Static vs Dynamic QR Codes: Which Expire, and Which to Print

Make a static QR code freeDownload the static or dynamic QR decision sheet (PDF)

The difference in one sentence each

A static QR code contains the destination itself. The web address, Wi-Fi details or contact card are encoded in the black and white pattern, and a phone reads them directly. There is no server in between.

A dynamic QR code contains a short link that belongs to a service. When someone scans it, the phone opens the short link, the service records the scan and redirects the visitor to wherever you have told it to. Change the destination in the service and the same printed code goes somewhere new.

Both are ordinary QR codes. The format itself is open: Denso Wave, the company where the QR code was developed, says no application or usage fee is needed to use a QR code, provided it follows the JIS or ISO standard. Nothing about the format expires. Expiry, when it happens, comes from what the code points at.

So do QR codes expire?

A static code cannot expire on its own; there is nothing to switch off. It stops being useful when its destination does: the web page is deleted, the domain lapses, the phone number changes. That is a real risk, and it is entirely in your hands.

A dynamic code depends on the service that owns its short link. If the service closes, or your plan ends and the service disables the redirect, every printed copy stops working at once. Some "free" generators make dynamic codes by default and then charge to keep them running, which is where most complaints about expiring QR codes come from. Before you print a dynamic code, find out what happens to it if you stop paying.

The code you make in the free QR code generator is static. There is no account, no server in the middle and no watermark, so it works for as long as the page or details inside it do.

How to choose, step by step

1. List what the code will open

Wi-Fi details, contact cards, a pre-written email or a phone number should almost always be static. They work offline, and there is nothing to redirect.

2. Ask whether the destination might change

Think about the life of the printed item, not the next month. A flyer is gone in weeks. A shop window decal, a van wrap or product packaging can last years, and in that time pages get renamed and offers end.

3. Ask whether you need scan counts

A static code cannot count scans, because nobody sees the scan except the phone. If you only need visits to a web page, you can add UTM tags to the link before you make a static code, and the visits show up in your analytics; Google's own help explains which UTM parameters to use, and the free UTM builder has a QR code preset. Scans that do not lead to a page view, such as a visitor who closes the page before it loads, will not be counted that way.

4. Pick static or dynamic

Static when nothing will change and counts do not matter. Dynamic when the destination will change or you need per-print-run scan counts. There is also a middle route: a static code pointing at a page on your own website, say /menu/, which you can update whenever you like. You keep control without depending on anyone's redirect.

5. Test and record it

Scan every code before it goes to print. For dynamic codes, write down which account owns it and who can log in; the decision sheet with this post has a register for that.

How to tell which kind you already printed

If you made codes somewhere else and are not sure which kind they are, scan one and look at the address your phone shows before you open it. If it is your own web address, the code is static and will keep working as long as that page exists. If it is a short link on someone else's domain, the code is dynamic, and it depends on that service staying in business and your account staying active.

For a dynamic code you depend on, log in to the service and check three things: that the account is yours (not a former employee's or a designer's), what happens to the codes if the plan lapses, and whether you can export the destinations. If the answers worry you, make a static replacement pointing at a page on your own site and swap it in at the next reprint.

When a dynamic code is worth it

Dynamic codes earn their keep on things that are expensive to reprint and whose destination will change: a sign that points to this month's offer, packaging that should lead to the current manual, a stack of business cards when you are about to move your booking page. They are also the only way to count scans per placement when the destination is not your own website.

The video above shows how this works in the Fynl portal, where QR codes are part of the paid plans. A code opens a short link that you can point somewhere new at any time without reprinting, every scan is counted with a bar per day for the last 30 days, and you can create many codes at once from a CSV. Because it sits with your contacts and forms, a code on a flyer can lead straight to a sign-up form and you can see the leads it brought in.

The safety rule applies whichever kind you use. People are rightly wary of scanning codes in public; Tennessee's Attorney General, for example, warns that scammers may place stickers over legitimate QR codes. Print your code where a sticker would be noticed, and check your own signs now and then. For printing, see our guides to QR code sizes and codes that will not scan.

The QR code generator is one of several no-sign-up tools on our free tools page, including a UTM builder for tagging the links you put in codes and a Google review link generator.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• DENSO WAVE — QR Code FAQ
• Google Analytics Help — URL builders and UTM parameters
• Tennessee Attorney General — QR code scam alert