In today’s digital age, short links are everywhere. Whether you're sharing content on social media, tracking clicks on marketing campaigns, or making it easier for users to navigate your site, URL shortening is an essential tool. But when it comes to deciding whether to build your own URL shortener or purchase a service like Smler.in, the decision is often seen as "build it and save money" versus "buy it and spend more." However, that thinking is flawed. In reality, buying a professional service like Smler.in is not only easier but also much cheaper in the long run. Here’s why.
If your requirement is small—just a few hundred or thousand URLs—you might think building your own solution is easy. And you’re not wrong: spinning up a basic URL shortener could be a weekend project for a decent developer. But here’s the catch—what happens after the initial build?
Maintenance: Keeping the system running smoothly with bug fixes, upgrades, and tweaks becomes an ongoing effort.
Security: Implementing security patches, SSL encryption, link validation, and protection against malicious URLs is a never-ending task.
Compliance: Staying up-to-date with data protection laws like GDPR and CCPA isn’t just important it’s mandatory.
Even if you manage to build the system, you’ll need continuous engineering resources to maintain it. Those are valuable hours your team could spend on your core business. With Smler.in, all these challenges are already solved for you.
Let’s get down to the numbers. You might think building your own service is cheaper, but the reality is the costs add up fast. For example, the cheapest cloud server you’ll need just to run your URL shortener will cost you more than ₹500 per month. Add database costs, SSL certificates, and storage for logs, and you’re easily looking at ₹1,000+ per month just to keep it running.
By contrast, Smler.in offers 300,000 link shortenings for just ₹200 per month. That’s right—our professional-grade service, with built-in security, analytics, and support, costs less than what you’d spend on servers alone.
Building a URL shortener involves much more than just shortening a link. You need to:
Design the architecture: Databases, load balancing, and APIs.
Handle edge cases: Custom domains, link expiration, and analytics.
Create user interfaces: So your users can easily manage their links.
Even for a basic MVP, expect to spend tens of thousands of rupees on development. After that, you’ll face ongoing costs for updates and improvements. With Smler.in, all this comes built-in, ready to use, and professionally maintained for a fraction of the cost.
As your business grows, so will your need for shortened URLs. Scaling your service to handle increasing traffic, clicks, and global users requires complex infrastructure upgrades:
Optimized databases for fast lookups.
Load balancers and redundancy for high availability.
Global distribution to reduce latency and ensure fast link resolution across the world.
Scaling your own service will cost a fortune, while Smler.in is already built to scale. No matter how much traffic you drive, our platform handles it effortlessly.
If you’re running a business, custom branding is crucial. Adding custom domain support and advanced features like detailed click analytics, API access, and geographic tracking to your in-house URL shortener takes a lot of time and effort.
Smler.in provides all these advanced features right out of the box, with no extra cost to you. We offer professional-grade tools to ensure your shortened URLs match your branding and offer valuable insights.
Understanding how your links perform is essential for marketing and sales teams. Building comprehensive analytics to track clicks, locations, devices, and time of engagement is no small feat. Smler.in provides these analytics automatically with every link you create.
Building a system like this from scratch will not only be time-consuming but costly. With Smler.in, you get these valuable insights included, saving you time and money.
When you build your own URL shortener, you’re also responsible for ensuring it’s secure and compliant with data regulations. Things like:
SSL Encryption to secure links.
Protection from malware and phishing.
Link validation to ensure safety.
On top of that, keeping up with ever-changing data protection regulations like GDPR and CCPA is a continuous process. With Smler.in, all of this is handled automatically, keeping your business secure and compliant without any extra effort on your part.
While the initial thought might be that building your own URL shortener will save you money, the reality is quite the opposite. Development costs, server expenses, maintenance, security, and scaling all add up.
Smler.in offers a fully-featured, scalable, and secure URL shortening service for just ₹200 per month for 300,000 links—less than what you’d spend on a basic server alone. Instead of spending time and resources building and maintaining your own solution, you can focus on growing your business while we handle your URL shortening needs.
Ready to streamline your short link needs without the hassle? Try Smler.in today and focus on what really matters—growing your business.