Before you book the restaurant, buy the product, or hire someone to fix the leak under your sink, you check the reviews. Somewhere along the way, reading what real people say before spending money stopped being an extra step and just became how buying works.
Software is no exception. That’s exactly why platforms like G2 have become a staple resource for marketers. It’s a place to see how a product performs once real people start using it every day.
The Fall 2026 G2 Report is here, and Bitly has held the #1 spot in G2’s Grid® Report for URL Shorteners since its first edition launched in Fall 2019. Maintaining that position for seven consecutive years makes this recognition especially meaningful. Not only that, but thanks to our customers, Bitly’s 922 customer reviews turned into 121 report placements, 21 #1 rankings, and 53 badges for Bitly across the URL Shortening, QR Codes, and Content Analytics categories.
The reviews keep saying the same thing: Bitly is easy to use, dependable at scale, and provides visibility into what’s working. Here’s where that shows up in the report.
URL Shortener: 28 seasons at the #1 spot
For the 28th report running, Bitly holds the #1 spot in the Grid® Report for URL Shortener. That kind of consistency happens when marketers pick the same tool for their SMS campaigns, their chat links, and every marketing campaign in between, year after year.
This season also brought the clearest single win in the report: the Results Index for URL Shortener moved from #2 to #1 out of 10 products, with Bitly also picking up the top spot in the Small-Business Relationship Index. Combined with steady #1 rankings in the Usability Index, Implementation Index, and Small-Business Grid® Report, 13 of Bitly’s 15 URL Shortener report placements this season landed at #1.
That global consistency held too: Bitly ranked #1 again in the Asia Pacific, Asia, and India Regional Grid® Reports for URL Shortener. And, that regional strength shows up beyond G2. Bitly’s own 2026 QR Code Trends Report found that APAC also led every region for QR Code creation in H1 2026, the same region driving these URL Shortener wins.
“The de facto standard for URL shortening. It’s quick and easy to create shortened URLs for SMS campaigns and for embedded chat links.”
– Omar A., Operations Engineer, Mid-Market
Bitly Links do the job marketers actually need which is to turn a long, messy URL into something trustworthy, trackable, and fast to create. That’s the real value behind the badge.
QR Codes: A clean sweep on experience
Bitly has now held Grid® Leader status in QR Codes for 13 reports running, in a category that’s grown fast enough that new entrants show up almost every season. For the 2026 Fall report, Bitly swept the Results Index, Usability Index, and Implementation Index, landing #1 in every one, both overall and in Small-Business.
Bitly stands out across these three key areas: results, usability, and implementation. Each reflects a different part of the customer experience—how well a QR Code performs, how easy it is to create, and how quickly a team can launch it. Winning in all three areas means the entire platform workflow holds up, not just one part of it. Bitly also climbed in the Momentum Grid® Report (#16 to #14) and the Relationship Index (#5 to #4) this season, both signs the category is still gaining ground.
“I love that Bitly is simple, convenient, and easy to use. I also appreciate being able to create QR codes and track link analytics so I can see who clicked, how many people engaged, and how my links are performing.”
– Shade A., Keynotes and Professional Development Trainings, Small-Business
The combination of a QR Code that’s simple enough to create in the first place, and detailed enough afterward to show who scanned it and what they did next is the main point. Customers don’t need a separate tool, or a technical team, to get it all in one place.
Content Analytics: The momentum is showing
Content Analytics is where Bitly’s biggest single move of the season happened: the Momentum Grid® Report climbed nine spots, from #24 to #15. Regionally, the gains were even sharper. Bitly’s Europe Regional Grid® Report jumped from #12 to #5, and its EMEA Regional Grid® Report climbed from #7 to #4.
Momentum like that usually shows up somewhere concrete, and this season it did. The Implementation Index for Content Analytics held at #1, meaning teams are adopting Bitly Analytics and getting up and running fast. Bitly also held steady in the overall Grid® Report, landing at #4 overall and #3 in Small-Business.
“I like that we can track clicks and see what kind of content gets more engagement. It helps us understand what works better.”
– Galyna T., Lead Generation Manager, Small-Business
Bitly Analytics not only helps you collect data, but it helps you make it obvious what to do next.
Thank you to our customers
None of this happens without the people who took the time to leave a Bitly review this season. Every ranking above, every badge, every jump in the Grid®, started with someone deciding Bitly was worth writing about.
The throughline across all three categories is that real people, at companies of every size, keep telling G2 the same thing they tell us directly: Bitly is easy to use, reliable when it matters, and clear about what’s working. If you’d like to add your own experience, visit Bitly’s G2 profile to read what others are saying or leave a review of your own.
