The short answer
A QR code cannot expire. It is a printed pattern, not an account. The squares encode a string of characters, and that string is as permanent as the paper, metal or screen it sits on. There is no timestamp inside it, no counter, and nobody holds a switch.
When someone says their QR code expired, one of two things has happened. Either the code was dynamic and the redirect behind it stopped answering, or the code was static and the page it points to has gone. In neither case has the code changed. The pattern still decodes; what failed is the thing it points to.
What actually expires
A dynamic code does not contain your destination. It contains a short link on the vendor’s domain. Every scan asks that vendor’s server where to go, and the server answers with the real address.
That arrangement is what lets you change the destination after printing, and what lets you count scans. It also means the code depends on a company continuing to answer that request, for as long as the code exists in the world. When a trial ends, a plan lapses or a service shuts down, the answer stops coming and every printed copy of that code stops working at once.
Know which kind you have before you print a thousand of anything.
- Static code forever
- Dynamic, paid plan while you pay
- Dynamic, free tier often months
- Dynamic, vendor closes ends at once
How to tell which kind you have
Decode it and read the content. Any scanner will show you the raw string, and so will the decoder tool on this site.
- If it reads as your actual destination (
https://yourbusiness.com/menu, a Wi-Fi network, a phone number), it is static, and it will work forever. - If it reads as a short link on a domain you do not recognize, it is dynamic, and it will work for as long as that domain keeps answering.
Try it yourself
Upload a picture of any QR code, or point your camera at one. The tool shows you the exact string it contains. If that string is your own address, the code is static and permanent. If it is a short link on someone else’s domain, you are depending on them.
Which vendors expire codes
Check this before you print: the terms vary, and they change. Broadly, tools that hand you a plain static code have nothing to switch off, while tools built around tracking and editable destinations have to keep a server running and price accordingly.
The comparison pages on this site record what each one offered when it was last checked, with the date: Bitly, Canva and Adobe Express are the three that come up most often. These are other companies’ pricing pages and they change, so confirm with the vendor before you rely on them.
How to get a code that lasts
Make a static code. And to be plain about it: this is not a reason to choose any particular app. A static code from QR Studio, from QRCode Monkey, from goqr.me or from a dozen other tools is the same pattern and will last exactly as long. Anyone telling you their static codes last longer than someone else’s static codes is selling you something that does not exist.
What differs between tools is everything around the code: whether generation happens on your device or on a server, whether you need an account, what the export quality is like, and what it costs. QR Studio makes static codes on the device with no account and no expiry, and charges only for the dynamic codes and analytics that genuinely need a server. That is a real difference; permanence is not. QR Studio’s dynamic codes also keep redirecting to their last destination if Pro ends; editing them needs Pro again.
In practice
If you are printing something you cannot easily replace (packaging, signage, engraved metal, a book), use a static code pointing at a URL you control, such as your own domain. Then you keep the ability to change the destination by changing your own redirect, without depending on anyone else’s server.
If yours has already stopped working
There is a separate guide for that: expired or dead QR code covers what can be recovered, how to tell a dead redirect from a damaged print, and what to do next.