QR code pricing compared: subscriptions vs. pay-per-scan
Updated August 17, 2026 · by the QRCR.us team
Dynamic QR codes are sold two ways: a recurring subscription with unlimited (or generous) scans, or pay-per-scan credits with no recurring charge. One of them is cheaper for you, and which one depends almost entirely on your scan volume. Full disclosure up front: QRCR.us is the pay-per-scan option in this comparison — so we'll show the arithmetic and let you check it.
What the subscriptions cost (verified August 2026)
Bitly: the free tier includes 2 QR codes per month with unlimited scans. Paid plans start at Core, $10/month billed annually ($120/year) for 5 codes/month, then Growth at $29/month billed annually ($348/year, or $35 month-to-month) for 10 codes/month.
Flowcode: the free tier allows 2 codes with analytics up to 500 scans — and to their credit, Flowcode states free codes "always scan." Paid plans start at Pro Plus, $25/month billed annually ($300/year) for up to 50 codes, with a Growth tier at $250/year.
QR Tiger and most other dedicated QR platforms follow the same shape: a free trial or limited free tier, then monthly plans (their pricing page wasn't reachable when we checked, so we won't quote numbers — see their site). The detail that matters more than any price is what happens to already-printed codes when you stop paying; policies range from "codes keep working" to "codes redirect to an upgrade page." We wrote up that failure mode in "Why did my printed QR code stop working?"
What pay-per-scan costs
QRCR.us sells scan credits once, with no renewal: 100 scans for $5 · 500 scans for $20 · 1,700 scans for $60 — between 5¢ and 3.5¢ a scan. Credits never expire, unlimited codes share one credit balance, and each new code's first 24 hours of redirects are free. A code whose balance runs dry pauses (and resumes when topped up) rather than dying.
The break-even math
Take Bitly Core at $120/year as the cheapest common subscription. At our bulk rate, $120 buys about 3,400 scan credits. So the crossover is roughly 3,400 scans a year — about 280 a month. Below that, pay-per-scan is cheaper, often dramatically so: a flyer campaign that draws 300 scans over its whole life costs $60–$120 per year, recurring on a subscription, versus $20 once in credits (with ~200 left over for the next campaign).
Above a few hundred scans a month, the arithmetic flips: unlimited-scan subscriptions win on volume. A busy restaurant pushing 3,000 scans a month would spend ~$105/month in credits — Bitly's $10–29/month tiers beat that easily, and if you also want deep analytics, team seats, or an API, the subscription platforms are built for exactly that.
Which model fits you
Pay-per-scan fits: flyers, posters, event signage, business cards, packaging, table codes at smaller venues, and any project where scan volume is modest, spiky, or unknown — you're paying only when the thing actually gets scanned, and an idle month costs $0.
A subscription fits: sustained high volume (roughly 300+ scans/month, every month), or when the surrounding platform — analytics depth, integrations, teams — is the actual product you need.
And if the destination never changes at all, don't pay either side: a permanent static code from any free generator costs nothing forever.
- Try it on a real code Every new QRCR.us code redirects free for its first 24 hours — no card required. Create a dynamic QR code and see it work before you spend anything.