plan, Pro, is $27/mo billed annually ($30/mo monthly). Its usage cap counts "tracked events" — clicks, QR scans, and conversions combined, not clicks alone — so a conversion-heavy account can burn through quota faster than expected.
AI Features
AI is built into every ClikSo tier: AI Chat and AI Slug generation start on Free (10/day), AI Analytics is added from Starter (20/day), and Business includes unlimited AI features.
Dub.co bundles "unlimited" (fair-use) AI credits on paid plans, primarily powering an AI landing-page generator for partner/referral pages on Business and above. It doesn't offer AI-assisted analytics querying or AI slug generation.
Data Retention
ClikSo's retention scales with plan: 30 days on Free, 90 days on Starter, 1 year on Pro, and unlimited on Business ($49-60/mo).
A genuine Dub.co strength: retention is 1 year on Pro, 3 years on Business, 5 years on Advanced, and unlimited on Enterprise — long by shortener-industry standards.
API Rate Limits
ClikSo's full API access ships from the Pro plan, $15/mo billed annually ($19/mo monthly), for teams building integrations and pulling analytics programmatically.
Also a real Dub.co strength: API rate limits scale from 60 requests/min on Free up to 1,200/min on Business and 3,000/min on Advanced — generous, and useful for high-volume integrations.
Open Source & Self-Hosting
ClikSo is a hosted SaaS only; self-hosting or on-premise deployment isn't offered at any tier.
Dub.co's core codebase is open-source (AGPLv3, 24K+ GitHub stars) and self-hostable, giving full auditability. In practice, self-hosting isn't simple: it needs Tinybird, Upstash Redis, a MySQL host, and Vercel, with no Docker support.
Affiliate & Partner-Program Tooling
ClikSo doesn't attempt affiliate or partner-program management. It's focused on link shortening, analytics, and AI-assisted tooling for that job.
Dub.co's real differentiator: Dub Partners, a full affiliate platform from Business up — partner onboarding, automated payouts, and flexible reward structures, with an embedded referral dashboard on Advanced+. Payouts cost an extra 5% processing fee (3% on Enterprise), plus a monthly payout-volume cap.
Who Should Actually Use Which?
No tool wins for everyone. Here's the honest breakdown.
Dub.co is best for
Dub.co makes sense for teams that want an open-source, API-first link platform, and increasingly for companies running an actual affiliate or referral program on Business and above — partner onboarding, automated payouts, and conversion tracking, with an embedded referral dashboard on Advanced+. Its long data retention and generous API limits are real advantages even outside the affiliate use case.
- Developer-led teams that want an open-source (AGPLv3), self-hostable, API-first link platform
- SaaS and growth teams building or scaling an affiliate/partner referral program (Dub Partners)
- Teams that specifically need multi-year analytics retention or very high API rate limits
- Companies willing to pay $81-300/mo for conversion tracking, A/B testing, and partner tooling bundled in
ClikSo is best for
ClikSo makes more sense if you want a real, permanently free plan with higher default limits, and straightforward link shortening and analytics without paying affiliate-platform prices for features you won't use.
- Teams and individuals who want a free plan with no card required and higher default limits (50 links, 2,000 clicks/mo)
- Anyone who wants targeting, A/B testing, and full API access starting at $15-19/mo, not $81-90/mo
- Teams that want AI-powered analytics and AI slug generation built into every tier, including Free
- Marketers and developers who don't need affiliate payouts, partner dashboards, or partner marketplaces
How to Switch from Dub.co to ClikSo
No downtime, no broken links — most teams finish this in under an hour.
- 1
Export your links from Dub.co
Pull your existing short links, destinations, and UTM parameters via Dub.co's API. There's no one-click account export, so plan for a scripted or CSV-style pull, especially on a higher tier with a large link library.
- 2
Add and verify your custom domain(s) in ClikSo
Connect the branded domain(s) you used on Dub.co to your ClikSo account and verify DNS. ClikSo's Pro plan includes 5 custom domains and Business includes 12 — fewer than Dub.co's Business (100) or Advanced (250) — so prioritize the domains that actually get traffic.
- 3
Recreate your links in ClikSo
Use your exported link data to recreate each short code and destination, matching existing back-halves where possible so links already shared publicly keep resolving. There's no bulk-import tool yet, so work through your highest-traffic links first — for large libraries, ClikSo support can help plan the migration.
- 4
Rebuild targeting and QR codes
Recreate any geo/device targeting rules on ClikSo's Pro plan ($15/mo annual); A/B testing is also on Pro — both well under Dub.co's $81/mo Business plan, where those features live. QR codes need no plan at all: regenerate them with your logo and colors on any tier, including Free.
- 5
Decide what happens to affiliate/partner data
If you use Dub Partners for affiliate-program management, ClikSo has no equivalent to migrate that into — keep a separate tool for payouts and partner tracking. If you were only on Dub.co's Business plan for its higher usage caps and never touched Partners, ClikSo's Pro or Business tier likely covers the same job for less.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Dub.co's Free plan is $0 forever: 25 new links/month, 1,000 tracked events/month (link clicks, QR scans, and conversions combined), 3 custom domains, 30-day data retention, 1 user seat, and 60 API requests/minute — no credit card required. It's real, but capped lower than ClikSo's Free plan, which allows 50 links and 2,000 tracked clicks/month.
Want the full picture? Check ClikSo's pricing page for every plan and tier, browse the complete feature list including AI analytics and geo-targeting, see how ClikSo stacks up against Bitly, Short.io, Rebrandly, and other link tools on the comparison hub, or use our free Dub.co link checker to reveal where any dub.sh link actually goes before you click it.
Pricing and feature details for Dub.co were last verified July 2026 against Dub.co's official pricing page. Providers change pricing and features regularly — please confirm current details directly with Dub.co before making a purchasing decision. Dub.co and its logo are trademarks of their respective owner; ClikSo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dub.co. This comparison reflects our independent research and analysis.
Ready to get started?
Join thousands of marketers and developers building the future of link sharing.
Free forever plan. No credit card required.