# Blinkhop: short links for people, apps and AI agents > Blinkhop is a free URL shortener: paste a long link, get a short zou.sh link with a QR code. No sign-up, no ads. Simple API and MCP server for AI agents. Source: https://blinkhop.com/ Blinkhop is a free link shortener. Paste a long URL and get a short link on zou.sh, such as https://zou.sh/launch, with a QR code and a preview page. There is no account, no ad and no captcha, and it works over Tor and VPNs. Blinkhop launched on October 11, 2026, and is independent. ## Three ways to shorten a link 1. **On the website**: paste a URL at https://blinkhop.com and the short link is created and copied at once. 2. **From code**: one POST request to the REST API, with no key and no sign-up. 3. **From an AI assistant**: add the MCP server https://mcp.blinkhop.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf, then ask it to shorten or check links. Automation tools such as n8n, Zapier and Make use the REST API over HTTP. ```bash curl -s "https://api.blinkhop.com/v1/links?format=text" --data-urlencode "url=https://example.com/a/very/long/page" # https://zou.sh/7Kp2x ``` ## Features (free, no account) - [Link shortener](https://blinkhop.com/features/link-shortener.md): Turn any long URL into a clean zou.sh link in a second. - [Custom endings](https://blinkhop.com/features/custom-links.md): Readable short links like zou.sh/launch, live for 48 hours. - [QR codes](https://blinkhop.com/features/qr-codes.md): A print-ready SVG QR code for every short link. - [Link safety](https://blinkhop.com/features/link-safety.md): Every destination is checked against 390,000 known bad domains. - [Analytics](https://blinkhop.com/features/analytics.md): Public stats for the last 30 days on every link. No cookies. - [UTM tags](https://blinkhop.com/features/utm.md): Campaign tracking that survives the shortening. - [Bulk shortening](https://blinkhop.com/features/bulk.md): Up to 100 links in one API call, or 50 through MCP. ## Link lifetime - Links with a random code, such as https://zou.sh/7Kp2x, never expire. - Links with a custom ending, such as https://zou.sh/launch, expire 48 hours after they are created. The ending is then free for anyone to use again. ## Principles - **Links that last**: A link you shared should keep working. Links with a random code never expire, and nobody can quietly repoint them. - **Nothing in the way**: No ads, no warning pages, no countdowns. A click goes straight to the page you meant to share. - **Open to everyone**: Tor, VPNs, shared office networks and AI agents get the same service, with no captcha. - **Private by design**: No cookies and no stored IP addresses. Clicks are counted as daily totals, never as profiles. - **Safe by default**: Known phishing and malware domains are refused, and anyone can report a link in one click. - **Built for builders**: A small, documented API and an MCP server, with an OpenAPI spec and docs AI can read. ## Price Blinkhop is completely free: no accounts, no paid plans, no API keys and no ads. The same limits apply to everyone: 20 new links per minute and 300 per day per IP address, and 120 MCP calls per minute. ## FAQ ### What is Blinkhop? Blinkhop is a free link shortener for people, apps and AI agents. Paste a long URL and get a short zou.sh link with a QR code, without an account, ads or captchas. Developers use its REST API without a key, and assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor connect to its MCP server with one URL. ### Is Blinkhop really free? Do I need an account? Yes, completely free, and there is no account at all: no sign-up, no paid plans, no key. Paste a link and you get a zou.sh link with a QR code. The site, the API and the MCP server work the same for everyone. ### Will my links keep working? Links with a random code, like zou.sh/7Kp2x, never expire. Links with a custom ending, like zou.sh/launch, last 48 hours: then they show that they have expired and the ending is free for someone else. For anything printed or meant to last, use a random code. ### Are there any limits? Only to keep spammers out: up to 20 links a minute and 300 a day from the site or the API, and 120 calls a minute on the MCP server. Every API response tells you how many links you have left. ### How do I use Blinkhop with Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor? Add the Blinkhop MCP server to your AI client with a single URL: https://mcp.blinkhop.com/mcp. No account or key needed. Then just ask “shorten every link in this draft”, and your assistant creates and checks links for you. ### Is there an API? Yes: a free REST API that speaks JSON. One POST request returns a short link, errors are explicit, and rate limits come back in the response headers. There is no key to request. ### Do you show ads or a warning page before redirecting? No. Visitors go straight to the destination. Links to phishing or malware are blocked instead of being hidden behind interstitial pages. ### Can I use Blinkhop over Tor or a VPN? Yes. We don’t block privacy networks and we don’t put captchas in front of people or AI agents. Links work the same everywhere. ### Do you sell data or track visitors? No. There are no ads and no data for sale. Redirects set no cookies, visitor IP addresses are never stored, and clicks are only counted per day, country, referrer and device. ## Learn more - [API quickstart](https://blinkhop.com/docs/quickstart.md): Your first short link from code in 60 seconds, no key needed. - [MCP server](https://blinkhop.com/mcp.md): Let Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or VS Code shorten links for you. - [Compare link shorteners](https://blinkhop.com/compare.md): Blinkhop next to Bitly, TinyURL, Dub, Rebrandly and Short.io. - [Blinkhop for AI agents](https://blinkhop.com/solutions/ai-agents.md): Short links your agents create and check on their own. - [Help center](https://blinkhop.com/help.md): Short answers to common questions. - [About Blinkhop](https://blinkhop.com/about.md): Why Blinkhop exists and the principles behind it.