Resources · Make integration

Bitly Make integrationAutomate Bitly with Make.

Every long link your tools produce can come out as a Bitlink, without a copy and paste. The Bitly Make integration gives you 4 modules: 3 actions and 1 search. This guide shows what they do, how to link your Bitly account, and how to build a first working scenario.

Try the Bitly integration on MakeSee the 4 modules

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What you can automate

What can the Bitly Make integration do for you?

The Bitly Make integration lets a Make scenario (the automation you build in Make, a chain of steps) shorten links, expand existing Bitlinks and list the links of a Bitly group, all through your own Bitly account. Each step is a module, one brick of the scenario. You never open Bitly to do it by hand.

Short links for every new campaign asset. When a product page, a landing page or a video goes live in another tool, Shorten URL turns its address into a Bitlink, and the next module drops that short link wherever your team needs it.

A clean inventory of your links. List Bitlinks pulls every Bitlink of a group, so a marketing lead can push them into a spreadsheet or a database for a review before a launch.

Checking where a short link goes. Expand Bitlink URL reads the details of a Bitlink you already have, which helps when a teammate pastes a bit.ly link and nobody remembers the destination.

Bitly has no trigger in Make, so a Bitly scenario always starts somewhere else: in another app, or on Make's schedule. When the listed modules stop short, Make an API Call reaches the rest of Bitly's API with the same connection. If your team already runs n8n, the Bitly n8n integration covers the same app, and n8n vs Make sets the two tools side by side. New to the editor? The Make training starts from zero.

Connect

How do you connect your Bitly account to Make?

  1. 01

    Add a Bitly module

    In your scenario, add any Bitly module, for example Shorten URL, then click Create a connection. A connection is your Bitly account linked to Make once; every Bitly module reuses it afterwards.

  2. 02

    Give it a name you will recognize

    Naming the connection is optional. It still pays off: a label such as "Bitly marketing" tells you at a glance which account a module talks to when you open the scenario again later.

  3. 03

    Authorize Make and save

    Follow the window that opens: depending on what it asks, you authorize Make on Bitly's page or paste the key Bitly gives you. Then click Save. The module is now ready to fill.

First scenario

Your first scenario: shorten every new link automatically

GoalWhen a new long link shows up in another app, Make turns it into a Bitlink with Shorten URL.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    Open the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the +. The first module comes from the app where your long links live, since Bitly has no trigger of its own.

  2. 02

    Pick the starting app

    Search that app by name, choose its trigger (the module that starts the scenario) and click Create a connection. Make then lists the sheets or objects it can read.

  3. 03

    Add Shorten URL

    Click the + on the right of the first module, search Bitly and pick Shorten URL. Connect your Bitly account, then map the long link from the previous module into it.

  4. 04

    Test with Run once

    Click Run once. Make runs the scenario one time and shows the bundles each module received (a bundle is one item passed along, here one link). Check that a Bitlink came back.

  5. 05

    Schedule and switch it on

    Set the schedule on the first module with the clock icon. A new scenario checks every 15 minutes by default, and 15 minutes is also the shortest gap on the Free plan. Then switch the scenario on.

Modules

What can each Bitly module do?

Bitly gives you 4 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

Bitly1

Expand Bitlink URL

Action

In Make“Retrieves information about Bitlink using ID.”

Give this module a Bitlink ID and it fetches the information Bitly holds about that short link, so the scenario knows what sits behind it instead of guessing.

When to use it
a form or a support ticket arrives with a bit.ly link inside and you want to check the real destination before anyone clicks it.
Watch out
it works on a link that already exists in Bitly; it does not create anything, so pair it with Shorten URL if you need a new one.
Bitly2

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

This is the open door: it sends an authorized request to any endpoint of Bitly's API, reusing the Bitly connection you already set up.

When to use it
the Bitly feature you need has no dedicated module among the three others, and you have Bitly's API documentation open next to Make.
Watch out
here you write the request yourself, so it is the one Bitly module that asks for some API reading. Start with the named modules and only reach for this one when they fall short.
Bitly3

Shorten URL

Action

In Make“Shortens a long url to a Bitlink.”

The workhorse of the app. Shorten URL takes a long address and hands back a Bitlink, ready for the next module to post, store or send.

When to use it
right after the module that produces the long link, such as a new page published or a new product row added in another tool.
Watch out
Make counts one operation (one module run on one item) per link, so a trigger that returns many items shortens each of them.
Need help

Need help automating Bitly with Make?

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FAQ

Questions people ask about Bitly in Make

01Is the Bitly Make integration free to use?
Yes. Bitly is a standard app in Make, so its modules are available on the Free plan, like the 3,000+ standard apps. The Free plan has its own limits: 2 active scenarios, at least 15 minutes between two scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution per run, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams, Enterprise) lower the gap to 1 minute and allow unlimited active scenarios. Usage is counted in operations, one per module run on one item. Your Bitly account plan is a separate matter this page does not cover.
02What does it take to connect Bitly to Make?
A Bitly account and a Make account. The Bitly documentation in Make lists no extra prerequisite. You add a Bitly module, click Create a connection, optionally name it, then either authorize Make on Bitly's page or paste the key Bitly gives you, depending on what the window asks, and click Save. The connection is created once and every Bitly module in your scenarios reuses it. If you handle several Bitly accounts, create one connection per account and name each one clearly so you never shorten a link in the wrong place.
03Can a Bitly scenario start in real time?
It depends on the app that starts it. Bitly has no trigger in Make, so nothing inside Bitly launches a scenario. The first module comes from another app. If that app offers an instant trigger, it calls Make through a webhook as soon as something happens, and the Bitly step follows right away. If it only has a scheduled trigger, Make checks it on the scenario's schedule: every 15 minutes by default, 15 minutes at the shortest on the Free plan and 1 minute on paid plans. You can also start on Make's own schedule.
04What if the Bitly module you need is missing?
Use Make an API Call. It reaches any endpoint of Bitly's API with the same connection, so a Bitly feature without a dedicated module is still within reach. It asks you to write the request yourself, which means reading Bitly's API documentation. Before that, check the named modules: Shorten URL, Expand Bitlink URL and List Bitlinks cover the common jobs. Test any module with Run once before you rely on it. The Make documentation gives no numeric limit for Bitly.
05Make or n8n for automating Bitly?
Both tools can work with Bitly: Make has the 4 modules on this page and n8n has its own Bitly node. The choice rarely comes from Bitly itself. Look at where your other automations already run, since keeping everything in one tool means one place to monitor and one set of connections. Then compare how each tool counts usage against your volume of links, and which editor your team is comfortable with. The side by side comparison linked higher on this page walks through those criteria.
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