What is a Tracking URL?
The Substly Extension allows you to monitor SaaS usage across your organization — and a key part of how it works is through Tracking URLs.
A Tracking URL is the specific web address (URL) that the Substly Extension uses to detect when someone in your organization is using a SaaS tool.
This is not the same as the tool’s marketing website or homepage.
Instead, a Tracking URL points to the actual application environment — often the page a user sees after logging in to the service. This is important because:
When the structure of a SaaS tool’s URL indicates that a user is logged in, the Substly Extension can confirm that the tool is actively being used.
This gives a much more accurate view of usage than simply knowing someone visited a website.
Example:
Website URL:
www.salesforce.com→ general site (not tracked)Tracking URL:
yourcompany.salesforce.com→ logged-in user view (tracked)
Tracking URLs allow Substly to provide detailed usage insights across your organization — such as:
✅ Who is using each tool
✅ When it was last accessed
✅ If there are unused licenses
✅ Where unapproved (shadow) IT tools might be hiding
The system automatically provides the right Tracking URLs for most popular services, but you can also request or add custom ones — for example, if your company uses tools with custom subdomains or internally developed services.
Custom URLs
For most SaaS tools, Substly automatically provides the correct Tracking URLs. However, there are some cases where you may want to manually add or adjust which URLs are monitored.
This is especially useful if:
You’re using a service hosted on a custom subdomain (e.g.
yourcompany.servicename.com)You’ve built an internal web-based tool you want to monitor usage for
You notice that usage data is missing or incorrect for a particular service
In these cases, you can request a custom Tracking URL to ensure that the Substly Extension correctly detects activity.
Requesting a custom URL to be tracked
To request a custom URL for a service, follow these steps:
Navigate to the service
Go to the service for which you want to add a custom URL.Open the Tracking URL modal
Click Manage Service in the top-right corner, then select Tracking URL.Submit your request
In the modal that appears, click Request Custom URL tracking.
Paste the full URL or subdomain you want Substly to monitor. You can add multiple URLs if needed.
📌 If you’re unsure what to enter, we recommend copying the exact address from your browser’s address bar while using the service.
Review process
To prevent misuse, Substly manually reviews all submitted URLs before monitoring begins. Most requests are processed within 24 hours.
Note: Custom URL tracking only works if the Substly Extension is activated in your Substly account. You’ll find this on the Substly Extension page in the main menu.
Subdomains tracking
Subdomains tracking
If your organization uses a company-specific subdomain for a service and you want to ensure Substly only monitors usage on that subdomain, you can request a custom tracking URL.
For example:
If your company uses yourcompanyname.hrtool.com instead of app.hrtool.com, you can submit the subdomain as a custom URL so that only traffic to that specific address is monitored.
📌 To do this, follow the steps in the Requesting a custom URL to be tracked section above.
Internally developed services
Internally developed services
Substly can also monitor usage of internal tools — as long as the service is accessed via a web browser.
Here’s how to track an internal web-based service:
Create a new service manually from the Services page.
Follow the same process as described in the Requesting a custom URL to be tracked section to request tracking for the internal domain or subdomain.
📌 This is useful for in-house tools such as internal dashboards, admin portals, or self-built CRMs.
If no or inaccurate data is shown
If no or inaccurate data is shown
Sometimes usage data for a service may appear incomplete or missing — often due to variations in how the tool structures its URLs.
💡 If this happens:
Go to the service in Substly
Click Manage Service → Tracking URL
Submit a request for the correct custom URL by entering the full address you use to access the service.
Our team will review and apply your request within 24 hours.