5 Mobile Link Analytics Services Compared

TL;DR: The best mobile link analytics service depends on whether you need clicks or installs. Branch and WarpLink report both per link: Branch reaches into paid-media measurement, and WarpLink prices from $0 for teams whose installs come from links they own. Bitly, Dub, and Rebrandly are web link managers with deep click reporting, and their app-install features sit on higher plans or need your own code. Every fact below comes from the vendor's own public page, checked in October 2026, and WarpLink is one of the five, so read it as a vendor comparison, not an independent test.

Mobile Link Analytics Services at a Glance

A mobile link analytics service counts what happens when someone taps a link that is meant to open an app: clicks, where they came from, and ideally which taps turned into installs. Two things get confused here. Click analytics counts taps on the link. Install attribution matches a first app open back to the tap that caused it, and it needs an SDK in the app.

Table 1. What each service measures. Checked October 2026 on each vendor's own public pages.

Service	Click breakdowns	UTM parameters	Install matching	SDK needed for installs	Custom domains	Export and API
Branch	Country, platform, OS, browser, campaign, channel, domain, link ID	Not stated on the pages checked	Yes, core product	Yes, Branch SDK	Not on Intro; one on Activation Basics	Short Link API on Activation Basics (web links only); report export plan not stated
WarpLink	Country, referrer, device, OS, browser, campaign source, app, tap source	Stored with every click	Yes, referrer, then device ID, then fingerprint, then raw signals	Yes, WarpLink SDK (iOS, Android, React Native); clicks need none	1 trial domain on Free, 3 on Starter, up to 10 on Scale, unlimited on Unlimited	CSV export, REST API, MCP server
Dub	Country, city, device, browser, with filters	UTM builder and templates	Deferred deep linking from Pro; in-app event attribution on Business	Your app code calls Dub's open endpoint; Swift and React Native SDKs	3 on Free	CSV export, API access
Rebrandly	Country, city, region, time of day, language, device, referrer, browser, OS	UTM builder on every plan	Mobile deep linking from Growth; install tracking not listed	Not stated on the pages checked	1 on Free, 2 on Essentials, 3 on Professional, 10 on Growth	Scheduled exports from Professional, API
Bitly	Location and referrer; city and device type from Premium	UTM builder from Core	App-install reporting not listed on Free through Premium	Not stated on the pages checked	Complimentary domain from Growth	CSV, PDF, and image export (not on Free or Core); API

Table 2. What each service charges, and for what. Checked October 2026.

Service	Free tier	Paid entry	What the price is measured in	Data retention
Branch	None; 30-day trial	Intro at $39 a month	5,000 volume credits, 500 web links or QR codes a month, with overages	Not stated on Intro; two years on Activation Basics ($199 a month)
WarpLink	$0, 10,000 clicks a month	Starter at $19 a month	Tracked clicks a month: 100K, 500K, 2M, then unlimited	90 days on Free up to 3 years on Scale and Unlimited
Dub	$0, 1,000 tracked events a month	Pro at $30 a month	Tracked events a month plus new links a month	30 days on Free, 1 year on Pro, 3 on Business
Rebrandly	$0, 10 links a month	Essentials, see pricing page	Links a month, plus a monthly cap on detailed click data	Not stated for click data; 6 months to 2 years for conversion data
Bitly	$0, 5 links a month	Core at $10 a month, annual plan only	Links a month; clicks are unlimited on every plan	30 days on Core, 1 year on Premium; Enterprise on the pricing page

Do not compare the price columns as if they were the same unit. A click, a tracked event, a volume credit, and a link created are four different things. The sections below show each unit next to its price.

How We Compared

We scored each service on six questions, using only what the vendor publishes on its own pages:

1. What does it measure? Clicks only, or clicks plus matched installs.
2. How does it match an install? Install referrer, device identifier, probabilistic signals, or not at all.
3. What does the app need? Whether an SDK or custom code is required for installs.
4. What can you slice? Click breakdowns, UTM parameters, and filters.
5. What can you take out? Export, API, and how long data is kept.
6. What is the billed unit? Clicks, events, links, or credits, and what the free tier covers.

