URL Shortener API

A free, simple REST API to shorten URLs, set custom codes, generate QR codes, and read click stats. No API key required, and CORS is enabled so you can call it from anywhere.

Base URLhttps://theurlshortner.com

AuthNone (public)

FormatJSON · UTF-8

CORSEnabled (*)

Shorten a URL

POST /api/v1/shorten

Body (JSON):

Field	Type	Required	Description
`url`	string	Yes	The long `http(s)` URL to shorten.
`code`	string	No	Custom back-half (4–30 letters, numbers, dashes). Random if omitted.
`password`	string	No	Protect the link with a password (up to 200 chars). Visitors must enter it before being forwarded.
`expiresIn`	string	No	Expiration preset: `1h`, `24h`, `7d` or `30d`. Omit for a link that never expires.

Request

curl -X POST https://theurlshortner.com/api/v1/shorten \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url":"https://example.com/a/very/long/link","code":"my-link","expiresIn":"7d"}'

Response 201 Created

{
  "code": "my-link",
  "shortUrl": "https://theurlshortner.com/my-link",
  "qrUrl": "https://theurlshortner.com/qr/my-link.svg",
  "originalUrl": "https://example.com/a/very/long/link",
  "clicks": 0,
  "expiresAt": "2026-06-21T10:00:00.000Z",
  "passwordProtected": false
}

JavaScript (fetch)

const res = await fetch("https://theurlshortner.com/api/v1/shorten", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({ url: "https://example.com" })
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data.shortUrl);

Get link stats

GET /api/v1/links/:code

Request

curl https://theurlshortner.com/api/v1/links/my-link

Response 200 OK

{
  "code": "my-link",
  "shortUrl": "https://theurlshortner.com/my-link",
  "qrUrl": "https://theurlshortner.com/qr/my-link.svg",
  "originalUrl": "https://example.com/a/very/long/link",
  "clicks": 42,
  "createdAt": "2026-06-14 10:00:00",
  "expiresAt": null,
  "passwordProtected": false,
  "expired": false
}

For a password-protected link, originalUrl is returned as null so the destination stays hidden.

QR code

GET /qr/:code.svg

Returns a scannable SVG QR code for the short link. Use it in an <img> tag or download it for print.

<img src="https://theurlshortner.com/qr/my-link.svg" width="200" height="200" alt="QR code">

Errors

Status	Meaning
`400`	Invalid URL, or invalid/reserved custom code.
`404`	Code not found (stats endpoint).
`409`	Custom code already taken.
`500`	Server error.

Errors return JSON: { "error": "message" }.

Try it on the homepage →