Do QR Codes Expire? Static Codes Don’t. Dynamic Ones Can.
A QR code has no expiry date of its own. What can stop is the redirect behind a dynamic code: a trial that ends, a cancelled plan, a scan cap, an inactivity rule or a provider that shuts down. Named examples from each provider’s own pages, and a checklist for before you print.
Make a QR code with no expiry date
- Free plan, no credit card
- Unlimited scans on every plan
- Keeps working if you cancel
The short answer
No. The black-and-white pattern is just data, and a phone will read it in ten years exactly as it does today. A QR code carries no date, no counter and no off switch.
What can stop is the address inside it. A static QR code holds your final web address, so it works for as long as that page exists. A dynamic QR code holds a short link that belongs to the QR provider, and every scan passes through the provider’s server first. If that server stops forwarding, every printed copy stops at once: on the shelf, on the poster and on the box.
So the useful question isn’t whether QR codes expire. It’s whose server sits between your code and your page, and what that company’s rules say.
Where a QR code can break
Static QR code
Your web address is printed in the pattern itself.
Dynamic QR code
The pattern holds a short link, and the provider forwards each scan.
What can switch the provider’s redirect off
- Trial ends
- Plan cancelled
- Scan cap reached
- Too long without a scan
- Provider shuts down
Static codes never expire, and never change
A static code is the safe choice when the destination will outlive the print run. QRCG by Bitly’s help center says it plainly: a static code carries its destination itself, so it keeps working whether or not you pay for a subscription.
The price is flexibility. You can’t change where a static code points after printing, and you can’t count its scans. It also has an expiry date of a kind: the day the page behind it disappears. A redesigned website, a campaign page someone tidies away or a domain nobody renews breaks a static code as surely as any provider could.
Four numbers from the providers’ own pages
- days of free trial at QRCG by Bitly; after that, its dynamic codes point to a service page
- 14
- extra days QRCG by Bitly keeps cancelled codes redirecting once the paid period ends
- 30
- scans before a dynamic code on QR TIGER’s free plan stops working
- 500
- the year Firebase Dynamic Links shut down; every link stopped on August 25
- 2025
days of free trial at QRCG by Bitly; after that, its dynamic codes point to a service page
extra days QRCG by Bitly keeps cancelled codes redirecting once the paid period ends
scans before a dynamic code on QR TIGER’s free plan stops working
the year Firebase Dynamic Links shut down; every link stopped on August 25
Dynamic codes last as long as the redirect does
Dynamic codes are worth having. You can change the destination after printing, count scans and send iPhones and Android phones to different stores. That’s why most codes on packaging and posters are dynamic.
The trade-off is a dependency. The printed pattern points at the provider’s domain, so the provider decides what happens to every scan for as long as the code is out in the world. Here are the five ways that dependency ends, each with an example from the provider’s own help pages.
Five ways a dynamic QR code stops working
What each of those looks like
The trial ends. QRCG by Bitly, the QR Code Generator service Bitly owns, starts new accounts on a 14-day trial. When it lapses, dynamic codes made during the trial show a service page instead of your page, while static codes keep working. Paying turns the dynamic codes back on, which tells you where the printed codes now stand: they depend on the next invoice.
You cancel. The same service keeps dynamic codes redirecting through the period you already paid for and 30 more days, during which you can’t edit them. After that the account is locked and the codes point to a service page.
A scan cap. QR TIGER’s free plan includes three dynamic codes with a 500-scan limit, and its help center says a code stops working once the limit is reached. Free-plan scans also show a small QR TIGER logo pop-up. A cap like that is easy to miss on a test print and easy to hit in a shop window.
Inactivity. A QR code lasts only as long as the link inside it. If the code holds a Branch short link made through its API or SDK, Branch expires that link 380 days after it was created, and each click restarts the count. Branch’s own advice is a script that requests your links from time to time to keep them alive. A code on seasonal packaging can easily go a year without a scan.
A shutdown. Google shut down Firebase Dynamic Links on August 25, 2025. Every link it served stopped working, including links on teams’ own custom domains, and the page.link domains weren’t handed over. A QR code that carried one of those links is now a dead end, wherever it was printed.
Short links and deep links have the same problem
None of this is special to QR codes. Any link that passes through someone else’s server can be given a lifetime, and two of the big deep linking platforms do exactly that for links made through their APIs.