We did not measure match accuracy, speed, or uptime, and we do not publish benchmarks. A vendor's own claim about match quality is not a portable number, so we leave those out. Where a page does not state a fact, the table says so instead of guessing.

The Five Services, One at a Time

Order is by how far each service reaches from the click to the install, then by price. It is not a quality ranking.

Branch

Best for: teams that buy installs from ad networks and need measurement and partner postbacks along with link analytics.

Branch's link analytics reports clicks, unique clicks, impressions, installs, opens, and downstream conversions per link. You can break them down by link ID, domain, browser, country, campaign, channel, platform, and OS. Install and open events come from the Branch SDK, which is open source, with native SDKs for iOS and Android and wrappers for React Native, Flutter, Unity, and Cordova.

• Pricing: There is no free plan. New accounts get a 30-day trial with Basics access and a $10 hold that is refunded. If you do not pick a plan, you are moved to Intro at $39 a month. Intro includes last-touch attribution with 5,000 volume credits a month, one ad partner, and 500 web links or QR codes a month. Overages are $0.05 per volume credit, $0.05 per link or QR code, and $0.01 per click.
• Limits: Intro has no custom domain and no Short Link API. Activation Basics is $199 a month for 10,000 links or QR codes, 150,000 clicks, one custom domain, and two-year retention. Branch's help pages do not state data retention for Intro.
• Source: Intro plan FAQs, Activation Basics, Link Analytics fields, native SDKs.

WarpLink

Best for: mobile teams whose installs come from links they own, such as shares, email, QR codes, and creator links, and who want deep linking, install attribution, and real-time analytics in one SDK at a published price.

WarpLink records every click at tap time and reports it per link and per campaign, broken down by country, referrer, device, operating system, browser, campaign source, app, and tap source. Installs are matched back to the click that drove them through a cascade of referrer, device ID, fingerprint, and raw signals, with a confidence score. The analytics docs explain how clicks are counted. The attribution docs explain the match. Click analytics needs no SDK. Install matching uses the iOS, Android, or React Native SDK.

• Pricing: Free is $0 for 10,000 clicks a month with no time limit. Starter is $19 for 100K clicks, Growth is $49 for 500K, Scale is $99 for 2M, and Unlimited is $149 with no click ceiling. The unit is tracked clicks. Retention is 90 days on Free, 180 on Starter, 365 on Growth, and three years on Scale and Unlimited. Full numbers are on the pricing page.
• Limits: Redirects are never blocked, but once a Free organization passes its monthly click limit, analytics pauses behind an upgrade prompt until the next period. A click export covers the whole organization or one link, and a dimension filter cannot narrow it. WarpLink is not a full paid-media measurement partner: it does not run ad-network postbacks or fraud suites, and it does not replace product analytics.
• Source: Real-time analytics, link analytics docs, click export API, pricing.

Dub

Best for: teams that want a developer-friendly link manager with real-time click analytics and conversion tracking, and who are willing to write the app-side install code themselves.

Dub's analytics report clicks by device, browser, country, and city, with filters, a real-time events stream, and CSV export. Deep links start on the Pro plan. Dub documents deferred deep linking for both stores: on Android your app reads the Play Install Referrer, and on iOS Dub combines a clipboard check with IP-based matching, then your app calls Dub's open endpoint. Attribution for in-app events from deep links needs the Business plan and is documented for iOS (Swift) and React Native, with Android listed as coming soon. Dub also sells a separate Partners product for affiliate programs, which this list does not cover.

• Pricing: Free is $0 for 1,000 tracked events and 25 new links a month, with 30-day retention and three custom domains. Pro is $30 a month for 50K events, 1K new links, and one-year retention. Business is $90 a month for 250K events, 10K new links, three-year retention, and conversion tracking. Advanced is $300 a month for 1M events. The unit is tracked events, not clicks.
• Limits: Deep links need Pro or higher, and in-app attribution needs Business. The mobile SDKs cover iOS and React Native only.
• Source: Dub Links pricing, analytics, deep links docs, deferred deep linking, deep link attribution.

