Linktree vs cutty.dev — a page with links or one replaceable link

A page with links or one link that you replace? In short: these are two different tools for two different problems, and most people choose the wrong one.

You have only one space for a link in your Instagram bio. Here are two ideas. You can use Linktree, which is an entire landing page with ten buttons. Or you can use one short address that you can redirect anywhere at any time. People confuse one with the other. Then they complain that "the link in bio doesn't work."

Let's break this down. Because this choice really decides how many clicks you lose along the way.

Linktree is a page. A short link is a redirect

Linktree (and this entire category) is a landing page. The recipient clicks, lands on a list of buttons, and chooses for themselves where to go. One entry address, many exits, the decision is on the user's side.

The replaceable short link works in reverse. One address, one exit. But it is you who decides where it leads, and you can change that decision without touching the link itself. The recipient chooses nothing. They click, and they are already there.

The rule of thumb is banal. Do you have several equal goals at once, a shop plus YouTube plus a newsletter plus a podcast? Use a link page. Do you have one goal that changes over time, one week a new episode, next week a new offer? Use one replaceable link.

And here is a surprise: solo creators experience this second case much more often than they think.

Three hidden costs of a landing page

Few people talk about this at the start.

First: an extra click. Every screen between the user and the goal is a loss. Some people end up on the list of buttons, get lost, and leave. You pay for this loss with the "convenience" of showing everything at once. (Sometimes it is measurable, sometimes not. But it always costs something.)

Second: someone else's branding and someone else's rules. Your move goes through someone's domain, someone's layout, someone's data policy. On the free plan, often also through profiling of visitors.

Third and worst: printing. Did you print linktr.ee/twojanazwa on a flyer or on packaging? Great. Right up until the moment you change the name or want this link to lead somewhere else. Then the print run goes in the trash.

And exactly here replaceable link wins without discussion.

One link that survives changes

You are making business cards or sticking a QR code on a product. Instead of linking to a page with buttons, you create one branded address, e.g., cutty.dev/yourname, and direct it wherever it needs to lead at that moment. In six months, you change the destination with a single click in the panel. The print remains valid because the address hasn't changed. Only its output has changed.

It's the same with a QR code. You generate it once from a short link, print it, and then change the destination content later without reprinting anything. The QR encodes the address, not the destination. So, the destination is yours for the lifetime of that print.

Where does this beat Linktree upside down?

Seasonal campaign. cutty.dev/oferta in December leads to a holiday promo, in January to a sale, and the link on the flyer remains the same all the time.

"Latest episode". One link in the description, shows the current material everywhere, always. Without updating ten profiles one by one.

Printing and packaging. Once printed, a QR code lives as long as the product.

And visitor data?

The second silent difference. Aggregator sites often survive on analytics that profile your audience. It tracks who clicks, builds profiles, and sometimes adds its own scripts. You get a pretty chart. They get your people.

In cutty click statistics work differently: you see that the link is alive and how many times it was clicked, but IP addresses go through a hash, and the servers are located in Europe. The data stays with you, it does not travel further. If your audience trusts you, it is a reasonable default choice. In a one-person brand, trust can be your entire capital.

So do you even need a link page

Honestly? Sometimes so. If you are truly running five parallel channels and the audience actually has to choose, a landing page makes sense. But as a Linktree alternative for most creators, one smart link is enough, because in reality, you are promoting one thing at a time.

Besides, you don't have to choose once and for all. A replaceable link can be your main "link in bio," and when you really want to show several things, you redirect it to your own mini-page. First, control over the address. Only then, the decision about the content.

And how many things do you think you are actually promoting this week? One. Maybe two. The rest is the illusion that you need ten buttons.