Free QR codes for every link you create, and you can change where they go

A café prints 40 table cards with a QR code that opens the menu PDF. In March the prices go up, the PDF gets a new name, and every one of those cards now opens a 404.

The QR code didn't break. It was never pointing at anything that could change.

Why most free QR codes stop working

A plain QR code is just a web address drawn as squares. If it encodes your menu file's address directly, it can only ever open that address.

Move the file, rename it or change website builder, and the printed code is dead.

The fix is old and simple. Put a short link in the QR code instead of the final address, then change where the short link goes.

People call this a dynamic QR code. The squares never change, so the print never changes.

The catch is that most tools charge for the changing part.

What free QR codes cost elsewhere

On Bitly's free plan you get 2 QR codes a month, and changing a link's destination isn't included until the paid Core plan, which allows 5 changes a month (Bitly pricing, checked 9 October 2026).

Rebrandly's free plan gives you 10 QR codes a month with a watermark, and destination edits start on its paid plans (Rebrandly pricing, same date).

So a "free" QR code often means one you can't fix.

A QR code for every link you create

In TinyX, every short link has a QR code you can download from the link itself. There's no separate generator and no extra step. It's on every plan, including Free, where you get 25 links a month.

You can change where a link points on every plan, Free included. Edit the destination, and every QR code already printed with that link opens the new address on the next scan.

That's the whole feature. Make the link, download the code, print it, and fix the destination whenever the thing behind it changes.

Where a changeable QR code earns its keep

A restaurant swaps the lunch menu for the dinner one at 5pm without touching the tables. We wrote up that case properly in QR code menus your guests won't hate. The same goes for the bill folder, where a code can open a three-question restaurant feedback form while the meal is still fresh.

An event points the code on 2,000 printed programmes at a "coming soon" page in June, then at the running order on the morning of the day.

A small shop puts a code on packaging that opens a care guide, and moves the guide when the website is rebuilt next year.

In each case the print outlives the page it points to. A link you can edit is what stops that turning into a reprint.

Scans show up in your link analytics

Because the QR code opens your short link, scans are counted as clicks, and analytics don't split them out.

Free has basic analytics and Pro and Max have full analytics; the differences are on the pricing page.

That tells you whether the code on the window gets scanned at all, which is worth knowing before you print the next batch.

One thing not to do with a printed QR code

TinyX links can expire, and when a link expires it shows a dead page. There's no redirect to anything else.

That's exactly what you want for a file you're sending to one client. It's the wrong setting for a code printed on 500 menus. Leave expiry off on links that go on paper, or set a date you're sure about.

What TinyX doesn't do with QR codes

We don't offer a QR design studio. If you want codes in brand colours with frames and dot patterns, Bitly and Rebrandly have more styling options.

Choosing the word after the slash (a custom short code) is on Pro and Max. On Free your links get a generated code, which works just as well in a QR code because nobody reads it.

If you've got something to print this week, make the link on the free plan first, then download the code from it. The features page has the rest of what a link can do.