Guide
Dynamic vs static QR codes: which one should you print?
Every QR code is one of two kinds, and the difference decides what happens to it after it is printed. Here is the difference, what each kind can and can't do, and how to choose.
The one difference
A static code puts the web address itself into the pattern of squares. The phone reads the address off the paper and goes straight there. Nothing sits in between.
A dynamic code puts a short link into the pattern instead, owned by whoever made the code. The phone goes to that short link first, and a server sends it on to your page. The printed squares never change; what they are sent on to can.
That is the entire difference. Everything else follows from it.
What a static code can and can't do
It can be made in a browser without signing up for anything, and nothing can switch it off, because nothing is in the middle. Ours is on the free static code page: your browser draws it, with no signup and no email, and its address is printed into the squares, so it can't be changed after printing.
It can't be edited. If the address inside it moves, every printed copy keeps pointing at the old one. And nobody is told of a scan, so there is no count, no report and no weekly email: the phone talks to the destination and to nothing else.
What a dynamic code adds
- Change where it points. Point the printed code at a new menu, a new listing or a new link, with no reprint. Change it whenever you like. No extra charge while HelmQR operates the service.
- A scan report. When it was scanned, which city (never closer than a city), and whether it was a phone, a tablet or a desktop. Save it as a one-page PDF, download every scan as a CSV, or share a view-only link you can switch off.
- Timing. Pick the last day the code works, or a day for it to switch to a new web address, or a number of scans after which it opens another address. Extend, change or remove any of these whenever you like.
One nuance: a WiFi code that joins automatically, or an email/SMS code that opens directly, has its details printed inside it even as a dynamic code, so changing those means new files and a reprint. Everything that opens a web page is yours to repoint.
The catch
A dynamic code works only while the forwarding does, and the forwarding belongs to the company that made the code. Many of them sell it as a subscription. On the one price list we priced out line by line (how the trap works), the low price is a 7-day trial, then $49 every four weeks.
That is the question to ask before you print any dynamic code: what happens to it if you stop paying?
How we do it
A HelmQR code is dynamic, and it is one payment: a code is $19, once, and a code with a hosted page is $99, once. One payment. No monthly fee from us. It keeps working while we operate the service. Not a promise the service runs indefinitely. There is no plan to cancel, nothing renews and there's no card on file, so no payment can stop and take the code with it. The short link in the squares is on our own domain, and what it is sent on to is set from your edit link.
Which one should you print?
A static code is fine if the address will genuinely never change: your home page, a social profile you will keep, the WiFi at home. Make it on the free static code page and print it.
You want a dynamic code if the destination might move, or the print is expensive to redo:
- a menu, a price list or a PDF that gets replaced
- a booking link, a form or a listing
- an event that might move, a page that might get a new address, a rebrand
- anything printed on signs, packaging, engraved or embroidered items, where a reprint would hurt
If you are not sure, that is itself the answer: a dynamic code can become whatever you need later, and a static one can't.
Get a free static code · Get your QR code for $19 · See what a hosted page is →
Questions
Can a static code be turned into a dynamic one?
No. The squares hold the address, and they are already printed. Make a dynamic code and print that instead; a static code that is already out there can only be replaced.
Does a dynamic code collect data about the person who scans?
Ours records when the code was scanned, which city (never closer than a city), and whether it was a phone, a tablet or a desktop. Nothing that names the person. Our privacy page says exactly what is kept.
Can I see how many people scanned a static code?
No. A static code sends the phone straight to the address, and nobody is told. Counting scans is one of the things the short link in a dynamic code is for.
Does a dynamic code look different on the paper?
No. Both are the same black and white squares; a dynamic one is often a little simpler, because a short link is shorter than a full web address.
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