Branch.io Alternative: No Card, No Overage Bills, No Expiring Links
Branch dropped its free plan. Today you hand over a card just to try it, land on $39 a month with overages that have no cap, and pay $199 a month for a custom domain. Links nobody clicks for 380 days expire. The full picture, and what small teams use instead.
Branch isn’t built for small teams
Branch is an enterprise attribution platform. Its homepage leads with “Request a demo”, its pricing page shows no prices for the attribution tiers, and the self-serve plans read like a way in rather than the product.
It removed its free plan in 2025. Its help center, updated in August 2026, describes what signing up looks like now: a 30-day trial that needs a card with a $10 hold, and if you don’t pick a plan, an automatic switch to $39 a month. We read those pages on September 24, 2026; every number below comes from them.
Branch’s entry plan in four numbers
- a month for Intro, where the trial lands if you don’t pick a plan
- $39
- links and custom QR codes a month on Intro, shared
- 500
- per click past 25,000 a month; overages have no cap
- $0.01
- days without a click and a short link expires
- 380
a month for Intro, where the trial lands if you don’t pick a plan
links and custom QR codes a month on Intro, shared
per click past 25,000 a month; overages have no cap
days without a click and a short link expires
From the trial to a custom domain
Appy · Free
$0
Store routing including AppGallery, 4 links, no card
Branch · Trial
—
No free plan. A 30-day trial with a card, then $39 a month.
Appy · Pro
$9.99/mo
10 links, opens the installed app
Branch · Intro
$39/mo
500 links/QR a month, 25,000 clicks, 1 app, no custom domain, no Short Link API
Appy · Business
$39.99/mo
500 links, parameter forwarding, data export
Branch · Activation Basics
$199/mo
1 custom domain, $25 for every extra seat, overages still uncapped
Links that die when nobody clicks
Since March 2024, new Branch short links expire 380 days after they were created or last clicked. That’s a problem for a QR code on a product that sits on a shelf for two years, or a link in an old email someone opens later. Branch’s answer is a script you run yourself to keep your own links alive.
Branch short link
Appy link
What Branch users keep complaining about
Branch’s G2 reviews, mirrored on AWS Marketplace, repeat the same themes through the summer of 2026: support that takes too long to answer, report exports capped at a 60-day range, raw data that’s hard to get out, and links that sometimes open the wrong page. Support is one of the most frequently mentioned complaints on its G2 profile.
Reliability had rough patches too. Branch’s own status page logged a 42-minute major outage in attribution processing and event delivery on September 3, 2026, and about 30 hours of duplicate webhook events in August.
What Branch costs you beyond the price tag
With Branch
- A card before you can try anything, and a paid plan by default on day 30.
- Overage charges with no cap: $0.05 per extra link or QR code, $0.01 per extra click.
- $199 a month before your links can use your own domain, plus $25 for each extra seat.
- Short links that expire after 380 days without a click.
- Deep link routing built around the Branch SDK in your app.
With Appy
- A free plan with no card and no trial clock.
- Flat monthly prices and no per-click charges, ever.
- Links with no expiry date, clicked or not.
- Huawei AppGallery routing on every plan.
- Nothing to install in your app for store routing.
Moving your links off Branch
Most of the work is an inventory. If you still use Branch for paid-ad attribution, only those links need to stay.
Export your link list
Pull your links from the Branch dashboard and note which ones use app.link and which use a custom domain.
Rebuild them in Appy
Recreate the links in bios, emails, QR codes and print, with App Store, Google Play and AppGallery destinations.
Swap the surfaces you control
Bios, email templates, website buttons and store descriptions change in minutes.
Replace printed Branch links before the clock runs out
A printed Branch link that goes a year without a click will expire. Put the Appy QR code on the next print run.
Frequently asked questions
Does Branch still have a free plan?
No. New accounts get a 30-day trial that needs a card, with a $10 temporary hold. If you don’t choose a plan, the account moves to Intro at $39 a month on day 30.
How much is a custom domain on Branch?
Custom domains need Activation Basics, listed at $199 a month. Intro, at $39, doesn’t include one.
Do Branch links expire?
Short links created since March 11, 2024 expire 380 days after creation unless they get a click or an API read, which resets the timer. Appy links have no expiry date.
Do I need Branch if I don’t run paid ads?
Usually not. Branch’s pricing is built around ad attribution. If your links live in bios, emails, QR codes and packaging, Appy handles store routing, opening the installed app and click analytics without a contract, a card or an SDK.
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