Do QR codes expire?
Short answer: a QR code itself never expires. It is ink on paper — a pattern encoding data, exactly like printed text. The ISO standard behind QR codes defines no lifetime, no counter, no expiry date. A static QR code printed today will decode identically in thirty years.
So why did yours die after two weeks?
What actually expires: the service, not the code
There are two kinds of QR codes, and everything hinges on the difference:
- A static QR code encodes your destination directly in the pattern. Nothing sits between the scan and your page. There is nothing that *can* expire.
- A dynamic QR code encodes a short URL owned by a provider, which redirects to your page. The pattern is permanent — the *redirection* is a service, and services have pricing pages.
When people say "my QR code expired", it is always the second kind. The provider ended a free trial, a subscription lapsed, an account was deleted — and every printed code that depended on that redirect died at once. We break down all the failure modes in Why did my QR code stop working?
The 14-day trap
The pattern is common enough to deserve a name. A "free QR code generator" delivers a working code; you test it, it scans, you print five hundred menus. What the generator did not say loudly: the code is dynamic, tied to a trial that ends after 7 to 14 days. The redirect then points to a payment page — theirs, not yours. Your printed material becomes their sales channel, and the reactivation fee is whatever they decide, because reprinting costs you more.
How to check yours in ten seconds
Scan your code and read the URL your phone displays before opening it. Your own domain or your exact destination → static, no expiry possible. An unfamiliar domain or a link shortener → dynamic, on borrowed time. Do this before printing, every time.
When dynamic is legitimate
Dynamic codes are the right tool when you genuinely need to change the destination after printing, or need scan analytics — and when you accept the subscription that funds the redirect server. The trap is not that dynamic codes exist; it is being sold one when you asked for something permanent.
The permanent option
Ever-QR generates static codes only: your destination is written in the pattern, the files are yours (SVG, PNG, JPEG, PDF), and there is no server of ours to expire, because there is no server of ours in the loop at all. One payment, no renewal — permanence by design, not by promise.
Frequently asked questions
Does a QR code have a technical expiry date?
No. A QR code is just a pattern encoding data, like printed text. The ISO standard defines no lifetime. Only the service a dynamic code depends on can expire.
Why did my free QR code stop working after two weeks?
Because it was a dynamic code on a free trial. The pattern encodes the provider's redirect URL, and the provider switched that redirect off when the trial ended — typically after 7 to 14 days.
How can I check if my QR code will expire?
Scan it and read the URL before the page opens. If it shows your destination directly, it is static and cannot expire. If it shows another domain first, it depends on that company's server and pricing.
Are paid QR codes always permanent?
No — many paid plans are subscriptions for dynamic codes: stop paying and the codes stop working. Permanence comes from the code being static, not from having paid.
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