Solutions
Short links on your own domain, included from the free plan
A short link on a shared shortener domain inherits that domain's reputation — including other people's spam. Pointing links at a hostname you control isolates you from that, and Linkonda includes one on the free plan.
Why a shared shortener domain is a liability
Shorteners are abused. Phishing campaigns and spam runs use them constantly, because a short link hides the destination until it is followed. Mail providers, corporate proxies, and messaging platforms respond the only way they can: by treating well-known shortener domains with suspicion.
That reputation is shared. Your entirely legitimate link can land in a spam folder, hit an interstitial warning, or be stripped by a security gateway because of what somebody else did with the same domain last week. You have no visibility into it and no way to fix it.
A hostname you control has exactly one reputation: yours. It also survives you changing shortener — the links keep working because you own where they point.
Custom domains by plan
| Plan | Custom domains | Simultaneous links |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 | 100 |
| Plus — €4.99/mo | 3 | 500 |
| Pro — €14.99/mo | 5 | Unlimited |
| Enterprise | 25 | Unlimited |
Most competitors treat custom domains as a paid upgrade. See the Bitly comparison for how that differs.
Setting one up
- Pick a subdomain you are not already serving from —
go.yourbrand.comis a common choice. - Add the domain in your Linkonda dashboard. It shows you a TXT record and a CNAME target.
- Create the TXT record at your DNS provider. This proves you control the domain.
- Point the hostname at Linkonda with the CNAME record, then press verify. Once DNS has propagated, new links can be issued on that hostname.
DNS changes can take anywhere from a minute to a few hours to propagate depending on your provider and TTL. If verification fails, it is nearly always because the TXT record has not resolved yet.
Choosing a hostname that ages well
Short links outlive the campaigns that create them. A QR code printed on packaging or a link read aloud in a podcast can be followed years later, so the hostname should be one you expect to keep controlling.
Prefer something short and neutral over something tied to a single campaign — go., l., or link. age better than summer-sale.. And keep the DNS record in place after a campaign ends; deleting it breaks every link ever issued on that hostname.
Related
Custom domains work with programmatic links too — see the URL shortener API. For what is recorded when someone follows a link on your domain, see short links without visitor tracking.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I get a custom domain on the free plan?
- Yes. Every signed-in plan includes custom domains, starting with 1 hostname on the free plan. Plus includes 3 and Pro includes 5.
- How do I verify a domain?
- Add the TXT record shown in the dashboard to your DNS, then add a CNAME pointing your chosen hostname at Linkonda. Once the TXT record resolves, the domain is verified and your links start serving from it.
- What hostname should I use?
- A subdomain you are not otherwise using, such as go.yourbrand.com or l.yourbrand.com. Do not point an apex domain you serve a website from at a shortener.
- What happens to my links if I remove the domain?
- Links created on that hostname stop resolving there. Remove a custom domain only when you are confident the links on it are no longer in circulation — printed and broadcast links can outlive a campaign by years.
- Does a custom domain change what is tracked?
- No. Whether a link is served from a Linkonda hostname or your own, the only thing recorded is a total redirect count. No IP addresses, geolocation, or device data are stored either way.