People can see who sent it
A link that starts with your name tells the reader where it comes from before they click. A shared shortener’s name says only that somebody shortened something.
URL shortener with custom domain: the setup
You already own the domain.Lend the shortener one name on it.
To run a URL shortener on your own domain, pick a short subdomain of a domain you already own, such as go.yourbrand.com, point it at the shortener with one DNS record (usually a CNAME), wait for the shortener to verify it and issue an HTTPS certificate, then create your links on it. You don’t need to buy a new domain, and your website and email aren’t touched. Because the name is yours, you can move it to another tool later and keep the address you printed. The helper below writes the exact records for your domain and DNS provider.
4 DNS providers
plans read 31 October 2026
By the Builderify team
01 / The short answer
How do you get short links with your own domain?
Three steps, about an hour of waiting.
A custom short link is an ordinary short link whose first part is a name you own. The shortener still does the redirecting; your DNS only tells the world that go.yourbrand.com is answered by the shortener’s server. Every shortener that offers custom domains works this way, so the steps barely change between tools.
New to short links altogether, or to tagging them so your analytics can tell sources apart? See where website traffic comes from, which covers UTM tags and the referrer.
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01
Pick a subdomain you’ll keep
Something short under the domain you already own:
go.,link.,l.orget.. Pick once and keep it; the name ends up in emails, posts and print. -
02
Add the records the shortener asks for
In the DNS panel of whoever runs your domain’s nameservers, add the record the shortener gives you: usually a CNAME pointing your subdomain at its server, often with a TXT record that proves the domain is yours. Nothing else in your DNS changes.
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03
Let it verify, then wait for the padlock
The shortener checks the records, then requests an HTTPS certificate for your subdomain. When the link opens over https with no warning, start making links on it.
02 / Why branded links
Why use branded short links?
Four reasons that hold up.
The best reason is the last one: a name you own outlives any tool you use with it. You’ll find click-through percentages quoted for branded links; we couldn’t trace one to a study we could check, so there are none here.
It doesn’t share a reputation
Spam filters judge the domains inside a message. A public shortener’s domain is shared by everyone who uses it, which is why Spamhaus gave shortener domains a zone of their own in its domain blocklist in 2011, so filters can decide how to treat them.Spamhaus A link on your own subdomain carries your domain’s record instead. It is no promise of the inbox.
Previews still work
Chat apps and social sites fetch a link to draw its preview card. A good shortener lets those fetches through to the real page, so the card shows your page’s title and image, while not counting them as clicks.
You keep the address
If a shortener raises its price or closes, links on its domain go with it, as goo.gl’s did in 2025. On your own subdomain you point the name somewhere else and rebuild the links behind it. Section 07 covers how.
Have old goo.gl links on your site? Find which goo.gl links died and replace them on a domain you control.
03 / Subdomain or short domain
Short link with your own domain: a subdomain or a new one?
Start with the subdomain.
Use a subdomain of the domain you already have, unless you need every character. Buying a short domain is optional. Never point your main domain, the one your website runs on, at a shortener: Rebrandly’s own setup guide says not to change settings for a domain you use for a live website.Rebrandly
A subdomain of your domain
go.yourbrand.com/s/offer- +For: Costs nothing: you already own it.
- +For: Readers see the name they know, which is the point.
- +For: Your website and email stay untouched; only one new name is added.
- −Against: A few characters longer than a short domain.
A separate short domain
ybrnd.co/s/offer- +For: Shorter, which helps on print and in tight spaces.
- +For: Can be pointed at a shortener whole, with nothing else on it.
- −Against: A yearly renewal, and a name readers have to learn is yours.
- −Against: Its root needs A records or a provider that flattens CNAMEs; a subdomain of it avoids that.
Picking the name: short, easy to say on a call, and with no letters that look alike. go. and link. read as words; l. is the shortest but is easy to misread as a 1 or an I. Check that nothing already uses the name in your DNS.
