Linktree is a platform that helps digital creators build a landing page to house multiple links.
Due to its simplicity and functionality, it has become a go-to solution for link-sharing on social media – and is now a staple in the toolbox of social media creators across the globe.
The Beginning
Brothers Alex and Anthony Zaccaria, along with their friend Nick Humphreys, took matters into their own hands when they created a platform to solve a typical social media woe: the inability to share multiple links on bios.
Initially, the trio ran Bolster, a digital agency that managed customers’ social media accounts. During that time, they were manually updating several bio links.
In 2016, Instagram had just transitioned to an algorithm-based feed. With this, posts may come out of people’s feeds late, and the creator’s bio may have already been updated. It worsened Bolster’s problem, so the founders asked their newly hired developer to handle it – which led to the creation of Linktree.
At first, they exclusively offered Linktree to their clients. But with word of mouth and rapid growth, the platform eventually became a separate company.
It has since become one of the fastest growing tech startups. Check out these mind-blowing Linktree statistics and facts that underline its stellar growth.
Linktree General Statistics
Linktree is currently the biggest link-in-bio platform. Here are some key statistical facts about the company:
- Linktree is a unicorn company with a valuation of $1.3 billion. (CB Insights)
- The company has now raised $165.7 million on all three funding series. (Crunchbase)
- Linktree now has over 30 million users. (Linktree)
- Over 5 million users are paying subscribers. (Linktree)
- Linktree closed 2022 with a $50 million net loss. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Roughly 63,000 websites are Linktree customers. (BuiltWith)
- Linktree is used by 80% of link-in-bio users, followed by Milkshake (3.7%), Beacons (2.4%), Linkin.bio (1.6%), and Bio.site (1.3%). (Influencers Club)
- Linktree is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia where the founders are originally from.
- Linktree generates most of its income from monthly and yearly subscription packages. (productmint)
Linktree User Base Increases Tenfold in Just 3 Years
Linktree grew from 3 million users in 2019 to over 30 million in 2022, largely due to word-of-mouth, influencer recommendations, the emergence of new platforms like TikTok, and the Covid pandemic.
Year | Number of Users |
2022 | 30 million+ |
2021 | 18 million+ |
2020 | 9 million+ |
2019 | 3 million+ |
Linktree’s Global Reach: US, Brazil, and UK Among Top Visitors
Semrush data shows Linktree’s top five traffic countries. Linktree’s top visitor is the US, with 28.11%. The US’s large influencer marketing industry may explain Linktree’s high traffic from the country.
Country | Percentage of Visitors |
USA | 28.11% |
Brazil | 8.67% |
UK | 4.66% |
India | 4.49% |
Indonesia | 4.41% |
Instagram Leads the Way Among Linktree’s Top Sources of Clicks
The table shows the top five sources of clicks for Linktree. It’s not surprising that Instagram leads the way given that this is where Linktree ultimately emerged after the founders sought out to find a better way for promoting their client’s content and events.
Traffic Source | Percentage |
33.73% | |
Direct source | 20.85% |
17.07% | |
Google (organic) | 4.76% |
Youtube | 3.71% |
OnlyFans Emerges as Linktree’s Top Destination
OnlyFans is revealed as the top destination with 13.63% of clicks. While this may come as a surprise, it somewhat seems logical given the content that OnlyFans creators publish (keep in mind that these are click-throughs and not purchases, though).
Destination | Percentage |
OnlyFans | 13.63% |
10.61% | |
6.48% | |
YouTube | 5.56% |
TikTok | 4.27% |
Linktree’s Most Popular Industries: Marketing, Social Media, and Education
The table shows Slintel’s analysis of 54,885 companies using Linktree. The marketing industry takes the lead at 2.13%. Linktree’s ability to consolidate web presence and share links to different campaigns may be why marketers use it to promote and drive traffic.
Category | No. of Companies |
Marketing | 1,082 (2.13%) |
Social media | 776 (1.53%) |
Education | 647 (1.27%) |
Advertising | 440 (0.87%) |
Digital Marketing | 436 (0.86%) |
Media | 428 (0.84%) |
Events | 418 (0.82%) |
Linktree Linking Statistics
Here are the most frequently linked sites on Linktree in 2022:
- Travel-related links saw a 55% increase in 2022, with Airbnb leading the way.
- Entertainment-related links skyrocket by 75%, Eventbrite and Ticketmaster reign supreme.
- Popular booking sites experience a 41% uptick in links and clicks, with OpenTable ranking first.
- Linktree welcomes Riot Games’ Valorant and Electronic Arts’ FIFA, increasing gaming and esports links by 6%.
Linktree Fun Facts
Statistics and financials aside, Linktree has a fascinating background. Below are some of the fun facts that made it into one of the most beloved tools for online creators.
