BucketURL — Free URL Shortener with Real-Time Analytics

Shorten. Share. Track. — A professional link management platform built for marketers, developers, and modern teams.

🔗 Live App: bucketurl.onrender.com

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✨ Features

Feature	Free	Pro
Short links	25	Unlimited
Analytics	7-day	365-day
Live analytics	❌	✅
QR Code generation	❌	✅
Custom slugs	❌	✅
Custom OpenGraph (OG)	✅	✅
Password-protected links	❌	✅
Link expiration dates	❌	✅
Team collaboration	❌	✅
API access	❌	✅

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🛠 Tech Stack

• Framework: Next.js 15 (App Router)
• Auth: Firebase Auth — Google + Email/Password
• Database: Firestore
• Payments: Stripe — Monthly & Yearly subscriptions
• Styling: Tailwind CSS + custom design system
• Fonts: Inter via Google Fonts
• Charts: Recharts
• QR Codes: qrcode.react
• Deployment: Render

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/bucketurl.git
cd bucketurl

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Configure environment variables

Create a .env.local file:

# Firebase (Client)
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_API_KEY=
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID=
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_APP_ID=

# Firebase (Admin SDK)
FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=
FIREBASE_CLIENT_EMAIL=
FIREBASE_PRIVATE_KEY=

# Stripe
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PRO_MONTHLY=price_xxxxx
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PRO_YEARLY=price_xxxxx

# App
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

4. Run the development server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

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📁 Project Structure

app/
├── page.js                   # Landing page (marketing)
├── layout.js                 # Root layout + SEO metadata + JSON-LD
├── sitemap.js                # Auto-generated sitemap
├── robots.js                 # Robots.txt
├── [slug]/route.js           # Short link redirect handler
├── login/                    # Auth pages
├── signup/
├── dashboard/
│   ├── page.js               # Dashboard home + real-time analytics
│   ├── links/page.js         # Link management
│   ├── links/[id]/page.js    # Per-link analytics
│   ├── billing/page.js       # Stripe subscription management
│   ├── settings/page.js      # Account settings + API key
│   └── teams/                # Team collaboration
├── api/
│   ├── links/                # CRUD for links
│   ├── analytics/            # Click analytics
│   ├── users/                # User plan management
│   └── stripe/               # Stripe checkout + webhooks
lib/
├── firebase.js               # Firebase client init
├── firebase-admin.js         # Firebase Admin SDK
├── utils.js                  # Shared utilities
components/
└── auth/AuthProvider.js      # Auth context

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🔐 Plan Gating (Security)

All Pro feature restrictions are enforced server-side, not just in the UI:

• API routes strip Pro-only fields (custom slugs, passwords, expiry) for Free users
• Analytics API applies a hard 7-day data cap for Free users
• Live analytics mode is blocked server-side for Free users

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🧠 SEO

• Full OpenGraph + Twitter Card metadata
• JSON-LD structured data (WebApplication + Organization + WebSite schemas)
• Auto-generated sitemap.xml and robots.txt
• Page-level canonical URLs and Google Search Console verification

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📦 Deployment

The app is deployed on Render. Set all environment variables via the Render dashboard before deploying.

Make sure NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL is set to your production URL (e.g., https://bucketurl.onrender.com) so Stripe redirects and short URL generation work correctly.

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📄 License

MIT