A Free Amazon Link Shortener

The problem with raw Amazon affiliate URLs

An Amazon product URL with your affiliate tag attached looks like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Some-Product-Name-That-Goes-On-Forever/dp/B0CXXXXXX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=ABC123&keywords=widget&qid=1714000000&sprefix=widget&sr=8-3&tag=yourtag-20

It's 160+ characters, exposes search params from your own browser, and breaks every line of copy you paste it into. Visitors hesitate before clicking a URL that long. A short link like zip1.io/cool-widget reads as deliberate — and it tracks the click for you on top of the affiliate sale.

Make a custom affiliate short link in five seconds

Via the web form: paste the long Amazon URL, click "Advanced Options", set a custom alias, click Shorten.

Via the API (no key required, 10 requests a minute per IP, 1,000 links a day):

curl -X POST https://zip1.io/api/create \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXXXXXX/?tag=yourtag-20",
    "alias": "cool-widget"
  }'

# Response:
# {"short_url": "https://zip1.io/cool-widget", ...}

Your tag=yourtag-20 parameter is preserved end-to-end. zip1.io redirects to the exact URL you provided, including everything after the ? — Amazon sees the affiliate tag, the sale tracks to your account.

Shortening any Amazon URL — not just affiliate links

You don't need to be an affiliate to want a shorter link. An Amazon URL shortener is just as useful for:

• Sharing a product with a friend or group chat without pasting 200 characters of tracking cruft.
• A wishlist or registry — zip1.io/my-registry is easier to say out loud than an amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/… URL.
• An influencer storefront (amazon.com/shop/yourname) in a bio, a video description, or on a printed card.
• A review or comparison link in a newsletter, where a clean URL reads as more trustworthy.

The tool is the same either way: paste the Amazon URL, get a short link, and watch the clicks. If the URL carries an affiliate ?tag=, it's preserved; if it doesn't, nothing changes — zip1.io redirects to exactly what you saved.

Three patterns that work for affiliate marketers

As an Amazon affiliate link shortener, zip1.io slots into three common workflows:

{
  "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXXXXXX/?tag=yourtag-20",
  "alias": "blackfri-widget",
  "max-clicks": 5000
}

What the analytics show you

Open the stats page for any link to see:

• Total clicks and unique visitors
• Top countries — useful for picking which Amazon storefront (.com, .co.uk, .de) to localize toward
• Top referrers — which posts, tweets, or newsletters actually drive clicks
• Browser and operating system
• The time of the last click
• Known bots: clicks from known bots are also listed by name. They still count in the totals.

Anyone with the short link can see its stats. Visitor IP addresses are stored to count unique visitors. They are never shown on the stats page or included in the export.

Need a snapshot for a report or a tax record? Download the same numbers as CSV, JSON, XLSX, or XML.

Compared to other free affiliate-friendly shorteners

Comparison reflects publicly documented free-tier features at time of writing. Amazon's amzn.to is great for short Amazon-only links but offers no custom ending or per-link analytics outside the Associates dashboard.

Compliance note: what Amazon allows

Amazon's Associates Operating Agreement lets affiliates use third-party link shorteners — millions of affiliates already do — but it forbids "cloaking" that misleads users about where they're being sent. The safe playbook:

• Do use shortening for usability, custom endings, and analytics.
• Do include affiliate disclosures wherever your platform requires them (Twitter/X, blog FTC notices, YouTube descriptions).
• Don't stack a shortener on top of a cloaking redirect that hides the final Amazon destination from the user — the visitor should land on amazon.com (or the appropriate locale) as expected.
• Don't use shorteners in places Amazon explicitly forbids them — e.g. some regional Associates programmes restrict link sharing in specific channels (always check your locale's terms).

None of the above is legal advice. Read your Associates Operating Agreement for the country your account is registered in.

FAQ

• Is it OK to shorten Amazon affiliate links?

  Yes. Shortening for usability is fine — your affiliate tag is preserved through the redirect, so the sale still tracks back to you. Amazon's Operating Agreement requires that the destination is recognizable as an Amazon link, so don't combine shortening with cloaking that hides where the visitor ends up.

• Will my affiliate tag still work after shortening?

  Yes. zip1.io redirects to the exact destination URL you provide, including everything after the ?. As long as your original URL contains the tag parameter, that tag is preserved when the visitor lands on Amazon.

• Can I see how many people clicked my affiliate link?

  Yes. Every short link shows total clicks, unique visitors, country, referrer, browser and OS, plus the time of the last click. You can export the same numbers as CSV, JSON, XLSX, or XML. Anyone with the short link can see its stats. Visitor IP addresses are stored to count unique visitors. They are never shown on the stats page or included in the export.

• Is there a limit on how many affiliate links I can create?

  No monthly link cap (500 a day on the site, 1,000 by API). The API also limits creation to 10 requests a minute per IP. There is no paid tier.

• What about other affiliate programmes?

  Same approach works for any affiliate URL — eBay, Impact, ShareASale, and others. zip1.io doesn't change the destination address.

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