The short answer
A static QR code stores its content in the pattern itself: the full web address, the WiFi password, or the contact details. A phone reads it directly. Nothing sits between the code and its destination, so there's nothing that can expire.
A dynamic QR code stores a short link to a QR company's server. When someone scans it, that server looks up where to send them and redirects them. The code only works while the company keeps that redirect running for you.
Every code made on this site is static. It keeps working as long as the page or file it points to stays online.
Why some codes stop working
Some QR sites make codes that stop working when a free trial ends. The code was dynamic all along, though the site rarely says so up front. The usual ways it happens:
- The trial ends. After 7 or 14 days, scans go to a page asking the owner to pay, or to an error, instead of your menu or website.
- A subscription lapses. A card expires or someone cancels, and every code on the account stops redirecting.
- A scan limit is reached. Some free plans redirect only a set number of scans a month.
- The service changes or closes. If the company shuts down, is sold, or retires its short-link domain, its redirects go with it.
- Ads are added. Some services show an advert to the person scanning before sending them on.
The printed code can't be fixed by you, because the short link inside it belongs to the service. Menus, posters, packaging, and business cards then have to be reprinted.
How to tell which kind you have
- Scan it and read the address before opening it. Use theQR code checker or theQR scanner, which show the full address and never open it by themselves.
- Compare the address with where it should go. If the code is for your café's menu and the address is your café's website or the menu file itself, it's static. If it's a short address on a domain you don't recognise, or a QR company's name, it's almost certainly a dynamic redirect.
- Look at the type of content. WiFi, contact card, text, email, SMS, and payment codes hold their content directly when they're made the standard way: if scanning shows the network name or contact straight away, with no web page, the code is static.
- Check the account you made it with. If the code lives in an account with a "dynamic", "editable", or "trackable" label, a scan counter, or a plan with an end date, it depends on that account.
A sparse-looking code isn't proof either way. Short links make small codes, but a short web address of your own does too.
Side by side
| Static | Dynamic | |
|---|---|---|
| What the code holds | The real address or content | A short link to a QR company's server |
| Stops working if the QR service ends | No | Yes |
| Change where it goes after printing | Yes, by changing the page it points to | Yes, in the service's account |
| Scan counts | In your own website analytics, with tracking tags | In the service's dashboard |
| Works without the internet | Text, WiFi, and contact codes yes; links need the internet to open | No: the redirect needs the internet |
| Who sees each scan | Only the site it leads to | The QR company too |
| Cost | Free, for good | Usually a monthly or yearly plan |
A code you can still change
The main reason to choose a dynamic code is changing the destination after printing. You can get the same freedom with a static code: point it at a page you control, and change the page instead of the code.
- A page on your own website, such asyoursite.com/menu. Update that page whenever the menu changes; the printed code keeps working.
- A redirect on your own domain. If you have a website, most hosts let you set yoursite.com/qr to forward anywhere, and change it later. You hold the redirect, so it can't be switched off by someone else.
- A shared file or document you can edit, such as a menu in cloud storage. Replace its contents rather than uploading a new file, so its link stays the same. The PDF QR code andmenu QR code pages explain how to keep the link stable.
- A form or booking page you already use, like aGoogle Form.
To count scans, add tracking tags (UTM parameters) to the link with the helper on the link QR code page, and read the visits in your own website analytics.
If a printed code stopped working
- Scan it and note the address. Thechecker shows it without opening it.
- If it's a QR service's short link, log in to the account you made it with. Renewing the plan may bring the redirect back, which buys time to replace the code.
- Make a static replacement that points at a page you control (see above), so it can't happen again. Check it with thescan test.
- Cover the old code. Print the new one on stickers at least as large as the old code, with its white margin, and stick them over every copy. Use the size calculator if the code will be scanned from a distance.
- Scan every covered copy once with a phone. A sticker that leaves part of the old code showing can confuse cameras.
When a dynamic code makes sense
A paid dynamic service can be worth it for large campaigns that need scan reports and have no website to point at. If you choose one, check three things first: what scans show when the plan ends, whether you can use your own domain for the short links, and whether you can move the codes elsewhere. If the answer to the first is "a page asking to pay", every printed code is tied to that subscription.
For most uses, such as menus, WiFi signs, business cards, review cards, and flyers, a static code pointing at a page you control does the same job and never expires. Start with a link QR code, aWiFi QR code, or acontact card.