Branch short link made through the API or SDK
Adjust short link made with the deep link generator API
Appy link or QR code
A link can also keep working and still get worse. Bitly now shows visitors of free-account links an interstitial page with a preview of the destination and an ad, and the way to remove it is a paid plan. On a link you share, that’s one more screen between the tap and the store.
What Appy promises
Every Appy link and QR code keeps redirecting until you delete it. There’s no expiry date, no scan cap and no cutoff for inactivity, and no plan shows ads, Free included. If you cancel a paid plan, the account moves to Free: existing codes keep working, and paid features such as deep links and advanced analytics pause until you upgrade again. You can change where a code points on every plan.
An Appy QR code is still a dynamic code, so it depends on us the way any dynamic code depends on its provider. If that matters for a long print run, put your codes on your own domain, which comes with the Business plan. The printed address is then yours, and you keep control of it whatever happens to any provider, us included.
Before you print: a checklist
Decide whether the destination will ever change
If it won’t, and you don’t need scan counts, a static code takes the provider out of the picture. For packaging, posters and anything with a campaign behind it, use a dynamic code.
Read the provider’s cancellation page, not its pricing page
Look for three answers: what happens when the trial ends, what happens when you cancel, and whether there is a scan cap. If the help center doesn’t say, ask before you print.
See what a free-plan scan looks like
Logo pop-ups and ad pages apply to codes already out in the world. Scan a code from a free account the way a customer would.
Put long print runs on a domain you control
A code on your own domain can be pointed somewhere else later. A code on a provider’s domain can only be fixed by that provider.
Keep the page behind the code alive
Static or dynamic, the code is useless once the destination is gone. Note the print run next to the URL so nobody deletes the page while boxes are still on shelves.
Test the printed proof
Scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone, from the distance people will actually stand, before the full run goes out.
Tools and guides for the print run
- QR code print checklist for app campaignsThe checks to run before packaging, posters or a TV spot go to print.
- Free QR code generatorA static code with your logo and colors without signing up, or a dynamic one on the free plan.
- App Store and Google Play QR codeOne code that sends iPhones to the App Store and Android phones to Google Play.
Sources, read on October 21, 2026
- QRCG by Bitly · What happens when the trial expiressupport.qr-code-generator.com/hc/en-us/articles/7665046137613
- QRCG by Bitly · How do I cancel my subscription?support.qr-code-generator.com/hc/en-us/articles/7665399659277
- QR TIGER · Is using QR Tiger free?qrtiger.helpscoutdocs.com/article/201-is-using-qr-tiger-free
- Branch · Deep linking reference, expiration behaviorhelp.branch.io/marketer-hub/deep-link-reference
- Branch · Update to short link expiration windowhelp.branch.io/account-hub/updated-short-link-expiration-window
- Adjust · Deep link generator APIdev.adjust.com/en/api/deep-link-generator-api
- Bitly · Why are there ads on my links?support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/32874287800333
- Firebase · Dynamic Links deprecation FAQfirebase.google.com/support/dynamic-links-faq
- Appy · Pricing and guaranteesappy.to/pricing
Frequently asked questions
Do QR codes expire?
No, the code itself never expires. A static QR code works as long as the page it points to exists. A dynamic QR code works as long as its provider keeps forwarding it, which can end with a trial, a cancelled plan, a scan cap, an inactivity rule or the provider shutting down.
Do dynamic QR codes stop working if I stop paying?
With many providers, yes. QRCG by Bitly keeps them redirecting through the paid period plus 30 days, then sends scans to a service page. On Appy, cancelling moves the account to Free and existing codes keep working.
Can a dynamic QR code that stopped working be turned back on?
Often, by paying again: QRCG by Bitly reactivates dynamic codes when you upgrade. If the service itself has shut down, as Firebase Dynamic Links did on August 25, 2025, there is nothing left to reactivate.
Is there a limit to how many times a QR code can be scanned?
Not for a static code. Some dynamic plans cap it: on QR TIGER’s free plan a dynamic code stops after 500 scans. Appy has no scan limit on any plan.
How long does a static QR code last?
As long as the print stays readable and the web address in it still loads. If the page moves or the domain lapses, the code breaks and can’t be edited; it has to be reprinted.
Can I change where a static QR code points?
No. The address is part of the pattern, so changing it means a new code. That’s why most printed campaigns use dynamic codes.
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Print a code that keeps working
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