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UrlHum

Fast, privacy‑focused URL shortener built on Laravel

UrlHum delivers a modern, high‑speed URL shortener with privacy‑first features like IP hashing, customizable admin controls, and real‑time analytics, all powered by Laravel.

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Overview

Overview

UrlHum is a self‑hosted URL shortener designed for developers and teams that prioritize privacy. Built with the Laravel framework and a Vue front‑end, it offers fast redirection while protecting visitor data through IP hashing and anonymization. The admin panel provides granular control over who can create short links, which domains are allowed, and other policy settings.

Capabilities & Deployment

Beyond basic shortening, UrlHum delivers in‑depth analytics—click counts, geographic locations, and HTTP referers—accessible instantly by appending a + to any short URL. Installation follows standard Laravel deployment steps, and detailed documentation guides you through setup. While the project is actively developed and not yet recommended for production, it serves as a solid foundation for privacy‑aware link management.

Who Benefits

Ideal for internal tools, community forums, or any scenario where you need full control over link creation and analytics without relying on third‑party services.

Highlights

IP hashing and anonymization for privacy
Granular admin panel controls over URL creation
Instant analytics via ‘+’ suffix showing clicks, countries, referers
Built with Laravel and Vue for fast performance

Pros

  • Privacy‑centric design protects visitor data
  • Real‑time analytics without compromising anonymity
  • Highly configurable admin interface
  • Modern stack (Laravel, Vue) ensures extensibility

Considerations

  • Still under heavy development; not production‑ready
  • Requires PHP/Laravel environment setup
  • Limited documentation compared to mature competitors
  • Feature set may be basic for enterprise needs

Managed products teams compare with

When teams consider UrlHum, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.

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Bitly

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Cutt.ly

URL shortener with branded links, QR codes, and analytics

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Rebrandly

Branded URL shortener and link management

Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.

Fit guide

Great for

  • Developers seeking a self‑hosted, privacy‑focused shortener
  • Teams that want full control over URL policies
  • Projects needing quick analytics without third‑party services
  • Laravel enthusiasts looking for a ready‑made app

Not ideal when

  • Businesses requiring guaranteed production stability
  • Users without PHP/Laravel hosting capability
  • Organizations needing advanced marketing features like A/B testing
  • Those preferring a hosted SaaS solution

How teams use it

Internal link tracking for a dev team

Enables private analytics on shared resources while keeping IP data anonymous.

Community forum short links

Enforces link creation policies and hides visitor IPs to protect user privacy.

Event promotion with custom URLs

Generates branded short URLs with admin approval and provides real‑time click insights.

Research study data collection

Provides anonymized click data for analysis without exposing participant identities.

Tech snapshot

PHP82%
Blade18%
Vue1%
Dockerfile1%

Tags

self-hostedlaravelurlhumphpweb-applicationurl-shortener

Frequently asked questions

Is UrlHum ready for production use?

The project is under active development and is not recommended for production environments at this time.

What privacy features does UrlHum offer?

UrlHum includes IP hashing, anonymization, and respects user privacy in its analytics.

How can I view analytics for a short URL?

Append a '+' to the short URL (e.g., example.com/abc+) to see click counts, countries, and referers.

Do I need a specific server stack to run UrlHum?

UrlHum runs on PHP with the Laravel framework; a typical Laravel hosting environment is required.

Is there a community or support channel?

Yes, an official Telegram group is available for discussion and assistance.

Project at a glance

Dormant
Stars
689
Watchers
689
Forks
121
LicenseMIT
Repo age6 years old
Last commit3 years ago
Self-hostingSupported
Primary languagePHP

Last synced 3 hours ago