04 / DNS helper
The DNS records for your custom short link
Written for your domain and provider.
Type your domain and pick who runs its DNS. You get subdomain ideas, the two records Builderify’s Short Links asks for, labelled the way your provider labels them, and commands to check your work. Nothing is looked up from this page; it all runs in your browser. Using another shortener? The steps are the same, with its target.
A pasted web address works too.
go.yourbrand.com · Cloudflare · 2 records
Add these two records
Your domain > DNS > Records > Add recordTypeCNAME
Namego
Targetconnect-short.builderify.netSends go.yourbrand.com to Builderify, which serves your links, unsubscribe pages and conversion postbacks from it.
TypeTXT
Name_builderify.go
Contentbuilderify-verify=your-tokenProves the domain is yours. Copy the real value, with your own 32-character token, from Connect > Domains.
Type
Proxy status: DNS only (grey cloud). Leave TTL on Auto. Then Save.
On Cloudflare
- Set Proxy status to DNS only on the CNAME. A proxied record is answered with Cloudflare’s own addresses, so Builderify’s check can’t see the CNAME and the certificate can’t be issued.
- Type go in Name; Cloudflare adds yourbrand.com itself.
Then, in Builderify
- Open Connect > Domains, and under Tracking domain enter go.yourbrand.com and click Connect domain.
- Copy the TXT value with your token from there; the CNAME target is shown there too.
- Click Check DNS now. It also re-checks every hour on its own.
Test it from your computer
# Whose DNS is live? Add the records at this provider dig +short NS yourbrand.com # Should print connect-short.builderify.net. dig +short CNAME go.yourbrand.com # Should print "builderify-verify=…" with your token dig +short TXT _builderify.go.yourbrand.com # The same, asked of a public resolver (skips your own cache) dig +short CNAME go.yourbrand.com @1.1.1.1 # Empty, or a list that includes letsencrypt.org dig +short CAA yourbrand.com # Windows (Command Prompt or PowerShell) nslookup -type=NS yourbrand.com nslookup -type=CNAME go.yourbrand.com nslookup -type=TXT _builderify.go.yourbrand.com # Once Builderify shows Verified: any HTTP reply, # not a certificate error, means HTTPS is ready curl -sI https://go.yourbrand.com/s/your-link-code
05 / The DNS, explained
How to point a custom domain at a URL shortener
Add the records where your domain’s nameservers point, which isn’t always where you bought it. A domain bought at GoDaddy but run through Cloudflare is edited in Cloudflare. The first test command in the helper, dig +short NS, tells you which.
CNAME or A record?
Use whichever the shortener gives you. A CNAME points your name at another name; an A record points it at an IP address. A CNAME is easier to live with, because the shortener can move servers without you touching anything. Builderify asks for a CNAME. Some tools give IP addresses instead: Rebrandly’s guide, for one, lists A records.Rebrandly Either way, remove any old record with the same name first; a CNAME can’t sit beside other records of the same name.RFC 1912
Why a subdomain, not the bare domain
The bare domain (yourbrand.com, written @ in most panels) already holds the records your website and email need, and the DNS rules say a CNAME can’t coexist with any other data.RFC 1912 Squarespace won’t accept a CNAME named @ at all,Squarespace and GoDaddy won’t either.GoDaddy A subdomain has none of those records, so the CNAME goes in cleanly and nothing else moves.
TTL: how long a mistake lingers
TTL is how long other servers may keep a copy of your record before asking again. While you set things up, a short one (5 minutes to an hour) means a typo you fix is gone quickly. Cloudflare’s Auto is 300 seconds on proxied records,Cloudflare GoDaddy’s default is an hour,GoDaddy and Namecheap’s guide says to pick its lowest.Namecheap A brand-new name usually shows up within minutes; the 24 to 48 hours you’ll read about applies to changing a record that servers had already stored.
