Does Bitly charge for QR codes? Yes — and they are metered monthly

Bitly meters QR codes, on every plan. From their published pricing, the monthly allowance is 2 on free, 5 on Core ($10), 10 on Growth ($29) and 200 on Premium ($199). Scans themselves are unlimited; it is the act of creating a code that is counted.

Why a monthly cap on QR codes is strange

A QR code is a picture of a link you have already made. Encoding one costs the provider essentially nothing — it is arithmetic, not storage or bandwidth. So a cap of ten a month is a pricing decision rather than a technical limit, and it lands hardest on exactly the people QR codes are for: anyone printing something.

Consider a single restaurant campaign. A code on the menu, one on a table card, one on the window, one on a flyer. That is four of Growth's ten. Change the design and reprint, and you have spent four more. A modest print run can exhaust a $29 plan in a fortnight.

The related limit: what a code can point at

The other thing worth checking before you print is whether the destination can change afterwards. A code that encodes a URL directly is permanent — if the page moves, every printed copy is dead. A code that points at a short link can be repointed without reprinting, which is the whole reason to use a shortener for print in the first place.

Unmetered, for comparison

Urlicer does not meter QR codes at all, on any plan including the free one — and colours, gradients, module and eye shapes and frames are free too. Your own centre logo and the SVG export for print come with a paid plan. You can make one right now without an account.

The full plan-by-plan comparison is in Bitly alternatives compared, and getting QR codes to survive print covers sizing and error correction.

Bitly figures above are from their pricing page as published in September 2026 — check bitly.com/pages/pricing for current numbers.

Unmetered QR codes on every plan, including free. Shorten a link free. No signup, and every link gets a QR code and click analytics.