Dub.co is an open-source URL shortener and link attribution engine packed into one

In the past few weeks, PayPal-owned Honey, which claims to find you the best coupon code for a deal, At the center of the controversy. Allegedly, the tool secretly changed the attributes of product link builders posted in their videos to make affiliate money. At the heart of it, the issue was how affiliate links work and how money goes to whoever has the last link when a user makes a purchase.

Steven Tay, a former Versall employee, thinks his open-source URL shortener and link-tracking service Dub.co Removing the need to use the coupon code and embedding it in the link can solve this problem.

The company is developing an attribution and affiliate product that creators can use to build their own links. And users will get discount only if they use that particular link.

“We want to make attribution more transparent for creators as well as businesses to avoid situations like the Honey scandal, where anyone can steal attribution,” Tey said in a call with TechCrunch.

Tey started Dub.co while working as an open source URL shortener at Vercell. He added tracking links along the way. He created the project to better understand the products that Versal was shipping. Over time, Dub.co became a full-fledged SaaS service. Tey left Vercel in late 2023 and started the company at the same time.

“Attribution tracking was a big problem in understanding where our revenue was coming from. At Vercel, at the time, we didn’t know how our developer advocacy work, such as creating articles and tutorials, translated into revenue. So that planted the seed for Dub,” Tay said.

He added that after launching Dub.co, he realized the affiliate space was outdated and cluttered with too many tools for customization. It was then that he realized there was more to the link tracking space than just URL shortening services.

The company’s primary source of income is business and ventures, it also offers a free plan for people to shorten their links and track them. Notably, the startup is working with the Malaysian government to use the open-source aspect of the project to create a link shortener and tracker for authorities. Also, companies like Twilio use the SaaS hosted version of Dub.co and customize it to their needs to track their links, campaigns and events. What’s more, YouTube channels like Huberman Labs are using Dub’s solution to track collaborators.

Dub.co launched a new product this week called Conversions, which can track real-time marketing clicks that convert to signups or sales. The startup said it will help companies track granular metrics like customer acquisition costs, retention rates and lifetime value to better understand marketing revenue. Dub.co can integrate with tools like Shopify and Stripe to track conversions better

Tey pointed out that while Dub.co offers AI features, it doesn’t want them to adopt core products. Currently, users can use AI to create custom reports or get suggestions for different link titles and descriptions. The startup is using AI for auto-tagging links in existing categories.

OSS Capital founder Joseph Jacques says Dub.co has an advantage over the competition with its open-source nature, good user experience and design.

The company has raised $2 million from investors including OSS Capital; Guillermo Rauch, CEO of Versailles; Balaji Srinivasan; Jorn van Dyk and Koen Bock, founders of design service Framer; former Facebook designer Soleio, who was an early backer of Versal, Perplexity and Figma; and Cal.com CEO Pierre Richardson.

“Links are the foundation of the web — combine that with attribution and the addressable market is huge, billions at the very least,” Zacks told TechCrunch via email.

“By turning shortened links into attribution engines, Dub can help marketers answer the age-old question of ‘What is my ROI on my marketing spend?’ — backed by real-world conversion data.”