Rebrandly

Best for: teams that run many branded domains and want link management with scheduled reporting, and for whom clicks matter more than installs.

Rebrandly reports country, city, time of day, language, device type, referral source, browser, and operating system, plus unique-click tracking from Essentials. Conversion tracking starts on Professional, with conversion data kept for 6 months on Professional, one year on Growth, and two years on Enterprise. Professional and Growth include scheduled exports, three and ten respectively. Mobile deep linking is listed from Growth. The pricing page does not list app-install tracking.

• Pricing: Free is $0 for 10 links a month. Essentials covers 250 links a month, Professional 1,500, and Growth 3,500 links and 10 custom domains. Paid prices and annual or monthly billing are on the Rebrandly pricing page; see the pricing page for current figures. The unit is links created, and detailed click data is capped per month: 100 on Free, 10,000 on Essentials, 25,000 on Professional, and 150,000 on Growth.
• Limits: Mobile deep linking is not on Free, Essentials, or Professional, and install tracking is not listed on any plan.
• Source: Rebrandly pricing.

Bitly

Best for: teams that mostly share web links, QR codes, and SMS links and want the best-known name in click reporting, with no app-install requirement.

Bitly's analytics cover clicks and QR code scans by date, referrer, and device, with city-level and device-type data from Premium. You can export CSV, PDF, and image formats, and clicks are unlimited on every plan. Mobile deep linking appears in the Premium plan. The pricing page's row for mobile deep link reporting, described as monitoring "mobile deep link app installs and link performance", shows no entry for Free, Core, Growth, or Premium.

• Pricing: Free is $0 for 5 links and 2 QR codes a month. Core is $10 a month, annual plan only ($120 a year), for 100 links and 30 days of click data. Growth is $29 a month billed annually ($35 monthly) for 500 links and 4 months of data. Premium is $199 a month billed annually ($300 monthly) for 3,000 links and one year of data. The unit is links created.
• Limits: Data export is not included on Free or Core. App-install reporting is not listed on Free through Premium; for Enterprise, see the pricing page.
• Source: Bitly pricing, Bitly analytics.

A Common Campaign: Two Channels, One Link per Creator

Picture a launch with two channels, a newsletter and creator posts, and one link per creator. These are the questions you will ask, and where each service stands on the pages we checked.

Question	Branch	WarpLink	Dub	Rebrandly	Bitly
Which creator's link got the most clicks?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Which countries and devices did they come from?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, device and city from Premium
How many clicks were unique?	Yes	Yes, per link and address over 24 hours	Not stated	Yes, from Essentials	Not stated
Which creator's clicks became installs?	Yes, with the SDK	Yes, with the SDK	With your own app code, from Pro	Not listed	Not listed on Free through Premium
Can I export the numbers?	Report export plan not stated	CSV	CSV	Scheduled exports from Professional	Not on Free or Core

How Clicks Are Counted: Bots, Unique Clicks, and Delay

Three details change a campaign total more than the price does.

• Bots. WarpLink checks each request against a bot and crawler list before a click is written, so a bot request never becomes a click and there is no bot number to subtract. The other vendors' pages we checked do not state how they treat bots.
• Unique clicks. WarpLink counts a unique click per link and IP-derived identifier over a rolling 24 hours, so four taps in an hour are four total clicks and one unique click. Branch reports both total and unique clicks as separate fields. Rebrandly lists unique-click tracking from Essentials.
• Delay. WarpLink shows recent taps in the dashboard within minutes. Bitly says you can monitor clicks and scans in real time. Dub lists real-time analytics and an events stream. Branch's pages do not state a delay.

None of these services counts people. Unique clicks approximate distinct visitors, and an install match is a probability unless the operating system hands over a deterministic signal.

