01 / Quick picks
The best choice depends on the job.
These are starting points, not scores. Each choice has a limitation to check before you print.
- A small free campaignHovercode offers three dynamic codes with unlimited scans. Check its cancellation and custom-domain exceptions.
- One editable link, clear monthly limitsQRCodeBrain offers one free dynamic code and a small paid allowance. It is less suitable for a large fleet.
- A larger entry-level paid collectionQR TIGER Regular lists 12 dynamic codes at US$7/month. A paid code stops working when the plan expires.
- Teams considering a wider QR platformUniqode lists team and API capabilities across higher plans. Its Essential price is annual-billing equivalent, not a US$9 monthly checkout.
- Links and QR codes in one workflowBitly suits an existing link-management workflow. Editable redirects and useful scan history require a paid plan.
02 / Compare plans
Compare the actual allowance, not just the price.
US-dollar prices checked on 10 October 2026. Monthly billing and annual monthly equivalents are labelled separately; taxes and checkout totals were not tested. A total-code cap and a monthly creation allowance measure different things. Paid features below are official descriptions.
| Product | Free or trial | Entry paid plan | Scans & history | When the plan ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QRCodeBrain | 1 dynamic code; sign-in required | US$4.99/month or US$39/year; 3 active codes | 1,500 free / 500,000 paid redirects per UTC month, account-wide | Existing public redirects continue; creation/edit rights depend on limits and plan |
| Hovercode | 3 dynamic codes total; free plan | Pro US$12/month, billed monthly; 100 codes total | Unlimited scans; 3 months free / 12 months Pro history | First 3 remain active; extra codes and custom-domain codes stop |
| QR TIGER | 3 dynamic codes; 500 scans per code; branded popup | Regular US$7/month, billed monthly; 12 dynamic codes | Paid scans unlimited with a valid subscription; free basic analytics | Paid dynamic codes stop when the subscription expires |
| Uniqode | 14-day trial; no credit card per official docs | Essential US$9/month equivalent, billed yearly; 15 dynamic codes | 60-day analytics history on Essential; scan ceiling not verified | Trial codes stop without subscription; account cancellation deactivates dynamic codes |
| Bitly | 2 new QR codes per month; free plan with ads | Core US$10/month equivalent, US$120 billed yearly; 5 new QR codes/month | Unlimited scans; Core keeps 30 days of click/scan data | Existing bit.ly links continue on downgrade; custom domains have extra conditions |
03 / Product notes
Five services, five different trade-offs.
01 / QRCodeBrain
QRCodeBrain
For a few editable website links, not hundreds of campaigns.
The current product edits a dynamic code’s destination URL and reports daily totals by country and device. These are delivered redirect requests, not a verified count of unique people. PNG and SVG exports and logo styling are available in the existing workspace; it does not turn this comparison into a claim of native PDF hosting, a team campaign suite or advanced visitor tracking.
The free plan has one active dynamic code and 1,500 included redirects per UTC calendar month. QR Pro has three active codes and 500,000 included redirects per UTC month. Paid billing is US$4.99 monthly or US$39 yearly. The scan allowance is account-wide, not 500,000 for each code.
Subscription expiry changes management rights rather than disabling public redirects. Reaching the scan allowance starts a 14-UTC-date grace period before management restrictions; it does not itself stop existing redirects. A paused, archived or safety-blocked code can still stop. This policy is not a guarantee of perpetual service availability.
Publisher disclosure: our own product. Current catalog and existing verified product contracts; no new purchase or cancellation performed for this article.
02 / Hovercode
Hovercode
For a small free campaign with a generous scan allowance.
The free plan lists three dynamic QR codes, unlimited scans, logo customization and three months of basic scan history. Pro lists 100 codes in total, advanced analytics, 12 months of history and one custom domain. Editing and tracking are described by the official product pages; export format availability in the free dashboard remains unverified in this review.
Pro’s displayed monthly option is US$12/month. The first three codes remain active after cancellation; additional codes become inactive but are not deleted. Codes on a custom domain also stop. The pricing FAQ says resubscribing reactivates retained content.
That makes the free allowance attractive for a handful of long-lived prints, but it is not a promise that every paid code survives cancellation. In our free check, entering a URL and selecting editable/trackable mode led to an account-activation form. We stopped there: no dashboard editing, analytics, downloads or paid cancellation was personally tested.
Official pricing and expanded cancellation FAQ, checked 10 October 2026. Free-dashboard exports: unknown.
03 / QR TIGER
QR TIGER
For more codes on an entry monthly plan, if ongoing payment fits the print lifecycle.
Regular lists 12 dynamic codes at US$7 per month on the monthly pricing option. The free account includes three dynamic codes with 500 scans per code, basic scan analytics and a QR TIGER logo popup. Paid unlimited scans depend on a valid subscription.
