Shorby is built for paid traffic. HeyBio is built for the tap that follows it.
Shorby comes at link-in-bio from the performance marketing side. Its distinguishing features are retargeting pixels, messenger links that drop people straight into WhatsApp or Telegram, and link shortening on your own domain. It is aimed at people who buy traffic and want to measure and re-target it.
That makes it a more serious tool than the average button-list product, and also a more expensive one. There is no free tier, only a short trial, and the entry plan is well above HeyBio's.
Where the two genuinely diverge is what each considers the important moment. Shorby optimises the campaign that brings someone to the page. HeyBio optimises the tap that takes them off it.
Side by side
| HeyBio | Shorby | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it was designed for | Adult and NSFW-adjacent creators, plus Telegram and Snapchat sellers | Performance marketers and businesses running paid traffic to a link page |
| In-app browser escape | Clicks from the Instagram and TikTok in-app browser are pushed to the device's real browser, and the dashboard counts how many clicks that rescued | No equivalent |
| Per-link geo filtering | Hide or show an individual button by country, failing closed when the country is unknown. Available on Pro | Not offered per individual link |
| Free plan | No free tier. A 7-day trial, then 9 euros a month or 90 a year | None. A short trial only, then paid |
| Entry price | 9 euros a month, or 90 a year | Around 12 to 15 dollars a month depending on billing period |
| Retargeting pixels | Not offered | A core feature, with pixels on the link page for rebuilding ad audiences |
| Messenger links | Ordinary buttons pointing at Telegram or WhatsApp | Purpose-built messenger routing in one tap |
| Custom domain | Custom domain on Pro, or the shorter heybio.io/yourname on every plan | Pro tier, roughly 24 to 29 dollars a month |
Who Shorby is genuinely better for
Shorby is the better tool in a clear set of cases.
If you run paid ads, it wins. Retargeting pixels on your link page let you rebuild audiences from people who tapped but did not convert. HeyBio has no pixel support and no ad tooling.
If messaging is your funnel, it wins again. Shorby's messenger links are designed to move someone into WhatsApp or Telegram in a single tap, which is a real advantage if your sales happen in DMs.
If you shorten a lot of links, it does that on your own domain, which HeyBio does not do at all.
If you work at agency scale, its Agency tier exists for exactly that, managing many clients from one account.
The cost is the obvious counterweight. There is no permanent free plan, only a short trial, entry sits around 12 to 15 dollars a month depending on billing period, and custom domains require the Pro tier at roughly 24 to 29 dollars. Verify the current numbers on their pricing page before deciding, because tiers in this category move often.
Who is better off with HeyBio
HeyBio is the better fit when your traffic is organic, your audience is on Instagram, TikTok or Telegram, and your losses happen at the moment of the tap.
Shorby can tell you a great deal about the visitor who arrived. It cannot stop that visitor from landing in Instagram's internal browser, meeting a login wall with no autofill, and leaving. HeyBio pushes the click out to the phone's real browser and reports the number of clicks it rescued, which turns an invisible loss into a measured one.
Per-link geo filtering is the second difference and it matters more in adult work than in general marketing. A single button can be hidden by country, and it fails closed when the country cannot be determined.
The third is price and scope. HeyBio is 9 euros a month and does links, photos, text and analytics. Shorby's entry tier costs more and its value is concentrated in features, pixels and shorteners and messenger routing, that you will not use if you are not buying traffic.
Moving from Shorby without losing followers
- Work out first whether you are actually using Shorby's marketing features. If pixels and retargeting are driving revenue, moving to HeyBio will cost you more than it saves.
- Build your HeyBio page at heybio.io/yourname while Shorby stays live.
- Shortened links on a Shorby domain will stop resolving if you cancel. Replace them with direct destination URLs before you switch anything off.
- Recreate messenger links as ordinary buttons pointing at your Telegram or WhatsApp, and test each one on a real phone.
- Set geo rules while the page is still private.
- Change the bio link last, and keep Shorby running until you are sure no shortened link is still in circulation.
Questions
Does Shorby have a free plan?
No, only a short trial. After that every tier is paid, starting around 12 to 15 dollars a month with custom domains on the Pro tier at roughly 24 to 29. Check their pricing page directly, since these tiers change.
What happens to my shortened links if I leave?
They stop working once the account lapses, which is the single biggest risk in this migration. Anywhere you have posted a shortened link, in old captions, printed material or DMs, will break. Replace them with direct URLs before cancelling.
Can HeyBio do retargeting?
No. There is no pixel support and none is planned. If your business depends on rebuilding ad audiences from link-page traffic, Shorby is the correct tool and you should stay.
Why is HeyBio cheaper?
Because it does less. No shortener, no pixels, no messenger routing, no agency accounts. It does links, photos, text and analytics, plus the in-app browser escape and geo rules that the others do not have.
Which is better for Telegram selling?
It depends on where the work happens. Shorby moves people into a chat faster. HeyBio makes sure the tap survives the in-app browser and lets you hide buttons by country. If your Telegram funnel is organic rather than paid, HeyBio fits better.
Checked against Shorby's own website on 11 August 2026. Their plans, limits and prices change and vary by region, so check their page for the current situation. We describe what each tool does, not what it costs.
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