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. On the Bitly free plan, those two codes come with five short links a month.
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. One more round of changes that month and you are over the cap.
The related limit: what a code can point at
The other thing to check 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. SVG export for print starts on Pro, and your own centre logo starts on Team. You can make one right now without an account; the free QR code generator guide walks through the options.
The full plan-by-plan comparison is in Bitly alternatives compared, and getting QR codes to survive print covers sizing and error correction. For menus, check-in and lead capture, see QR codes for events.
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. Start with a free account. Links in your workspace never expire, and every one gets a QR code and click analytics.
Want the numbers next to each other instead? See the plans side by side: free against free, Bitly Core against Pro, and Bitly Growth against our Team plan. Or start with a free account.