Does a QR code expire?

A QR code has no expiry date inside it. What can stop working is the link it points at, or the redirect somebody has to keep running for you.

What matters is which kind you printed, and who is keeping it alive.

A static code has nothing to expire

A static code carries the destination in the squares themselves. There is no server in the middle. Nobody can switch it off, and that includes us.

Print it once and it reads for as long as the paper lasts. The one way a static code goes wrong is the destination. Point it at a page you later delete and the scan lands on a dead page. The squares are still perfect. The page is gone.

A dynamic code lasts as long as the redirect runs

A dynamic code carries a short link on our domain. The scan comes to us, and we send it on to wherever you have pointed it. That is the whole reason you can change the destination after printing.

It also means the code depends on somebody keeping that redirect up. Not on a date. On a company. Ask every dynamic vendor the same question.

Why so many QR codes do expire

Most QR companies rent you the redirect. You pay every month or every year. Stop paying and they stop redirecting.

Your printed code is then a dead end. The squares are fine. The service behind them was switched off. That is not a fault in the QR format, it is a billing decision.

This is why "do QR codes expire" is even a question. People have been let down by the plan, not by the code.

What happens with ours

Static and dynamic codes here are bought once. There is no renewal date, no card kept on file, and no reminder for you to miss. It costs us almost nothing to keep running, so we are not going to come back to you for it.

One thing does run on a year, and you should know which. Pro includes a page we host, and hosting has a running cost, so Pro is annual. When a Pro year ends, a scan shows a plain buyqrcode page instead of your page. We charge you nothing and we keep no card.

What if buyqrcode stopped?

Fair question. Ask it of anyone selling you a dynamic code.

If we ever shut the redirect down, every dynamic code printed against it would stop reaching its destination. We have no plan to, but a plan is not a guarantee, and we would rather say that than sell you a promise.

So here is the practical answer. If the code has to outlive everybody, print static. The information is in the squares and nothing we do can reach it. If you want to change the destination later, you are trusting somebody with a redirect either way, and the thing worth checking is whether they need your money every month to keep it running.

Which one should you print?

The destination will never change: print static. There is nothing to expire.

It might change: print dynamic, pay once, and re-point it whenever you like.

You are not sure: print dynamic. Being able to change it later is the thing people wish they had bought. The full difference is in static vs dynamic QR codes.

Do QR codes expire after a year?

Not on their own. Nothing in the code counts down. If a code stopped after a year, it was on a plan that ended.

Does a printed QR code wear out?

The code does not. The print does. Sun fades ink, stickers peel, and a scratched sticker reads badly. Reprint the sticker and the same code works again.

Will my QR code stop working if I stop paying?

Not here, because there is nothing to stop paying on a static or dynamic code. On a monthly tool, yes, and that is usually the whole point of the monthly price.

Can a QR code be switched off?

A dynamic one can. You can pause it yourself from your dashboard and resume it later. A static code cannot be paused by anyone, including us.

Is a static code safer for something I print in bulk?

For anything you cannot reprint, yes. Nobody stands between the scan and the destination. The trade is that you can never change where it goes.

Before you print

Pick the kind first, then the plan. What each one costs is on pricing, with GST shown upfront.