How to update longURL of a bitly link?

Question

This question was asked in 2010 here: How to change the link of a BITLY link

Is it still the case that there is no way to create a bitly link first and only later set the longURL for it? This helps in applications where you want to show what the bitly link will look like before the exact longURL is known and set.

Answer 1

No, that’s not possible now without using one of their more expensive premium plans. I found another link shortener called Zoobl (www.zoobl.com) that lets you edit the destination of your links whenever you need to, and as many times as you need to. They have both free and paid plans. They also have some cool smart link types that let you easily do A/B testing and geo based routing behind the scenes. Been using it for a while now and love it.

Answer 2

As of around October 4, 2021, it is now possible to change the destination URL:

https://bitly.com/blog/how-to-redirect-any-link-in-bitly/

Answer 3

You cannot change the bit.ly destination url with the free service. However, you can do this with a paid subscription, with some limitations: you can only do this for Custom Branded Links, and Basic Subscription only allows 1 change per month. (An alternative service that is more flexible is Rebrandly)

After you've created a custom link, you might have to change the page it's pointing to. We call this "redirecting" the link to a new target page. Your paid subscription plan may limit your destination edits to one per month or more. Check your plan information for details.

https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/230900588-How-to-change-a-custom-link-s-destination-with-a-redirect

Answer 4

Still not possible: the documentation in the Bit.ly API for user_link_edit has no option to change the linked URL.

You could use another link shortening service that allows this, for example the tiny.cc API (tiny.cc/api-docs) has an edit method which allows the URL to be changed.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, bit.ly makes it impossible to change a link once you’ve created it. If you’re looking for an alternate service, check out Capsulink: totally free link shortener that also includes analytics and notifications. I think it might offer more of what you’re looking for!