The official FAQ explains destination editing through the dashboard, scan statistics, logo customization, and PNG/SVG downloads. It also states that a paid dynamic code stops working once the plan expires. Feature listings do not mean every advanced tool is included in Regular; check the selected plan for a specific requirement.
Use the free account to assess the interface before committing. We checked official pages and did not create a trial account, buy Regular or perform an expiry test. Do not print a long-lived campaign on the assumption that cancelling is harmless.
Official pricing and FAQ, checked 10 October 2026. Account and paid features were not personally tested.
04 / Uniqode
Uniqode
For evaluating a broader platform and its higher-plan team/API options.
Essential lists 15 dynamic codes, 60-day analytics history and one seat. The official guide describes editable destinations and logo/design customization. The download guide lists PNG, SVG, EPS, PDF and JPG. Availability and output quality were not tested inside a trial account.
The advertised US$9/month Essential price is billed yearly. The pricing guide says monthly-plan availability and price require contacting support, so those figures are unknown here. Higher-plan API, seats and longer retention can matter to a team; they are not Essential features just because they appear elsewhere in the platform.
The official download page advertises a 14-day trial; the pricing guide says no card is required and trial dynamic codes stop without a subscription. Its cancellation help page says account cancellation immediately deactivates dynamic codes and removes dashboard access, and describes those cancelled codes as non-reactivatable. Turning off renewal and cancelling an account are not interchangeable actions; ask support about the exact action before printing. The current scan ceiling was not verified.
Official pricing, download and cancellation help pages, checked 10 October 2026. Trial, paid output and cancellation were not personally tested.
05 / Bitly
Bitly
For people already managing short links who want QR codes in the same account.
The free plan lists two new QR codes per month, unlimited scans and ads. Core adds link/QR redirects and 30 days of click/scan data, with five new codes per month. Treat that as a creation allowance, not five codes in total. Advanced design and redirect limits depend on the plan; the exact logo entitlement and redirect-edit ceiling were not verified here.
Core is displayed at US$10/month when paid annually, with a US$120 annual charge. Bitly’s download help lists JPG, PNG and SVG. Existing bit.ly links continue to work on downgrade, according to its support page; paid features remain until the billing period ends.
Custom-domain QR destinations are a separate concern. The downgrade page describes continued DNS requirements, loss of SSL renewal when the new plan does not support the domain, and expiry of a complimentary domain if its registration is not renewed. This comparison concerns the Bitly platform, not a separate QR Code Generator PRO subscription. No paid plan, logo export or downgrade was personally tested.
Official annual pricing, export and downgrade help pages, checked 10 October 2026. Account-only and paid behavior: official descriptions.
04 / Choose your need
Choose the route for your actual need.
The selection changes the recommendation below. It does not create a code or select a paid plan.
Editable website URL
Start with one real campaign.
Use an existing dynamic workspace if you need to retarget a printed URL and review basic scan totals.
QRCodeBrain is a fit when one free code or three paid codes cover the job. Compare Hovercode for three free codes, QR TIGER for more entry-plan codes, Uniqode for platform requirements, or Bitly for an existing link workflow. Check the expiry row before committing to any service.
Open the dynamic workspaceSign-in is required. Review the current plan and management limits before publishing.
Static alternative
You may not need a subscription.
Use a static URL code if the destination address will stay the same and scan reporting is unnecessary.
QRCode Monkey’s free generator is a static alternative: we entered our guide URL, created and downloaded its PNG, and decoded that actual file back to the same URL without signing in. Its official page lists PNG/SVG and limited PDF/EPS exports; logo/design settings work in PNG/SVG. Its dynamic upsell links to a different service. We did not test logo or vector exports. Canva and Adobe are not ranked here as dynamic services because their editable-link, analytics and expiry contracts were not verified.
Open our static URL toolOur static tool needs no sign-in. See the static-versus-dynamic guide if you are still choosing the type.
05 / Price & continuity
The print lasts longer than the trial.
A monthly equivalent billed yearly is an annual commitment. Compare the amount charged today, renewal period, currency and taxes, not only the large monthly number. Prices and policies change; the official links above are the final check before checkout.
Ask what happens to the exact code when a trial ends, you cancel an account, you turn off auto-renewal or you downgrade. These actions can have different consequences. Do not infer “never expires” from a static code, or from the first three free codes, and apply it to every paid dynamic code.
Keep control of your destination website and any custom domain. An exported QR image does not remove its dependency on the redirect provider. Test the final print on a phone, confirm the destination and record which account owns the code. If changing providers changes the encoded URL, the print needs replacing.
06 / FAQ
Questions before you subscribe.
How this comparison was checked.
Checked 10 October 2026. Official facts and limits are linked next to each product. We selected a small free service, a higher-code entry plan, a wider QR platform and a link-management platform to cover different buying needs; this is not an exhaustive market ranking. Unknowns remain labelled above. No fabricated ratings, customer counts or paid experience.