Free that stays free
A QR code printed on a menu, a packaging run, or a shop window is infrastructure: it has to keep working. Most “free” QR tools attach a clock, a counter, or an advertisement to that promise. This page catalogs the patterns, with sources, so you can check any vendor — including this one — before you print.
Sources checked 2026-08-21.
The patterns
The trial ends and your printed code dies
Dynamic codes created during a free trial stop redirecting when the trial lapses — including codes already printed on menus, packaging, and signage.
Seen at: QRFY, qr-code-generator.com, Scanova, Uniqode · QRFY pricing & trial terms
A scan cap switches the code off
Free-tier codes stop working — or stop reporting — after a fixed number of scans. The more successful your campaign, the sooner it breaks.
Seen at: QR Tiger, Flowcode, QRCodeKIT · QR Tiger pricing
An ad sits between the scan and the destination
The redirect passes through an advertising interstitial, so the person who scanned your code sees someone else's marketing first.
Seen at: ME-QR · ME-QR pricing (ad removal sold as a paid feature)
Editing the destination is metered
Changing where an existing code points counts against a monthly quota, so fixing a typo costs quota — or money.
Seen at: Bitly · Bitly pricing
Your scan history is a pricing tier
Analytics beyond 30 days to 2 years are gated behind higher plans; downgrade and the history goes away.
Seen at: Bitly, Uniqode, Scanova, QRCodeKIT · Uniqode pricing
A custom domain costs more than the product
Branded short domains are sold as a premium add-on priced far above what a domain name costs.
Seen at: Uniqode · Uniqode pricing
Annual-only billing
Monthly billing is removed or surcharged, so the real entry price is a year (or a quarter) up front.
Seen at: Uniqode, QRFY · QRFY pricing
Sign up before you can download
The generator works right up to the download button, which is where the account wall appears.
Seen at: QRFY, Flowcode, Bitly, qr-code-generator.com · QRFY signup flow
What UseQR commits to instead
- No trial, no expiry, no scan cap, no metered edits, no retention tier — ever.
- No ads and no interstitial between a scan and its destination.
- No account, anywhere. Static codes never leave your browser.
- MIT-licensed and self-hostable, so the tool survives us: the whole thing is on GitHub.
- A written Permanence Pledge — 12-month sunset notice, open redirect-map escrow — lands with the dynamic-code release. Until then, every code UseQR makes is static, which means it depends on nothing we run.
How this is funded and why it’s sustainable → · Vendor-by-vendor comparisons →