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U2m.io – Free URL shortener with bulk API, QR codes, and geo analytics

U2m.io – Free URL shortener with bulk API, QR codes, and geo analytics

by appmuzzik·Mar 2, 2026·2 points·2 comments
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AI Analysis

●●SolidSolve My Problem

Bulk API and analytics free, but URL shorteners are table stakes in developer tooling.

Strengths
  • •Bulk API (100 URLs) and hash-based deduplication are genuinely practical for scale.
  • •Redis caching + MaxMind GeoIP analytics is a real implementation, not toy code.
Weaknesses
  • •URL shorteners are commodity; bit.ly, TinyURL, short.link all exist and well-funded.
  • •Free tier sustainability unclear — hosting QR + analytics scales, monetization not mentioned.
Target Audience

API-first developers, bulk processing workflows, teams building with shorteners

Similar To

Bitly · TinyURL · Short.link

Post Description

I built a free URL shortener with features that competitors typically charge $20-200/month for.

What it does: - Bulk API: shorten up to 100 URLs in one POST request - QR code generation: PNG + SVG, customizable sizes (100-2048px) - Click analytics: GeoIP (MaxMind) for country/city, device classification, browser detection, UTM parameter preservation - Custom short codes: 4-20 alphanumeric characters - Hash-based deduplication: same URL = same short code, deterministic - Redis caching layer for sub-millisecond redirect lookups - URL sanitization for malformed Unicode characters

Why I built it: Most URL shorteners either charge for analytics and QR codes, or limit their free tier so aggressively that it's unusable for real work. I wanted something API-first, with real analytics, that I could use in my own projects without hitting paywalls.

Tech stack: Spring Boot 3.4, MySQL, Redis (Jedis), MaxMind GeoIP2, ZXing for QR codes.

Try it: https://u2m.io

Happy to answer technical questions about the architecture or design decisions.

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Ship ItSlickSolve My Problem
devtoolbox
133mo ago