How to Choose

• You buy installs from ad networks and need partner postbacks: start with Branch, which is built for measurement at that depth.
• Your installs come from your own links and you want clicks and installs in one place at a flat price: WarpLink fits. See install attribution.
• You need conversion events, such as sign-ups, from link clicks: look at Dub Business, which lists conversion tracking, or Rebrandly Professional and above.
• You run many branded domains for web campaigns: Rebrandly Growth lists 10 custom domains, and Dub Free lists three.
• You only need click and QR scan reporting for web links: Bitly or Rebrandly cover it, and neither requires an SDK.
• You are not sure yet: pick the free tier that matches your question and run one campaign through it. WarpLink Free, Dub Free, Rebrandly Free, and Bitly Free are all $0.

For the metrics themselves, read Mobile Link Analytics: What to Track and Why It Matters. For the line between link reports and in-app reports, read Link Analytics vs. Product Analytics.

Sources

All pages were checked in October 2026. Vendor pages are evidence for the vendor's own features, not independent proof of quality, and vendors change prices without notice.

• Branch: Intro plan FAQs, Activation Basics, Link Analytics fields, native SDKs overview
• WarpLink: pricing, analytics, link analytics docs, click export API
• Dub: Dub Links pricing, analytics, deep links, deferred deep linking, deep link attribution
• Rebrandly: pricing
• Bitly: pricing, analytics

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best mobile link analytics service?

It depends on whether you need clicks or installs. Branch and WarpLink report clicks and installs per link, with Branch aimed at paid-media measurement and WarpLink at self-serve pricing from $0. Bitly, Dub, and Rebrandly are web link managers with strong click reporting, and their app-install features sit on higher plans or need your own code.

What is the difference between link clicks and attributed installs?

A click means someone tapped a link. An attributed install means the service matched a first app open back to a specific click. Click analytics needs only the link. Install attribution also needs an SDK in the app, because only the app can report its first open.

Can a URL shortener report app installs?

Some can, on higher plans. Bitly's pricing page does not list mobile deep link app-install reporting on Free through Premium. Rebrandly lists mobile deep linking on Growth and above, and does not list install tracking. Dub documents deferred deep linking from its Pro plan, where your app code reads the install referrer. WarpLink and Branch report installs per link by design.

Do I need an SDK for click analytics?

No. Clicks on a link are counted on the link itself, so no app code is involved. You need an SDK in the app only to match installs and first opens to those clicks. Every service here that reports installs documents an app-side step for it.

How do bot and repeat clicks change a campaign total?

WarpLink checks each request against a bot list before a click is written, so bot requests never count. It also counts unique clicks per link and IP-derived identifier over a rolling 24 hours. Branch exposes both total and unique clicks. The other pages checked do not state how they treat bots, so ask before you compare totals across services.

Which of these services can export click data?

WarpLink exports raw click rows as CSV from the dashboard and the exports API. Bitly's analytics page lists CSV, PDF, and image export. Dub's analytics page lists CSV export. Rebrandly lists scheduled exports on Professional and Growth. Branch's pricing page lists an aggregated data report export, and the pages checked do not say which plans include it.

Related Guides

• Best Deep Linking Alternatives for Small Teams in 2026: the wider vendor roundup across deep linking, attribution, and pricing.
• Mobile Link Analytics: What to Track and Why It Matters: the metrics behind every table above.
• Creator and Influencer Link Attribution for Mobile Apps: one link per creator, step by step.
• How to Pass UTM Parameters Through Deep Links Into Your App: keep campaign data intact from tap to app.
• Install Attribution Without an MMP: how link-driven installs are matched without a measurement partner.
• 5 Deferred Deep Linking SDKs Compared: the SDK side of the same choice.
• 6 Install Attribution Options for Small Apps: how each option matches an install to a tap.

Getting Started

If WarpLink's shape fits, create a free account, register your app, and create a link. Click analytics works the moment the link exists. To match installs, add the iOS, Android, or React Native SDK. The quickstart covers the setup, and the Free plan's 10,000 clicks a month are enough to run one real campaign before you decide.