The HTTPS certificate
You don’t buy or upload a certificate: the shortener requests one for your subdomain once the DNS points at it. With Let’s Encrypt’s usual HTTP-01 check, Let’s Encrypt fetches a token from your name on port 80, which only works once your record points at the shortener’s server; the check is designed for names CNAMEd to a host.Let’s Encrypt One thing can block it: CAA records. If your domain has any, they list the certificate authorities allowed to issue for it, and they apply to subdomains too, so add 0 issue "letsencrypt.org" if Let’s Encrypt isn’t listed and your shortener uses it.Let’s Encrypt
Cloudflare
DNS > Records > Add record; fields Name and Target.Cloudflare Set Proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud): proxied, the name answers with Cloudflare’s addresses instead of the shortener’s,Cloudflare and Builderify’s check and certificate both need the record to reach Builderify directly.
GoDaddy
Domain Portfolio, your domain, DNS, Add New Record, Type CNAME. Name takes only the prefix (go), Value the target. A CNAME can’t share a name with an A, TXT or MX record.GoDaddy
Namecheap
Domain List, Manage, Advanced DNS, Add New Record, then Save All Changes. Host takes only the subdomain. This works on BasicDNS, PremiumDNS or FreeDNS; on Namecheap Web Hosting DNS, use cPanel. Allow about 30 minutes.Namecheap
Squarespace and Google Domains
Domains, your domain, DNS, DNS Settings, Custom Records, Add record, with fields Name and Data. Domains moved from Google Domains are managed here.Squarespace
06 / Free plans
URL shortener with custom domain, free
What each free plan allows.
Several free plans let you connect a domain; the limits are on links and clicks instead. Read on each vendor’s pricing page on 31 October 2026. Plans change, so check the page before you commit. Bitly’s plans in full are in our guide to Bitly’s free plan limits.
| Tool | Custom domain on the free plan | Free plan limits | Cheapest paid plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitly | No custom domain | Plan details in our Bitly guide | Growth, $29 a month billed yearly ($348), includes one |
| Rebrandly | Lists “1 Custom Domain (Yourbrand.bio)” and “1 Free Domain (Rebrand.ly)” | 10 links and 10 QR Codes a month; unlimited clicks | Essentials, 2 custom domains and 250 links a month |
| Short.io | 5 custom domains | 1,000 branded links in total; 50,000 tracked clicks a month | Hobby, $5 a month, 7 domains and 2,500 links |
| Dub | 3 custom domains | 25 new links and 1,000 tracked events a month; 30 days of analytics | Pro, $27 a month, 10 custom domains |
| Builderify | One tracking domain per website, on a subdomain you own | Links and clicks have no line on the credit rate card; 250 free credits a month for the rest of the platform | No plan: one-time credit packs from $9, never expire |
Rebrandly’s page doesn’t say whether its free custom domain can be one you already own or is a .bio name it provides; ask before you plan around it. Its Essentials price shows differently in two places on the page, so we left it out. Dub’s paid prices are as listed on its page; the free plan’s are monthly, the paid ones yearly. Rebrandly and Short.io both say their links get a free SSL certificate.Short.io
07 / Switching tools
What happens to your short links if you switch?
On your domain, you decide.
Links on a shortener’s own domain live and die with that shortener. Links on your subdomain work for as long as the subdomain points at something that answers them. Moving means rebuilding the links behind the name, which is work, but nobody holding an old link has to know.
On WordPress with Pretty Links? The Pretty Links alternative guide writes the redirects that keep old /go/ links working.
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01
Export the old links first
While the old account still works, export or copy every link’s back-half and destination. That list is what you rebuild from.
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02
Check the new tool’s link format
Paths don’t always match. Builderify’s links carry /s/ before the back-half (go.yourbrand.com/s/spring-offer), so links from a tool without that prefix won’t line up one for one.
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03
Use a new subdomain for the new tool
Point link.yourbrand.com at the new tool and leave go.yourbrand.com where it is. Old links keep working while you make new ones; switch the old name over, or let it go, once its clicks have faded.