1. Linktree was originally a side hustle.
As mentioned, Linktree’s founders initially worked on their social media management agency. Over time, as the constant bio updates became more time-consuming, the trio decided to build a solution once and for all.
Linktree turned out to be a smart idea—so smart that more and more clients wanted it to be a real product. By 2019, Linktree was getting ten new daily sign-ups. Now, the platform gets around 40,000 new users every day.
2. Linktree was built in just six hours.
It took only six hours to build Linktree’s prototype in 2016. During that time, Linktree only performed basic tasks—primarily functioning as a landing page for all social media links and websites.
Through the years, Linktree launched many other features, such as collecting email/contact numbers, embedding the latest content, animating, redirecting, connecting NFT, pre-saving music, etc.
3. It started with zero marketing budget.
As the founders put it, Linktree owes its success to its users. Linktree had no budget for marketing its product, as the platform’s establishment was never planned. Its growth primarily depended on word-of-mouth.
As people began to put it on their bios, many other influencers discovered Linktree. In 2017, the platform became the ultimate hack for Instagram influencers.
4. Linktree grew to 3,000 users overnight.
After launching its first version in 2016, Linktree immediately attracted over 3,000 users overnight. It caused the platform to crash because of overcrowding.
In 2019, Linktree scored a major coup when it signed up Alicia Keys, a 15-time Grammy winner and A-list singer. As more big names entered the platform, Linktree became unstoppable.
5. It houses big names such as Alicia Keys, Selena Gomez, and The Rock.
Robert Downey Jr., Selena Gomez, Bella Poarch, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also used the platform to promote their online presence. HBO, The Guardian, and Facebook are some other big brands that use Linktree as their link-in-bio partner.
6. The company’s overnight success had put its founder on a nine-month bed rest.
The founders did not expect Linktree to grow up that quickly. But with its overnight success, they had to step up their game to meet everyone’s demands, which ultimately led to Alex Zaccaria’s health declining.
The young entrepreneur suffered from a spinal gate injury that put him on bed rest for nine months. It caused him to even miss his brother’s wedding. On the plus side, this led him to become an advocate for mental health.
7. Instagram banned Linktree in 2018.
As Linktree grew, many influencers started to use it in their Instagram bios. In 2018, Instagram banned the platform from its site and tagged it as a spam website based on its community standards.
The company quickly responded and sent representatives to talk to Instagram. Many users also acted on behalf of Linktree. The ban was immediately lifted.
In 2021, over 40% of Linktree’s traffic came from Instagram, which made the platform one of Linktree’s biggest traffic sources.
8. TikTok is also a primary link site.
Linktree announced its partnership with Tiktok in mid-2022. This integrated Linktree as one of Tiktok’s Profile Kits for its developer version.
After this, Linktree quickly became Tiktok’s number one link-in-bio partner. On average, Linktree drives over 5 million views on Tiktok videos daily. Users can also display up to 6 videos on their Linktree profile.
9. On average, Linktree helps users to generate 20 million monthly clicks.
Linktree claims to have over 30 million users, who get 20 million clicks on their monetized links. As mentioned earlier, Tiktok is currently the primary source of this traffic, followed by BeReal.
10. The platform was banned on Twitter for a day.
Although Linktree has a good relationship with major social media platforms, Twitter has not been so friendly. Elon Musk bought the social media site in October 2022 and has been making changes to the app since.
One of these is the announcement that it would ban the promotion of its social media competitors (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) on Twitter. As a social media link aggregator, the ban obviously includes Linktree.
Alex responded by expressing his disapproval and calling the ban unethical. Several Twitter users also spoke up. Fortunately, the policy was then lifted the day after.
11. Linktree hired former Snap, Netflix, Twitch, and Headspace executives following employee layoffs.
Early in 2023, Linktree hired three big executives: Snap’s former Engineering VP Farnaz Azmoodeh as the chief technology officer (CTO),
Headspace’s former Chief Product & Content Officer, Sam Rogoway, for the same position at Linktree, and Netflix’s former marketing exec Monica Austin as the chief marketing officer.
Before that, Linktree had to terminate 17% of its employees in August 2022 – which totaled 50 staff members. The company also had Twitch’s former SVP for Growth Initiatives, Mike Olson, as Linktree’s President early in 2022.
12. Linktree banned sex workers.
In January 2022, several Linktree users expressed their sentiments on Twitter as Linktree removed sex workers without warning. Some paying subscribers—with at least a $9 monthly bill—claimed not to have received a refund despite the cancellation of their account.
The Bottom Line
Linktree has been becoming a household name, as many of us see it on every celeb’s profile these days. But as a startup company, in-depth information about the company is still limited—not to mention that plans on going public are still far from the picture (as is getting its public information).
Overall, Linktree is a mixture of inspiring and scandalous stories. It’s too early to tell how this will affect the company’s future. But one thing’s certain—Linktree deeply relies on the content creation and social media industry.