Comparison

Clean Links vs Link Holder

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Clean Links

This utility app removes tracking parameters from URLs, reveals the true destination of QR codes before opening, and allows you to send cleaned links between your devices. It prioritizes user privacy with no accounts, subscriptions, or ads.

Highlights
  • Strips tracking parameters from URLs
  • Reveals QR code destinations before opening
  • Sends cleaned links between Apple devices
  • Unshortens shortened URLs
  • Generates QR codes
  • Safari extension for one-tap cleaning
  • Shortcuts and widget integration
Features
Read full description

That link a friend just sent you probably has a dozen tracking parameters glued to the end of it. Clean Links strips them off. It also opens up QR codes so you can read where they actually go before you commit to tapping. The app does a handful of things, and does them without an account, a subscription, or an ad: QR reader that shows you the destination URL first. Quishing scams work because nobody can read a QR code with their eyes, so you scan and hope. This one puts the real address on screen and waits. Link cleaner. Paste anything, get back the same link minus the utm tags, click IDs, and referral junk. Works on links from hundreds of shopping sites, social networks and search engines. Send to Device. Push a cleaned link from your iPhone into your Mac's browser, or over to another iPhone or iPad. If the device is asleep or offline the link waits for it. Unshorten. Feed it a bit.ly or t.co address and it follows the chain to whatever sits at the end. Useful when a shortened link turns up from someone you don't know, which is how most phishing starts. Tracker blocker covering 71+ services, running as a parameter remover across everything you paste. QR generator for making your own codes out of links you trust. Safari extension that cleans every link on a page in one tap. Shortcuts, a Control Center widget, and a share sheet action, if you want the whole thing automated. Nothing leaves your device. There's no analytics SDK in here, no crash reporter phoning home, no account to create. Privacy isn't a feature we bolted on; there was never any data to collect. ■ Send Links Between Your Devices Share a cleaned link from any iPhone, iPad or Mac and it opens where you send it: in your Mac's browser, or from a notification on iPhone and iPad. Links queue up if the device is offline. You can run Shortcuts on your other devices this way too. You'll need Clean Links on each device, iCloud turned on, and the same Apple account. ■ Coming from Hyperduck? Clean Links does the same handoff, adds tracker stripping on the way out, handles more than one Mac, and costs nothing. ■ Link Sharing FAQ ‣ Why not AirDrop? AirDrop needs both devices awake and nearby. This doesn't, and it drops the link straight into a background tab. ‣ Why not iCloud Tabs? Because iCloud Tabs only works in Safari, and the tabs are easy to lose. These open in whatever browser you actually use. ‣ Why not Reading List? Reading List is where links go to be forgotten. Yours open immediately. ‣ Why not Handoff? Handoff wants the devices in the same room. Clean Links supports Handoff anyway, for when they are. ‣ More than one device? Send to several at once. Any iPhone, iPad or Mac signed into the same Apple account with the app installed can receive. ‣ Want to leave a device out? Turn off receiving in that device's settings. ■ Spotted a tracker we don't catch yet? There's a link in Settings to tell us. We'll add them.

About

Link Holder

Features
Read full description

Save your favorite websites in one place – quick, simple, and always accessible. Whether it’s an interesting article, a useful tool, or a shopping link you want to revisit later – App helps you organize and manage all your web discoveries with ease EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policity: https://sites.google.com/view/privacypilicylinkholder/главная-страница?authuser=1

Screenshots

Clean Links4 screens
Link Holder4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Clean Links at none against Link Holder's 2. Link Holder's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Link Holder sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Clean Links asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Clean Links ships an update every 2 weeks, Link Holder daily. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Clean Links versus Link Holder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClean LinksLink Holder
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (91 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews92.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings91 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB11 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperNumen Technologies LimitedAndrei Malyshau

In-app purchases

None

Clean Links

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Link Holder

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Year$9.991 Year

Questions

Is Clean Links free?
Clean Links is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Link Holder free?
Link Holder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Clean Links or Link Holder have ads?
Neither Clean Links nor Link Holder shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Clean Links or Link Holder?
Clean Links ships an update every 2 weeks, and Link Holder daily. Most recently, Clean Links was updated on November 8, 2026 and Link Holder on November 5, 2026.

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