Switchy
Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent.
Short links with retargeting pixels attached, plus a link-in-bio page. The selling point is that a click passes through your own domain so an advertising pixel can fire before the visitor lands.
Build me a short-link service that can fire a tracking pixel before it redirects.
STACK
- One small Node process behind my own domain
- SQLite, one table for links and one for clicks
THE REDIRECT
- GET /:code answers with a tiny HTML page, not a 301, when the link has pixels attached
- That page fires the configured pixels and then sets location.replace to the target
- With no pixels attached, answer 301 and skip the page entirely
- A meta refresh and a noscript link, so the redirect still happens without JavaScript
PIXELS
- Per link, a list of {network, id}
- Ship two to start with and make adding a third a data change, not a code change
- Refuse to save an id that does not match that network's format
BIO PAGE
- One page per handle: avatar, a line of text, and a list of links
- Rendered from a single JSON record, no editor
DEEP LINKS
- Per link, an optional iOS and Android URI
- Sniff the platform from the client hints, fall back to the web URL, and always leave a visible link out
COUNTING
- One row per click with timestamp, referrer host and a coarse device bucket
- No raw IP, no raw user agent
CONSENT
- A pixel only fires when a consent cookie says so; without it, redirect straight through
Include the schema and a README on the DNS and the consent behaviour.What you lose
- Retargeting pixels for a dozen ad networks, already wired and maintained as each one changes its tag
- A hosted link-in-bio page with themes
- Deep links that open the native app on a phone rather than the browser
- Somebody else keeping up with the consent rules that apply to firing a pixel
If you would rather not build
- A Cloudflare Worker plus a static bio page
- Linktree, if the bio page is all you actually wanted
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
LittleLink
$0A static link-in-bio page you host yourself; no database at all.
sethcottle/littlelinkfree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
88/100
Verdict yes at 88. The build is a redirect and a handful of script tags. What genuinely does not come for free is keeping a dozen ad networks' tags current, which is why the moat is worded the way it is.
History
tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.
Questions about Switchy
answered from the record above
Is Switchy free?
No — the plan we track is $9 a month. Pro at $9/month billed monthly, around $6 annually.
Can you replace Switchy by building your own?
YES. Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent. Replacement score 88 out of 100, build time one session. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Switchy cost?
$9 a month on Pro — $108 a year. Recorded 9 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Switchy?
Retargeting pixels for a dozen ad networks, already wired and maintained as each one changes its tag; A hosted link-in-bio page with themes; Deep links that open the native app on a phone rather than the browser; Somebody else keeping up with the consent rules that apply to firing a pixel. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Switchy?
Yes: Dub, LittleLink. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
Related entries
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