What happens to your QR codes when you stop paying
Before a print run, this is the only question that matters, and it is the one nearly every vendor answers somewhere other than the pricing page. Below is what each of them says, quoted rather than paraphrased, linked to the page it came from, and dated — including us.
How this page was made
Every quotation was read in a browser on 9 August 2026, from the vendor’s own site, and each links to the page it came from so you can check it rather than take our word for it. Nothing here comes from a comparison article. That is not fastidiousness: the two most recent comparison posts in this category both publish prices that are wrong, one of them by a factor of more than two, and one claims a merger between two companies that has not happened.
Prices and terms move. If you are reading this long after the date above, follow the links — they go to the source, not to us.
The finding that surprised us
Every vendor we looked at does disclose this. Not one of them hides it. The problem is where they disclose it: an FAQ page, a help centre article, a blog post, a clause in the Terms of Use. Four of the five say nothing about it on the page where you are choosing a plan and entering a card, which is the one moment a buyer is thinking about money and the only moment before the print run when it is cheap to change your mind.
Each vendor, in their own words
QR TIGER
Where it is written down: An FAQ page. Not the pricing page. Not on the pricing page.
- “Dynamic QRs have unlimited scans with a valid subscription. If your plan expires, it will stop working.” — QR TIGER, FAQ
- “Yes, if your plan expires, we will retain your data for a maximum period of 1 year. Upon failure to renew your subscription within this period, it is possible that we remove all data from your account.” — QR TIGER, FAQ
- “You can sign up for our Free version any time, where you can generate three free dynamic QRs with a 500 scan limit each.” — QR TIGER, FAQ
The clearest writing in the category, and it deserves saying: no hedging, no burying. The terms themselves are the hard part — a printed code stops working when the plan lapses, and the account it belongs to may be erased a year later.
Uniqode
Where it is written down: A collapsed accordion at the foot of the pricing page.
- “Once your free trial expires, any dynamic QR Codes you created will become inactive. To keep them active and accessible, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan. If you don't upgrade, the QR Codes will no longer redirect users, and any tracking or analytics associated with them will be paused until a subscription is activated.” — Uniqode, pricing page FAQ
- “If you decide to cancel your subscription, your QR Codes will become inactive.” — Uniqode, pricing page FAQ
- “For your QR Codes to work, the account linked to them has to stay active.” — Uniqode, pricing page FAQ
Technically the best-placed disclosure of the five, since it is at least on the page where money is discussed. It is also folded shut, several screens below the prices, and phrased as a question you would have to think to ask.
QRCG by Bitly
Where it is written down: A blog post. The pricing page does not mention it at all. Not on the pricing page.
- “*Value added tax not included” — QRCG, pricing page footnote
- “In case you don't want your contract renewed, an informal email would be sufficient. The notice period is always 30 days before the end of the contract period.” — QRCG, pricing page FAQ
We read the whole pricing page on the date above and searched it for the words expire, deactivate, no longer active and stop working. None of them appears. The Starter plan is €8 a month billed annually, carries two dynamic codes and 10,000 scans, and prices exclude VAT — so a UK buyer is quoted a number their card is never charged.
Flowcode
Where it is written down: The Terms of Use. The help article says something different. Not on the pricing page.
- “All other codes left in your account will continue to scan and direct users to the destination you specified when creating or last modifying the Flowcode.” — Flowcode, help centre
- “Should you wish to reactivate your codes that were deleted due to the cancellation, all you have to do is sign back up for the subscription you previously had.” — Flowcode, help centre, four paragraphs later
- “You will be downgraded to the Flowcode Free plan and any of your Flowcodes which are in excess of the Flowcode Free plan code threshold will be archived and re-directed to flowcode.com or another location of our choosing.” — Flowcode, Terms of Use
The stated policy is genuinely the most generous of the four, and the first quotation is a better promise than most of this market makes. The trouble is that all three quotations are theirs, and they do not agree: one page says your codes carry on scanning, the same page later calls them deleted, and the Terms say the surplus ones get pointed at flowcode.com. If you are deciding what to send to a printer, you are entitled to one answer.
ME-QR
Where it is written down: A blog post, and only about the free tier. Not on the pricing page.
- “One note: dynamic QR codes do not rely on a pricing plan. It means you can create a free permanent QR code right now.” — ME-QR, blog, last updated 3 July 2026
A strong claim, and we found nothing contradicting it. We also found no support article stating what happens to a paid account's codes after cancellation, so this row is thinner than the others and we would rather say that than fill it in.
QR That Lasts — that is us
Where it is written down: The pricing page, above the prices.
- “Cancelling drops your plan to free. Limits apply to new work; everything already printed carries on resolving.” — Enforced by a test that runs inside every deploy
- “Destination history has no delete path, for anybody, including us.” — A database constraint, not a policy
We are also the only row with something to declare in the other direction: payments are not switched on yet, so nobody can buy any of this today, and accounts are opened by invitation. That is stated on the pricing page rather than discovered at a checkout that does not work.
What we are not going to pretend
A comparison in which every row favours the company that wrote it is marketing, and readers are right not to believe one. So, plainly:
- QR TIGER writes about this better than we do. Their FAQ answers the question in one unhedged sentence, with no euphemism and nothing buried. The terms are harsh; the writing is honest.
- Flowcode’s stated policy is more generous than most of the market. Codes continuing to scan after a downgrade is a better promise than anyone else’s. Our objection is not the policy, it is that their own two pages do not agree on what it is.
- Uniqode puts it on the pricing page. Folded shut and a long way down, but on it — which is more than three of the others manage.
- “Codes survive cancellation” is not ours alone. Flowcode and ME-QR both claim something similar. If that is the only thing you need, they are real options and you should read their terms as sceptically as you read ours.
- We are the only row here that cannot take your money. Payments are not switched on yet and accounts are opened by invitation. A comparison page that omitted that while criticising everyone else’s disclosure would be quite something.
What to ask before you print
Whoever you choose, and it may well not be us, these are the questions worth getting an answer to in writing first:
- When a subscription lapses, does the code stop resolving, or does it keep resolving with features removed? These are completely different outcomes for a thing already on a wall.
- How long is the destination kept after a lapse, and does reactivating restore it? QR TIGER’s answer to this is one year, and then possibly not.
- Is there a scan limit on the plan, and what happens at it — does the code stop, or does the counting stop?
- Is there a notice period on cancellation, and is billing monthly or annual only?
- Is the price shown inclusive of VAT, and in which currency will the card actually be charged?
Once that is settled, the remaining way to waste a print run is the artwork itself — size, quiet zone and logos — and if you are here because something has already stopped working, this is the page for that.