Comparison

Clean Links vs True URL

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 app scans QR codes and URLs to reveal hidden destinations and remove tracking parameters. It protects users from phishing and advertiser tracking, offering a private and free way to control digital privacy.

Highlights
  • QR code scanning
  • URL link cleaning
  • Phishing protection
  • QR code generation
  • iOS integration
  • Cross-device link sharing
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

True URL

This utility app reveals the final destination URL of any link, including those with intermediate redirects. It also features a tracking stripper to clean up URLs. Get the iOS or macOS version for free, with a one-time purchase unlocking all features and future updates.

Highlights
  • Resolve shortened URLs
  • View intermediate URL hops
  • Remove tracking parameters
  • One-time purchase for all features
  • Cross-platform availability (iOS/macOS)
Read full description

Find out the final destination URL of any link, useful for deconstructing 'shortened URLs' and URLs with one or more intermediate 'hops'. Get the iOS version and the macOS version is yours for free, and vice versa. See each hop along the way to the final, destination URL. Also includes a tracking stripper! - No in-app purchases - No data collected whatsoever - A great-priced, one-time fee unlocks all features and future updates!

Screenshots

Clean Links4 screens
True URL4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Clean Links at Free against True URL's $0.99. Clean Links also leads on ratings volume (81 vs 1). On rating, ads, in-app purchases 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

Clean Links is free to download; True URL costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Clean Links against 5.0 for True URL. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Clean Links has 81 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Clean Links versus True URL: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClean LinksTrue URL
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.9 (81 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews92.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings81 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.617.6
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNumen Technologies LimitedTHABO ALEJANDRO B GRIFFITHS

Customer experience

Clean Links

All ratings80 ratings
Positive98.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive92.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative2.5%

True URL

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Clean Links

No in-app purchases

None

True URL

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Clean Links free?
Clean Links is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is True URL free?
True URL costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Clean Links or True URL?
True URL is rated higher. Clean Links averages 4.9 out of 5 from 81 ratings, while True URL averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Clean Links or True URL have ads?
Neither Clean Links nor True URL shows ads.

Other comparisons