cuq.in

What It Is

CUQ.IN is a URL shortener aimed at developers. Its core purpose is to turn long URLs into short links that are easier to share. It offers both a web interface and an API, allowing developers to integrate it into apps or automation workflows via a single endpoint, https://cuq.in/api, using JSON requests.

Core Features and Developer Experience

Based on the available content, the API covers the main actions in the short-link lifecycle: add for creation, update for changing the destination URL, getAll for retrieving all links under a given API Key, delete for removal, and search for searching by keyword or URL. The parameter model is fairly simple, mainly relying on apiKey, action, url, shortCode, and query. Response fields include status, message, code, shortCode, shortUrl, and results. The documentation provides examples in Python, JavaScript, cURL, and PHP, with no framework restrictions and no official SDK found.

Pricing and Limits

The pricing page lists Free at $0 lifetime with 500 links/day; Basic at a one-time $19 fee with 10,000 total links; Professional at a one-time $99 fee with 100,000 total links; and Custom plans based on total link volume, with an example rate of $0.00099. Note, however, that the FAQ also states the service is completely free and allows up to 10,000 short links per API Key per day. This conflicts with the free-tier quota and paid model shown in the pricing table, so it should be verified again before purchase.

Pros and Cons

The main advantages are its very lightweight API design, with a single endpoint plus an action parameter that makes integration quick; basic documentation that covers actions, parameters, responses, and examples in multiple languages; and a clear privacy stance claiming that analytics and tracking data are not stored. The drawbacks are that it does not disclose the operating company, country, SLA, uptime record, or payment methods. It also does not clarify whether it supports open source deployment, self-hosting, custom domains, team permissions, webhooks, and similar features. The boundary between “Basic analytics” and “no analytics data stored” is also not entirely clear.

Who It’s For and Access from China

CUQ.IN is better suited to individual developers, test projects, small tools, or low-cost scenarios where short-link functionality needs to be embedded quickly. For marketing, compliance-sensitive use cases, branded domains, or highly available production systems, it is worth comparing alternatives such as Bitly, Rebrandly, Dub.co, YOURLS, and Sink. The available content does not discuss access from China, and payment methods are not disclosed, so Chinese users should test network connectivity and the purchase process themselves.