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04
Or move the name and rebuild the paths
If the new tool can recreate the same paths, point the old subdomain at it, rebuild the links under the same back-halves and test a few printed ones before you cancel.
08 / With Builderify
Custom short links that do more than redirect
On a subdomain you own.
Builderify Short Links run on a subdomain you own: a CNAME to Builderify and a TXT record unique to your account, checked for you, then a Let’s Encrypt certificate issued by a job that runs every hour. The same domain serves your email unsubscribe pages and conversion postbacks, so everything a reader or a network sees is yours.
Rotators
One link shared across up to 25 destinations: random by weight, an exact split, or filling each in order until its click cap.
Country and device rules
Up to 15 rules per link, each matching countries, a device type or both. The first rule a visitor fits decides where they go.
Junk kept out
VPN, proxy, datacenter, country and IP filtering before the redirect. Bots are sent on so previews work, but never counted or paid for.
Opt-ins and sales
Every click gets an ID. Pass it to a network and its postback credits the sale; on your own site, User Journey goals count with no code.
Sub-IDs and UTM
Add sub1 to sub5 or utm_source to the short URL itself, one per email or placement, and they pass through to the destination.
Cost and ROI
Enter a cost per click or the total paid; see revenue, EPC, cost per lead and ROI per link and per traffic seller.
Stops and backups
A click cap or an expiry date, with a backup URL so a full or expired link never lands on an error.
One domain per website
Each website connects one tracking domain. Remove it and links fall back to Builderify’s own short domain.
Short links and the clicks on them have no line on the credit rate card. Every account gets 250 free credits a month for the rest of the platform, an extra website costs 100 credits, and one-time packs start at $9 with no monthly fee; see pricing. Sharing one affiliate link in many places? Here’s how to track affiliate link clicks per platform. Buying traffic? Check solo ad traffic quality with a link per order.
Questions
Custom short domains, before you set one up.
Yes, on several. Read on their pricing pages on 31 October 2026, Short.io's free plan lists 5 custom domains and Dub's lists 3, while Rebrandly's lists one (shown as Yourbrand.bio) and Bitly's free plan has none. The limits fall on links and clicks instead. Builderify Short Links run on a subdomain you own, and links and clicks have no line on its credit rate card.
Start with a subdomain of the domain you already own, such as go.yourbrand.com. It costs nothing, readers already know the name, and your website and email records stay as they are. A separate short domain saves a few characters, which can matter in print, but it is one more renewal and a name people have to learn is yours.
Whichever the shortener gives you. A CNAME points your subdomain at the shortener's host name and keeps working if it moves servers; an A record points at an IP address. Builderify asks for a CNAME plus a TXT record that proves the domain is yours. Remove any old record with the same name first.
Usually because the record is proxied (the orange cloud). A proxied record answers with Cloudflare's own addresses, so the shortener cannot see your CNAME or issue a certificate through it. Set the record's proxy status to DNS only (the grey cloud), wait a few minutes and check again.
Links on the shortener's own domain stop working when you leave it or it closes. Links on your own subdomain keep their address: point a new subdomain at the new tool while the old one keeps answering, or move the old subdomain and rebuild the same paths there. Export your links before you cancel.
Sources
- Bitly Pricing
- Rebrandly Pricing
- Rebrandly Configure the DNS settings for my custom domain
- Short.io Pricing
- Dub Link management pricing
- Cloudflare Proxy status
- Cloudflare Create DNS records
- GoDaddy Add a CNAME record
- Namecheap How to create a CNAME record for your domain
- Squarespace DNS records for web hosting
- Let’s Encrypt Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA)
- Let’s Encrypt Challenge types
- IETF RFC 1912, section 2.4: CNAME records
- Spamhaus The DBL’s URL shortener zone (March 2011)
Pricing pages and help articles above were read on 30 and 31 October 2026; vendors change plans and menus often, so check yours before you rely on it. The Builderify details were checked against the product on 30 October 2026. yourbrand.com is a placeholder.
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